THE 



Canadian Horticulturist 



Volume XXVI 



JUNE, 1903 



m 



Number 6 



THE BEIGHTON GRAPE 



FOR the dessert table nothing is a 

 more attractive ornament than o 

 fruit dish piled with a choice as- 

 sortment of delicious grapes- fresh and 

 plump from one's own garden and appetis- 

 ing by reason of their beauty. A garden 

 of well chosen varieties would furnish the 

 owner a constant change of kind and color ; 

 or, if he prefer it, a loyal blending of the red, 

 white and blue. 



Money cannot always command from the 

 fruiterer that fresh condition, that perfection 

 of beauty or that delicacy of flavor, that is 

 to be found in grapes from one's own gar- 

 den, where one may gather the fruit with his 

 own hand just as it reaches the point of per- 

 fect maturity. And, as for the grapes of- 

 fered for sale in the markets, although they 

 may be cheap in price, they have come many 

 a mile and met with much rough usage, and 

 therefore cannot compare in value with the 

 home-grown samples. From these con- 

 siderations we do not hesitate to advise 

 every reader, who has even the smallest city 

 backyard, to plant a few vines for the sup- 

 ply of his own table. They will creep over 

 an unsightly old fence, a barren wall or a 

 back verandah, and thus prove ornamental 

 as well as useful. 



Among the valuable red grapes for des- 

 sert we place the Brighton, a medium sized 

 sample of which is shown in our frontis- 

 piece. It takes its name from the town of 



Erighton, N. Y., the home of its originator, 

 Air. Jacob Moore. He raised it from the 

 seed of Concord, fertilized by Diana-Ham- 

 burg, so that it is one-quarter European and 

 to this no doubt is due both its delicate flavor 

 and its slight tendency to mildew ; while to 

 its Labrusca, or American Fox grape, rela- 

 tionship we may credit the vigor of the vine, 

 and its large, thick, dark green foUage. 



The Brighton, when eaten just at ma- 

 turity, is sprightly, somewhat aromatic and 

 delicious; the pulp separates readily from 

 the seeds without impairing the flavor. 

 When first ready for use the color is a light 

 red, but if left very long on the vines the 

 color changes to so dark a crimson that it is 

 hard to recognise it as the same variety, 

 while its quality also deteriorates. 



In season of maturity the Brighton is 

 somewhat in advance of the Delaware, so 

 that, of its season, it may fairly be reckoned 

 the best red dessert grape. No one, there- 

 fore, who is planting a small collection of 

 grapes for his own table, should omit a vine 

 of the Brighton ; and, if he will take the 

 trouble to remove the small, imperfect 

 bunches, in the early part of the season- he 

 will have some magnificent clusters in Sep- 

 tember for the decoration of his fruit dish. 



We do not commend the Brighton to the 

 planter of a commercial vineyard ; and, un- 

 less we are much astray in our interpretation 

 of the sigjis of the times, the time is not far 



