Mr. Jaeger made a few hybrids of his Nos. 43 and 52, and the writer has used all except 

 Jaeger's 52 in making many thousands of hybrids as well as using in hybrid combinations almost 

 every American species, to find the best for breeding purposes, and it is the Post-Oak-Grape 

 that to him towers far above any other species in forming the basis of our future viticulture, 

 but which is greatly aided by other species. 



I give a short description of each of these pioneer breeding vines. They all had to be used 

 as mothers as they all have small reflexed stamens, with impotent-pollen; then I shall follow 

 with a few of the most meritorious hybrids produced from them. 



BIG BERRY, grown from a seed of a vine fo :nd west of Denison, Texas, about four miles, 

 on the Alkire Sand Hill, about 1880. ( , TZ). V'ne very vigorous, stocky, prolific; leaves very 

 large, leathery, slightly lobed ; cluster medium to large, ovoid cylindrical, shouldered ; berry larger 

 than that of Concord, round, black, fairly persistent, skin rather thick, tough, pulp juicy, a little 

 tough, but less so than Concord, flavor and sweetness higher than Concord; bloomed and ripened 

 a week later than Concord. I use Concord for comparison, because everybody knows it, and it 

 is a standard black grape. The vine was lost in 1889, by careless renters of the "Old Place." 



EARLY PURPLE, grown from seed of a vine on a sand hill, north of the Morrow-Place, 

 three miles west of Denison, found in 1884. ( , -f$). Vine and fruit of very similar description 

 to Big Berry; more persistent berry; vine and fruit have never mildewed, or been attacked by 

 rot. Its hybrids are pistillate so far, and have a flavor, not quite satisfactory, hence have intro- 

 duced none of them. Vine very prolific, and yet vigorous. (See Plate LVI., page 168.) 



JAEGER 43, found by Hermann Jaeger in the early eighties, in Newton .County, Mo. 

 ( 2 5 ff)- The vine is very vigorous and perfectly healthy; the cluster is large cylindrical, 

 shouldered, compact; berry medium, round, black with much bloom; seeds small, skin thin, 

 tough; pulp tender, of excellent, peculiar flavor; blooms and ripens very late, three weeks or 

 more after Concord. Mr. Jaeger always regarded this as the best variety of this species 

 he had ever found. The only hybrid he produced of it, and named, was his No. 70, named 

 by him Munson (which see page 196), a hybrid of 43 with a male seedling of his No. 60, 

 Vitis rupestris, considered his best variety of that species. (See Plate LVII., page 169.) 



I have introduced one hybrid of Herbemont on Jaeger 43, the Kiowa (see page 185). 



LUCKY, found in 1884, three miles southwest of Denison, filling a Black Jack Oak, forty 

 feet high, with vine loaded with fine clusters, and berries size and shape of Hartford, but of far 

 better quality ; a beautiful sight, that made me leap with joy. ( , T 5 3 -). Berries inclined to drop 

 when over-ripe. Ripens earlier than Concord, vine vigorous and healthy, prolific. Have made 

 few hybrids with this, none worthy of introduction. Vine propagated from cutting yet alive and 

 hearty. Well worthy of breeding up for early varieties of this species. 



NEOSHO, found by H. Jaeger, in 1868, near Neosho, Mo., on farm of E. Shoenborn; vine 

 healthy and vigorous, never known to rot or mildew. ( , T ^) . Cluster and berry similar to Norton, 

 and quality about equal, with more astringency; pulp meaty, not very juicy, juice brownish; 

 makes a choice wine. From this the writer bred a lot of hybrids with Herbemont, two of which 

 are very fine, and have been introduced (see Muench and Neva Munson). 



PREMIER, found by the writer in 1880, three miles west of Denison (about the center of 

 a little region three of four miles across in which I found more good wild grapes than in all other 

 of my ramblings), and the best one ever found by me, and the first to be transplanted to my 

 vineyard, the first and most extensively hybridized upon, save the Ten Dollar Prize, as to numbers 

 of hybrids, and the 'first to be lost in the tender mercies of renters of our first home just north 

 of Denison. ( , ^). The vine was a good short- jointed, perfectly healthy prolific one with cluster 

 and berry about the size of Norton, compact, berries persistent, in quality better than Norton, 

 to my taste. 



SECUNDO, grown from seed of the same vine that produced Big Berry, but the cluster and 

 berry were smaller, more persistent and better. From this was produced a good many hybrids, 



179 



