154 VINES AND VINE CULTURE. 



appearance, and was at one time very extensively cultivated by Mr. "Wilmot, 

 market gardener at Isleworth, under the name of Wilmot's Hamburgh. The 

 Mill Hill Hamburgh, which is sometimes regarded as synonymous, is a very 

 distinct and much superior variety. 



CULTURAL NOTES. Requires much the same treatment as Black Hamburgh, 

 but to set the berries properly it is the better for a rather warm temperature at 

 that period. It is not much cultivated. 



DUTCH SWEETWATER (26). A round white Sweetwater Grape. 

 Season : first early. Merits : first rate in quality, but so uncertain in 

 setting as to be scarcely worth, growing. 



VINE. Growth moderately vigorous, the young shoots inclining to be gross, 

 and frequently not ripening well ; fruitful. Leaves roundish, much serrated. 



FRUIT. Bunches small, short, with strong, broad shoulders, frequently very 

 badly set, a great portion of the berries being imperfectly developed, stamens 

 deflexed. Berries medium-sized, round. Skin thin, white, almost transparent, 

 showing the venation, and with a slight bloom and tinges of russet when highly 

 ripened. Flesh pale, sweet, juicy, tender, and very pleasant. 



HISTORY, ETC. This is the White Sweetwater of Speechly, and one of the oldest 

 of Grapes, but it is now superseded, and is fast going out of cultivation. 



CULTURAL NOTES. This Grape has long been in repute as the best variety for 

 open-air cultivation, but it is often confounded with the Royal Muscadine, which 

 is a much more certain cropper and a superior variety. 



EARLY AUVERGNE FRONTIGNAN. Auvergne Frontignan. 



EARLY BLACK JULY. Black July. 



EARLY GREEN MADEIRA. Grove-End Sweetwater. 



EARLY KIENZHEIM. Grove-End Sweetwater. 



EARLY LEIPSIC. Grove-End Sweetwater. 



EARLY WHITE MALVASIA. Grove-End Sweetwater. 



ESPERIONE. Espiran. 



ESPIRAN (78). Around black Vinous Grape. Season: mid-season. 

 Merits : quite third-rate. 



SYN. Esperione. 



VINE. Groivth very free and vigorous, but never gross, the young shoots being 

 rather slender than otherwise, of a reddish tinge, very rugose, and when ripe often 

 having the bark distinctly streaked with pale and dai'k brown ; very fruitful. 

 Leaves deeply lobed and toothed, rugose, the stalks and venation of a reddish 

 tinge. 



FRUIT. Bunches from nine to twelve inches long, tapering, with a large 

 shoulder, always well set ; stalk thin, but strong. Berries medium-sized, quite 

 round, marked on the one side with a distinct suture, and often leaving the style 

 point at the apex. Skin thick, very dark purple, and with a thick coating of 

 bloom. Flesh firm, not very tender or juicy, and generally with a somewhat 

 harsh flavour, except it be highly ripened when it becomes moderately sweet. 



HISTORY, ETC. This is an old Grape, long cultivated in this country. Mr. 

 Aiton, of the Royal Gardens, Windsor, writing in the Transactions of the Horticul- 

 tural Society, in 1818, recommends it very strongly, and a very correct illustration 

 of it is there given. Subsequently, writers seem to have confused the Espirau 

 with the Black Hamburgh, in consequence of which it attained a popularity 

 which it did not deserve as an open-air Grape of high quality. 



