THE CLINTON 77 



grounds of Professor Noyes, on College Hill, which 

 still remains, and is the original Clinton, a very 

 hardy, healthy, and productive grape, of the first class. 

 Bunches and berries small, black, with blue bloom; 

 brisk, juicy, quite acid, but improves by keeping until 

 February." The original Clinton vine is still stand- 

 ing, at Clinton, where it climbs over a great elm tree. 

 Rev. E. P. Powell, of Clinton, writes me that he has 

 known the vine for forty years, and that there can be 

 no mistake about the identity of it. He says: "It 

 is a seedling out of a handful sowed by advice of 

 Professor Noyes, the greatest genius Hamilton College 

 ever had, and he selected the best; and this was the 

 Clinton. Where the seed came from, I do not know." 

 At one time, this Clinton grape was widely dissemi- 

 nated for general vineyard culture, but it could not 

 contend with Concord, Diana, and hosts of other 

 rapidly appearing fox -grapes, and its use is now 

 almost wholly restricted to wine -making; but it intro- 

 duced a new type of grape although some authorities 

 suppose it to be a hybrid between the river -bank and 

 fox -grapes and one which was destined to play a 

 most important part, in a new role, in the years to 

 come (see page 92). 



We have already seen (page 13) that the French 

 colonists of the southeastern Atlantic states early 

 made attempts to grow the European vine. These, 

 like all similar attempts in eastern America, had failed. 

 But out of the ruins there had come, early in the cen- 

 tury, several types of grapes of much value, all of 

 them possessing great merit for wine. Chief of these 

 are Le Noir and Herbemont. The latter is now widely 

 grown in the South, and it receives its name from 



