248 THE GRAPE 



states. Hardy, vigorous, and productive, with very trifling 

 care they yield the farmer, and the common gardener, to whom 

 the finer foreign sorts requiring much attention and considerable 

 expense in culture, are denied, the enjoyment of an abundance 

 of very good fruit. In the neighbourhood of New- York and 

 Philadelphia their culture is carried to a large extent for sup- 

 plying the markets, a single grower on the Hudson, (Dr. Un- 

 derbill,) sending thousands of baskets to New- York annually. 

 In this part of the country no fruit is more common than the 

 Isabella grape, and many families preserve large quantities for 

 use during the winter months, by packing them away, as soon as 

 ripe, in jars, boxes, or barrels, between layers of cotton batting 

 in which way they may be kept plump and fresh till March. 



North of the 42 of latitude, and east of the Hudson river, 

 these varieties, except in favourable situations, do not always 

 succeed perfectly the summers being frequently too short to 

 mature their fruit, and the winter injuring the vines ; but this 

 may be guarded against by planting them against the south side 

 of walls and buildings. In nearly all the middle and western 

 states they thrive perfectly. But in many localities at the 

 south, especially in Georgia, the fruit is very liable to rot be- 

 fore ripening, and this is most successfully remedied by allow- 

 ing the vines to run very high in the tops of trees, or upon a 

 very tall trellis. 



The varieties of native grapes at present grown are chiefly 

 either the finer sorts of wild species, or, which is most generally 

 the case, they are accidentally improved varieties, that have 

 sprung up in woods and fields from wild vines. They are, 

 therefore, but one remove from a wild state, and, as extensive 

 trials are now being made by various cultivators to produce 

 new varieties from these, there is little doubt that in a few 

 years we shall have many new native sorts, combining the good 

 qualities of the best foreign grapes, with the hardiness of the 

 indigenous ones, and with also the necessary adaptation to the 

 various soils and climates of the United States. 



GARDEN CULTURE. The garden culture of these grapes is 

 very easy. They grow with vigour in any soil not absolutely 

 poor, and bear abundant crops in sandy or heavy soils, though 

 being of grosser habit than many of the foreign grapes, they 

 prefer a rather strong and rich soil. One of the first points to 

 be attended to in planting them is to secure a perfectly sunny, 

 open exposure, as it may always be assumed that, with us, no at- 

 mosphere can be too bright or sunny for the grape ; for although 

 it will make the most luxuriant and vigorous shoots in the shade 

 of trees or buildings, yet the crops will be small and uncertain, 

 and the berries will be likely to fall a prey to mildew. 



In the second place the vines should be kept within moderate 

 bounds, and trained to an upright trellis. The Isabella and Ca- 



