CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE GRAPE. 



DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE MOST VALUABLE VARIETIES OF GRAPIS. 



I. NATIVE GRAPES. 



1. CATAWBA. Pig. 1. 



Color pale red, slightly tinged with purple, or brown ; bloom filmy and of 

 a lilac tinge ; nearly round. Flesh pulpy, juicy, sweet and slightly 

 aromatic and musky. Ripens well in Albany, especially if only slightly 

 sheltered. 



2. ISABELLA. 



Fruit dark purplish, or black, bluish black ; bloom blue and rather heavy ; oval or 

 roundish oval, larger than the Catawba. Skin rather tender. Flesh sweet, juicy and 

 slightly musky. Ripens farther north than the Catawba. 

 The Catawba and Isabella are the most profitable grapes for culture in this latitude 



being sufficiently hardy to ripen perfectly ; and being also of excellent qualities, and not 



much subject to the blight or mildew. 



3. LENOIR. 



This variety bears large compact bunches, with berries smaller than the Catawba. Skin 

 thin and colored with dark purple, and bloomed thinly. Sweet and excellent. The 

 wood is long-jointed, bearing a three lobed leaf. 



4. OHIO. Pig. I. 



The fruit of this grape grows in rather large but not compact 

 bunches. This grape, so far as it has fallen under my observa- 

 tion, is scarcely worth cultivating here. There is a wild one 

 growing on the limestone hills about Schoharie, which closely 

 resembles this grape ; better if anything. 



