VIT 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



VIT 



759 



cipally esteemed for ripening early without fire-heat, has a 

 sugary juice with little flavour; the berry is small, round, and 

 black, growing loosely on numerous small bunches. The 

 Black Sweet Water, which ripens soon after the preceding, 

 and is fit for either a common wall or a vinery. The fruit 

 is greedily devoured by birds and flies, and is very subject to 

 crack. The skin is thin, and the juice very sweet; berry 

 small, roundish, growing close in the bunches, which are 

 short. The White Sweet Water, is an excellent grapa for 

 the wall, vinery, or hot-house ; the juice is very agreeable, 

 and the skin and flesh delicate. It often bears small berries 

 among the larger ones. In some situations, on the side next 

 the sun, the berries when most delicious are clouded with a 

 russet colour. The Royal Muscadine, is fit for the hot- 

 house and vinery; it is an excellent grape, the bunches are 

 generally large, and have at the upper part two smaller side- 

 bunches or shoulders: berries round, white, when perfectly 

 ripe turning to an amber-colour: juice rich and vinous. They 

 are of a moderate size, with a thick skin, and a juicy soft 

 flesh. They ripen in September, but, if carefully preserved, 

 will hang very late, and become excellent: the bunches 

 sometimes weigh six or seven pounds. This Vine is very 

 distinguishable, by the wood and foliage generally growing 

 remarkably gross and strong. The Coeur, or Franftindale 

 Grape, generally ripens well in England, upon a good-aspected 

 wall: the berries resemble those of the black Muscadine, but 

 are fleshy, with a slight musky flavour: they ripen in Sep- 

 tember. The Black Cluster, or Meunier Grape, so called 

 from the hoary down of the leaves in summer: the bunches 

 are short ; the berries oval, and very close, so that many of 

 the inner ones continue green, when those on the outside are 

 perfectly ripe. It is a good fruit, and is here called the 

 Burgundy Grape, and ripens, well in September: the skin 

 and flesh are delicate, and the juice sweet and pleasant: it 

 is fit for a vinery or a common wall. The True Burgundy 

 Grape, or Black Morillon, is one of the worst sorts for 

 the table, but one of the best for making- wine; berries oval, 

 and hanging looser on the bunches than in the cluster. The 

 Corinth, or Currant Grape; berry small, roundish, generally 

 without stone, of a deep black colour, and much clustered 

 on the short bunches: it has a sweet juice, and ripens in 

 September. The White Corinth Grape, with a small round 

 berry, thin-skinned, having a very delicate juicy flesh, of an 

 agreeable flavour: the berries, when perfectly ripe, are so 

 transparent that the seeds appear distinctly. The White 

 Muscadine, is the best grape for a common wall, and it 

 also is a great bearer, and fine eating when well matured. 

 The Black Frontinac, ripens at the end of September or 

 beginning of October; bunches short; berries round, of a 

 good size, loose on the bunches, when fully ripe they are 

 very black, and covered with a meal or flue like the Plum; 

 the juice is very rich and vinous. The Red Frontinac, is a 

 good sort for the vinery, as it rarely ripens without artificial 

 heat in England. It has the most vinous liquor of all the 

 sorts, for which it is greatly esteemed in France: the bunches 

 are longer than those of the preceding sort ; the berries are 

 large and round; when fully ripe, of a brick colour, but 

 when unripe gray, with a few dark stripes. The White 

 Frontinac, is suitable for a common wall, vinery, or hot- 

 house; the bunches are larger than either of the former 

 Frontinacs; berries round, so closely clustered, that unless 

 they are carefully thinned early in the season, they will not 

 ripen, and the moisture will be detained in the autumn, 

 causing them to rot: when ripe it is inferior to none, the 

 juice is so excellent. The Muscat of Alexandria, or of 

 Jerusalem, is in great estimation, being more generally planted 

 VOL. u129. 



in hot-houses than any other sort. When perfectly ripe, the 

 berries are of a fine amber colour, the skins thick, the pulp 

 hard, and not very juicy, but of a high musky flavour: 

 there are two sorts, one with white and the other with red 

 berries; their juice is very rich and vinous, but it seldom 

 ripens in England without artificial heat. The lied Ham- 

 burgh, semetimes called the Gibraltar Grape: the berries 

 are inclined to oval, thin-skinned, dark red, with a juicy 

 delicate flesh, that has a rich vinous flavour, of a moderate 

 size ; they ripen in large bunches at the end of October or in 

 November. The Black Hamburgh ; this ripens at the same 

 time with the preceding, which it resembles, only being 

 black ; the skin is thick, and the pulp hard, but it is very 

 much preferred because it is a good bearer, and yields a well- 

 flavoured fruit. The Malmsey Muscadine; this is fit either 

 for a wall or the vinery ; the juice is very sweet and highly 

 flavoured. The Black Muscadine, is very prolific, and makes 

 a fine appearance, on account of its black berries being pow- 

 dered with a bluish bloom; but the pulp is not so delicate 

 and juicy as the white. The White Muscat, is a plentiful 

 bearer, and highly esteemed for the hot-house or vinery; the 

 berries are large and oval, when perfectly ripe of a fine amber 

 colour, sometimes clouded with brown or russet, especially 

 on the side next the sun; skin thin, and pulp delicate, full 

 of vinous juice. The Black Muscadel, is fit for the hot- 

 house ; the berries are large, oval, and black, with a thin 

 skin, and a delicate juicy flesh; the same bunch contains 

 berries of different sizes, some of them very large and long, 

 but somewhat compressed and flat at the ends; the leaves 

 change to a beautiful scarlet in autumn. The Red Muscadel; 

 this is a hot-house grape, and one of the latest ripe : the 

 berries are large, oval, and of a beautiful red colour, with a 

 thick skin, and hard flesh, something like the resin grape; 

 the bunches are very elegantly formed of equal berries, and 

 sometimes weigh six or seven pounds. The Black Damas- 

 cus, is also a hot-house grape, large, of an excellent flavour, 

 with a thick skin, and a delicate, rich, juicy pulp; the same 

 bunch has commonly berries of different sizes ; the small 

 ones having no stones, and the largest having only one : it is 

 a very valuable, but late sort. The Black Tripoli, is a very 

 valuable late grape, nearly allied to the preceding, but the 

 berries are all large and equal, with one stone in each. The 

 Black Spanish, or Alicant Grape; this is proper for a hot- 

 house and vinery, and is sometimes called the Lombardy 

 Grape; berries inclining to an oval shape, moderately large, 

 and black, on exceedingly long unshouldered bunches; skin 

 thick, and the seeds uncommonly large; pulp juicy, and of 

 an agreeable flavour; the leaves are, in autumn, beautifully 

 variegated with red, green, and yellow : it affords the most 

 excellent sort of Spanish wine. The Black Lisbon, is large, 

 globular, black, thin-skinned, and juicy. It resembles the 

 Black Hamburgh, and is fit for the hot-house and vinery. 

 The White Hamburgh, sometimes called the Portugal Grape, 

 is large, oval, with a thick skin, and hard flesh. It is a 

 plentiful bearer, and forms large bunches, but it is not so 

 valuable as the Black or Red Hamburgh. The Large Black 

 Cluster : berries large, and more oval than the small, with a 

 juice of a harsh rough taste. This is said to be the grape 

 from which Port wine is made. It is a proper sort for the 

 vinery. The White Morillon is oval, of a moderate size ; has 

 a delicate juicy pulp, and grows close upon small bunches. 

 It appears to be nearly allied to the genuine Tokay Grape. 

 The Early White Teneriffe Grape, resembles the Common 

 Muscadine : the berries are round, middle-sized, with a thin 

 skin, and delicate juicy pulp, of an extraordinary sweetness: 

 it is fit for the wall or vinery. The Aleppo Grape, is middls- 

 9G 



