760 



VIT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



VIT 



sized, roundish, with a thin skin and delicate juicy flesh, of 

 an exquisite vinous flavour: the colour is various, white, 

 black, but the major part striped in the same bunch ; some- 

 times one half is white, and the other half black, and the 

 colours never intermix, but are divided by straight lines. In 

 autumn the leaves are very curiously striped with green and 

 yellow, somewhat similar to the Aleppo Lettuce. The Red 

 Syracusan Grape, a very fine hot-house sort,' is not very 

 well known in England: the berries are very large, oval, some- 

 what irregularly formed, hanging loosely on the bunches, 

 which are pretty large. The Morocco Grape, is scarce and 

 much esteemed: the pedicels are short, and singularly large; 

 the berries are large, somewhat heart-shaped, of a tawny 

 grizzly colour, it is often unequally sized, never containing 

 more than one seed, and the small ones have none. The Black 

 Raisin Grape, is large, oval, with a thick skin and a firm 

 flesh : it forms long handsome bunches. The White Raisin 

 Grape, resembles the preceding, and only differs in the white- 

 ness of the berries. There are two ways of curing these 

 grapes, first by cutting the stalk of the bunches half through, 

 when they are almost ripe, and leaving them suspended on 

 the Vine by their stalks; in this state the sun candies them, 

 and when they are dry they are packed up in boxes for 

 exportation. The second process is, when the Vines are 

 pruned the tendrils are preserved till the time of the vintage, 

 when a great fire is made, wherein the tendrils are burnt, and 

 the newly gathered Grapes are dipt in the lye made of their 

 ashes, after which they are exposed to the sun to dry. Th6 

 Malvoise, or Blue Tokay Grape, is small, inclining to oval, 

 brown, powdered with a blue bloom ; skin thin, and flesh 

 delicate, full of a vinous juice. It bears well, and is ex- 

 tremely rich and highly flavoured, though the berry is small: 

 it ripens early, and is so full of juice that it is esteemed the 

 most melting of all the sorts. The Genuine Tokay, was 

 imported from Hungary, and is fit for the hot-house and 

 vinery; the berries are white, inclining to oval, rather close 

 on the bunch, which is of a moderate size ; skin thin, and 

 pulp delicate, abounding with agreeable juice; the leaves on 

 the under side are covered with a fine soft down, like satin. 

 The Lombardy Grape, is large, inclining to oval, and of a 

 beautiful flame colour; the bunches are regularly formed 

 with shoulders, and frequently weigh six or seven pounds: it 

 will suit the hot-house or vinery. Some call it the Rhenish 

 Grape, and others the Flame-coloured Tokay : the leaves 

 are much divided, and their upper surface is of a deep green 

 colour. The Smyrna Grape, is but little known in this 

 country, though a good Grape, and fit for the hot-house and 

 vinery: the berry is large, red, oval, with a thin skin and 

 delicate juicy flesh, on long bunches, with loosely connected 

 shoulders ; the leaves in autumn have purple edges. The 

 Brick Grape, is not much esteemed, though very sweet; it is 

 small, inclining to oval, of a pale red or brick colour, grow- 

 ing close on the bunch, which is very small. The Claret 

 Grape, is small, black, inclining to oval, growing close, in 

 small bunches ; the juice is blood-red, of a harsh taste, ex- 

 cepting the Grapes are perfectly matured, when it may be 

 considered as an agreeable delicate fruit ; the leaves change 

 to a russet-red early in summer, and to a deep-red in autumn. 

 This sort is proper for the hot-house or vinery. The Syrian 

 Grape, is white, large, oval, with a thick skin, and a firm 

 hard flesh, on well-formed but enormously large bunches. It 

 is very prolific, and when well perfected is a very eatable 

 fruit; it may also be kept without difficulty many weeks 

 longer than any other sort: it may be had in perfection from 

 the hot-house in January, and sometimes in February. This 

 is supposed to be the sort of Grape which the twelve spies, 



who were sent by Moses to view the land of Canaan, cut 

 down by the brook Eshcol, (Numb. xiv. 23.) and bare it 

 between two upon a staff. How large the bunch might be, 

 we are not told; but Strabo testifies, that the Vines in Mar- 

 giana. and other places, were so big, that two men could 

 scarcely compass them with their arms, and that they pro- 

 duced bunches of Grapes a yard long. And Huetius informs 

 us, that Crete, Chios, and other islands of the Archipelago, 

 afford bunches of ten, and sometimes of thirty-six or forty 

 pounds weight. Even in this country a bunch of the Syrian 

 Grape was produced at Wellbeck, under the care of Mr. 

 Speechly, which weighed nineteen pounds and a half. Igno- 

 rant persons, judging from the ordinary size of a bunch of 

 Grapes, have attempted to throw ridicule upon the circum- 

 stance of conveying a single bunch between two men. Sup- 

 posing the branch, with its cluster, to have weighed forty or 

 fifty pounds, it might certainly have been carried by one 

 man ; but as it was to be exhibited to the people, it was 

 judicious, in order to preserve the fruit whole and unbruised, 

 to carry it in the manner related. Accordingly, when the 

 late Duke of Portland sent his large cluster to the Marquis 

 of Rockingham as a present, it was conveyed to Wentworth 

 house, a distance of more than twenty miles, by four 

 labourers, who carried it by turns in pairs, suspended on a 

 staff, in the same way as the Israelites bore that which they 

 brought as a specimen of the produce of the Promised Land. 

 The greatest diameter of the Duke of Portland's cluster was 

 nineteen inches and a half, its circumference five feet and a 

 half, and its length twenty-one inches and three quarters. 

 The Cat's Grape, is fit for the hot-house or vinery, but tastes 

 very unpleasantly, unless perfectly ripe, when it is very sweet : 

 the berries are small, oval, and greenish-while, with a thin 

 skin, and soft juicy pulp, growing close on small bunches. 

 The Damson Grape, is a hot-house sort, large, oval, of a 

 beautiful purple colour, growing loosely on large bunches ; 

 leaves large, thick, and succulent, having something of the 

 appearance of green leather. The Greek Grape, is a delicate 

 fruit, justly esteemed, of a moderate size, and forming hand- 

 some bunches ; the leaves grow on very short footstalks, and 

 bear a resemblance to those of the Sweet Water. The Cor- 

 tiichon, has white berries, with a thick skin, and a firm sweet 

 flesh. Their shape is remarkable, tapering from the stalk, 

 but not in a regular manner, and ending in a blunt point, 

 somewhat like the long end of a small fish's bladder. 

 This is fit for the hot-house. The New Muscat of Jerusalem, 

 is large, round, red, and of the size of a gooseberry in fine 

 seasons; but as it does not ripen well on a wall in this 

 country, it might be worth while to try it in a hot-house or 

 vinery. The Black Prince, ripens in October, and hangs 

 till the middle of November; the berries are large, as also 

 are the bunches, which upon walls, in a favourable season, 

 weigh a pound and a half, hence it well deserves a place in 

 the hot-house and' vinery. The While Constantia, from 

 which, and the Red Constantia, the famous Constantia wine, 

 so called from a place near the Cape of Good Hope, is made. 

 It, however, appears that these Vines, when transplanted to 

 a small distance from that spot, produce a very inferior 

 wine. The situation of the place is rather low, but more 

 elevated than other parts of the district, and the soil is a 

 light sandy loam. The select Vines for a wall, are the 

 White Muscadine, the White Sweet-water, the Large and 

 Small Black Cluster; and the St. Peter's and Black Ham- 

 burgh, which will do very well in favourable seasons. 



Propagation and Culture. All the sorts of Grapes are pro- 

 pagated either from layers, or cuttings, the former of which 

 is greatly practised in England, but the latter is what w 



