FRUIT CULTURE. 173 



Victoria Hamburg, Bowood Muscat, White Nice, Syrian and 

 Frontignac, all of them very fine ; the Victoria Hamburgs, 

 presented by Mr. Chenery, were particularly good, and were 

 the best foreign grapes on exhibition. 



The present season has, on the whole, been favorable to 

 grapes, and they have borne a full crop, except on frosty loca- 

 tions, where the new shoots were killed late in the month of 

 May ; they arc, however, about ten days later than usual ; still, 

 the fine weather of September has ripened the earlier varieties 

 finely. 



The Concords of Mr, T. F. Hunt, one of the exhibitors, are 

 better than the Catawbas and Isabellas, from New York and 

 Ohio, and have been selling in Boston for a higher price. 



Of the varieties of native grapes on exhibition, the Concords 

 took the lead, as they have done for the last few years, and I 

 think we may safely say that it has established its reputation 

 for being the best, hardy, native grape for general cultivation. 



There were fine specimens of other varieties ; among them a 

 very good dish of Delawares, from Mr. Davis, of Acton, who 

 exhibited quite a number of varieties. 



Among the inquiries addressed to me as secretary of yoiir 

 society, is one from a gentleman in New Hampshire, that may 

 not be inappropriate here. It is as follows : — 



" Will you please inform me what is the best aspect and 

 method of cultivating the grape, — vineyard culture, — in your 

 vicinity, and what varieties are generally raised ? " 



This I answered nearly as follows : But few vineyards have 

 been planted in this county ; none that would be called such in 

 Ohio, they containing only from one-half to one acre each. The 

 only ones that have come to my knowledge are located, one in 

 Acton, one in Dracut, and three in Concord ; two of them have 

 been planted only one year ; the other three are now producing 

 fruit. 



The aspect preferred is from south-west to south-east, the 

 nearer south the better, with a location as free from frost as 

 possible, bearing in mind that the late spring frosts are much 

 more destructive to the grape crop than a frost in the fall, 

 which does not often injure the early varieties. 



As to the method of cultivation — and I here refer more par- 

 ticularly to the Concord, the kind now planted almost entirely 



