FRUIT CULTURE. 135 



these can tell when in flower, the fruiting from the staminate por- 

 tion ; these show large clusters of blossoms, but no fruit follows. 

 With the foreign species, it is different ; here the male or barren 

 plant is not known ; all the seedlings from these are fruit-bear- 

 ing vines ; and the fact that Mr. Rogers has never had an 

 wwfruitful plant among upwards of forty varieties which have 

 borne, is strong evidence, without any other, of their being 

 hybrids, inheriting this quality from the foreign parent. Thus 

 from our wild grape, Mr. R., following the process of Knight of 

 England with pears and cherries, has produced in a short time, 

 varieties, which it might have taken a long course of years to 

 get by the chance method of Yan Mons, viz., beginning with 

 the wild variety, and sowing the seed through successive genera- 

 tions, and whose best fruits after all, perhaps, were only acci- 

 dental crosses, made by the bees, and from the pollen, floating 

 in the air, from the many varieties which he had growing and 

 blossoming together ; by the latter process many thousand seed- 

 lings were raised to produce a few good fruits, while by the 

 other method of hybridizing with a view to certain results, 

 nearly all the seedlings prove superior, and very nearly, with 

 the valuable properties we wish, as is the case with these grapes. 

 Mr. R., knowing what was wanted, chose the wild variety on 

 account of its hardiness and earliness (in preference to the 

 Isabella,) for the mother of the new variety, and for the male 

 parent, the two hardiest of the foreign species, viz., the Black 

 Hamburg and the White Chasselas ; and from these two 

 species have come numerous valuable varieties, possessing 

 many of the qualities desired, such as hardiness of vine, earli- 

 ness and delicacy of fruit. 



These grapes are sent out by numbers ; No. 15 has ripened 

 for four or five years in succession, when many other, much 

 praised kinds, have failed ; and this year especially, it has 

 proved fine in many places, and superior to any kind that we 

 know for its fine flavor. We have even heard many say that 

 they preferred this to many of the foreign varieties from under 

 glass, and this is not the only valuable kind among these new 

 seedlings ; there are many other varieties, which are thought 

 nearly equal, and a few quite as good. Nos. 1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 28, 

 30, 33, 41, 43 and 44, and others which we have not as yet 

 seen. The above-mentioned sorts are all earlier than the 



