184 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



liquor wine. But the varieties do not all yield the same 

 quality as similar vinifera varieties, and as they are, be- 

 sides, more costly to train and cultivate, they will hardly 

 become popular, except, perhaps, as stocks to graft upon. 

 Even for this purpose the wild riparia is generally pre- 

 ferred, as it has proved entirely resistant, and takes the 

 graft easily. The Elvira, and others of its class, were 

 also failures as direct producers, for the grapes are much 

 smaller, drop worse from the bunch, and are more foxy 

 than in the Eastern States. Still, they make good stocks 

 for grafting. 



T^he progress made since the first edition of this work 

 was published maybe gathered from the ** Experience of 

 Other Growers," in Part II. I can only thank the gen- 

 tlemen who have so kindly contributed to those pages. 

 They are, naturally, better guides than I can be in esti- 

 mating the value, for wine making, of the newly intro- 

 duced American varieties, — who have observed their 

 growth and can judge of their quality better than any 

 person who is working, as I am, in an entirely different 

 field, with vinifera sorts as a basis for natural wine. 

 Their detailed experience shows that there is an inter- 

 mediate region in Western Texas and New Mexico where 

 both American and vinifera varieties succeed equally 

 well ; where the latter ripen as early as the last of May 

 and all through June, and large tracts are being planted 

 with them for early markets. Their wine-making qual- 

 ities remain to be tested. 



