AND WINE MAKING. 69 



of a bearing cane with clusters about a foot long, weighed 

 eight pounds. 



4. Its handsome and vigorous growth. It is a stocky, 

 short-jointed grower, not rambling, like the Taylor and 

 Clinton, but a perfect picture of a vine, having thick, 

 light green and abundant foliage, with pale gray, short- 

 jointed wood, and is, therefore, well adapted to vineyard 

 and arbor culture. 



5. Its handsome bunch and berry. This has improved 

 very much since it first fruited, and may still improve. 

 Bunch medium, shouldered, very compact ; berry about 

 the size of the Catawba, round, light green in the shade, 

 pale yellow where more exposed, transparent; skin, thin, 

 pulp tender, very juicy and sweet; flavor fine, pure, with- 

 out foxiness, ripening a few days later than Concord. 



6. Its fine quality for wine. The must of the Elvira is 

 about as heavy as good Catawba, if well ripened. Specific 

 gravity 85. Makes a beautiful greenish-yellow wine, 

 without foxiness, and a delicate and full aroma, resemb- 

 ling Riesling. In this respect it will satisfy even the 

 most fastidious fancier of Ehenish wines, and as it can be 

 produced cheaply, we shall have in it what we have been 

 seeking so long, a true wine grape within the reach of all. 



7. Easy propagation. It grows readily from cuttings, 

 and being a Taylor seedling, is likely to be Phylloxera 

 proof, and remain healthy. 



We are, however, in justice, compelled to say, that it 

 has one fault, which has proved a serious drawback to it 

 in the East during the season of 1879. The bunch is so 

 compact, that the berries crowd each other, and being 

 very thin skinned, they are liable to crack after a drouth, 

 succeeded by a shower of rain. Otherwise, it has proved 

 a complete success, even at the East. 



