8 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



that have been repeatedly brought before the Society by Messrs. Haggerston, 

 Otis Johnson, Quant, Nugent, and others, seem to defy any further attempts 

 at improvement on the part of the cultivator, and lead us to the belief that 

 there are bounds in the perfection of fruit which cannot be passed. 



Our hardy grapes are yet susceptible of great improvement, and a 

 wide field is open to our horticulturists; it is to be hoped that gentlemen 

 of leisure, and those who have a taste for such pursuits, will take the sub- 

 ject into consideration. It is true the Isabella and Catawba, when fully 

 matured, are fine, in comparison with some of our wild grapes; but a 

 person who has tasted of the Black Hamburg will not be satisfied with 

 these varieties even in the best of seasons. A premature frost not un- 

 frequentl}'^ ruins the crop ; and, after a season of extra care and labor in 

 pruning and dressing, the cultivator finds himself in as bad a predicament 

 as the fox in the fable, and is compelled to cry "sour grapes." Varieties 

 of grapes that would mature early, possessing the superior qualities of 

 those cultivated under glass, and standing without protection in our severe 

 winters, are very desirable. One variety of this character would be a 

 fortune to a person who should be so lucky as to produce it. 



Our country abounds with wild grapes; some of the varieties are very 

 large and beautiful, of various colors, but all have a hard, acid pulp, with 

 a peculiar flavor, disagreeable to some tastes. We see no reason why as 

 great improvements may not be made, by taking the best of these wild 

 grapes as a basis, (there being a great difi'erence in them,) and impreg- 

 nating with the improved green-house varieties. 



The Seedling grape raised by Miss Diana Crehore, of Milton, is an 

 illustration of what may be done to this fruit by way of improvement. 

 This Seedling, for which the Society awarded a gratuity of five dollars, 

 was said to be a seedling of the Catawba, but at least two weeks earlier, 

 and of superior flavor, resembling the parent, but paler ; berry round, 

 almost without pulp, juicy, sweet, and of a rich flavor. Since this variety 

 was brought to notice, it has been much called for, but we do not learn 

 that any vines are yet propagated for sale. 



Peaches. — We are on the verge of the northern limits where this highly 

 esteemed fruit can be brought to perfection ; it is not strange, therefore, 

 that in some severe seasons this fruit fails. A few years back, our Peach 

 trees were nearly all destroyed, and many horticulturists were upon the 

 point of giving up the cultivation of them ; but, within a few years past, the 

 seasons have been more congenial to their growth, and fine crops have been 

 obtained, the flavor of the fruit being equal to that grown in any other part 

 of the country. It has been exceedingly pleasant to notice so many fine 

 seedling jieaches upon our tables within the last three years ; they have 

 been numberless, and many of the varieties very superior in size, beauty 

 and flavor. 



