l62 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



reproached for his deception he denied that this variety was a native and con- 

 tinued to assert that he had secured it from the Cape of Good Hope. In this 

 he was strongly supported by Dufour who says: " I will also try to save the 

 character of our Cape grapes from being merely wild grapes, because some 

 are now found in the woods." Legaux's advertisement of this variety had 

 the effect of making it known at least and it is the opinion of writers of that 

 day that many were induced to try this grape under the supposition that 

 it was from the Cape of Good Hope who would have scorned it had they 

 supposed it to be a native. It came to be considerably planted in all parts of 

 the United States; was early introduced into the West and preceded the 

 Catawba as the popular grape around Cincinnati. It was found worthless 

 in New England and New York, the season not being long enough to mature 

 the fruit. With the introduction and dissemination of Catawba it was 

 gradually dropped from cultivation, the Catawba being superior in quality, 

 more resistant to rot and mildew and slightly earlier. It is now unknown 

 and it is doubtful if there are any living vines in cultivation. 



Alexander is generally considered a variety of Labrusca but there 

 is much evidence to show that it is a hybrid of Labmsca and Vinifera. 

 This was the opinion of some of the earlier writers but later it was dis- 

 credited. Bartram gives as one of the distinguishing characters of Vinifera 

 and American vines that the first show oval berries while the latter do 

 not, but he makes an exception of Alexander. Why this should be an 

 exception does not seem apparent unless it be credited to hybridity. Fur- 

 thermore, the season of Alexander, which is very late, would also indicate 

 foreign blood; a grape native of the vicinity of Philadelphia would suj)- 

 posedly be able to ripen itself in that locality, a thing that the Alexander 

 seldom did perfectly, and it is spoken of in southern Indiana as being very 

 late. Its place of origin (" in the vicinity of an old vineyard of European 

 kinds ") would indicate that there was an opportunity for hybridization to 

 take place. The descriptions strongly suggest some of the coarser-textured 

 of Rogers' hybrids. 



This solution, if it be accepted, would account for the difference of 

 opinion as to its origin. Bartram and Prince could see enough of the char- 

 acters of the native in a hybrid so that they could be deceived into claiming 

 it as a native, and Dufour on the other hand could see enough of the Vinifera 



