4IO THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



peculiar in that the ripening season seems to vary from a few days after 

 Hartford to as late as Concord. It is earlier, comparatively, in the South 

 than in the North; that is, in cool summers it matures slowly. 



Telegraph, or Christine, as it appears to have first been called, is a 

 chance seedling which appeared about the middle of the last century in 

 the \-ard of a Mr. Christine, Hestonville, near Westchester, Chester County, 

 Pennsylvania. About i860 P. R. Freas, editor of the Germantown Tele- 

 graph, to whom fruit was sent, bestowed upon it the name of his paper, 

 which finally supplanted the original name. It was placed on the grape 

 list of the American Pomological Society fruit catalog in 1869 and removed 

 in 1899. Telegraph is apparently a Labrusca with a strain of Aestivalis. 



Vine vigorous, hardy, usually healthy, very productive. Canes unusually long, 

 medium to numerous; tendrils continuous, trifid to bifid. Leaves healthy, medium to 

 large, inclined to roundish, light green; lower surface grayish- white, pubescent. Flowers 

 fertile, open in mid-season or earlier; stamens upright. Fruit usually ripens soon after 

 Hartford but sometimes later, a fair shipper and keeper. Clusters medium to small, 

 often short, broad, cylindrical, blunt at ends, single-shouldered, very compact. Berries 

 intermediate in size, roundish to slightly oval on account of compactness of cluster, 

 dull black covered with a large amount of blue bloom, persistent. Skin intermediate 

 in thickness, tough, does not adhere to the pulp, astringent. Flesh greenish, tough and 

 solid, slightly foxy, pleasant flavor, sweet at skin to tart at center, fair to good in quality. 

 Seeds somewhat adherent and numerous, medium to above in size, variable in shape and 

 size. 



TO-KALON. 



(Labrusca, Vinifera.) 



I. Mag. Hon., 1:459. 1835. 2. .V. Y. Ag. Soc. RpL, 1847:353. 3. Mag. Hort., 21:42. 

 1855. 4. lb., 22:507. 1856. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1856:163. 6. Downing, 1857:345. 7. Am. 

 Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1858:72. 8. Horticulturist, 14:299. 1859. fig. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., i86o:Si. 

 10. lb., 1862:146. II. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862:90. 12. Gar. Mon., 5:73, 74. 1863. 13. Grant, 

 1864:11. 14. Gar. Mon., 8:362. 1866. 15. Grape Cult., 1:327. 1869. 16. Downing, 1869: 

 556. 17. Bush. Cat., 1883:139. 



Tlie Beautiful {16). Carter (4). Carirr (7, 10, 16, 17, of Boston 12). Spofford Seedling (16, !■;). 

 Wym.4N (3). Wyman (10, 13, 16, 17). 



The fruit characters of To-Kalon are so similar to those of Catawba 

 that it was hardly worthy of introduction. Beside duplicating the Catawba 

 in fruit the vines are not healthy, being very susceptible to mildew and 

 rot, the fruit drops badly, and the crop does not ripen well. The quality 

 of the fruit is very good, once it can be secured. A point in its fa^•or is 



