78 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



Prince Edward Co., Va., about the year 1812. I received 

 it from Virginia at Hermann, Mo., as early as 1852, and 

 made some very fine wine of it in good seasons, though it sel- 

 dom ripened its wood well, and proved too tender for that 

 severe climate. Here it seems in its proper latitude, as it al- 

 ways ripens its wood. Vine, the strongest grower I know ; 

 wood, short jointed, blueish-red; bunch small, compact, 

 shouldered; berry small, purplish-lilac, not very juicy, but 

 high flavored and spicy. Leaf, heart shaped, not lobed, light 

 green. above, greenish white below, young shoots downy. I 

 am inclined to believe it the most valuable stock we have for 

 grafting, though not willing to recommend it as a direct pro- 

 ducer. 



These varieties all belong to the so called Southern divis- 

 ion of the /Estivalis class. The Northern division, to which 

 the Norton's Virginia and Cynthiana belong, have not, so far, 

 proved a success here, though producing fine red wines in 

 Missouri and Virginia. The climate seems to be too dry for 

 them, the berries and bunches are very small and dry, and 

 the leaves do not seem to be so healthy. I hardly think they 

 will be worthy of cultivation here, especially as the wine they 

 produce is not near so good as in Missouri and Virginia. 



Perhaps the easiest and cheapest plan to grow the /Estivalis 

 for stocks would be to sow their seeds. In connection with 

 this I will say that the experiments I have made show a de- 

 cided tendency in the case of the Lenoir to go back to the 

 original type, the plants not showing as much vigor as could 

 be expected from the parent stock. In the Herbemont seed- 

 lings, however, there seems to be a great tendency to sport, 

 /. e. produce manifold varieties, but most of them showing 

 great vigor and fine growth, while their root system was per- 

 fect; a large tap root, going straight down, with but few di- 

 verging roots, and these with the same downward tendency. 



