VINE. 



VINE. 



tions in the works of M'Intosh and other gar- 

 deners. Of the kinds of grapes best adapted 

 for culture under glass we may speak with 

 some confidence. These kinds are very nume- 

 rous great varieties of Chasselas great va- 

 rieties of Muskats many of Frontignac. But 

 we think that the labour and time are best re- 

 warded by the black Hamburgh, which, for its 

 excellence and its abundant bearing, may per- 

 haps be placed at the head of all the grape 

 family; by the Muscat of Alexandria, the fla- 

 VOOT of which is of surpassing richness, though 

 an uncertain and scanty bearer, and by one or 

 two varieties of the Frontignac. These are at 

 the head of their respective kinds, and none 

 of the imported grapes can be placed in any 

 sort of comparison with them. 



The cultivation of grapes in the open air is 

 of course cheaper and easier to farmers. 



The best kind of foreign grapes, such as are 

 above enumerated, may be successfully grown 

 in city gardens with much shelter and care, 

 and there are few gardens in which they would 

 not prosper. But as yet the foreign grape has 

 not succeeded in field cultivation, and accord- 

 ingly for this purpose we must employ other 

 varieties, which, though of inferior quality, 

 are either natives, civilized by cultivation, or 

 foreigners gradually acclimated. The sorts 

 which are most considered are the Scuppernon, 

 a vine of doubtful origin, which thrives well 

 and bears abundantly in North Carolina, but 

 as yet has made little progress to the north, 

 though worthy, we believe, of more extensive 

 experiments. Those most known to field cul- 

 tivation in the Middle States are the Alexan- 

 der, the Isabella, and the Catawba; and on 

 these our markets will probably rely for some 

 time. They may be cultivated in rows exactly 

 like Indian corn, with the plough and the hoe- 

 harrow; they do not require even as much 

 trouble as a field of Indian corn, and, instead 

 of being renewed and replanted every year, 

 the plants will last for many generations of 

 men. They require no covering in winter, but 

 will stand unharmed the severest frosts and 

 snows. 



On the whole, what we think should come 

 nextin the progress of American farming is, that 

 every farm-house should have its patch of grapes 

 as well as of peas or beans, of the improved 

 native grapes, and that by degrees the highest 

 kinds of foreign grapes should be acclimated, 

 so as to form a part of field cultivation. This 

 we believe entirely practicable, and to this we 

 invite the attention of farmers. 



Of foreign grapes two kinds are well known 

 in Virginia and other Southern as well as Mid- 

 dle States, namely, the Summer sweetwater and 

 the White sweetwater. Highly interesting com- 

 munications upon the subject of the vine cul- 

 ture in the United States will be found in the 

 American Farmer, Farmer's Register, and many 

 other valuable periodicals. 



Among the various species of grape-vines 

 found wild in the forests of the United States, 

 the following have been described by botanists. 



1. Fox-grape (Vitis labruska or Vitis vulpina'). 



The berries of this luxuriant vine grow in short 



clusters, and are about half an inch and often 



more in diameter, varying at maturity from near- 



1086 



ly black to dark amber or copper colour and 

 greenish- white. The flavour is musty and strong. 

 "All kinds of this grape," says Bartram, "possess 

 a strong, rancid smell and taste, have a thick 

 coriaceous skin, and a tough, jelly-like pulp or 

 tegument which encloses the seeds. Between 

 this nucleus and the skin is a sweet, lively 

 juice, but a little acerb or stinging to the mouth 

 if pressed hard in eating them. There is an- 

 cther property of this grape which alone is 

 sufficient to prove it to be the V. vulpina, that 

 is, the strong, rancid smell of its ripe fruit, 

 very like the effluvia arising from the body of 

 the fox, which gave rise to the specific name 

 of this vine, and not, as many have imagined, 

 from its being the favourite food of the animal; 

 for the fox (at least the American species) sel- 

 dom eats grapes or other fruit if he can get 

 animal food." "In the wild state," says Dr. 

 Darlington, " we find varieties in the fruit, and 

 in our gardens and vineyards we have grapes 

 under several names, which appear to be no- 

 thing more than varieties of this (or possibly 

 some of them may be hybrids') such as the 

 Isabella grape, the Schuylkill (called also Alexan- 

 der's and Tusker's grape"), the Catawba grape, and 

 Blond's grape. The two former of these are 

 nearly black, the two latter copper or amber 

 coloured with less of the musky flavour than 

 the others. The SchuylkiU and Catawba varie- 

 ties have been cultivated with the most suc- 

 cess in Chester county." (Flora Cestrica.) 



2. Little summer grape (V. eestivalis'), called 

 also the Common blue grape and Bunch grape. 

 In this most common of all American wild 

 grapes the berries are round and small, gene- 

 rally about one-fourth of an inch in diameter, 

 of a deep blue or nearly black colour, covered 

 when ripe with a thick bloom or powder. Their 

 flavour when mature, which is generally after 

 the first frost, is of an agreeable sprightly acid, 

 "This species," says Dr. Darlington, "presents 

 several varieties ; some of them with a larger 

 fruit, which is much esteemed, and well worthy 

 of culture. It sometimes attains to a great 

 height in rich woodlands ; the upper branches 

 sustaining it by clinging to the limbs of tall 

 trees, and gradually ascending, whilst the older 

 branches below die and drop off, leaving the 

 stem naked and suspended, somewhat resem- 

 bling a topgallant halyard, belayed at the root." 



3. Chicken grape (V. cordifolia and V. labrusca 

 of Marsh, and V. serotina of Bartram), also 

 called Winter grape and Bermudian grape. 

 This kind has very small berries, not so large 

 as currants. They are very late in ripening, 

 and, when mature, are nearly black, and pos- 

 sessed of so much acerbity, that even birds 

 will not eat them until they have undergone 

 melioration from autumnal frosts. This vine 

 is remarkable for its sweet flowers. It mounts 

 to the top of trees, and its stems and twigs are 

 more hard and woody than those of the preced- 

 ing variety, or Summer grape. 



4. Bull or Bullet grape ( V. taurina of Bartram, 

 and V. vulpina of Linnaeus and Walter). This 

 excellent grape is a native of the Southern 

 States, and in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the 

 Floridas is called the Bull grape. It is pro- 

 nounced by Bartram and others a distinct va- 

 riety from that which it resembles in external 



