A Visit to Air. Bull. 



13 



very desirous to see the new seedlings; 

 and these were shown to us with the 

 greatest freedom, and their merits 

 and peculiarities fully explained and 

 set forth. The Concord grape is 

 certainly a vast improvement upon 

 the native grape from which it came ; 

 but it is eclipsed, wo think, by several 

 of its own children. Two of these des- 

 cendants are of especial merit, though 

 perhaps not better than some which 

 the originator does not yet choose to 

 send out. Those two are the Cot- 

 tage and the Una, the former black, 

 and the latter yellowish green. They 

 are both of excellent quality, and the 

 Una is an especially attractive grape. 

 It is claimed that the Cottage is two 

 weeks eai'lier in time of ripening than 

 the Concord, and that the Una is 

 only a week behind its companion. 



Among other seedlings which 

 we saw and tasted, was a very large 

 and excelllent golden green grape, 

 of fine size and shape, and doubtless 

 a valuable acquisition ; an excellent 

 black grape, No. 51, we think, of ex- 

 treme earliness; and a grape, or more 

 than one, without perhaps aparticle of 

 fibrous centre or unripe pulp. Jjoth Mr. 

 Bull's visitors were verj- much struck 

 Avith this yet unnamed variety. The 

 flesh of this grape breaks down under 

 the pressure of the tongue ; and the 

 seeds alone are left, just as is the case 

 with the best foreign kinds. Another 

 seedling was shown to us, with dark 

 and somewhat astringent juice, from 

 which an excellent port Avine of great 

 body and high character has been 

 made. This is a grape from which 

 we shall expect important results. 



Various other seedling grapes were 

 examined, tested and tasted by us, but 



we cannot give all the details of their 

 characteristics. 



We saw enough to make us certain,, 

 that Mr. Bull has produced, from the* 

 tough, acid and inedible grape of our 

 woods, several varieties that cannot 

 help making a great impression upon 

 all wine growei's, as soon as they are 

 disseminated and become better 

 known. In some, the color has 

 been changed from a lustrous 

 black to a gold green with a pearly 

 bloom ; in others only a trace of the 

 fibrous centre of the native is left ; 

 and in one, at least, this fibrous por- 

 tion is completely wanting. Xew 

 wine making characteristics have 

 been introduced; the form of the 

 bunch and berry improved, and all 

 this has been done without giving up 

 an atom of the native vigor and har- 

 diness. (We believe Mr. Bull sacrifices 

 without mercy any seedling that is 

 not entirely hardy, and capable of 

 taking care of itself through our se- 

 vere winters.) The Concord grape 

 useful as it is, is but one link in the 

 chain, or, we may better say, a step- 

 ping stone to greater results. Mr. 

 Bull's experimental garden isja sandy 

 hillside. The soil is verj' poor in orga- 

 nic matter, being really no better than 

 many of our hills and fields that support 

 nothing but short pasture grass and 

 a few pine trees ; but it is rich in iron, 

 — a fact upon which Mr. Bull lays 

 considerable stress. The vine gets 

 a little bone dust and ashes each year, 

 but, we believe, no other manxire. 

 ,Mr. Bull believes neither in trenching 

 or high manuring ; and is even afraid, 

 to start his grape- seeds by arti- 

 ficial heat; lest he should do some- 

 thing towards enfeebling the plants 



