The ITerbemont Grape. 



173 



thp: herbemont grape. 



By John J. Werth. 



As far as my information goes, tlie 

 following presents the most authentic 

 history of this very valuable variety of 

 our cultivated grapes : 



Mr. Nicholas Herbemont, a native 

 of France, but for many years a resi- 

 dent of Columbia, South Carolina, and 

 an enterprising and enthusiastic ama- 

 teur cultivator of the grape, wrote to 

 the editor of the Farmers' Register^ 

 published in Richmond, Va., under date 

 of Nov. 15th, 1834, as follows : 



" You ask me, sir, what is the origin 

 of the vine called the Herhemont's 

 Madeira. I found it cultivated in this 

 place (Columbia) when I first came to 

 it. I had for a long time reasons to 

 believe it a native vine ; but Mr. 

 Thomas McCall, of Georgia, to whom 

 the culture of the vine is much in- 

 debted, assures me that he knows it to 

 have been imported from France. Its 

 vigorous growth and perfect acclima- 

 tion, and my having received it from 

 several different quarters as a native, 

 seemed to warrant my supposition that 

 it was a native, but I now have no 

 doubt of its foreign origin." 



During the next month, December, 

 1834, Mr. Herbemont wrote as follows : 



" Since I Avrote you last I have 

 learned more concerning the origin of 

 the vine called Herbemont's Madeira. 



" It certainly has been received from 

 France under the different names of 

 Muscat Gris, Pirieaii, and Maurillon; 

 and also from Madeira, but under 

 what name I am not informed. It 

 changes some of its characters so much 

 in this country as scarcely to be known 



again, for here it grows to the size and 

 with the vigor of our strongest native 

 varieties. The truth is, that the 

 nomenclature of the vine is in such a 

 chaotic state that the labor of twenty 

 Hercules would be required to clear 

 it up." 



This looks very nearly conclusive of 

 its foreign origin ; and yet I lean to 

 the opinion that it is a true ^Estivalis 

 of our Southern forest. This opinion 

 is not only fortified by the habits and 

 manner of growth of the vine, and the 

 structure of the leaf, but I have fallen 

 in with strong evidence, here and 

 there, since Mr. Herbemont's death, 

 sustaining the native origin of this 

 grape. II. W. Ravenel, Esq. , eminent 

 authority in the classification of South- 

 ern grapes, in his essay on grapes read 

 before the "Aiken (S. C.) Vine-grow- 

 ing and Horticultural Association," 

 Sept., 1859, classes the Herbemont (or 

 Warren) along with the Lenoir, Pauline, 

 Norton, and other well known varieties 

 of that class, as an jEstivalis ; and the 

 editor of the Farmer and Planter, of 

 South Carolina, in commenting on the 

 fact, states that the late Major Guig- 

 nard, of that State, repeatedly in- 

 formed him that the Herbemont (then 

 of course unnamed) was introduced 

 into Columbia as early as 17'J.S, and 

 was propagated from a then old vine 

 growing on the plantation recently 

 owned by the late Judge linger. Major 

 Guignard knew nothing of the origin 

 of the parent vine ; but of its identity 

 he was perfectly assured. Col. Martin, 

 of Georgia, assured me in 1«G3 that 



