808 



The Grape Culturist. 



lioblo history. It kept alive and per- 

 petuated a lingering interest in Amer- 

 ican Grape culture, for a long interval, 

 after the failure of foreign varieties 

 and before the general introduction of 

 the Catawba. Besides that, it is useful 

 as the type of a class, and for refer- 

 ence in descriptions. 



The Delaware did admirably in wood, 

 foliage and fruit. We hope much from 

 that grape here. It shows no sign of 

 disease whatever. Maxatawney is 

 scarce with us, but excites high admira- 

 tion. Concord showed some rot, but 

 is " a big thing," and has the popular 

 verdict. Herbemont, from some inex- 

 iplicable cause, was much affected by 

 •mildew. 



But the surest things we have are 

 Norton's Virginia and Cynthiana. They 

 grow with remarkable vigor, fruit 

 abundantly, and are hardy in every 

 particular. As I said before, the birds 

 will not allow us to let them hang to 

 perfection. They attack the luscious 

 bunches, and mangle them until the fer- 

 menting juices give the vineyard the 

 • smell of the wine-press, and invite 

 myriads of wasps, bees and 3ellow 

 j'ackets to the feast. We can only hope 

 the ingenuity of man will invent some 

 'efficient bird-scarer. There is not shot 

 enough in St. Louis to thin them pei'- 

 ceptibly. That is, one would think so 

 to see them. The worst of it is, that 

 our grand favorite, the mocking-bird, 

 is the ringleader and principal sinner. 

 But little wine has, as yet, been 

 made. Our vineyards are mostly 

 young, planted since the war, and in 

 the hands of amateurs, who have not 

 made sufficient preparation. Next year 

 presses, cellars, and c«sks will be in 

 readiness. 



I continue seeding the grape, in the 

 hope of making some valuable contri- 

 bution to the science before I die. I 

 fear, howevei', the Labruscas have 

 reached their highest development in 

 the Catawba. Diana and lona are 

 good, but on the whole scarcely supe- 

 rior. I p.iy most attention to seeding 

 our best wild grapes. This fall I am 

 also sowing seeds of the Cynthiana 

 and Herbemont. 



After all, does Nature ever sport in 

 the production of varieties? May it 

 not be that all new varieties are real 

 hybrids accidentally produced by some 

 of the subtile processes of nature, 

 through the winds or insects, or in some 

 other way which eludes our observation ? 

 I suppose Darwin treats of this in his 

 new book, which I have not yet seen. 

 From doubting wiiether there be any 

 real hybrids at all, I have come to im- 

 agine that all new varieties of fruit from 

 seed may perhaps be hybrids, resulting 

 from the unerring laws of nature. Her 

 work-shops are very secret, but we can- 

 not be sure that blind chance is one of 

 her journeymen. In this view I am 

 throwing together and intermingling 

 vines of all varieties upon trellises, in- 

 cluding wild vines from the woods, se- 

 lected with care. It may be that seeds 

 from the latter may thus catch an im- 

 pregnation, and be more apt to give 

 useful results than if grown in the old 

 fields or forests. Certainly, forced hy- 

 bridization would seem more certain, 

 but I am not sure of making nor that 

 any one can make the proper combina- 

 tion, even if skilled in the process. 

 Chance may do that best, 



I receive the '-Culturist " regularly, 

 and always read it with avidity from 

 cover to cover. 



Truly yours, Jno. R. Eakin. 



