304 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DIANA GRAPE. 



This valuable grape was raised several years ago, 

 by Mrs. Diana Crehorc, of Milton, in this vicinity, 

 from seed of the Catawba, For several years the 

 vine was neglected, and the fruit, being of course 

 inferior, for want of good culture and management, 

 attracted but little attention. After some years, the 

 vine was primed, and then it produced some fine 

 bunches of fruit, which Mrs. Crehorc sent to the 

 exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety in 1843. The fruit was so fine and early, that 

 the committee on fruits awarded to the worthy origi- 

 nator a gratuity of five dollars. 



This mark of attention attracted a little notice ; yet 

 for several succeeding years but litth; attention was 

 paid to this new variety, as some pomologists sup- 

 posed that it did not differ materially from the Ca- 



tawba, and that its earliness might be owing to a 

 warm location ; yet a few of the vines were distrib- 

 uted, and for two years past they have borne very 

 fine fruit, in different locations, which seems to settle 

 the question as to its merit and its time of ripening. 

 When we published the American Fruit-Book, we 

 had not learned the true habits of this variety ; for 

 we stated that it ripened about the time of the Isa- 

 bella, and that was the general opinion at that time. 

 We also stated that it was vigorous, and mentioned 

 some facts that tend to show that it is a prodigious 

 grower. We had seen a very great growth on the 

 original vine, and our own vines, which we raised 

 from cuttings generously presented by Mr. Crehore, 

 were in a moist, strong soil, where they made a 

 great growth, so that these circumstances, with our 



