No. 4. 



JVeiv varieties of native Grapes. 



123 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 New varieties of Native Grapes. 



To THE Editor, — I find the very inte 

 resting subject started by Poma in the Au 

 gust number of the Cabinet, in relation to 

 the cultivation of new varieties of fruit, but 

 more particularly of the apple, has claimed 

 the attention of observing men. The letter 

 of E. Whittlesey, in the last number, is to 

 me an interesting one; and certainly de 

 serves the attention of our nurserymen and 

 farmers, who propagate their own fruit trees 

 We are all aware that it is not only a work 

 of time, but one requiring great patience to 

 introduce new varieties of fruit into our 

 nurseries. Their owners sow their seed, 

 and raise their trees to sell — and a person 

 about to set out a new fruit orchard, will be 

 very cautious in purchasing those of which 

 neither he nor his neighbours know any 

 thing. If told it is a new kind from a seed- 

 ling, but very valuable, he in a moment re- 

 collects that there is the tree, raised for sale, 

 and of course, and naturally enough con 

 eludes, that the favourable representation is 

 induced by a desire to sell, and the result is 

 that new kinds are bought very cautiously 

 and slowly. I do not by any means write 

 thus, to throw discouragement upon the ef 

 forts of nurserymen. I could hope they will 

 feel it a duty to the public, to make every 

 exertion to supply the place of the vanishing 

 kinds of fruit, with superior seedlings: it 

 will take time — require much patience, and 

 perhaps some sacrifice of present interest, 

 but they will eventually be successful, and 

 have the satisfaction of perceiving that they 

 have done the " State some service." I sat 

 down merely to introduce the following ex- 

 tracts from a letter in Hovey's Horticultural 

 Magazine for last month, from James Ca- 

 mak, an experienced gardener, respecting 

 new varieties of the grape. If deemed by 

 the editor of sufficient importance to fill a 

 page, it will gratify at least one constant 

 reader. 



While writing the above, one of my chil- 

 dren brought in a fine basket of Isabellas 

 and Catawbas, on which, I stopped my pen 

 to luxuriate, and really, if before I began to 

 write, I wondered that we did not, one and 

 all, plant a grape vine, I now wonder at it 

 still more. Uva. 



Philadelphia, Tenth mo. 14th, 1843. 



" The scions for grafting grape vines should 

 be collected when the vines are pruned, in 

 fall or spring, and kept in a cool, damp place, 

 until the time comes for using them — June, 

 in this climate. 



" The grape being a fruit so wholesome and 

 delicious, and withal so easily cultivated, it 

 is to be regretted that we have so few na- 

 tive varieties that are worth attention. Be- 

 sides the Isabella, Catawba, Herbemont's 

 Madeira, and Norton's Seedling, I know of 

 none in this part of the United States, that 

 are held in much esteem, for the Deve- 

 reux, which is a first-rate grape, and has 

 been claimed, for the last thirty years, as a 

 native of Georgia, is not so. I have the 

 Black Sauvignon, originally from France, 

 and the Constantia, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, as described by Kenrick, No. 23, page 

 252; and they are both identical with the 

 Devereux. And the Warrenton, which has 

 been also claimed as a native, is, beyond all 

 question, a foreign grape, having been pro- 

 nounced to be so by McCall, whose accuracy 

 cannot be doubted. 



" Why do not some of our nurserymen or 

 amateurs set about the production of new 

 varieties of the grape, from the seed of our 

 wildings'? They are all, of course, aware 

 of the success of M. Van Mons, in the pro- 

 duction of new varieties of the pear from 

 the seeds of the wild sorts ; and, without 

 doubt, understand the process employed by 

 him, as well as the theory on which that 

 process is founded, and the sound philosophy 

 by which the theory is sustained. Can there 

 be any doubt that the same theory and the 

 same philosophy will apply to all sorts of 

 fruit 1 And when it is remembered how 

 easily the vine is propagated by grafting, 

 and the certainty with which the fruit may 

 be had in the second year from the graft, 

 and this is contrasted with the length of 

 time Van Mons had to wait for specimens 

 of his pears, we should be induced to begin 

 the experiment at once. 



" If the experiment should be undertaken 

 by any one, I beg leave to suggest that the 

 principal care will have to be bestowed on 

 the seedlings. Let the seeds be sown in 

 January, in a hot-bed constructed according 

 to the directions of McMahon, Buist, Bridg- 

 man, or Kenrick, in their books respectively. 

 In April — in this climate — let the plants be 

 transferred to the open ground, the soil being 

 made very rich. As they grow, during the 

 summer, the main stem must be carefully 

 tied up to rods provided for the purpose, and 

 all side shoots taken off very carefully above 

 the first bud. If this is not done, the growth 

 will be very far from satisfactory. One 

 would hardly believe what a difference in 

 growth this treatment will make, until he 

 shall have tried it. When winter comes 

 on, the seedlings must be protected by hav- 

 ing leaves or straw thrown over them ; other- 

 wise many of them will perish. In January 



