1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



503 



autumn, with an abundance of ripe clusters from 

 week to week, giving us every opportunity to t€st 

 its qualities with the Isabelhi and Diana from our 

 own grounds, and our opinion was formed after 

 repeated trials of the fruit. The vine in it.s bear- 

 ing state we had never seen, but knowing that 

 whatever jNIr. Bull might state in regard to it 

 could be relied upon, we had no hesitation in re- 

 commending the Concord as in every respect a 

 most superior grape. 



But no new fruit has ever yet been introduced 

 which has not found its defamers, and with the 

 Concord grape there seems to have been uncom- 

 mon pains used by those who never tasted it, to 

 decry its excellence. A correspondent (anony- 

 mous, of course) of the Horticulturist stated that 

 "the grape, either in bunch or berry, was not one- 

 third as large as pictured" in the beautiful engra- 

 ving which we gave of it. We happened to have 

 had a cluster of the fruit painted last September, 

 by our artist, Mr. Sharp, which was the exact size 

 of the specimen, and it v,as so long we could not 

 use it in the size of our page, but had to take a 

 copy of a smaller bunch made previously by an- 

 other artist. We only mention this here to show 

 the absurdity of such statements, as we have seen 

 bunches of the Isabella six incheslong, and weigh- 

 ing one pound each. 



The Concord grape vine, hoAvever, in a full 

 bearing state, we had not seen, and our visit to 

 Mr. Bull was made to examine for ourselves its 

 growth, habit, vigor, and general characteristics. 

 After what we have said of it alrcadj^ our friends 

 may be surprised when we say, the " half was not 

 told." AVe were never more astonished ourselves. 

 Growing on the thin and hungry sand, on the side 

 of a steep declivity, we found the Concord in the 

 most vigorous and beautiful condition ; true, with 

 some of the vines, and there are several from three 

 to eight years old, Mr. Bull has tried to see what 

 can bo done with good treatment, which they 

 have never before had ; and therefore they have 

 been well manured and watered, without which, 

 with such a large crop upon them, they must 

 have half perished in this dry summer. But there 

 were vines with and without good management, 

 on purpose to show what they would do under 

 the most ordinary treatment, and all who may 

 take the pains to visit Mr. Bull will see for them- 

 selves. 



We found the old parent vine one mass of 

 branches, foliage, and fruit ; some of the leaves 

 measured thirteen inches in breadth, and the clws- 

 tQXB seven and a half inches long and five and a 

 half broad acToss the shoulders ; this, too, on the 

 8th of August, one month before maturity! In- 

 deed, the clusters fully averaged in size those on 

 vines of the Hamburg under glass. Two vines 

 four years planted out, and running over a trel- 

 lised arbor, liad each about s?\r/y bunches, several 

 of them of the size just named. This was alto- 

 gether too large a crop for vines of that age to 

 bear ; thirtji clusters eacli, or sixty on lioth, would 

 be an ample crop ; but Mr. Bull intends that all 

 may know what the vine will do ; and that the 

 grapes may be tasted freely, ho declines to reduce 

 the number, though it may greatly increase the 

 size and beauty of the clusters. Not a speck of 

 mildew nor rot has been seen, and tlie foliage ap- 

 pears to be so tliick and vigoi'ous, that even the 

 thrip seems to keep shy of tliis variety, preferring 



the tender foliage of the Isabella. Of the hardi- 

 ness of the Concord we can only say, that, with 

 the thermometer at 2S deg. beloiv zero, last win- 

 ter, not an inch of wood was injured ; while the 

 Isabella was killed in some parts of Concord near- 

 ly to the ground. 



Mr. Bull has the Isabella in a most favorable 

 situation on the southwesterly side of his house, 

 trained to a trellis, slightly manured ; yet here, 

 — and the comparison for earliness and even qual- 

 ity should always be made from the same ground, 

 — it never fully matures a crop. The Concord, 

 everywhere, is growing on open trellises, or scram- 

 bling without support over the ground. 



The successful issue of this first attempt has in- 

 duced Mr. Bull to go largely into the growth of 

 seedlings, and he has now upwards of 2,000 plants 

 of various ages, from the sowing of this year, to 

 those four years planted, and nearly in a bearing 

 state. We examined the foliage of many of them, 

 and cannot but think that some decidedly improved 

 varieties will be produced. Much time and labor 

 will Ije consumed in testing fully their qualities, 

 but Mr. Bull intends to do so, and we doubt not 

 a discerning public will reward him in proportion 

 as his results are important. 



We have said nothing about the Concord as a 

 wine grape ; we are not ourselves, neither is Mr. 

 Bull, sufdciently acquainted with wine-making to 

 form an opinion of what a real wine grape should 

 be to supply this ; but so far as he has tried, and 

 good judges have tasted his wine, it would appear 

 that the Concord will be the wine grape. We 

 drank some of his wine made in 1852, which we 

 thought exceedingly pleasant and higli flavored ; 

 its only fault was its sweetness. Yet Mr. Bull 

 put only four pounds of sugar to twenty bottles of 

 the juice, which quantity was obtained from one 

 iws/ie/ of- the grapes ? thus showing that it sup- 

 plies that great desideratum for a wine grape, 

 "possessing sugar in abundance. ' ' Another year, 

 when his crop will be many bushels, if nothing 

 happens, he intends to have a quantity of the wine 

 made by some experienced man, in order to test 

 its value for that purpose. 



We need scarcely add, after what we have said, 

 that Mr. Bull's grounds are of the lightest de- 

 scription of soil ; so thin, indeed, that we have 

 wondered almost tliat he should attempt to achieve 

 great results. A warm exposure and a dry sul> 

 soil are certainly important points in the growth 

 of the grape; but when these are overbalanced by 

 a soil so porous that it will scarcely hold the least 

 moisture, it becomes a question whether a more 

 fertile [dace, less favorably located, would not af- 

 ford more satisfaction to the cultivator. 



Mr. Bull has in contemjihition niau^' improve- 

 ments upon his place, whirh, with some furthev 

 account of his new seedling, we hope to notice 

 again at some future day. — Hovey's Maga'jne, 



I^" The Vermonters claim that tlu'iy's is tlie 

 model State. The Rutland Herald makes out its 

 case in this wise : 



"There is but one city in this State, and not 

 one soldier. Wc have no theatres nor mobs. We 

 liave no police, and not n murder has been commit' 

 ted in this Stale within the last ten yrars, AVe have 

 no museums, opera-houses, nor crystal palaces, 

 but we have bonii\s, genuine homes, that are the 

 centre of tlie world to its ininatefi, for which the 



