456 



FARMERS' REGISTER— NATIVE AND FOREIGN GRAPES. 



the same year, which is frequently the case witli 

 this vine ; but the grapes seldom attain to maturi- 

 ty, unless in a season when the autumnal frosts are 

 long protracted." 



The berries of this grape are about three-fourths 

 of an inch in length, and between one-half and 

 three-fourtlis of an inch in diameter. They com- 

 mence ripening with me about the 25th of August, 

 and continue until sometime in October. 



Pr. Cat. No. 377, " Catawba. — Tliis is a large 

 grape, of a lilac color, and in some situations, co- 

 vered with a beautiful bloom, giving to it a blue- 

 ish j)urple appearance. The berries have a slight 

 musky taste and delicate flavor, hang loosely on 

 the bunches, which are of good size; and in tact, 

 they are beautiful to the eye, very abundant bear- 

 ers, make excellent wine, and are tolerable for the 

 table. The pulp diminishes and almost disappears 

 when they are left on the vine until they attain to 

 perfect maturity. The color of the fruit is much 

 varied according to its relative exposition ; such as 

 are fully exposed to the sun's rays is purple; that 

 but partially exposed is of a lilac hue, and those 

 clusters that are completely obscured and shadeil, 

 are nearly white, and the berries almost transpa- 

 rent ; even in this latter position, where, of course, 

 the maturation is retarded, the fruit is sweeter, but 

 is devoid of that musky flavor which is acquired 

 by that portion fully exposed to the sun and heat. 

 It is more early in ripening than the Bland, and 

 the berries and clusters are of equal, and often ra- 

 ther large size. Although this grape is said to be 

 from the Catawba, still there is much uncertainty 

 on that point, as I am informed by Thomas M 'Call, 

 Esq. of Georgia, a gentleman now far advanced 

 in years, that in his boyhood he knew the Cataw- 

 ba from its source to where it loses its name in that 

 of the fVateree, and (hat no such grape was known 

 there. Mr. Adlum states, that he procured it from 

 Mrs. Schell, at Clarksburg, Montgomery County, 

 Maryland, and that the family informed iiim it was 

 called by this name by the late JNlr. S. ; but they 

 knew not whence he procured it. The vine in 

 Mrs. Schell's garden has produced, in one season, 

 about eight bushels of grapes ; and eleven vines, 

 belonging to Joshua Johnsonstone, Esq. of the 

 same state, and which were reared from that o( 

 Mrs. S., have already produced about thirty bush- 

 els of fruit at one time. The grape called by Mr. 

 Adlum, Hed iMurray, and found by him wild in 

 Maryland, and also in Lycoming County, Penn- 

 sylvania, proved to be very similar to this kind. 

 Mr. A. considers this grape to be worth all others, 

 indigenous or exotic, as a wine grape, and that a 

 greater variety of wines may be made from it than 

 from any other." 



The berries of this grape are rather over one- 

 half inch in diameter. They ripen about the tiine 

 of the Isabella, and I find some prefer eating this 

 to the Isabella; but it is not so with me. 



I will make one more extract respecting these 

 grapes, which is from the Albany Argus, as re- 

 published in the Richmond Enquirer of 1829: — 

 " Of the wine grapes, Capl. Fay prefers the Cataw- 

 ba, concurring with Maj. Adlum of Georgetown, 

 in this respect. This is a native of North Caroli- 

 na, and is considered the best wine grape in tlie 

 United States. It is a very great and certain bear- 

 er. But of the grape, the preference is given, 

 among us, to the Isabella : indeed, of all the vari- 

 eties for our yards, piazzas and small gardens, it 



has obtained a decided preference. As an article 

 of diet, few fruits are so palatable, nutritious or 

 harmless, as the grape. If ripe, they may be free- 

 ly taken on the most delicate stomach, and in some 

 countries— say Italy, Switzerland and France — 

 they constitute, during their season, the most im- 

 portant article of diet. A gentleman assures us, 

 that twice, during attacks of severe bilious fever, 

 he literally lived upon Isabella grapes for a fort- 

 night; that he ate them without restraint, and 

 without any ill elTect ; and that they were the only 

 food his stomach craved, or retained without in- 

 jury." 



The JVhite Scuppernong grape is said to be a 

 native of the southern part of the United States. 

 In my attempts to raise this grape, 1 have been 

 very unfortunate, having repeatedly purchased 

 vines, but never succeeded in getting but one to 

 live before last spring, and that one was ingrafted 

 the year before upon a *S7oe grape, that had thrown 

 out a good many shoots a little below the surface of 

 the earth, and though many were inserted, only 

 one lived. I am told it will not succeed when in- 

 grafted upon our common vines. The Sloe, I ima- 

 gine, belongs to the Scuppernong family, for the 

 vine and foliage very much resemble the Scupper- 

 nong. The White Scuppernong, in the 9th vol. 

 of the American Farmer, is stated by a gentleman 

 living in North Carolina, to be of the "dioecious 

 species, and in order to obtain crops, it is necessa- 

 ry to have vines of both sexes." 



Some time after the publication of this piece, I 

 wrote to one of the most intelligent horticulturists 

 of our state, to know his opinion : in reply, he 

 said all his were females or bearing ones, and he 

 had not found it necessary to have both sexes, for 

 his bore abundantly. I hope some of the readers 

 of tlie Farmers' Register will give us some infor- 

 mation on tins subject, as this grape is held in such 

 high estimation to the south. Let us have some 

 facts: Are there no White Scuppernong vines to 

 the south, that are remote from all other grape 

 vines of every kind, and that are productive.'' 



As a description of this grape may be interest- 

 ing, I will give the shortest one I know — it was 

 written by a Virginian, Pr. Cat. No. 398, imme- 

 diately after the one written by a gentleman in 

 North Carolina. " The wood is smooth and re- 

 markably hard, rarely exhibiting that shaggy ap- 

 pearance of the bark usual with most other vines; 

 the bark of the old wood is of a light iron color — 

 that of the young wood, is of a bright hue, mark- 

 ed with small specks of a grayish white ; the leaf 

 is finely indented or serrated, and highly glazed, 

 both above and below ; it is tough and durable, re- 

 maining attached to the stem until the hardest frost. 

 The lierry is of a greenish white color, the skin of 

 a satin-like texture, varied by minute chocolate 

 colored dots. It is pulpy, but easily dissolves in 

 the mouth, and is of a honey-like sweetness, and 

 musky flavor and scent. The berries are congre- 

 gated in bunches of from two. to six each, the 

 weight of the largest being eighty grains, and the 

 smallest forty grains. The vine is a great grower 

 and abundant bearer ; its flowers have nootlor; 

 and it ripens its fruit here (Virginia) the last week 

 in Sejjtember. The fruit differs from the Black 

 Scuppernong only in respect to color." It appears 

 from the foregoing statement that the Scuppernong 

 does not ripen as early as the Isabella and Cataw- 

 ba ; if so, it would be valuable to cultivate with 



