SELECTION OF VAUIETIES TO PLAIST FOR TABLE OK FAMILY USE. 



17 



ing cheap rale?," have been practiced upon, all of which have failed to 

 produce plants from which buyers have obtained or can obtain good 

 results in the garden or vineyard. Cheap.. jjS may be acquired in va- 

 rious ways, and the buyer should learn tliat he Is always expected to 

 pay largely for the use of the " improvement.'^ 



.\pparent size may be very cheaply given by the distention produced 

 l.y linuid manure. Half the cost mny ue saved by Infrequent changes 

 of pots ; that is, by putting t)ie plant.< at once Into the largest size In 

 wliich they are to grow, instead of going through the regular grada- 

 lions. More may be saved by transferring the plants as soon as rooted 

 to the open ground. In both of these cases the plant will be without 

 the line fibre that constitutes their chief value. 



.\notlier half may be saved by omitting the use of stakes, and so 

 avoi.Iing the cost of stakes, of tying and removing of laterals. 



More than another half of the remaining cost may be saved by grow- 

 in;; four plants in the space that should be occupied by one. 



X plant called No. 1 may be grown, and often is, for twenty cents- 

 that will afford the producer much better rates of profit than a first, 

 rate re;il No. 1 will afford at fifty cents, while the latter will be found in 

 the result cheaper by much more than the coat of purchase. 



Although vines, by other processes, may be made as good and as 

 well prepared for immediate bearinpr as box layers, which has just been 

 show.1, they never are so made, and the circumstances of the case do 

 not j^ermit that they should be to any considerable extent. 



I>i all cases, to make them as good, they must he brougl-.t forward to 

 the bearing state under the most favorable circumstances, and the con- 

 rililons of their first future prosperity must be transported to purclias- 

 ers with them, in the form of the undisturbed soil in which they grew, 

 as in the case of the box layers. 



Thosfe layers are grown for different plans of training, some of tlicui 

 having but one strong bearing cane, and others two of equal strength. 

 Hy using such vines a trellis for the Thomery, or other good systems, 

 may be handsomely covered with strong canes the first season, and 

 some fruit, with a large crop, the second. At two years old the arms 

 will be formed as shown in Plate No. 20, Figures 1, 2, 3 ; and at three 

 years old the bearing courses will be fully established, as seen at Fig- 

 ure 4; the vines bearing uninterruptedly during the course of prepa- 

 ration. The cost of maintaimng the large vines during the three 

 years will be no more than for small ones, and the value of the fruit 

 that will be borne before good vines from single eyes will be in full 

 hearing, will more than pay the entire cost of the box laj-ers. They 

 are not only the most desirable because they immediately clothe the 

 trellis with beauty and furnish some excellent fruit, but they are the 

 most advantageous commercially for the worth of their early produce, 

 although the cost appears to be dear. To propagators they are dear, 

 costing both the fruit and life of the mother vine that is of full bearing 

 age. The canes of both the box layers and the nude layers of best se- 

 lection are strong enough to prune for the standards of a Thomery 

 trellis, including the bedding, so that arms may be grown the first 

 season. 



The best vines of all the dilTerent classes are so generallj' the cheap- 

 est, that it may be stated as a general rule. Purchasers never speak 

 with regret for having taken the best vines, but hundreds have re- 

 f rotted sot having taken them, even by the thousand, for vineyards as 

 well as for gardens. Very many have also had cause to regret not 

 having followed the directions for planting and management, as they 

 have informed me, but not one has yet complained of being misled by 

 Ihtm. 



It is now six years since the first edition of my Catalogue or Manual 

 of Instruction was published, and many thousands have been guided 

 by it in the purchase of vines, and in their treatment, and it is very 

 satisfactory to be called upon to make large additions for those who 

 desire to study the subject more thoroughly, while I have not found 

 cause for retniction either in the directions or in the description of the 

 varieties for wliich I brought the knowledge from my own investiga- 

 tions, and from the vines cultivated and managed under my own ob- 

 servation, and chiefly with my own haml.s. They were not only " ray 

 early observation and my last," but my all-day companions. The 

 compHnionship of the vines has been, for nearly Iialf a century, very 

 pleasant to me, with constantly increasing interest, and it should not 

 b.; regarded as surprising or unexpected that I have never been mis- 

 taken in tlie character of any of them, although my descriptions of 



their qualities and capabilities have been made with a degree of pro- 

 cision and minuteness that has never before been attempted. 



The extent to which the observations in the lona Catalogues have 

 been coi)led, affords some evidence that they have been suited to the 

 wants of the times, and some flattery should be taken ; but wanting 

 the extreme of benevolence and good nature, I feel disposed to com- 

 plain of the almost universal neglect to give credit, which should at 

 least be done where copy-right is taken. 



Some desperate attempts hare been made by changing a word or 

 sentence to avoid liability to an unpleasant charge, and when a man 

 mis-copies, in praising a grape, it is " perfectly cloying," instead of 

 " perfectly satisfying," the greater sin should obscure the less, and 

 the stealing of a chapter should be suffered to pass unreproved. 



The additions which I have been able to make through the kindness 

 of Mr. Mead, are very important, and g^e with very great clearness 

 and lucidity the main conditions upon which success both In garden 

 and vineyard depends. Mr. Mead has prepared himself for the posi- 

 tion that he now occupies, by many years of attentive study as well 

 as of the most extended observation throughout the entire extent of 

 the country. The selections made by him have been done under the 

 full knowledge of all that pertains to the whole listof native kinds, and 

 are worthy of attentive consideration. The Lecture ia very valuable. 



Selection of Varieties to plant for table or family use, 

 and some of the considerations which determine 

 the proper choice. 



A TABLE grape, to be valuable for constant use, or rather to be desir- 

 able for constant use by its goodness, and to grow upon the desires, for 

 the refreshment it affords, never sating the appetite or becoming op- 

 pressive and distasteful, must be vinous, refreshing, and rich, pure and 

 spicy, having nothing in its skin or flesh to offend or disgust, on the 

 most intimate acquaintance. 



The bases, or, more truly, the conjoined base of the wine and refresh- 

 ment are tartaric acid and sugar. The aromatics, which are recognized 

 by both the gustatory and the olfactory senses, are subordinate to the 

 vinous property, bit when pronounced and of the best quality, they 

 greatly increase both the restorative power and inspiriting effect, as 

 well as the sensuous deliglit. 



The properties named are all distinctly recognizable by attentive 

 observers, with the exception of the few whose perceptions are very 

 blunt and defective. But in addition to these pronounced qualities, 

 there are in the richest and best of grapes other exquisite harmonious 

 minglings, which neither the chemistry of the senses or of the laboia- 

 tory has yet been able distinctly to exUbit and point out, for which we 

 have no name but the superlative of excellence and delight that is 

 comprised in the name of the fruit. Thus with the Northern Spy Ap- 

 ple, the Muscat of Alexandria, the Red Frontignan, and the Delaware 

 grapes, we point out their more prominent and distinctive excelh-n- 

 cies, but are compelled to leave them half analyzed, and give their 

 name, as alone sufficient to suggest their whole chai-acter, which will 

 scarcely be intelligible except to those who know them. 



This harmonious excellence admits of no discordant offensiveness, 

 without destruction of the symmetry of character, upon which the 

 charming goodness depends. 



We may say, with scarcely a gi'ain of allowance, that we have such 

 peaches and pears, and strictly that we have such apples and grapes, 

 but the eminence in purity, as well as in power of invigoration, be- 

 longs to the grape, constituting it the most excellent of fruits by its 

 delight and benefits. 



In making the selections, there is a restriction to particular latitudes 

 for some of the very good kinds, in consequence of their want of ear- 

 liness in ripening, but the Delaware, which is the best of all, is, also, 

 the most hardy and productive in every region and locality in which 

 gi'apes of any value can be cultivated. Consequently, it will stand at 

 the head of every list of table grapes. 



The Diana, in consequence of its excellence in qualitj', when per- 

 fect, with Its earliness, hardiness, and great productiveness, is gene- 

 rally placed next to the Delaware. In size of bunch and berry, and iA 

 very late keeping. It exceeds the Delaware, but in earliness of ripen- 

 ing, and in precocity of bearing perfect flavored fruit, it is below it. 

 The first produce of young vines of every kind is always Imperfect ia 



