Herhemont. 



DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



Herbert. 135 



limestone soil. It flourishes in Texas, Georgia, 

 South Carolina, and Florida, but generally- 

 only on poor hill-land. Should not be planted 

 further north than the Ohio and Lower Mis- 

 souri Rivers, and even there should be covered 

 in winter. For those who have gone to this 

 trouble it has nearl}^ alwaj'S produced a splen- 

 did crop, and has been so enormously pro- 

 ductive that it richly repaid the little addi- 

 tional labor, except where rot destroyed the 

 crops : and it maj^ be mentioned that the rot 

 on the Herbemont and its family is different 

 from the rot which attacks the Labrusca. In 

 Southern Texas, where the Herbemont is a 

 perfect success, grape culture is gradually 

 but steadily extending, so that, at no distant 

 future, vine-culture will become one of the 

 leading industries of its people. M. Les- 

 piault reports : " Le vin de I'Herbemont fait 

 en blanc est excellent et pent rivaliser avec 

 les vins blancs de nos meilleurs crus." At 

 the Exposition of the International Congress 

 at Bordeaux, M. Lepine exhibited a Herbe- 

 mont vine, whose two arms had forty bunches 

 on one and sixty bunches on the other, all 

 perfectly ripened. The sight of this superb 

 and immensely productive sample made many 

 converts of former opponents of the Ameri- 

 can vine. Bunches very large, long, shoul- 

 dered and compact ; berries small, black, with 

 a beautiful blue bloom ; skin thin, flesh sweet, 

 without pulp, juicy and high-flavored; ripens 

 late, a few days after Catawba. Roots of me- 

 dium thickness, with a smooth, hard liber, 

 resisting to the Phylloxera in France as well 

 as here. Canes stout, heavy and long: lat- 

 erals well-developed. Wood hard, with a 

 medium-sized pith, and firm outer bark. Vine 

 a very vigorous grower, with the most beau- 

 tiful foliage ; not subject to mildew, and but 

 little to rot ; in rich soil it is somewhat tender, 

 makes too much wood, and seems less pro- 

 ductive, while in warm and rather poor lime- 

 stone soil, with southern exposure, it is gen- 

 erally healthy, and enormously productive, 

 except in very unfavorable seasons, when all 

 half-tender varieties fail. Werth, of Rich- 

 mond, Virginia, says: I have found the most 

 uniforml}' abundant, health}^, and thoroughly 

 ripened crop, for successive seasons, on low, 

 imperfectly drained, and rather compact soil. 

 Eisenmeyer, of Mascoutah, 111., finds sum- 

 mer pruning, promptly performed at the close 

 of the flowering season, very effective in se- 

 curing a fine crop of Herbemont grapes. 

 The accompanying illustration gives an idea 

 of the beaut}^ and richness of the bunch. 

 Specific gravity of must about 90°. The pure 

 juice pressed, without mashing the grapes, 

 makes a lohite wine, resembling delicate 

 Rhenish wines : if fermented on the husks 



about forty-eight hours, it will make a very 

 fine pale red wine. The French wine judges 

 at Montpellier, pronounced it "assez agre- 

 able, rappellant le gout des vins de Test de 

 la France." 



In former years but very few seedlings of the 

 Herbemont have been raised ; One Herbemont 

 seedling is mentioned by Dr. Warder in his des- 

 cription of the "Longworth School of Vines." 

 The PawZme (q. v.) may be a seedling of Herbe- 

 mont, also the Kaifs Seedling, from Kentucky, 

 and the Muskogee, but little is positively known of 

 these varieties. 



The McKee was looked upon as a Herbemont 

 seedling, with fruit larger than Herbemont and 

 about a week earlier, but, after careful compari- 

 son, it is pronounced as identical with Herbemont. 

 Onderdonk does not pronounce it to be the Her- 

 bemont itself, showing some difference between 

 the two ; but not sutlicient to make it a distinct 

 variety. 



In the previous edition (1883) of this Catalogue 

 we stated: "If we intended to raise new seed- 

 lings (which we do no«), we would select the 

 Herbemont as one parent in preference to almost 

 any other variety." Our esteemed friend. Prof. 

 Munsou, the eminent originator of new valuable 

 varieties, following our hint, pi'oduced a large 

 number of seedlings and hybrids from the Herbe- 

 mont among whom he selects as best 1, the ^^ Her- 

 mann Jaeger^^ (see descr. p. 138) , 2, the "■Lindherbe^'' 

 (Lindley & Herbemont) : 3, the ^'Delicious (Post 

 Oak X Herb.) ; 4, '■^Mrs. 3Iunson'' (Neosho X 

 Herb.) ; 5, the "Muench'' (Neosho X Herb.) ; 6, 

 the '■'Perrif (Post Oak X Herb.) ; 7, " Vmita'' 

 (also Post Oak X Herb.) ; 8, the ''Neva Munson''^ 

 (Neosho X Herb.), 9 and 10, the "-Black Herbe- 

 mont''' and the ''Onderdonk'' (pure Herbemont 

 Seedlings) . 



Herbert. (Labr.-Hybr.) Rogers' No. 44. 

 A Mammoth Sage Seedling impregnated by 

 Black Hamburg. This is probably the best of 

 the black varieties of Rogers' hybrids, none 

 proved of greater merit than this one. The 

 vine is very vigorous, healthy, and hardly ; 

 bunch large, beautifully shouldered, rather 

 long, and moderately compact ; berry large 

 size, round, sometimes a little flattened, 

 BLACK ; flesh very sweet and tender, purely 

 flavored and free from coarseness or foxiness 

 either as to the taste or smell. Early and 

 productive. 



Campbell says: "It has so many good 

 qualities, it should be better known and more 

 extensively planted both for home use and for 

 a showy and excellent market grape. If I 

 were asked to name another black grape, 

 hybrid or native, that I consider equal in all 

 respects to the Herbert, I could not do it!" 



Hercules. {Labr.-Hybr.') A seedling from one of 

 Rogers' Hybrids raised bj^ the late G. A.Ensenber- 

 ger, Bloomington, Ills. (Said to have been from 

 a seed of a California grape, but undoubtedly 

 from one of Rogers' Hybrids, as it possesses all 

 the ear-marks of these, and none of the character- 

 istics of Vinifera blood. Starnes.) The Vine is 

 very vigorous and productive, developes very 



