RommeVs ISeedl. 



DESCRIFPION OF VARIETIES. 



,S(dei 



175 



Rommel's Seedlings. Few persons have been 

 as successful in the production of valuable, hardy 

 and healthy seedling-grapes, adapted to general 

 cultivation in a large section of this country, as 

 Jacob Rommel, of Morrison, Mo. His grapes 

 cannot rival those of Rogers or Ricketts in beauty 

 and in fine quality as a fruit for the table or for 

 family use, but they far surpass them in vigor and 

 productiveness, and are of good quality, especially 

 for wine and brand}'. Those named and dissem- 

 inated are described in this Catalogue. See 

 Ambek, Beattv, Eiaiua, Etta, Faith, Mon- 



TEFIOKE, PEAKL, TKANSFARENT, WilDING. 



Besides these, he has raised and fruited for sev- 

 eral seasons (juite a number of seedlings, from 

 Taj'lor and from his Elvira, which promised to be 

 valuable, especially for wine, but grape culture 

 was very discouraging, on account of black rot, 

 which became almost destructive in his locality. 

 Moreover he found that those to whom he had 

 sent of his new seedlings for testing, requesting 

 only for rendering in time a true account as to 

 their doings, did not report; none encouraged 

 him as we did, In 1880, buying the wood of his 

 original vine. Taylor beedliug No. 14, named by 

 us. with his consent. " 3/oh/^/o/v " (q. v.) ; thus 

 discouraged, he himself paid no further attention 

 to his varieties, excepting Elvira (see descr. p. 

 124), which we introduced for him in 1875 and 

 which soon became, now is and will long remain 

 one of the leading white wine producing grapes 

 of this country. 



The jE'?y/m is less afflicted by rot, even in unfav- 

 orable seasons, than most other varieties, and is 

 so enormoush^ productive, that it always yields a 

 satisfactory crop, and it makes a very palatable 

 light wine which can also be blended with other 

 grape juice of anj' preferred flavor. For red (vine 

 there is again one of Rommel's seedlings, the 

 Montffiorc, which is very reliable, not prone to rot, 

 and makes a very nice Claret wine, not as heavy 

 as Norton's or Cynthiana, but mixed with these 

 makes them more pleasant. Had friend Rommel 

 never produced any other grape than Elcira and 

 Montfifiorp his name would ever gratefully be re- 

 membered by our vinters. In his honor Prof. 

 Munson has named one of his fine new varieties 

 Bommel, and Hermann Jaeger designates one of 

 his as Elvira Xo. 100. 



Rotlirovk. {Lahr.) S^ee Alexander, page 84. 



Ruby. (Hi/hr.) One of George Haskell's Seed- 

 lings (see remarks, p. 132) which Samuel Miller 

 had on trial at Bluffton. Mo., and about which he 

 writes us : It has now borne (December, 1893) two 

 years, and is so fine that I intend propagating it. 

 ]'i)ie hardy and very vigorous, bears a most ex- 

 cellent grape; above medium in hvnch and hprr;/; 

 a regular ruby in color (hence the name), and in 

 quality unsurpassed . 



Rnlamler or St. Genevieve, {^^st. x ) 

 Syn., A:viouREUx, Red Elben. What we call 

 liere the Rulauder is not the same vine known 

 by that name in German^', but is claimed to 

 be a seedling from a foreign grape (Pineau) 

 brought by the early French settlers to the 

 western bank of the Lower Mississippi (Ste. 

 Genevieve). Others consider it as a n&,tive 

 belonging to the southern division of the 

 ^Estivalis class; and, while we ourselves in- 



cline to this view, we must admit that its 

 short-jointed growth, tenderness, and liability 

 to suffer from diseases support the claim of its 

 having originated from foreign seed. 



Bunch rather .small, very compact, shoul- 

 dered ; herrii small, dark purplish-black, 

 without pulp, juicy, sweet and delicious. 

 Vine a sticmg, vigorous, short-jointed grower, 

 with heart-shaped, light green, smooth leaves, 

 hanging on till late in November ; very 

 healthy, but requires covering in winter. It 

 has very tough, strong roots, with a firm, 

 smooth liber; wood hard, with a small pith 

 and firii. outer bark ; and although it will not 

 bear big crops, it makes up in quality as a 

 wine grape what it may lack in quantity. It 

 makes an excellent pale red or rather brown- 

 ish wine, closely- resembling sherry, which 

 was repeatedh' awarded a first premium as 

 the best light colored wine. Must 100°-110°. 



(See also Louisiana, page 150.) 



Riitlaud. {uEst.-Hijhr.) Supposed to be a seed- 

 ling of Eumelan crossed with Adirondack; origi- 

 nated by D. S. Marvvin, of Watertown, N. Y. Vine 

 healthy and moderately productive: fruit in size 

 and color like the Eumelan ; bunch medium, com- 

 pact, not shouldered; berry medium, blue- 

 black; the pulp is fleshy, does not separate easily 

 from the seed, but is sprightly and vinous ; qual- 

 ity very good; ripens a few days before Concord. 



R. W. Munson. {Lincy Trinrnph.) See Mun- 

 son's Hybrids, page 159. 



Salem. (Labr.-Hybr.) Rogers' No. oo. 

 Like Agawam (No. 15) and Wilder (No. 4). 

 this is a Hj'brid between a native (Wild Mam- 

 moth), the female, and the Black Hamburg, 

 the male parent. This was the most exten- 

 sively planted and is probabl}^ one of the finest 

 among the Rogers' Hybrids ; it has proven 

 satisfactory where Hybrid grapes succeed, 

 and under favorable circumstances it pro- 

 duces a fine grape of excellent quality ; to do 

 so, however, it should be thinned severely, as 

 it is inclined to overbear. 



Bunch full medium to large, compact, and 

 shouldered ; berri/ large as Hamburg, f-inch 

 in diameter, of a dark chestnut or catawba 

 color ; flesh tolerably tender, sweet, with rich 

 aromatic flavor ; a little foxiness to the smell, 

 which is not perceptible to the taste ; consid- 

 ered in quality one of the best ; skin rather 

 thick ; seeds large ; ripens nearly as early as 

 Concord ; it also keeps well. Vine very vig- 

 orous and healthy; foliage large, strong and 

 abundant : wood of lighter color than most 

 of the Rogers grapes. The roots are of me- 

 dium thickness, branching, with smooth, firm 

 liber, and have more of the native character 

 than most other Hybrids ; its vigor of growth 

 in the shoots has hardly a parallel among Hy- 



