Scuppernong, or 



DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



>S'. Muscadine. Ill 



SCUPPERNONG. 



Sciippernong'. {Yitis Botundifolia.) Syn., Yel- 

 low MuscAuiNE, White Muscadine,* Bull, 

 BuLLACE or Bullet, Eoanoke. '1 his is exclu- 

 sively a Southern grape; in South Carolina, Flor- 

 ida. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and in parts 

 of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Ar- 

 kansas, it is quite a favorite, producing annually 

 large and sure crops, requiring scarcely any care 

 or labor. It is entirely exempt from mildew, rot, 

 or any of the diseases so disastrous to the North- 

 ern species — entirely exempt also from Phyl- 

 loxera ; but it cannot be grown north of the 

 Carolinas, Tennessee and Arkansas, nor even in 

 Texas. 



The type to which the Scuppernong belongs is 

 not hardy about the 35th degree of latitude, hence 

 it is purely a southern variety, and where other 

 grapes frequentlj^ fail from fungous diseases or 

 late frosts, this variety bears regularly and abun- 

 dant crops. 



We quote therefore only southern authorities 

 and cultivators of the Scuppernong. 



P. J. Bpfchnans, of Georgia : " I could not say 

 too much in praise of the Scuppernong as a wine- 

 grape. It is one of those things that never fail. 

 Of course I do not compare it vyith the Delaware and 

 other fine flavored rjrapes; but the question is — 

 where, where shall we find a gi-ape that will give 

 us a profit? We have it in the Scuppernong. It 

 ■cannot be grown as far north as Norfolk." 



J. H. Carleton, El Dorado, Ark. : " It is called 

 by some the 'lazy man's grape.' I admit the 

 charge, and prize it the more on that account." 



John B. Eakin, Washington, Ark. : " The vine 

 takes care of itself; does not require and will not 



* The BLACK or purple grapes of this class are often 

 «»icorrec% called " Black Scuppernong." Southern hor- 

 ticulturists designate them by different names : Flowers, 

 Mish, Thomas, etc. 



12 



suffer pruning; bears abundantlj- and 

 has no diseases. I scarcely think it a 

 grape, but still a most useful fruit s?a' 

 generis, and I hope will be cultivated by 

 those who have no inclination for the 

 more troublesome, and, I must say, the 

 more exquisite ' bunch grapes,' as it is 

 the habit of its friends to call the Herhe- 

 mont, the Cataivha, and others." 



The Scnppernon'j grape was discovered 

 by the colony of Sir "Walter Raleigh, in 

 IS.")!, on the Island of Roanoke, N. C, 

 and the original vine is said still to exist 

 there, being over 300 years of age. In 

 appearance, wood, fruit, and habit, it is 

 __\ entirely distinct, or "nniqne,''^ as Mr. Van 

 y Buren calls it. The V. Rotundifolia 

 \ blooms two months later than either of 

 our other varieties. The odor of the 

 Scuppernong when ripening is delici- 

 ous. The growth of the vine, or rather 

 the space over which its branches extend 

 in a series of years, is almost fabulous. 

 The bark of the Scuppernong is smooth, 

 of grayish-ashy color, variegated with 

 many small, dot-like specks of lighter 

 hue; the wood is hard, close-textured, 

 firm; the roots white or creamy. The leaves, 

 before dropping in autumn, become of a brilliant 

 yellow. 



Bunch or cluster consisting usually of only 

 about 4 to 6, i-arely more, large, thick-skinned 

 pulpy berries ; these are ripening in August and 

 September, not all at the same time, but fall off 

 successivelj', when ripe, by shaking the vine, and 

 they are thus gathered from the ground. Color 

 YELLOWISH, somewhat bronzed when fully ripe. 

 The pulp is sweet, juicy, vinous, with a musky 

 scent and flavor — a delicate perfume to some 

 tastes, repugnant to others. It has. however, its 

 warm advocates among American grape-growers, 

 as will be seen by the following, from a letter of 

 S. I. Matthews, of Monticello, Ark., written for 

 this Catalogue : 



"The Scuppernong makes a splendid white 

 wine; its fruit, though ordinarily deficient in 

 sugar, is very sweet to the taste, owing to its hav- 

 ing but very little acid. The saccharine deficiency 

 may also be accounted for, in a measure, by the 

 fact that this grape has been hitherto, for the most 

 part grown upon arbors, a plan of training that 

 more effectually than any other excludes the sun- 

 light and heat from the fruit, which it is the prac- 

 tice to gather by shaking down from the vines, 

 whereby a considerable proj)ortiou of but partially 

 ripe fruit is obtained. And yet, according to some 

 tests, the Scuppernong has registered 88° on the 

 (Oechsle) must scale, which would give 9 per 

 cent, of alcohol. 



"A. C. Cook thinks 'the Scuppernong is emphat- 

 icallii the grape for the Sonth.^ Its juice is capable 

 of being converted into the finest of Muscatelle 

 sweet wines, or in superior light dry wines." 



Mr. Matthews writes : "When it shall be planted 

 on dry south hill-sides instead of on low moist 

 bottoms; when it shall be trained on trellises, 

 where the sun heat, both direct and reflected from 

 the ground, shall bathe the fruit and foliage, in- 

 stead of upon tall umbrageous arbors through 

 which the sun's rays can scarcely penetrate; and 

 when only the perfectly ripe fruit shall be care- 

 fully hand-picked, instead of being rudely shaken 

 and all berries that will fall gathered and pressed 



