566 GENERAL REVIEW. 



varieties being produced from seed taken from the same cluster. 

 In 1869 Mr A. F. Barren raised fertile flowers of Royal Mus- 

 cadine (Chasselas de Fontainebleau) with pollen from the Black 

 Monukka, a small-berried, thin-skinned variety, having very 

 tender and quite seedless flesh. The object of this cross was 

 to obtain a race of seedless varieties with large berries. From 

 the seeds obtained ten or twelve varieties were raised some 

 black, others white, and some of both kinds having very small 

 seedless berries, even smaller than the Black Monukka; but 

 none of the varieties are of any value. M. Bouschet has im- 

 proved some of the French-wine Grapes in colour of the juice 

 and earliness by crossing such varieties as Aramon (Burchard's 

 Prince), Carignane, and Grenache (Alicante de 1'Herault) with 

 an early variety having very highly coloured juice, named Le 

 Teinturier (see ' Jour. Hort. .Soc.' (new series), i. 49 ; and at p. 

 135 are some interesting remarks by the late Mr j. Standish 

 on raising seedling cross-bred Grapes). 



Mr George Haskell of Ipswich, Massachusetts, has origi- 

 nated a race of Grapes by intercrossing the native American 



Vitis riparia with European varieties, and vice verscL. One or 

 two varieties raised from V. riparia fertilised with pollen of 

 Black Hamburg and White Chasselas are described by Dr 

 Hogg (see 'Jour, of Hort.,' 1875, P- 4 20 ) as being very good, 

 with a flavour quite distinct. The influence of the cross is 

 very apparent, and we may hope to improve our Vines by in- 

 fusing into them some blood from the hardier races. Dr 

 Wylie has also produced some fine hybrids between the Ameri- 

 can and European varieties, and some valuable varieties have 

 been raised by Mr Rogers. 



Although numerous cultivators have raised seedling varieties 

 of Grapes in this country, many of them being varieties of 

 more than average merit, yet I believe I am right in saying 

 that no attempt has as yet been made to obtain improved 

 hardy or open-air varieties for wine-making. At Woodstock 

 Mr Fenn and other cultivators grow good open-air Grapes, and 

 make excellent wine : and we await the result of the Marquis 

 of Bute's vineyard experiments with considerable interest ; but 

 whether it succeed or not, the fact remains, that small quanti- 

 ties of pure and wholesome wine are made every year from 

 British open-air Grapes, and there is no reason why this quan- 

 tity should not be largely increased, especially in the southern 

 counties on warm dry soils suitable to the Vine. Two varieties 



Esperione and the old " Black Cluster" ripen their fruit on 

 sunny walls in, average seasons, as doubtless would also many 

 of the French-wine Grapes ; but if wine-culture is to be sue- 



