BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. ll 



Abundantly furnished with it. We could multiply these 

 parallel characters indefinitely, but enough has been said 

 to show how difficult it is to designate the species to 

 which a particular variety belongs, especially if we have 

 words only for our guidance. There are, however, cer- 

 tain characteristics so prominent that they may serve as 

 a partial guide until some freak of nature admonishes us 

 to lay them aside. 1st. The skin of our native grape 

 slips from the pulp, while that of the foreign varieties 

 adheres to it like the skin of the apple, and those which 

 have a fleshy pulp allow the seeds to drop from it when 

 it is broken. The seeds of our native grapes are envel- 

 oped and held together by the pulp, more or less persist- 

 ent in different varieties ; but to observe this the fruit 

 of some of the newer ones must be examined before they 

 are fully ripe, for at that time the pulp has become so 

 tender that it is scarcely more than a liquid. The tough 

 pulp is a prominent characteristic of the Vitis Lalrusca 

 and its varieties. 2d. The bark of some of the native 

 grapes, particularly on the one-year-old canes, parts very 

 readily from the wood ; it is also quite tough, and in 

 some instances it may be divided into small threads 

 resembling hemp, while the bark on the young wood of 

 the foreign vine usually adheres more firmly, and is also 

 (;iiite brittle. The bark of the native vines, particularly 

 the northern species, is harder than that of the foreign 

 one, and the prevailing colors are dark maroon or brown, 

 varying to light orange. Very few of the cultivated 

 native varieties have any bloom upon the young wood, 

 v/hile that of the foreign ones, when grown m the open 

 dr, usually has a grayish or ashen hue, and is also more 

 or less supplied with a peculiar blue bloom. 



Many other peculiarities might be noticed, but as 

 we do not recommend foreign varieties for out-door cul- 

 ture in the Northern States, there is no necessity of pur- 

 suing this subject further. 



