Notes atid Gleanings. 339 



The Scuppernong Grape. — We have nad so many inquiries about this 

 grape, that we insert the above for the benefit of the curious. We understand 

 that this variety does not do well as far north as St. Louis. 



This most wonderful grape was first brought to notice by Col. James Blount 

 of Scuppernong, N.C., who found it growing wild along the banks of the Scup- 

 pernong River. The name was given by Calvin Jones of " The Southern 

 Planter," in which paper Col. Blount presented it to the public in several well- 

 written articles. It is also said that an Episcopal clergyman, grandfather to 

 Gen. Pettigrew, very highly recommended it to the Southern people. It is now 

 generally known and universally esteemed by all the grape-growers of the 

 South, and is destined to revolutionize grape-growing and wine-making through- 

 out America. 



Descriptioti. — Bunches very small, with four to ten berries of large size ; 

 juicy, round, sweet, luscious, rich flavor ; skin very thick, light green, marked 

 sometimes with yellow dots, tough ; bears handling, keeps well, excellent for 

 wine, splendid for the table, choice for preserves. 



There are three varieties, — white, black, and golden-hued. The white is the 

 native, and the one generally known : it makes an amber-colored wine. The 

 black ripens after the white is gathered, and makes a darker wine; though there 

 is no difference in the taste of the fruit. It remains on the vine till after frost, 

 ind will sometimes keep till Christmas. The white berries are gathered by 

 shaking the vine : the black are picked. The golden-hued yields a wine of the 

 same color, which readily induces intoxication. 



" The New- York Watchman " says, *' We have delightful memories of the 

 sweet scents borne on the breeze as we approached Southern homes where the 

 Scuppernong is cultivated. We have never eaten any grape in Europe or 

 America that suits our taste like this, — so sweet, so refreshing, so inno- 

 cent." 



Productiveness. — It is imnpr^s'Sly productive, surpassing all others in its 

 almost fabulous yield ; a single vine often producing annually from twenty-five 

 to fifty bushels of grapes. One in this county is said to have yielded over fifty 

 bushels this last year. Dr. Niesler of Georgia has one averaging thirty-five 

 bushels. There is one near IVIobile that produced forty bushels, bringing its 

 owner over three hundred dollars. Col. Rose of Georgia writes that he has a 

 vine thirty years old that yields annually from thirty-five to seventy-five gallons 

 of wine. There is one near Somerville, Tenn., producing fruit enough for a 

 small family, and making a barrel of wine besides. Two vines are generally 

 considered enough in North Carolina for an ordinary-sized family. Mr. Van 

 Buren estimates that one hundred vines, planted on three acres, will yield every 

 year, after maturity, 5,250 gallons, or 1,750 gallons per acre. Mr. M. F. Ste- 

 phenson says this estimate is entirely too low ; that one hundred vines will 

 yield twice as many gallons at ten years of age, and three or four times as much 

 as they grow older. Mr. Stephenson is certainly correct, if men of undoubted 

 veracity are to be relied on ; for there are as truthful men as are to be found 

 in America ready to testify under oath that they possess vines that will yield 



