Grapes in 1866. 17 



Number 19. — Vigorous, strong, and extremely productive. The berries 

 began to color Aug. 27 ; and, by the 4th of the next month, were thoroughly 

 purple. 



On the 15th of September, they were about ripe, being full as early as 

 the Delaware, and one of the handsomest and showiest grapes raised out 

 doors. I think highly of this number, and shall plant a good many vines. 



TAYLOR. 



Vine strong, vigorous, and hvUidsome. Berries very small, green, decep- 

 tively like Delawares when young, getting semi-transparent by Sept. 30, but 

 at that date sour and worthless. It seems hardly possible that this is the 

 grape praised at the West for its wine-making properties. 



UNION VILLAGE. 



Vine vigorous, luxuriant, and healthy. Not hardy : a fact that has im- 

 pressed itself upon my notice by the way in which some seedlings of mine 

 from this variety were winter-killed. They seemed almost as tender as a 

 foreign kind. 



Berries well colored, and about three-quarters ripe, Sept. 30. One 

 vine of this kind should have a corner in the garden, for the sake of the 

 display the bunches make even if not ripe. 



I find I have omitted in the above list Alvey and Conby's August, tolera- 

 ble growers, and healthy, but of no great merit or value in this latitude. 



We shall all live, I trust, to see the present immense list of grapes cut 

 down to six or eight good, trustworthy kinds, the rest vanishing, unwept, 

 into the limbo of the rejected ; while amateurs and grape-growers impose the 

 most rigid tests upon new candidates for favor, approving none that do not 

 approximate, at least, to the high standard of the lona, Delaware, and 

 Diana. 



Nothing but the most rigid sternness in this respect, on the part of those 

 who undertake to instruct the grape-planting public, will save purchasers 

 and growers from immense vexation, loss of time, and discouragement. 



J. M. Merrick, Jun. 



VOL. I. 



