New Varieties of Native Grapes, 373 



damp place, until the time comes for using them — June in 

 this cHmate. 



The grape being a fruit so wholesome and delicious, and 

 withal so easily cultivated, it is to be regretted that we 

 have so few native varieties that are worth attention. Be- 

 sides the Isabella, Catawba, Herbemont's Madeira, and 

 Norton's Seedling, I know of none in this part of the United 

 States that are held in much esteem. For the Devereux, 

 which is a first rate grape, and has been claimed, for the 

 last 30 years, as a native of Georgia, is not so. I have the 

 Black Sauvignon, originally from France, and the Constan- 

 tia, from the Cape of Good Hope, as described by Kenrick, 

 No. 23, page 252; and they are both identical with the 

 Devereux. And the Warrenton, which has been also 

 claimed as a native, is, beyond all question, a foreign 

 grape, having been pronounced to be so by McCall, whose 

 accuracy cannot be doubted. 



Why do not some of our nurserymen or amateurs set 

 about the production of new varieties of the grape, from 

 the seed of our wildings 7 They are all, of course, aware 

 of the success of M. Van Mons, in the production of new 

 varieties of the pear from the seeds of the wild sorts ; and, 

 without doubt, understand the process employed by him, 

 as well as the theory on which that process is founded, and 

 the sound philosophy by which the theory is sustained. 

 Can there be any doubt that the same theory and the same 

 philosophy will apply to all sorts of fruit ? And when it 

 is remembered how easily the vine is propagated by graft- 

 ing, and the certainty with which fruit may be had in the 

 second year from the graft, and this is contrasted with the 

 length of time V. Mons had to wait for specimens of his 

 pears, we should be induced to begin the experiment at 

 once. 



If the experiment should be undertaken by any one, I 

 beg leave to suggest that the principal care will have to be 

 bestowed on the seedlings. Let the seeds be sown in Jan- 

 uary in a hot-bed constructed according to the directions of 

 McMahon, Buist, Bridgman, or Kenrick, in their books 

 respectively. In April — in this climate — let the plants be 

 transferred to the open ground, the soil being made very 

 rich. As they grow, during the summer, the main stem 

 must be carefully tied up to rods provided for the purpose, 

 and all side shoots taken off very carefully above the first 



