THE 



VOL. VIII.] 



MAY, 1885. 



[No. 5. 



THE EMPIRE STATE GRAPE. 



We are indebted to the Messrs. Pratt 

 Bros, of Rochester, N. V. for the hand- 

 some chromo of this new grape, which 

 embellishes the present number of our 

 magazine. They succeeded to the busi- 

 ness of the late George A. Stone, and 

 completed the engagement which he had 

 made with Mr. James H. Ricketts, the 

 originator, by paying him four thousand 

 dollars in cash for the proprietorship of 

 this new grape. This is the strongest 

 possible evidence that they must have 

 had very great confidence in its merits. 



The originator states that it was 

 raised from seed of the Hartford Prolific 

 fertilized by the Clinton, so that it is a 

 cross between two of the families of our 

 native grapes. The vine first bore fruit 

 in 1S79, maturing a crop of thirty-eight 

 bunches. As will be seen from the 

 chromo, the bunch is large and hand- 

 somely shouldered, and the berries of 

 full medium size, beautifully shaded 

 with light yellow. He also states that 

 the flesh is tender, juicy and sweet ; yet 

 sprightly, with a slight trace of native 

 aroma. Never yet having had an oppor- 

 tunity of tasting this grape, we are 

 obliged to give the opinions of others, 

 and merely add that the qualit}'^ given 

 by Mr. Ricketts is fully borne out by 



the statements of other gentlemen who 

 have eaten the fruit. 



One of the valuable characteristics of 

 this grape is its keeping qualities. Al- 

 though it ripens before the Concord, the 

 Messrs. Pratt tell us that the fruit hung- 

 up in their ofiice on the second of Sep- 

 tember, was in good condition on the 

 first of December, seeming to improve 

 in quality hj being kept instead of de- 

 teriorating. In this respect it appears 

 to have inherited one of the valuable 

 peculiarities of its sire, which is one of 

 our best grapes for winter use, growing 

 richer and finer in quality by the lapse 

 of time. 



We are also assui'ed that the vine is 

 very vigorous, perfectly healthy, of 

 good constitution, enduring the winter's 

 cold of 30° below zero, having stood the 

 test of the very severe winter just 

 past, entirely unprotected, without the 

 slightest injuiy, where the Catawba and 

 other kinds have suffered severely ; 

 that it has thick leaves, which thus 

 far have not been affected with mildew, 

 and ripens up a heavy crop of fruit per- 

 fectly. Indeed, as much might be ex- 

 pected of it from its parentage. On 

 the maternal side it belongs to the 

 Labrusca family, which embraces most 



