166 



rVOMENCLATURfl OF GRAPES. 



grapes ; and for vigour of growth, and an abundant yield, 

 exceeds any other yet cultivated in this country, and requires 

 no protection during the winter season. General Joseph 

 Swift informed me, that a single vine in his garden produced 

 above eight bushels during several successive seasons. In 

 some instances vines have been stated to have produced a still 

 greater quantity, and large vines of this kind, producing as- 

 tonishing crops, are now to be met with in various parts of our 

 country. There is no grape which will yield a greater quan- 

 tity on a given space, or that can be made more lucrative in 

 cultivation for market than this kind. 



It also promises to take an important stand in this 

 country for the purpose of making wine, as it possesses the 

 requisites to insure success in making wine of a fair quality, 

 or for making brandy equal to that of France. I have made 

 wine from it of excellent quality, and which has met the ap- 

 probation of some of the most accurate judges in our country. 

 Indeed, this grape, of which but a single vine existed in any 

 garden in 1816, and which I, at that time, met with in the 

 possession of the gentleman before mentioned, and deemed 

 worthy of notice and a name, has now become disseminated 

 to the remotest parts of the Union, and has been sent to a 

 number of the countries of Europe, and to Madeira, fee. ; and 

 although it has never been offered to the public as on an equa- 

 lity with the highly cultivated and delicious table grapes of 

 France, still it offers to any one who chooses to plant it, a 

 plentiful crop of pleasant fruit, without requiring from him 

 the least care, or needing in winter the least protection, how- 

 ever cold may be its situation. I have also ascertained that 

 the bunches may be dried, as raisins, with the greatest facility, 

 and that they may be preserved in dry sand, sawdust, or any 

 other similar substance, for many months, in the most perfect 

 state. 



In regard to pruning, which to a certain degree is advanta- 

 geous with all vines, it has been remarked in relation to this, 

 that if the vines are much trimmed at the summer pruning, the 

 fruit is very apt to rot and fall of. 



