116 Lenoir. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Lady Charlotte. 



mark: "the leaf and habit exactly resemble 

 those of the Black Spanish." From this re- 

 mark, and from the description of the " Ohio" 

 in Downing^ "Fruits and Fruit-trees of Amer- 

 ica," we were strongly inclined to believe "Le- 

 noir," "Black Spanish," "Ohio," "Jacques" 

 identical, and the very variety which our 

 friends in France were looking for. We so de- 

 clared in the former edition of our Catalogue 

 (1874-5, p. 70), although even Berckmans and 

 Onderdonk then considered them distinct va- 

 rieties, as may be seen from the following, 

 written to us in August, 1876, by Onderdonk : 



"I had been diligently collecting every ^Esti- 

 valis grape of promise I could find or hear of, 

 believing that from this family must come our 

 grapes in Texas. I had a grape called LENOIB. 

 I found that Berckmans had a different grape 

 under the same name, and that he insisted 

 upon my Lenoir being the "Black July" (or 

 Devereux) ; so I sent for his Lenoir, and found 

 that it resembled in growth and habit the 

 Black Spanish so much so, that I supposed a 

 mistake must have been made and that he 

 had sent me the Black Spanish instead of the 

 Lenoir." 



"I had somehow got the idea that the Lenoir 

 originated in Lenoir county, S. C. I wrote to 

 Berckmans for further information and re- 

 ceived his reply under date of Aug. 17, 1875, in 

 which he says : 'The Lenoir and Black Span- 

 ' ish are both native seedlings of the ^Estivalis 

 ' type ; both have colored juice. The Lenoir 

 ' has its bunches compact and shouldered ; the 

 ' Black Spanish, on the contrary, has the bunch 

 ' very loose, cylindrical, growing to a length of 

 ' 18 inches. Of the two, it makes the darkest 

 ' colored wine. Both are, perhaps, the best 

 ' red-wine grapes we have. * * * The Lenoir 



I originated in South Carolina, the Black Span- 

 ' ish in Natchez, Miss.' 



"I would say," continues Mr. Onderdonk, 

 " that here (in S.W. Texas) the bunches of the 

 Black Spanish, though remarkably long, have 

 never yet reached a length of more than 10 or 



II inches. I also found that, under a care- 

 ful system of summer pruning, the bunches 

 became shouldered and grew as compact as 

 the Lenoir ; and I have sometimes thought 

 whether the difference in the fruit between 

 these two varieties, on my premises, is, after 

 all, any greater than even my Black Spanish 

 differs from itself, or rather that the crops of 

 different years differ as much from each other 

 as they do from the Lenoir itself." 



But while we announced the identity of these 

 varieties as a probability only, a well-known 

 French importer, less cautious and merely on 



the strength of our supposition, at once ordered 

 thousands of cuttings from the Black Spanish, 

 and offered them in France, at an exhorbitant 

 price, as the Jacques, claiming its discovery for 

 himself. Hundreds of thousands of cuttings 

 of this variety were then sent to France and 

 planted there since 1876, and their success, 

 their immunity from Phylloxera, productive- 

 ness, and quality, gave great satisfaction. The 

 identity of the Jacques, Slack Spanish and Lenoir 

 was there also fully established by Prof. Plan- 

 chon, Pulliat, and other eminent ampelographs. 



As this variety cannot be successfully grown 

 in our vineyards on account of its non-resist- 

 ance to mildew and to frost, we requested our 

 friend Onderdonk to test and observe it, and 

 he now writes us (August, 1883), "I am solid 

 on this Lenoir matter now, and have at last be- 

 come settled in the belief that Jacques, Leiioir 

 and Black Spanish are identical beyond doubt : 

 this variety is capable of very great variations 

 under various special conditions." 



In France, also, the success and especially 

 the productiveness of the Jacques varies very 

 much ; in dry soils it yields far less wine, un- 

 less irrigation is resorted to. Of late years, the 

 Jacques (as it is there still called) has suffered 

 in some sections from the anthracnose. France 

 has now more bearing-vines of this variety 

 than can be found growing in the United States, 

 and there is no more demand for cuttings of 

 this variety from that country. 



Jacques wine now sells in France at 60 to 70 

 francs per hectolitre, while their Aramon wine 

 brings only 30 francs at the same places. It is 

 very rich in alcohol and in color. 



Of late, however, California grape-growers 

 have directed their attention to this remarkable 

 grape, and are now planting thousands of the 

 same variety, under its proper name " Lenoir." 

 It succeeds there very well, and is much liked 

 both on account of the fine dark color of its 

 vinous juice and for its Phylloxera-resisting 

 roots. This old, almost abandoned grape seems 

 destined to become one of the leading varieties 

 of both hemispheres. 



The annexed engraving represents a medium 

 sized bunch of the Lenoir, rather smaller than 

 usual, especially much shorter. 



Lady Charlotte. This promising white grape 

 was raised by Pringle, of Vermont, in 1869, from the 

 Delaware fertilized by the lona. It is described by the 

 originator as follows: "Color light green, becoming 

 amber or golden, with a reddish tinge in the sun ; bunch 

 large, very broadly shouldered, narrow and pointed 

 below, compact ; berry of medium size, globular. Flesh 

 with some pulp, but juicy and very sweet, without the 

 least acidity in the centre or harshness or foxiness 

 in its flavor. Vine a rampant grower and a great 



