Montefiore. 



DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



Neosho. 123 



Monteflore. Rommel's Taylor-Seedling 

 No. 14. The most promising red -wine 

 grape of this class. Vine moderately vig- 

 orous in growth, but very healthy and 

 hardy ; sufficiently productive. Both 

 wood and foliage show considerable ad- 

 mixture of Labrusca with Riparia. Bunch 

 small to medium, compact, sometimes 

 shouldered as in annexed engraving ; 

 berries of small medium size, round ; skin 

 thin but firm, black with a delicate blue 

 bloom, and rich in coloring matter ; flesh 

 melting, vinous, sweet, with a delicate 

 aroma and a delicious flavor ; ripening (a 

 few days) after Concord, and before Nor- 

 ton's Va. Seedling. 



This unostentatious grape attracted 

 the attention of our senior when Rommel 

 first exhibited it at Rochester, New York, 

 where the Am. Pomol. Society met, Aug. 

 1879, and we at once secured the wood of 

 the original vine for the next three years. 

 With consent of the originator, we have 

 given it the name of the great Jewish phi- 

 lanthropist MONTEFIORE, which name 

 denotes at the same time a " Mountain- 

 flower.' 1 ' 1 It has fruited for several years, 

 in various localities, with quite satisfac- 

 tory results. The demand for vines of 

 this new variety is far in advance of the 

 supply. 



At the Hermann fair, 1882, this grape 

 was awarded an extra premium as the 

 best new Seedling for Red Wine. 



Must 80. 



Mount Lebanon. (Labr.) Originated by 

 George Curtis, of the United Society of Mount 

 Lebanon, Columbia Co., N. Y. ; supposed to 

 be a cross of Spanish Amber and Isabella. 

 Bunch larger than Northern Muscadine ; berry 

 round, reddish. Flesh pulpy, tough, thougli sweet, 

 perhaps a little better than Northern Muscadine. 

 Not tried here. 



Neoslio. (JEst.) Pound growing wild on the farm 

 of E. Schoenborn, near Neosho, S.W. Missouri. In 

 18C8, Herman Jaeger sent grafts of this (and other va- 

 rieties of wild summer grapes) to that pioneer of Mis- 

 souri vintners, Hon. Fred. Munch, who, finding it to 

 be of superior quality, recommended it, and called it 

 the " Neosho." Cultivated since that time in Warren 

 and Newton counties, it never failed at either place to 

 produce large and healthy crops, and gained in Papa 

 Miinch's favor every year. 



S. Miller wrote in 1873 : "The fragrance of the Neosho 

 grape is unsurpassed by any grape that ever tickled my 

 olfactory nerves. Neosho is a treasure to the land," 

 So also thought our enthusiastic, now lamented, friend 

 Munch ; but in other localities it produced unsatis- 

 factorily, and the flavor and bouquet of its wine found 

 no favor. Munch described it as follows : 



MONTEFIORE. 



* 



Bunch and berries are of the same size as Norton's 

 the bunches compact, shouldered, heart-shaped. The 

 skin of the berries is thin, black with blue- bloom, very 

 dark, yet contains but very little coloring matter and 

 less tannin ; the pulp is meaty, very sweet and spicy, 

 with but little acidity. Seeds rather large. The wood 

 of the Neosho is extremely hard and tough ; it cannot 

 be propagated from cuttings. The vine is a most vig- 

 orous grower when once established 011 its own roots, 

 or successfully grafted ; requires plenty of room, and 

 prefers spur-pruning on old wood. It is so hardy 

 that it may be said to resist all the extremes of our 

 changeable climate in Missouri. The roots are strong, 

 wiry, and exempt from injury by Phylloxera. The 

 foliage is coarse, but of beautiful color dark and 

 glossy green and retains its freshness till frost sets 

 in. The must, though fermented on the husk for two 

 days, produces a wine of a beautiful greenish-yellow 

 color, and has a most peculiar aroma. It ripens with 

 Norton's Virginia. 



