Norton. 



DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



Ohio. 127 



become the great and leading variety for red [ 

 wine not merely in Missouri, where its superior 

 qualities were first appreciated and brought | 

 out in full splendor, and in its native State, 

 Virginia, where it is of late receiving great at- 

 tention, hundreds of acres being planted in 

 the years 1880-83, with this most valuable va- 

 riety for wine, but, far and near, in many sec- 

 tions of this country, and even in some parts of 

 France where American vines are planted. 



The Norton, with its twin-sister, the Cynthi- 

 ana, is now recognized by all experienced 

 grape-growers as the most reliable and best red 

 wine grape of America. It is alao found excel- 

 lent in some parts of France ; in others it does 

 not succeed as well, and its yield is considered 

 insufficient. Except in size of berry, it has also 

 most qualities of a very good table grape ; it is 

 sweet and spicy, and is unexcelled as a long 

 keeper. 



The illustration of the Cynthiana, page 89, 

 equally serves as a good representation of the 

 Norton-grape. 



The bunch of the Norton is long, compact, 

 and shouldered; berry small, black, with dark 

 bluish-red juice, almost without pulp when 

 fully ripe ; sweet and brisk. Ripens late, in 

 October. Vine vigorous, healthy, hardy, and 

 productive when well-established, but very 

 impatient of transplanting, and exceedingly 

 difficult to propagate. Boots tough and wiry. 

 Liber thin and^hard, of great resistance to the 

 Phylloxera. Canes vigorous, of medium 

 thickness and good length. Wood very hard, 

 with a small pith and firm outer bark. 



Whenever the season will admit of a thor- 

 ough and perfect ripening of its fruit, the Nor- 

 ton will succeed here in almost any soil ; but, 

 when the wood and buds have not fully ripened 

 in the fall, the vine is liable to suffer from se- 

 vere cold during the succeeding winter. In 

 rich bottoms it comes early into bearing and is 

 enormously productive ; on high hills with 

 rather poor soil and southern aspects it is tardy 

 in coming into bearing, but produces there the 

 richest wine, of great body and superior medi- 

 cal qualities.* It has quite a peculiar coffeine 

 flavor, which at first seems unpleasant to 

 many, but which, like coffee, endears itself to 

 our taste. Must 105-110. 



From Norton's seed two promising white 

 grapes have been raised almost simultaneous- 

 ly : one by Langendorfer, sen., at Hermann, 

 Mo.; the other by J. Balsiger, of Highland, 111. 

 These and the white Hermann seedling (see 

 Hermann) are the first white ./Estivalis we 

 know of ; Balsiger's seems a cross with La- 



* It is the fjreat remedy here for dysentery and dis- 

 eases of the bowels. 



brusca. They are very late, ripening even later 

 than Norton's, and thus will not be adapted 

 to locations north of St. Louis, but may be 

 the more valuable for the south. 



Norwood. (Labr.) A new grape, owned by Rev. 

 J. W. TALBOT, of Norwood, Mass., but originated, we 

 believe, by Mr. White, of same place ; first exhibited 

 in the fall of 1880, before the Mass. Horticul. Society ; 

 it received a first-class certificate of merit for some 

 very fine bunches. It is said to make a larger 

 cluster and larger berry and to ripen a little earlier 

 than Concord ; is claimed to be a strong grower, more 

 hardy than any of Rogers' hybrids, and in quality 

 from good to best, much superior to the Concord. Not 

 yet tested by us. 



Ohio. Syn., SEGAR-BOX, LONGWORTH'S OHIO,. 

 (BLACK SPANISH ALABAMA?), is now supposed to be 

 identical with the "Jacques" or "Jack" introduced 

 and cultivated near Natchez, Miss., by an old Span- 

 iard of the name of Jacques. It used to be grown in 

 Ohio, where the stock originated from a few cuttings 

 left in a segar-box. by some unknown person, at the 

 residence of Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio. This va- 

 riety attracted a good deal of attention for some time 

 on account of its large, long bunches (often ten to fif- 

 teen inches long, rather loose, tapering, shouldered), 

 and its good quality ; its berries are small, round; skin 

 thin ; purple with a blue bloom ; flesh tender, melting, 

 without pulp, brisk and vinous. The wood is strong, 

 long-jointed, lighter red than that of the Norton's 

 Virginia, and smooth, with peculiarly pointed buds. 

 Leaves large, tri-lobed. At first it was also a good 

 bearer, but soon mildew and rot affected it so badly 

 that it was of no use, even when grown upon walls 

 with protection. Downing ( " Fruit & Fruit-trees of 

 Am.") said, " it is most likely a foreign sort, and, ex- 

 cept in a few locations, a sandy soil, and a mild cli- 

 mate, it is not likely to succeed." Geo. W. Camp- 

 bell, whom we have to thank for valuable information 

 on this and many other varieties, says, "I always con- 

 sidered the Ohio or Segar-Box, from its fruit, habit of 

 growth, and foliage, as of the same FAMILY as Herbe- 

 mont, Lenoir, Elsinburgh, and that class of small, 

 black, southern grapes." Samuel Miller, of Bluffton, 

 Mo., writes us : "The Segar-box, or Longworth's Ohio, 

 I had in the East for years, but never grew a perfect 

 bunch. It was not hardy in vine, and the fruit both 

 mildewed and rotted." 



When ripe it is an excellent grape. A few vines sent 

 years ago, under the names of il Jacques or Ohio," to 

 France, by P. J. Berckmans, of Georgia, proved very 

 fine and valuable, perfectly resisting Phylloxera, 

 having remained healthy in the midst of vineyards 

 destroyed by the root-louse. (See Lenoir.) 



In Aug., 1876, G. Onderdonk gave us the subjoined 

 information concerning the supposed identity of the 

 Black Spanish, Ohio, and Jacquez : 



"There lived at Natchez, in Mississippi, an old 

 Spaniard by the name of Jacquez. He originated a 

 grape to which he gave no name. Some persons got 

 hold of it and called it the Jacquez grape, not as a name 

 but simply to designate it as old Jacquez's nameless 

 grape; others called it the Spanish or Slack Spanish 

 grape, as it came from the old Spaniard's garden. Then 



