DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 223 



Island, near Troy. It resembles the Black 

 Hamburgh, of which it is a seedling. Having 

 seen it, we are prepared to say that it is in all 

 respects inferior to its parent. It is totally un- 

 fitted for vineyard culture, in common with all 

 the kinds that we have designated as foreign. 

 Mr. Thompson has a number of other seedlings, 

 both foreign and native, and of these the Ca- 

 tawba seedling is the only one that approaches 

 its parent in excellence. 



Just here is a proper place for a few remarks 

 that will be of much benefit to the beginner. 

 The foreign grape has been so often and so 

 thoroughly tried, and so uniformly failed, that 

 we should regret to see the experiment repeated 

 under the supposition that it is still an open 

 one. There is scarcely a single variety of the 

 foreign grape that has not been tried in every 

 conceivable variety of soil and locality, and 

 under every kind of treatment ; they have been 

 tried, not by dozens or hundreds, but by thou- 

 sands, over and over again. Skill and money 

 without stint have been lavished upon these 

 experiments, and they have been persisted in 

 for years, but always with the same results, and 

 there can, therefore, be no doubt of the unfit- 

 ness of the foreign grape for vineyard culture 



