288 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



a certainty ; and this is the less to be regretted 

 in a plant that produces its fruit so soon from 

 an eye or a cutting. 



Seeds Hybridizing. It seems hardly neces- 

 sary to remark that new varieties are produced 

 from seed alone. It has been thought by some 

 that we should look chiefly to hybrids between 

 the native and foreign grape for any marked 

 improvement in the quality of the former, while 

 others have doubted the possibility of getting a 

 hybrid between them. We believe it is pos- 

 sible, though quite difficult ; but we are by no 

 means convinced that it is desirable, or that we 

 shall gain what we wish. The Allen may be 

 taken as an example. This presents good evi- 

 dence of being a true hybrid. The fruit is ex- 

 cellent, but the vine is tender and susceptible, 

 and withers away when exposed to the force of 

 our trying climate : in this respect yielding to 

 the fate that has always overtaken one of it 

 parents. No fact in grape culture is better de- 

 monstrated than that the foreign grape is not 

 adapted to our climate. It has cost us many 

 thousands of dollars to prove the fact, and that 

 ought to satisfy us. Is it wise, then, to seek an 

 infusion of blood from a source that has been 

 proved to be constitutionally unfitted to our 



