176 Mr. Johnston's Isabella Grape Vine. 



catalogues in 1841, when Mr. Manning first fruited it. It 

 was undoubtedly discovered by Bouvier, among Dr. Van 

 Mons's seedlings, after his death. If this is correct, and the 

 pear is a synonyme, as there can scarcely be a doubt, of the 

 Yan Assene, we are enabled to account for the variation in 

 the name. But allowing Dr. Van Mons to know the names 

 of his own fruits, we are still induced to believe that the 

 error in orthography lies with Bouvier. We will endeavor 

 to consult Mr. Manning, and ascertain his views upon the 

 subject. 



Art. IX. Mr. Johtision^s Isabella Grape Vine; with a De- 

 scription of the Mode of Priming, 6fc. By A. Johnston, 

 Jr., Wiscasset, Me. 



Everybody cultivates, or at least Avishes to cultivate, a 

 grape vine, either for its delicious fruit, the odor of sweet 

 blossoms, or the grateful shade of its branches. It covers the 

 trellis, or decorates the arbor of every garden, or runs riot 

 over the cottage door, or along the piazza of our suburban 

 and city dwellings, and is probably more generally grown 

 than any other fruit-bearing tree. Yet, notwithstanding this, 

 we doubt whether there is any fruit whose management is so 

 little understood. As usually seen it is allowed to grow in 

 the most loose and rambling manner, without shape or come- 

 liness of form. In winter a tortuous, leafless vine, and in 

 summer a mass of confused leaves and shoots, with diminu- 

 tive clusters of grapes dangling at the ends of long branches. 

 As the general impression is that everybody can grow a 

 grape, so the real truth is, that few know how to cultivate 

 it at all. 



Much has been written upon the cultivation and pruning 

 of the vine ; more, perhaps, than any other fruit ; yet it is far 

 more rare to see a beautifully trained vine than a handsome 

 pear, plum or cherry tree. In the former case the cultivator 

 has everything to do ; in the latter, nature itself, if let alone, 

 will often do better than when thwarted by ignorant hands. 



