351 [Assembly 



Ij are. fibroii.? and*toughj but tlit j were prrfectly tender. On the 

 next, some were offered for sale as large as my arm, which were 

 equally delicate and tender. In and about Coloma (he land is 

 hilly 3 it yields thirty to forty busliels of barley per acre ; it re- 

 quires irrigation. The onions grown there averaged one pound 

 weight a piece. Lettuces twice as large as those in New-York 

 market. It is not the best agricultural district. 



Dr. Underbill presented a large quantity of Catawba grapes 

 from his Croit-un. Vineyard. The members thought them very 

 excellent. 



Mr. Sli el toil. "-The California grape called " Catawba" >s far 

 superior in flavor to these on the table. 



Mr. Bye. — It is so, being wiihout any pulp, and so tender that 

 it is diHicult to haBdle, and is very delicious. 



I)r. Uiiderhili supposed, th^.t being unable to make a compar- 

 ison in California, the gentlemen thought their grapes very supe- 

 rior. Do, not they "recollect that when they were boys, our wild 

 grapes being found ripe, tasted delicious, for want of comparison 

 with our liner kinds. The line drawing of a basket of California 

 fruit on the table shows their grapes no larger than my Cataw 

 l)as. 



Mr. Dye : We have abundance of grapes in California. I used 

 to have ihem three times a day on my table, in clusters of one to 

 seven pounds weight. The berries are oblong, egg-sliaped. Some 

 people called them " Catawba,"' and others " sweet water." The 

 berries are clear, of a light reddish, brown color. There are very 

 few wild native grapes there. The only one I discovered there 

 was a bright red color, smaller than our fox grape, hardly any 

 pulp, acid as vinegar. I gathered a sack of them to make vinegar, 

 and succeeded in obtaining very good vinegar from them. All 

 the grapes there besides this were descendants of tliose imported 

 by the Spaniards long ago. Those tux-grapes had some eight or 

 ten small berries on each bunch. 



Mr. Shelton : The Catawba grape rf Californta has no pulp at 

 all, 



