PROCEEDINGS OF THE HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 635 



Mr. Mead then made an address, in which he spoke of tlie interest gener- 

 ally felt in the recently organized society, and had no doubt that a credit- 

 able exhibition could be held, which would delight the people of New 

 York. What is now wanted is something to give it a permanent charac- 

 ter, and to do this funds are needed, which shall be sacred to horticultural 

 purposes. With ample funds liberal prizes can be awarded, and these will 

 always secure good shows. The great success of the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society lies in its ample resources, much of which has been 

 donated to it from time to time — 310,000 by a single individual. 



On motion, a committee was appointed to take the subject into con- 

 sideration. 



The following gentlemen were appointed the committee: Messrs. P. B. 

 Mead, J. W. Barrow, John Henderson, James Hogg, Isaac Buchanan 



New Grapes. 



Mr. Mead exhibited Avell-ripened clusters of Israella, lona and Allen's 

 hybrid grapes, which he spoke of as follows, remarking that his chief 

 object was to show the relative time of ripening. They were from vines 

 two vears planted. 



ISRAELLA. 



A seedling b}' Dr. Grant, sent out by him last season, and one of the 

 earliest grapes, ripening- at least five or six days earlier than the Hartford 

 Prolific, and is much superior to that sort. So far it has proved a good 

 grower, perfectly hardy, and will probably succeed both east and west. 

 The cluster shown was below medium size, berries round and nearly black, 

 containing very little pulp. It is a very sweet grape, and will doubtless 

 make a passable raisin. 



Allen's hybrid. 

 Called a ichite grape, but Mr. Mead thinks the color green. A seedling 

 raised by J. Fiske Allen, of Salem, Mass., the first person who succeeded 

 in crossing our native grape with a foreign sort. The difficulty in efiecting 

 a cross is owing to a difference in the size of the pollen. The Allen's 

 Hybrid ripens with the Delaware and lona, and will please those who like 

 the foreign varieties. He does not recommend it as a grape for vineyard 

 culture, as it shows some disposition to mildew, though its leaf is so thick 

 and tough that it resists the disease better than many other sorts. For 

 the amateur, in gardens and sheltered situations it promises well. Berry 

 medium size, light green color, with scarcely any pulp, sweet and very 

 good, partaking largely of the quality of the Golden Chasselas, one of its 

 parents, with a perfectly hardy vine. Mr. Mead here remarked that it was 

 not owing to their being tender that we could not succeed with the foreign 

 varieties out of doors, but because of the mildew not only on the leaf, but 

 also on the fruit and wood, which will not allow the shoots to ripen, hence 

 they are killed by freezing. 



JONA. 



Another seedling sent out last season by Dr. Grant. Clusters of about 

 haif-pound size, loose, or at least not so compact as the Delaware, whose 



