AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 277 



partaken of by the family. As soon as it becomes known that the fruit ia 

 unhealthy, the owner is not troubled with fruit pilferers. 



DELAWARE GRAPES. 



Solon Robinson. — Mr. Chairman, while we are talking of fruit, I wish 

 to call up the subject of grapes ; because I see Dr. Grant, of Iowa, the 

 greatest propagator of grapes in the world, and Andrew S. Fuller, of 

 Brooklyn, whom we know as a horticulturist of both practical and scien- 

 tific knowledge, and as it continues to be repeated that the Delaware and 

 Red Traminer grapes are identical, I want one or both of these gentlemen 

 to state a few facts touching the case. 



Mr. Fuller replied as follows to this question : We are well aware that 

 there has been much talk about the Delaware grape being the Red Trami- 

 ner ; but it was only by those who did not know either. How any person, 

 even a casual observer, could confound the two, is more than we can under- 

 stand, for the difference between them is so apparent that a man, by the 

 sense of feeling, could easily tell one from the other. The buds of the 

 Traminer, like all the foreign varieties, are very prominent — much larger 

 than the Delaware, although the latter has buds quite large for a native. 

 The large bud is a marked characteristic of the foreign varieties. The 

 bark of the Delaware has the deep striated appearance of all our natives, 

 with a hard, silicious covering, perhaps the hardest of all, not excepting 

 the Concord, which it resembles in color. It is nearly destitute of bloom, 

 which is always upon the wood of the Traminer. Toward the end of the 

 shoots, the Delaware exhibits the peculiar hairiness which is another char- 

 acteristic of the native vine. The Traminer has a soft wood, with large, 

 light-colored spots upon it, especially when grown in the open air, and is 

 quite tender in this latitude, killing to the ground unless protected, while 

 the Delaware is as hardy as any of the wild fox-grapes. The Traminer has 

 a thin ruffled leaf, difficult to press flat without its lobes overlapping or 

 splitting. The Delaware is perfectly flat, thick, and leathery, like the 

 Catawba, Diana, Concord, Anna, &c. All of these have thick leaves, and 

 are not liable to sun-scald or mildew, while the Isabella, Rebecca, and 

 some others, have thin leaves and are subject to this disease unless grown 

 under very favorable circumstances. The mildew is not likely to attack a 

 perfectly healthy native vine, and it generally attacks them at the time of 

 cold, cloudy weather, when the leaves have become weak from the want of 

 sun ; therefore it will be seen that vines, to be healthy, must have a full 

 exposure to the sun if you would keep them free from this malady. Weak 

 growers are not likely to have well-ripened wood and leaves the first year 

 from cuttings, unless assisted by artificial heat, consequently they have un- 

 ripened roots. The Traminer does not ripen its wood in the open air, 

 while the Delaware does, and perfectly. It is quite difficult to make the 

 Delaware strike roots from cuttings ; the Traminer strikes very readily. 

 The mildew that attacks our native vines is quite diff'crent from that 

 which attacks the foreign. The one that- attacks the foreign commences 



