HORTICULTURAL SHOW. 49 



but separate berries wliich drop as they ripen. It has little to 

 recommend it in flavor to the delicate palate of the connoisseur 

 whose taste has been educated amid better things, but it may do 

 well enough for stewing into " sass " for supper-tables in the rural 

 districts. In close proximity are several dishes of the Delaware, 

 a grape which, after years of opposition and unfair treatment, 

 has been placed at the head of the list. Of late years, wherever 

 it has come in competition with other varieties, it has received 

 the premium, and a new triumph has been reaped for it at this 

 splendid show. There are over twenty varieties of native grapes 

 on the tables, and among them all the judges were to award a 

 prize for " the best dish of native grapes, one variety ; not less 

 than six bunches." When we state that Charles Downing and 

 William Reid were members of that committee, it will be seen 

 that the charge of incompetence can scarcely be alleged against 

 it. These men, after trying all the kinds, gave the premium to 

 Mr. Skeele for his dish of Delaware, although they themselves are 

 more interested in the sale of other varieties. The Delaware has 

 a smaller berry than the Catawba, but it is sweet to the very cen- 

 ter, has none of the astringency of the latter, the flesh is very 

 juicy with some consistence, and it has a pure vinous life, which 

 is easily remarked by a stranger at first taste. It has been claimed 

 as identical with the Taminer of Europe, and a party, with Nicho- 

 las Longworth at its head, has stoutly opposed its claims to na- 

 tivity ; but the friends of the Delaware positively assert that it 

 was first discovered and cultivated by Mr. Thompson of Dela- 

 ware, Ohio, and bring a mass of proof in support of the claim. 



Next on the table we see the Diana, a red grape, originated by 

 Mrs. Diana Crehor of Milton Hill, near Boston. This is a seed- 

 ling of the Catawba, but much purer in flavor than the parent, 

 sweeter and more vinous, and free from its astringency. Then 

 passing some less valuable varieties, we come to a grape which 

 the Shaker brethren at Union Village, near Cincinnati, gave to 

 the world, through the powerful agency of Mr. Longworth, some 

 twenty years ago. When its first fruit was exhibited at a show, 

 it was mistaken by the committee for rare Black Hamburgs, and 

 the first premium was given it as the best specimen of that for- 

 eign variety, grown in open air, on exhibition. The Union Vil- 

 lage is a seedling of the Isabella, and has its peculiar color and 

 bloom ; but its size is such that it is easily mistaken for the Black 



[Am. IxNst.] D 



