50 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 



Hamburg. The demand has ever proved greater than the supply, 

 for it not only ripens ten days earlier than the Isabella, but in 

 Ohio a good wine has been made from it, without the addition of 

 sugar or brandy, which cannot be said of the Isabella. 



Next in order of excellence and tabular position is the Rebecca, 

 probably a seedling from the Isabella, and originated by Mrs. 

 E. M. Peake of Hudson. It has bunches of medium size but 

 very compact, the color is green in the shade, but a lively amber 

 in the sun, and its berries are covered with a fine bloom. Its 

 flavor is sweet and luscious, it has no toughness or acidity in the 

 center, like the majority of American grapes. The berries are 

 very firmly attached to the bunch, and it is easily kept through- 

 out winter in sound condition. The premium specimens here are 

 exhibited by Wm. Brocksbank of Hudson, N. Y. Bull's " Con- 

 cord " grape is not quite equal to the Isabella in flavor, but it is 

 much hardier and earlier. It has the very excellent quality of 

 ripening more than a degree of latitude further north than the 

 Isabella, and hence it is fairly regarded a valuable acquisition to 

 the family of natives. The " Hartford Prolific" was taken wild 

 from the woods ; it is earlier than the Concord, but not equal to 

 it in flavor, and ranks much below the Isabella, hence it is gene- 

 rally deemed valuable only in extreme northern grape regions. 



Hemmed in at either side by the displays of natives is a first- 

 rate collection of foreign hot-house grapes, which, transported 

 from their sunnier climes, can only be fruited in this country in 

 the tropical atmosphere of the hot-house. Our sturdy farmers 

 and humble mechanics have little conception of the thousands 

 of dollars which are annually expended by wealthy American 

 citizens in the construction and maintenance of glasshouses, 

 merely that they may have fresh grapes for their midwinter des- 

 serts. Nor, indeed, does the Dives himself often know how many 

 dollars per bunch his luxury has cost him, which no doubt will 

 explain the readiness of each year's new devotees to follow in the 

 footsteps of predecessors. Bunches of grapes weighing five or 

 six pounds a piece seem fabulous things to talk of, but they may 

 be seen by any one who will go ten rods from the bustle and tur- 

 moil of Sixth avenue and Fourteenth street, and step into the 

 beautiful exhibition halls at Palace Garden. Here they will see 

 the Black Hamburg in several varieties, which the vigneron from 

 the banks of the Rhine will recognize as the favorite " Franken- 

 thal," whose purple clusters he may have plucked from his cot- 



