158 THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



in quality, in which direction there is. in the writer's opinion, consider- 

 able room for improvement. Since the dissemination of tlie Champion, 

 other varieties have appeared which are certainly better in quality, 

 but whether they will be found to possess as hardy and vigorous a 

 constitution, and consequently can be successfully grown as far to the 

 north, can only be known after some years of trial. The Champion 

 was perhaps the first to ripen this season, but the Moore's Early came 

 so close upon its heels that it was hard to say wliich of them should 

 be called the earliest. Moore's Early is as good in quality as the 

 Concord, and might be readily mistaken for that variety, both in the 

 flavor and appearance of its fruit. The vine is even more vigorous, 

 and ripens its wood much earlier than the Concord, thereby giving 

 good promise of being able to endure the climate of our northern 

 counties. Both of these varieties ripened before the Hartford Prolific, 

 and both possess much greater power of resisting tlie effects of severe 

 cold. In fact the northern limit of the profitable culture of the 

 Hartford Prolific is soon reached. 



Within a very few years another grape has appeared, which ripens 

 at the same time with the Hartford Prolific and just after Moore's 

 Early and Champion; it is called the Niagara. This is a white grape, 

 and gives promise of being one of the most valuable sorts we yet have. 

 The quality of the fruit is superior to that of either the Champion, 

 Moore's Early or Hartford Prolific. The color of the fruit is very 

 attractive, having that beautiful serai-transparent appearance which is 

 found in our light colored hot-house grapes. The bunches are large 

 and usually well shouldered, berries large, and the vine exceedingly 

 prolific. These four varieties constitute the early grapes of to-day ; 

 each has its own qualities and its own excellencies. The Champion 

 is grown profitably as far north as Montreal, where the Hartford 

 Prolific would surely fail to endure the winter. Moore's Early and 

 Niagara are too new to admit of confident assertions of their ability to 

 rival the Champion in their power to endure the climate of Quebec, 

 or of our more northern sections, but they are both of them so far 

 superior to it in excellence of flavor, size of bunch and beauty of ap- 

 pearance that they deserve to be planted and tried in every section of 

 the Province. There is great reason to believe, judging from the ap- 

 pearance of the vines, that they will prove valuable in a great part 

 of Canada. 



