DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



51 



but some think it superior in quality, and it has 

 usually suffered less from rot. Its berries hold 

 well, and its thick skin enables it to withstand 

 changes of temperature better; hence the Diana 

 improves by being left upon the vine until after 

 pretty severe frost. As a variety for packing 

 and keeping, it has no superior. Eastern grape 

 growers claim it to be valuable also for wine. 

 Must 88" to 90 ; acid 12. 



Downing-, or Charles Downing. A Hybrid ob- 

 tained by Jas. H. Rieketts, Newburgh, N. Y., from 

 the Croton fertilized by Black Hamburgh. "Bunches 

 large, sometimes shouldered ; berries large, slightly 

 oval, nearly black with light bloom, flesh tender, 

 breaking somewhat like the foreign sorts ; in flavor it 

 is first rajbe, being sweet, with just enough sprightli- 

 ness to prevent cloying the palate." Fuller. 



The vine is said to be a vigorous grower, with healthy 

 foliage. Its parents ferebode the reverse. 



Dracut Amber. (Labr.} Originated by 

 J. W. Manning, Dracut, Mass. Vine very vig- 

 orous. Regarded by us as but a slightly im- 

 proved wild fox grape; very early and produc- 

 tive; bunch large and long, compact, often 

 shouldered; berries large, round; skin thick, of 

 pale red color, pulpy and foxy ; too foxy for our 

 taste, and should be discarded, when so many 

 better varieties can be grown. Yet, even neio 

 varieties, quite similar, and but very little, if 

 any better, are continually introduced. (See 

 Wyoming Red.) 



Early Hudson, (?) an early, round, black grape, 

 of little value, except as a curiosity, inasmuch as some 

 of the berries contain no seed. Downing. 



Edinburgh. Syn. ELSINBORO, SMART'S EL- 

 SINBOROUGH. (^Est.} Supposed to have orig- 

 inated in Elsinburgh, Salem county, N. J. An 

 excellent amateur grape, of fine quality ; ripens 

 early. Bunches medium to large, rather loose, 

 shouldered; berries small, round, skin thick, 

 black, covered with a thin blue bloom ; flesh 

 without pulp, sweet, vinous. Leaves deeply 

 five-lobed, dark green, smooth; wood long 

 jointed and slender. Subject to mildew. 



Elizabeth, (Lair.) originated on the farm of Joseph 

 Hart, near Rochester, N, Y., and described in the 

 Rural New Yorker. Bunches large, compact; berries 

 large, roundish oval, greenish white, with a purple 

 tinge in the sun. Flesh rather pulpy, acid. 



Elvira, a seedling from Taylor, raised by 

 Jacob Rommel of Missouri, considered the 

 most promising new white wine grape we now 

 have. The chromo lithograph accompanying 

 the title page was made from a photograph of a 

 medium cluster, from the original vine, for this 

 Catalogue. Bunch medium, shouldered, very 

 compact; berry medium, considerably larger 



than Taylor, its parent, round, pale green with 

 white bloom, sometimes tinged with red streaks 

 when fully ripe; skin very thin, transparent; 

 it sets so very closely and the skin is so thin as 

 to cause some of the berries to crack; pulp 

 sweet, very tender and juicy, fine flavor. Ri- 

 pens about ten days later than Concord. Vine 

 a most vigorous, stocky grower, eminently pro- 

 ductive, exceedingly healthy and hardy, having 

 stood the hard winter of 1872-3 without protec- 

 tion. Hoots like those of Clinton and Taylor, 

 promising to possess the same indemnity from 

 Phylloxera. Canes stout and long with well 

 developed laterals. Wood harder than the Tay- 

 lor, with a medium pith. Foliage large and 

 strong, firmer in texture than the leaves of its 

 parent, the Taylor; somewhat rusty and woolly 

 on the lower side, leading us to consider this 

 variety as the offspring of an accidental inter- 

 mingling of two species, the Riparia and La- 

 brusca. 



Mr. Herman Jaeger, a careful observer and 

 very intelligent grape grower of Southwest 

 Missouri, justly says (after a visit to Mr. Rom- 

 mePs vineyard) : *' The Elvira has all the good 

 qualities of its parent, the Taylor, and is en- 

 tirely free from the drawback of that variety 

 small scattering bunches and poor bearing qual- 

 ities. The original Elvira vine bears again 

 (1874) an immense crop ; four and five bunches 

 from one bud is the general rule ; they are very 

 compact, and bunch and berry are. about twice as 

 large as the finest Taylor I ever saw. The foliage 

 of the Elvira plainly shows its origin, though it is 

 much larger and more beautiful than that of the 

 Taylor. On the lower side of the leaf a slight 

 approach to the fox grape is perceptible." 



The Elvira will make an excellent white 

 wine, resembling hock ; this is not merely the 

 expectation of Mr. Rommel, but of others, in- 

 cluding ourselves. Mr. Jaeger, who has no 

 pecuniary interest in this grape, wrote to S. 

 Miller (Colm. Rural World) : "In your locality 

 and further north the Elvira, for the production 

 of a fine hock wine, is entirely without a rival." 



Being easily propagated from cuttings, the 

 Elvira will soon be extensively tested, and, we 

 believe it will become one of the leading, nay 

 the leading white wine grape of the Middle 

 States. 



Essex, (Roger's Hybrid No. 41.) Bunch of 

 medium size, compact, shouldered ; berry very 

 large, black, somewhat flattened, in this respect 

 resembling the native parent ; flesh tender and 

 sweet, with a high aromatic flavor; ripens 

 early ; vine vigorous, healthy, and prolific. 



