DESCEIPTION OP VARIETIES. 



ture, has, nevertheless, become the great and 

 leading variety for red wine, not merely in 

 Missouri, where its superior qualities were 

 first appreciated and brought out in full splen- 

 dor, and in its native State, but far and near, 

 wherever grape vines are planted; and it is 

 now so popular that it will be difficult to 

 make our grape growers believe a variety still 

 superior to the Norton can be found. And yet 

 we claim this for the "Cynthiana." 



The bunch of the Norton is long, compact and 

 shouldered; berry small, black, with dark blu- 

 ish red juice, almost without pulp when fully 

 ripe; sweet and brisk. Eipens late in October. 

 Vine vigorous, healthy, hardy and productive 

 when well established, but very impatient of 

 transplanting, and exceedingly difficult to prop- 

 agate. Roots tough and wiry. Liber thin and 

 hard, of great resistance to the Phylloxera. 

 Canes vigorous, of medium thickness and good 

 length. Wood very hard, with a small pith and 

 firm outer bark. Wherever the season will 

 admit of a thorough and perfect ripening of its 

 fruit, the Norton will succeed in almost any 

 soil. In rich bottoms it comes early into bear- 

 ing, and is enormously productive on high 

 hills with rather poor soil and southern aspects 

 it is tardy in coming into bearing, but produces 

 there the richest wine, of great body and supe- 

 rior medical qualities.* It has quite a peculiar 

 cofleine flavor which at first seems unpleasant to 

 many, but which, like coffee, endears itself to 

 our taste. Must, 105 110. 



From Norton's seed two most promising 

 white grapes have lately been raised, almost 

 simultaneously: One by old Langendorfer, at 

 Hermann, Missouri; the other by J. Balsiger of 

 Highland, Illinois. These and the white Her- 

 mann seedling (see Herm.} are the first white 

 pure 2Estivalis we know of, and these may be- 

 come as valuable for white wines as Norton's 

 and Cynthiana are for red wines. They are 

 very late, ripening even later than Norton's, 

 and thus will not be adapted for locations north 

 of St. Louis, but the more valuable for the South. 

 They have not yet been named, and will not be 

 disseminated until fully tested ; and unless they 

 prove excellent in quality, perfectly healthy and 

 hardy and very prolific, they will not be brought 

 out by us. 



Oporto. (Cord-} Of the same species as the Tay- 

 lor's Bullit; a true native with a foreign name. 

 JBunches small, usually very imperfect; lerries small, 

 black, harsh and very acid ; considered a very poor 



*It is the 

 eases 



is the great remedy here for dysentery and dis- 

 of the bowels. 



variety by Mr. Fuller. " Of no value, a complete 

 humbug. ' 'Huemann. 



Regarded as a valuable wine grape by Gov. R. ff. Fur- 

 nas of Nebraska, who says (Report to Am. Pomologfcal 

 Society, 1871) "My vines (of Oporto) have never failed 

 to give a fine crop; last year I picked eleven hundred 

 good bunches fron one vine five years old. It is an ex- 

 ceedingly rampant grower, and, as a rule, the bunch 

 not compact, bearing the fruit on until alter first frosts 

 in fall. I have found the Oporto to give a first class 

 yield of very good wine, greatly improved by age." 

 Governor, that is too good to be believed ! 



Onondaga. A seedling originated in Fayetteville, 

 Onondaga county, N. Y. ; a cross between the Diana 

 and the Delaware ; said to combine in some degree the 

 flavor of both, ripening at the same time as Delaware, 

 and to be a late keeper. Jts appearance is eorlu.mly 

 very fine, resembling Diavi, Should it prove as good 

 and healthy as its origi .iior claims, it would indeed be 

 a valuable acquisition, as a market grape. Not dissem- 

 inated. 



Othello, ( Arnold's Hybrid No . 1 .) A cross 

 from what is called Clinton in Canada (but not 

 the true Clinton) fertilized by the pollen of 

 Black Hamburg. Described in the Am. Hort. 

 Annual for 1868, as follows: "Bunch and berry 

 very large, much resembling the Black Ham- 

 burg in appearance. Black with a fine bloom. 

 Skin thin, the flesh very solid, but not pulpy; 

 flavor pure and sprightly, but in the specimens 

 we have seen rather acid. Ripening with the 

 Delaware." 



Our experience with it has not been as favora- 

 ble as we expected. The vines proved good 

 growers, with beautiful, large, deeply lobed, 

 smooth foliage,, but not very productive. The 

 bunches by no means resemble the Black Ham- 

 burg in appearance ; nor are they as good in 

 quality as Mr. Arnold's other Hybrids. 



Ohio. Syn. SEGAR-BOX, LONGWORTH'S OHIO, 

 BLACK-SPANISH ALABAMA; is now understood to be 

 identical with the "Jaques' ' or " Jack," introduced and 

 cultivated near Natchez, Mississippi, by an old Span- 

 iard of the name of Jaques. It used to be grown in 

 Ohio, where the stock originated from a few cuttings 

 left in a segar box, by some unknown person, at the 

 residence of Mr. Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio. 

 This variety attracted a good deal of attention for some 

 time on account of its large, long lunches (often ten to 

 fifteen inches long, rather loose, tapering, shouldered), 

 and its good quality; its bewies are small, round, skin 

 thin, purple with a blue bloom, flesh tender, melting, 

 without pulp, brisk and vinous. The wood is strong, 

 long jointed, lighter red than that of the Norton's Vir- 

 ginia, and smooth with peculiarly pointed buds. 

 Leaves large, tnlobed. At first it was also a good 

 bearer, but soon mildew and rot affected it so badly 

 that it was of no use, even when grown upon walls 

 with protection. Downing (Fruit and F . trees of Am.) 

 said "it is most likely a foreign sort, and, except in a 

 few locations, a sandy soil and a mild climate, it is not 



