198 



ing impressed mih the trutli of Mr. Allen's sagacity, patience 

 and success. 



The Allen's Hybrid promises us a new and an estimable ad- 

 dition to the popular Isabella, (not always sure of ripening its 

 fruits every season, owing to its southern habitat and origin), an 

 addition to the delicious Catawba fitted rather for the valley of 

 the Hudson River than for this vicinity — an addition to the 

 delicately flavored and excellent Diana, a descendant of the last 

 named — in a New England variety suited to our climate, and 

 promising under appropriate cultivation a sure crop of superior 

 grapes to ripen from the 5th to the 20th September. Added to 

 this, the Black Hybrid and other varieties yet to exhibit their 

 merits, — and the Horticulture of Salem may not be ashamed of 

 its experimental and philosophical operations in so important 

 an art. 



These gratifying results are all the more Avorthy of some no- 

 tice from the Essex Institute, inasmuch as it tends to verify the 

 importance of rational experiments among those who seek in 

 science the advantages it can produce. Mr. Allen assures me 

 that among many seedlings from the Isabella, spontaneously 

 springing up in his grounds, he never perceived any improve- 

 ment from the parent variety, nor any tendency to change the 

 form of the berry. I consider this a significant fact, and be- 

 lieve that writers who have attributed the Isabella to our New 

 England fox grapes, Viiis Labrusca. V. j^stivalis (summer 

 grape) or to similar species and varieties, have incorrectly de- 

 cided its origin. 



The well ascertained tendency of certain species of plants to 

 mingle freely into hybridization, especially among those which 

 have been subjected to the horticultural action of man, shows 

 in itself the most proper direction, towards which to institute ex- 

 periment. Certain species of plants are so nearly related to 

 each other, that although specific difierences exist yet they can 

 be readily grouped and classified. In seeking a desirable hy- 

 bridization, the best qualities of each parent should be sought. 

 This foresight we notice in the production of our Salem grapes. 



