474 



Garden and Forest. 



[October i, li 



cannot help feeling- that a society of this kind might do much 

 good if properly directed, and the formation of local 

 clubs with the same purpose should be encouraged. 

 It may be that the appeals of this pamphlet are fraught 

 with a trifle more of urgency than the cause demands, but 

 no enterprise of this sort will succeed without the enthu- 

 siasm and devotion which comes from a profound convic- 

 tion of its importance on the part of its promoters. We have 

 no personal knowledge of the working of this club, but all 

 persons who have at heart the preservation of our native 

 flora are invited to address the Secretary of the American 

 Wild Flower Club, Wilmington, Delaware, if they desire 

 more specific information as to its scope and aim. 



A Stone Bridge in Wales. 



\X7E give (his week on page 479 a picture of another small 

 * * stonebridge which, in conjunction with those already pub- 

 lished, shows the variety in structure and general effect of which 

 such rustic structures are capable. This one, which bears the 

 name of Pont-y-pair, spans a little river at Bettws-y-Coed, in 

 Wales, and, as will be seen, is of the simplest and roughest 

 construction, but, nevertheless, is both stable and picturesque. 

 From the aspect of the river-bed the photograph seems to have 

 been taken at the dry season of the year. When the channel is 

 fuller the look of the spot must be quite different and the 

 sylvan beauty of the view much greater. 



A Classification of American Grapes. 



Genus VITIS, Tourri.; L. (in part). 



Section I. EUVITIS, Planchon. 



Series i. RiPARLE(Munson). — 1. V. rupestris, Scheele. Ozark 

 Hills, Tennessee, to south-west Texas. 2. V. riparia, Michx. 

 Rocky Mountains, to Atlantic, north of Ozark Hills, to 55 

 latitude. 3. V. Solonis, Hort. Berol. Headwaters of Red, 

 Canadian and Arkansas Rivers. 4. V. Doaniana, Munson. 

 Headwaters of Red, Canadian and Arkansas Rivers. 



Series 2. Occidentaees (Munson). — 5. V. Arizonica,TLnge\m. 

 Western Texas, NewMexico, Arizona, Chihuahua. V.Ari- 

 zonica, var. glabra, Munson. New Mexico, Arizona, Chi- 

 huahua, south Utah. 6. V. Girdiana, Munson. South of San 

 Bernardino Mountains, California. 7. V. Cali/ornica, BentVi. 

 California north of San Bernardino Mountains to Rogue 

 River, Oregon. 



Series 3. Coriace^l (Munson). — 8. V. Champini, Planch. 

 Cretaceous hills, south-west Texas. 9. V. candicans, 

 Engelm. Cretaceous lands, Red River to Rio Grande and 

 into Mexico. 10. V. coriacea, Shutt. Central and south 

 Florida. 



Series 4. Labrusc/e (Planch). — 11. V. Labrnsca, L. Central 

 Tennessee, north-east Georgia, east of Alleghanies to 

 Maine. 



Series 5. tEstivales (Planch). — V. vinifera.L. Central and 

 south-western Asia, early carried to Europe, etc. (exotic). V. 

 Bourquiniana, Munson. '* Southern ^Estivalis " traced to 

 southern Europe along the Mediterranean (exotic). 12. 

 V. Lincecumii, Buckley. South central Texas. V. Lin- 

 cecumii, var. glanca, Munson. North-eastern Texas to 

 Missouri River. 13. V. bicolor, Leconte. Illinois, south 

 Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York. 



14. V. astivalis, Michx. Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, etc. 



15. V. Simpsoni, Munson. Central and south Florida. 

 Series 6. Cordifoli/e (Munson). — 16. V. cordifolia, Michx. 



Brazos River, east to Atlantic, north to 42°. 17. V. pal- 

 mata, Michx. Alongstreams, southern Illinois southward. 

 18. V. monticola, Buckley. Tops of cretaceous hills, south- 

 western Texas. 

 Series 7. Cinerascentes (Planchon). — 19. V. Virginiana, 

 Munson. Mountain valleys, West Virginia. 20. V. Ber- 

 landieri, Planch. Creta'ceous soils, south-west Texas. 

 21. V. cinerea, Engelm. Bottoms, south-west Texas, 

 east to Atlantic, north to 40 . V. cinerea, var. Floridana, 

 Munson. 22. V. Caribcea, D. C. West Indies and eastern 

 Mexico, bottoms. 23. V. Blancoii, Munson. Sierra Madre 

 Mountains, Guadalajara. 



Section IT. PUNCTICULOSIS, Munson. 

 Series 8. Muscadines (Munson). — 24. V.rotundi/olia, Michx. 



Southern States. 25. 

 South Florida. 



/'. Munsoniana, J. H. Simpson. 



I oiler the foregoing conspectus as my classification of 

 American species of Vitis, and with it I send some estimate 

 of the relative horticultural value of each. 



Inasmuch as this classification does not entirely agree with 

 others it may not be out of place to give some account of my 

 preparation "for the work. In the first place, I have taken the 

 pains to visit each species, as far as possible, in its native 

 habitat, to search out there the best plants in vigor and quality, 

 to plant these together in a vineyard for comparison and study, 

 to take notes of the distribution, altitude of locality, soil, habit 

 and all botanical characteristics in every stage of the plant 

 from the seed up to the fully developed vine, with critical 

 notes and drawings at every stage and season. Besides this, 

 I have hybridized nearly every species with one or many 

 others and have noted the effects. Again, I have corresponded 

 extensively with persons who have cultivated any of the native 

 species either in pure or hybrid forms, and have obtained speci- 

 mens of their best discoveries and hybrids, as well as botanical 

 specimens from all quarters of North America, including 

 Mexico and Jamaica. I have studied the leading herbaria in 

 the United States which have important collections of the Vitis 

 species, including the herbaria at Harvard, at the Academy of 

 Science in Philadelphia, at Washington, and Engelmann's col- 

 lection at St. Louis. I have tried to study, all the leading 

 authors of the synonymy, although it is hopeless and inexplic- 

 able in many cases. I have attempted an exhaustive mono- 

 graph upon the native Grapes of North America for the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, which was written out first in 1887, 

 and has been subsequently two or three times revised, and 

 have been directing the work of an artist in painting accu- 

 rately the growing shoots, full grown leaves, the flowers, male 

 and fertile, etc., so as to give such complete illustration that 

 even a novice may not err in the species when the work is 

 finally published. My vineyard here contains growing speci- 

 mens of every North American species of Vitis except V. Cali- 

 fornica (which has been tried often, but as often perished by 

 mildew) and V. Caribcea. 



I have the species from Guadalajara, considered by Mr. 

 Sereno Watson as V. Caribaa, and for a time considered by 

 myself a variety of V. Caribcea, but now, after another season's 

 growth, I am compelled to rank it a distinct species, as it de- 

 velops specific characteristics not found in V. Caribcea. When 

 I first obtained this in 1887 I thought it distinct, and had named 

 it V. Blancoii, after Sehor Luciano Blanco, of Guadalajara, who 

 discovered it in the Sierra Madre Mountains. I shall hold to 

 this name, as it appears now a good species, more clearly 

 separated from V. Caribaa than is V. cinerea from V. Berlan- 

 dieri, both recognized by our best Grape botanists. 



There is not a species of the American Grapes which cannot 

 by hybridizing and selecting be brought up to a fair degree of 

 excellence as either table or wine fruit. One is astonished 

 at the ameliorating effects of one cross in eliminating bad 

 qualities and developing good ones. For example, a wild hy- 

 brid of V. Labrusca and V. cordifolia (the fruits of which are 

 almost uneatable when pure), found growing in the woods in 

 Roanoke County, Virginia, has produced seedlings which bear 

 fine, large grapes, without pulp, foxiness or pungency. 



V. rupestris has been used extensively, hybridized with V. 

 Lincecumii, by H. Jaeger and myself, and with some other spe- 

 cies less extensively, with the happiest results in producing 

 very fine red wine grapes, and in some cases very good table 

 grapes of pure, pleasant flavor. 



V. riparia enters into many varieties in cultivation — in Tay- 

 lor, Clinton,. Montefiore, Elvira, Missouri Riesling and a host 

 of others, combined with V. Labrusca — but too small of itself 

 to be valuable. Some hybrids of V. riparia, from central 

 Minnesota, with Concord, are about as large in berry and 

 bunch as Champion, and earlier and better, and have endured 

 unprotected a temperature of forty and fifty degrees below 

 zero, and yet bore well. This species must enter into all 

 varieties desired to endure the extreme winters of the north- 

 west. 



V. Solonis, with me, has been combined numerously with 

 V. Lincecumii, V. rupestris and V. riparia, producing a pecu- 

 liar class of grapes, without pulp and skins "thin as silk," juice 

 always very highly colored violet and flavor very rich, sprightly, 

 vinous, though often too acid. 



V. Doaniana is generally a better grape in the wild state than 

 Clinton and larger. It has great capacities in the hands of a 

 skillful hybridizer, and will endure great heat and cold. 



V. Arizonica is the least promising of all the species for im- 

 provement in fruit, unless varieties specially adapted to the 

 arid region of the southern Rocky Mountain region are desired. 

 The quality is fine, but the fruit is very small, and the vine a 

 feeble grower, even in this region. 



