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the fruits of the former. It has recently been introduced into 

 England and gained reputation as an ornamental plant. 

 This species is wonderfully prolific in a quite abandoned 

 state, growing together with brambles and bushes. The 

 cultivated kind known as " Koshu ' arp said by some 

 experts to belong to the vinifera type. They seem, in m}' 

 opinion, to be an intermediate type between the European 

 and America vines. They are wonderfully vigorous in growth, 

 throwing out shoots over filteen feet long very commonly 

 when young. The shoots light purple, smooth ; leaf stalks 

 and leaves are smooth ; canes, light brown when well 

 matured; internodes long. Leaves, large, slightly serrated; 

 smooth on both sides. They closely resemble those of the 

 vinifera type. Though vigorous in constitution, they can 

 xiardly rival the aestivalis and labrus'ca types of American 

 grapes. Bunches loose and long, often heavily shouldered ; 

 berries of medium size, slightly elliptical, translucent, deeply 

 amber-coloured, and tinged with purple when fully ripe. 

 Skin thick and tough ; pulp soft, rather acid, readily separating 

 from both seeds and skin. Juice colorless and very sugary. 

 It ripena from late September to early October. 



Though superior in dessert qualities to the majority of 

 American grapes, and of admirable keeping quality, they are 

 inferior when compared to English specimens grown under 

 glass. The " Koshu ", being resistant towards phylloxera, 

 may perhaps belong to a quite different species from the 

 Vinifera grapes. " Koshu " vines are known to have been 

 cultivated now for 900 years in the province of Kai, whence 

 the name has been derived. In the days i-f the Tokugawa 

 Shogunate, the produce was carried to Yedo on horse-back, 

 across the steep Sasago pass. Of late years, these vines have 

 been grown in other provinces, especially in Katashita 

 (formerly in the near village of Sawada), Province Kawachi, 

 some ten miles from Osaka. In these two centers, the 

 "Koshu" vines are planted mostly on hill-sides or on flat 



