THE GRAPE VINE. 



633 



kept dry, they will remain in perfect condition 

 from the beginning of October till the end of 

 January. This very excellent fruit has been 

 much condemned on account of its cracking, 

 and of course rotting immediately after ; but 

 if kept in a dry atmosphere it will keep as long 

 as the Hamburg or Muscat of Alexandria — at 

 least such we have found to be the case. One 

 of the very best grapes in cultivation. Colour 

 yellowish white ; flavour rich and musky ; in 

 short, one of the highest flavoured grapes grown. 

 An excellent early forcer, and sets best in a 

 moderate heat. Synonyms — Le Com; Musk 

 ckasselas, St Albans, Josling's St Albans, Golden 

 drop, Wilmofs Muscat muscadine. 



Vamascus, hlaclc. — Bunches large ; berries 

 globular; very black; skin thin; of excellent 

 quality; when thoroughly ripened, requiring the 

 same temperature as the Muscat of Alexandria; 

 valuable as a late-keeping grape, but rather a 

 shy bearer ; many of the blooms do not set. 

 Synonym — Worksop Manor grape. 



Esperion. — Bunches large, resembling in size 

 and shape the Black Hamburg ; leaves a good 

 deal cut, changing to an orange colour when the 

 wood becomes ripened ; berries medium size ; 

 form various, often round, sometimes flattened, 

 or indented with a groove on one side, or both ; 

 colour deep purple or black ; flavour pleasant, 

 although not remarkable for sweetness. A very 

 hardy, luxuriant, and most prolific grape, equally 

 adapted for forcing or the open wall. Synonyms 

 — Hardy blue Windsor, Cumberland Lodge, Tur- 

 ner's black. Red port of some. 



Prontignan, white. — Bunches of medium size, 

 long, tapering, without shoulders; leaves small; 

 berries medium sized ; form globular ; colour a 

 muddy white, or greenish yellow ; skin thin ; 

 flavour rich and musky. All the Frontignans 

 are excellent, alike as regards flavour, productive- 

 ness, and their adaptation to the forcing-house 

 or open wall, wherever the grape npens. Syno- 

 nyms — White Frontignac, as it is usually pro- 

 nounced, Muscat blanc of Duhamel (a very im- 

 proper name) Muscat blanc de Jura, Moschata 

 blanca. White Constantia, Nepean's Constantia, 

 Raidn de Frontignan, MuscatelJer, Muscado 

 Bianco, Moscatel commun, besides several Ger- 

 man synonyms. Of this grape Mr Thompson re- 

 marks : " By many esteemed the best ; however, 

 the Black, Grizzly, and White Frontignans 

 differ little, except as regards colour; but the 

 Blue Frontignan is very different, being some- 

 what oval, with scarcely any Muscat flavour." 

 The Constantia grapes from the Cape of Good 

 Hope are almost invariably confounded with 

 the Frontignans: they are one and the same 

 thing. 



Prontignan, grizzly. — Bunches of medium 

 size, somewhat long and tapering, shoulders 

 smallish ; berries of medium size ; form round; 

 colour grizzly, or palish brown ; flavour rich and 

 musky, and when left on the vine to become 

 somewhat shrivelled are exceedingly agreeable. 

 An old inhabitant of our gardens, being intro- 

 duced by Sir W. Temple prior to 16S4. All 

 the Frontignans require a dry soil, and should, 

 where possible, have their roots separated by 

 cross walls from the stronger-growing kinds; for 



although they are most prolific in fruit — indeed, so 

 much so as very frequently to show double or 

 triple the number of bunches which they should 

 be allowed to carry — they are what may be 

 called indifferent rooters. Synonyms — Bed 

 Frontignan, Red Constantia, Grizeline, Muscat 

 gris, Muscat rouge, and a number of other French 

 and German synonyms. Lindley, Downing, and 

 others, think the Red Frontignan different : we 

 are inclined to attribute the seeming difference 

 to circumstances of soil, culture, &c. 



Frontignan, black. — Bunches small, and much 

 less tapering than in the two last ; size of berry 

 medium; form round; colour dead black. An 

 excellent bearer and of high flavour, equally 

 suited for the stove, cool vinery, or open wall. 

 The Frontignans were early introduced to 

 England; this, for example, by Sir W. Temple, 

 prior to 1654, being brought from the neighbour- 

 hood of Frontignan, a town in France, long 

 celebrated for the excellence of its muscadine 

 wine, generally called Frontignan. The Con- 

 stantia wine of the Cape of Good Hope, so much 

 prized and so scarce, is fi'om this class of grapes, 

 there called Constantias — Rogers says, from the 

 Muscat of Alexandria. Forsyth more correctly 

 says, " From the Rid and White Constantia is 

 made the famous Constantia wine, so called from 

 a place near the Cape of Good Hope," p. 177. 

 Synonyms — Red Frontignan of some, Black Con- 

 stantia of some, Purple Constantia, Purple Fron- 

 tignan, Sir W. Rowley's black, with various other 

 French and German synonyms. 



Hamburg, black. — Bunches large, often very 

 large; 8 to 10 inches deep; shoulder large, often 

 7 to 8 or 9 inches across the top of the bunch. 

 Size of berries large; form globular or oval, for 

 they assume both forms, particularly in the older 

 varieties, for there are now many ; skin thickish, 

 tending to the long keeping of the fruit after it 

 is ripe ; colour in general of a brownish black, 

 but when not over-cropped, and properly ripened 

 with sufficient light, quite black, and covered 

 with a thick bloom; flavour sugary and rich. 

 The best of all black grapes, and deservedly 

 the most popular. Introduced from Hamburg 

 in 1724 by a Mr Warner. An excellent forcing 

 grape, as it is also for late crops, to keep through 

 the winter. It seldom ripens against walls in 

 England, at least not to the same perfection 

 some other kinds do. Synonyms — Black Gib- 

 raltar, Gibraltar, Black Portugal of some, 

 Black Teneriffe, Valentine's, Hampton Court tine. 

 Admiral, Victoria, Salisbury violet, Warner's, 

 Warner's black Hamburg, Purple Hamburg, 

 Red Hamburg, Brouyn Hamburg, Dutch Hamr 

 burg, Franhendale, p'rankenthaler, and a host 

 of French, German, and Dutch synonyms be- 

 sides. 



The Black Hamburg is described by Knoop 

 in 1771, one of the best German writers on 

 pomology, under the name of Franckenthal, 

 and it is in general known all over the Continent 

 as the Frankenthal, from a place of that name 

 on the Rhine, in Bavaria. It is nowhere there 

 identified as either the Red or Brown Hamburg, 

 although we have seen as many instances of 

 those colours there as we have seen in Britain. 

 Colour entirely depends on circumstances, as 



