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THE SOUTHERN MUSCADINE GRAPE. 641 
same. The fruit is a pale green when fully ripe, and 
dotted with brown. It is large,— often an inch in diam- 
eter,—very sweet, less musky than the common Mus- 
cadine, and with a thinner and tenderer skin, and is a 
delicious table grape. For wine, it is superior to all 
other native varieties, being emphatically the wine-grape 
of America. Unlike other cultivated grapes, it is per- 
fectly free from all diseases, no rot or mildew ever infect- 
ing wood, leaves, or fruit. 
Flower’s Grape is a black variety of the same species, 
and is thought by some to be equal, if not superior, 
to the white or green variety. It is sweet, juicy, and 
fragrant, and makes a fine wine of any desired shade of 
red. It ripens about a month later than the Scupper- 
nong, and does not fall off like that variety. Both are 
enormously productive, so much so that I hardly dare to 
state how many bushels of fruit a single vine may bear ; 
but from 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of wine per acre is con- 
sidered a moderate estimate for a vineyard in full bear- 
ing, in which all the arbors are fully covered,—that is, 
when the whole ground is completely canopied with vines. 
The vines are planted from twenty to forty feet apart, and 
trained on arbors made with posts notched on the top, 
and supporting a layer of common fence-rails. This 
arbor is extended with the growth of the vine, till the 
ground is covered. The vines require no pruning, ex- 
cept for the removal of dead branches, or to improve 
their symmetry. A Scuppernong vineyard is worth a 
journey from Salem to Savannah to see. 
Such is the Muscadine of the South and its offspring. 
AMERICAN NAT., VOL. I. 81 
