1104 
growth, short-lived, and uneven in rip- 
ening their fruit. While many of the 
varieties which succeed well in the ex- 
treme South are derived more or less from 
Labrusca, nearly all have been derived 
in part from some of the species native 
to that region. In the Carolinas and 
in the mountain region of Northern 
Georgia and Alabama, many of the pure 
Labrusea varieties do well, but farther 
south and southwest they are generally 
unsatisfactory, while those varieties de- 
scended from Lincecumii or Bourquiana 
blood are usually long-lived and prolific. 
It is such a well-established fact that 
much of the whole character and useful- 
ness of a variety depends on its ancestry, 
that many nurserymen now give the pedi- 
gree of each variety in their catalogues, 
a practice which is of great assistance to 
the purchaser in making a selection suit- 
ed to his particular locality. 
Varieties for the South in General 
The species which have been most pro- 
lific of varieties suited to the Southern 
climate and soils are Rotundsfoha. Vul- 
pina, Riparia, Bourquiana and Lince- 
cummii, though a few good sorts have 
been developed from Cordifola, Aesti- 
valis, Munsoniana, and others. A few 
valuable varieties have been produced 
from hybrids of various species with the 
Vinifera or European grape, many of 
them giving fruit of very high quality, 
but the vines are usually short-lived, and 
the clusters uneven and unattractive in 
appearance. 
No one variety of grape is suited to all 
localities, nor does any one variety cover 
all the needs of any locality. Few vari- 
eties are in their prime of fruiting more 
than ten days or two weeks, while the 
time between the ripening of the earli- 
est and the latest sorts is more than 
two months. Every vineyard intended to 
produce fruit for home use should con- 
tain early, medium, and late ripening 
varieties even when it consists of only 
three vines. When a dozen or more vines 
are planted the selection of varieties 
should be such as will not only give a 
succession in ripening, but fruit of differ- 
ent flavors and qualities at each succes- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
sive period. It requires no more room, 
labor, or expense to plant and care for 
a vineyard which will yield fruit con- 
stantly during two months than for one 
which matures all its fruit within two 
weeks Those who plant for shipping to 
a distant market or for making wine will 
usually find it better to grow only one 
or two varieties, but for a local market 
and for home use the larger the assort- 
ment of good varieties the better, 
The number of good varieties is now 
so large and the characteristics of the 
different kinds are so varied that it is 
not difficult to secure sorts which will be 
healthful, vigorous, and prolific on every 
fertile soil, though, as already stated, 
the choice of varieties should be govern- 
ed by locality, soil, and the use to be 
made of the fruit. The black waxy soils 
of Texas, the sandy coast soils of Mis- 
sissippi and Alabama, and the mountain 
regions of Georgia and the Carolinas 
need very different assortments to give 
the best results. 
S. M. Tracy, M. S, 
Farm Bulletin 118 
IMPORTANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS 
OF THE SCUPPERNONG 
F. C. Rermer 
The Scuppernong was the first Ameri- 
can or native grape to be brought into 
cultivation. It has always been the most 
important variety of this species and has 
been more generally planted than all of 
the other Muscadines combined. It be- 
came popular as soon as introduced be- 
cause of its great hardiness—growing and 
bearing well under neglect, and produc- 
ing an excellent table grape and wine. 
The vine is a vigorous grower and at- 
tains immense size, as is seen by Fig. 1, 
which shows a Tyrrell county vine meas- 
uring seven feet six inches around the 
trunk. It is notably healthy, not being 
seriously affected by either insects or 
diseases, and is generally a regular and 
heavy bearer when growing on suitable 
soils. It is long-lived; some of the vines 
now bearing good crops are more than 
a hundred years old. One marked pecu- 
liarity of the vine is the splitting-up of 
the main trunk into several divisions, 
