56 CULTIVATION 



procure. For latitude 40 to 45 there are, at*Ieast, 

 three or four native kinds, (besides the common Fox 

 grapes,) which appear to withstand the climate, 

 and bear abundantly. 



Let it be distinctly understood, that in all the 

 foreign kinds, not one has been brought to notice 

 as yet, which has proved its general adaptation for 

 open culture in our climate. Not only my own 

 experience, but .scores of others have determined 

 this fact. Some years ago forty acres were planted 

 oa Long Island, with 150,000 foreign vines of 

 various sorts. But after some years of effort and 

 expense, the proprietor was doomed to disappoint- 

 ment and finally abandoned the enterprise. The 

 Swiss of Vevay, Indiana, who, many years ago, 

 planted a number of acres with foreign varieties, 

 were unsuccessful until they were forced to abandon 

 them, and substitute our native kinds in their stead. 



The Isabella grape, unquestionably, stands first 

 in estimation of the public, as to quality and pro- 

 ductiveness in this latitude. It is believed to be a 

 native of South Carolina, and singular to say, is 

 even more prolific here, than at the south ! It was 

 obtained from thence by the wife of George Gibbs, 

 Esq., of Brooklyn, about 1816, and in compliment 

 to her, it was christened by her name, Isabella, By 

 judicious culture it has now become acclimated to 

 the north, and i, ™s.d thronghou. New England, 

 and to some extent in Canada. It is found that its 

 period of ripening has been shortened since its first 

 introduction here, and it now comes to maturity, 



