160 



buist's family kitchen gardener. 



and other native G-rapes, of which the following are the best. 

 If our own advice could prevail, we would plant only Isabella 

 and Catawba, or improved varieties therefrom. 



Bland or Powell. — Color pale red ; fruit round ; bunches 

 short, with two or three shoulders when well-grown. Flesh 

 pulpy, with a half sweet, subacid flavor, and a little of the pe- 

 culiar musky tinge, characteristic of the Fox Grape. Foliage 

 pale green underneath, and more rounding than any of the 

 following sorts. 



Cataivba — One of the best native Grapes ; bunches rather 

 regularly formed, with a few shoulders. Fruit round, of a 

 bright red or coppery color when ripe. Flesh pulpy ; rather 

 juicy, and sweet when fully ripe, with a musky flavor. Foliage 

 pale green, with a white down underneath, and more reflexed 

 than that of the Isabella, which it very much resembles. This 

 variety is most esteemed for wine, and when fully ripe, in my 

 estimation, is the best of our native grapes for the table, though 

 I cannot go so far as to say " it is luscious and high-flavored. 5 : 



Elsingborough, Elsenborough^ Elsinburg. — This Grape is 

 a native of the sandy soils of New Jersey, where it is 

 considered the best of the American Grapes. Bunches small, 

 compact and shouldered : berries small, jet black, round, with 

 a thin skin. Flesh without pulp, sweet and well-flavored. 

 Foliage coarse, deeply five-lobed. Wood slender, very hardy. 



Isabella. — This variety is hardier than either of the form- 

 er, and may be cultivated as far north as the St. Lawrence. 

 Bunches long, tapering, with very few shoulders. Berries 

 oval, jet black, with a fine bloom. Skin thick. Flesh a little 

 pulpy, very sweet, with a little touch of the musky flavor. 

 Ripe about the end of September, but improves by hanging on 

 the vines till frost. I have repeatedly handed ripe fruit of 

 this Grape, with that of the Black Hamburg, to individuals 

 entirely unacquainted with the flavor of grapes, and they have 

 generally pronounced the Isabella the best and sweetest Grape. 



