Neosho, Mo. Feb. 19, 1883 



Dear Sir. 1 



I have just received your letter of the 15th. Rupestris , which cannot 

 climb well and seems to be tasty to the animals, is constantly eaten off (that 

 is the tender sprouts) and therefor is crowded out by the colonization. These 

 eaten-off stumps continually produce flowers from the young (this years) wood, so 

 that its actual flowering period scarcely has an end, whereas the normal period 

 begins early and does not last long. 



I have seen many Rupestris canes in füll bloom in August. Ate good grapes 

 at the end of October, whereas the normal ripening here is at the end of July. 

 Today , when cutting grapes, I found 2 berries of Rupestris which had dried, but 

 still tasted very good. I believe I have already written vou the above, and also 

 that this eating-off of the vines is the reason for your opinion that by nature 

 the Rupestris is a dwarf growth. 



I do not name anything Aestivalis (Jaeger). However for the past 16 years 

 I have endeavored to find the best wild Aestivalis and to raise seedlings from 

 these. Also from the beginning I have opposed the mistaken opinion that old 

 Aestivalis have small berries. Because of this I have just sent to France 

 (mostly for their quality) a number of large Aestivali s, together with many middle- 

 sized and small ones. Now there are certain fables, which are drummed into us, 

 not only as religion but even as science. To these belongs the dogma that there 

 is no large Aestivali s and the other dogma that no Aestivalis has a peculiar taste. 

 Nevertheless both qualities are found in many of the Aesti valis which stem from me. 

 Therefor Mr. Foese wanted to find Labrusca -blood in them and, since he did not 

 accomplish this, it will be tried with Musta ng. The whole question could easily 

 be solved if one could finally forget the old erroneous ideas. The seeds of the 

 local Aestivalis and those from Texas, as well as their fruit, vary greatly; much 

 more than the other species. Contours of the leaf also. The appearance and 

 structure of the leaves and particularly of the wood is however consistently the 

 same as with all other species. 



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