328 Observations on the Verdelho Grape. 



the fruit would become perfectly ripe long before the 

 middle of October, the Verdelho being rather an early grape. 

 I have received some from Mr. Williams, which had ripened 

 tolerably well in the open air. No further care or attention 

 to the vines would be necessary, during the whiter than to 

 cover the pots with mould, as the frost is rarely so severe in 

 England as to injure the branches of the vine, and as 

 trees, unlike animals, become patient of cold during winter, 

 in proportion as they have been operated upon by the high- 

 est beneficial degrees of heat during the preceding summer. 



There is an excellence in the Verdelho Grape, which ought 

 not to pass unnoticed. The stones or seeds of this species 

 of fruit, when taken into the stomach, have sometimes been 

 productive of dreadful consequences, and probably never 

 can be swallowed without some degree of danger ; and the 

 pulp of most varieties of the Grape, adheres so much to the 

 seeds, as to render the disengagement of it very troublesome, 

 and consequently to deduct, not inconsiderably, from the 

 merits of the fruit. The tender pulp of the Verdelho Grape, 

 on the contrary, quits at once its seeds and skin so readily 

 as soon as it is perfectly ripe, that neither of these become 

 to any extent troublesome ; and this peculiarity, as the Grape 

 is not large, adds very much to its value. 



The science of political economy is so intricate, that it 

 may possibly be questioned, whether the extensive culture 

 of the Grape in the ' southern part of Africa, would be be- 

 neficial to the British Empire ; but if it be expedient to 

 promote the culture of any variety of the Grape there, the 

 Verdelho Grape has probably much the strongest claims to 

 attention, not only on account of the abundant produce of 



