582 



POSSIBILITIES OF OUR NATIVE GRAPES. 



Kalamazoo Catawba seedling, Dixon, O. 



Mottled " Carpeiitei , O. 



Norfolk (syn., Progress) " White, Mass. 



Norwood " (?) " " 



Owasso " Goohue, N. Y. 



Onondaga Diana Delaware, N. Y. 



Poughkeepsie lona ■ " Caywood,N. Y. 



To-Kalon Catawba seedling, Dr. Spofford.N. \. 



It will readily be admitted by any close grape student, 

 in viewing this family, that it exhibits vinifera char- 

 acteristics in many points : ist, the tendrils are gener- 

 ally intermittent, a vinifera characteristic, and not of 

 Labrusca ; 2d, the peculiar shade of green is lively, very 

 much like vinifera, not dull as in Labrusca. The 

 quality is invariably fine, resembling some vinifera gen- 

 erally. The skin is usually thin and tough ; ' ' foxiness '' 

 is generally absent. The varieties all are more or less 

 subject to mildew and rot, and succeed poorly in Caro- 

 lina, where Catawba originated and where the wild La- 

 bruscas are quite exempt from both mildew and rot, and 

 have a coarse foxy fruit in small clusters. The more I 

 become acquainted with these and the wild Labruscas, 

 the more am I convinced that Catawba is an accidental 

 hybrid of Labrusca >' vinifera. 



There is no doubt that better families than the Catawba 

 might be developed out of several of the Moore's, Rick- 

 ett's and Roger's hybrids, into which Catawba blood 

 has not entered. 



The Delaware Family. — As to the specific blood com- 

 posing Delaware, it has long been a puzzle to grape stu- 

 dents. Some suppose it to be aestivalis, but most persons 

 think it a hybrid embodying Labrusca and aestivalis, or 

 Labrusca and vinifera. That it possesses in part at 

 least Labrusca blood is quite generally conceded, as so 

 many of its seedlings clearly show Labrusca marks. 

 The writer, after years of critical study and growing 

 many seedlings of it, finds the analysis indicates quite 

 satisfactorily the composition of this variety to be 

 I'. Labrusca, hybridized with some form or variety of 

 V. Bourijniniana, such as Herbemont or Le Noir, of the 

 so-called "Southern aestivalis," which certainly is not 

 native, as commonly supposed. 



One familiar with these forms, and Delaware and its 

 progeny, readily sees the close kinship among them. 

 Having produced a number of hybrids between Herbe- 

 mont and different Labrusca varieties, and finding such 

 hybrids to greatly resemble Delaware in vine and leaf 

 and general character of fruit, my supposition is strength- 

 ened as to the specific blood of Delaware. But, of 

 course, this is a theoretical conclusion at best, and the 

 best I am able to form. 



Beauty Delaware X Maxatawney, J. Rommel. 



Beauty of Minn. . " < Concord, J.C.Kramer. 



Croton Concord ■' Fontainebleau, S. W. I'nderhill. 



Delaware Lab. ■ Bourq., P. H. Provost, N.J. 



Golden Gem Delaware »' lona, J H. Ricketts. 



Ithaca Delaware >' Chasselas, Dr. Parker, N.J. 



Lady Charlotte ... " X lona, Pringle, Vt. 



Putnam " X Concord, Ricketts. 



Purity " X " Campbell. 



Raritan " " Ricketts. 



Rommel's No. 3 . . . " X ? Mo. 



Rommel's No. 4 . . . Delaware < ? Mo. 



White Delaware . . " seedling, Campbell. 



Walter " Diana, Caywood. 



Willis " / ->. W. W.Jones, 111. 



Wylie's No. i . . . . " X Concord, S. C. 



The following Delaware offspring are of my own 

 raising ; 



Delgoethe Delaware < Goethe. 



Delmar " >, Martha. 



Oleta " X Irving. 



Roscoe " X Martha. 



Sparkler ■' seedling. 



Owing to lack of productiveness none of these are 



very promising as profitable varieties for the vineyard- 

 ist, though they all are fine in quality. That is the gen- 

 eral character of the Delaware family. So far, Dela- 

 ware is, for real value, superior to any of its seedlings. 

 In the hands of the hybridizer, Delaware gives much 

 better results when used as pollinator of such varieties 

 as Lindley, Herbert, Agawam, Concord, etc., than as 

 the mother of pure or hybrid seedlings, as indicated in 

 my Brilliant, Gold-Dust, Lindel, etc., where Lindley 

 was the mother vine. 



Isabella Family.- — For pretty much the same reasons 

 that I regard Catawba as a hybrid of Labrusca with 

 vinifera, I am also compelled to put Isabella in the 

 same category. It appears to have been always as ten- 

 der everyway as most of Rogers' hybrids, and its pro- 

 gency do not indicate pure Labrusca blood in it. Hy- 

 brids or crosses of it with pure vinifera are generally 

 quite tender and greatly resemble vinifera, as though 

 they possessed as much as three-fourths vinifera blood, 

 which they should if Isabella itself is a hybrid. 



Adirondack Isabella seedling, N. Y. 



Albino " J. B. Garber, Pa. 



Allen's Hybrid " X G. Chasselas, Mass. 



Eureka " seedling, S. Folsom, N. Y. 



Golden Drop . . . Adirondack ■ Delaware, Vt. 



Isabella Lab. X Vin., Isab. Gibbs, S. C? 



Israella Seed'g of Isabella, Dr. Grant, Pa. 



Logan . . . . Seed'g of Isabella, accidental, O. 



Lydia ..." " " Carpenter, O. 



Maxatawney . " " (?) Pa. 



Mary Ann Isabella ■ Hartford (?) Garber, Pa. 



Prentiss Isabella, J. W. Prentiss, N. Y. 



Rebecca Isabella ■ Vinifera (?) Peake, N. Y. 



Union Village .... " Seed'g, Shakers, Ohio. 



There are many other Isabella seedlings and seedlings 

 of some of the Isabella seedlings, but not worthy of 

 mention here. 



Rogers' Labrusca > Vinifera family. — These were 

 produced by E. S. Rogers, at Roxbury, Mass., in 1854- 

 5-6, by hybridizing good selections of the most vigor- 

 ous wild Labrusca of Massachusetts with vinifera pol- 

 len, such as Black Hamburg. I name only a few of 

 the lot. 



15 Agawam 



39 Aminia 



43 Barry 



41 Essex 



14 Gsertner Lab. X White. Chasselas.- 



I Goethe 



44 Herbert Lab. X Hamburg. 



9 Lindley " X Golders. Chass. 



