86 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR, 
THE NEW GRAPES. 
Mr. Chas. Downing gives the following character to 
the new grapes ; 
Delaware. — Longest tested. Not a delicate grower, as 
some represent Fruit i-ugary, aromatic, refreshing 
Never cloys, and is of the highest quality. 
Diana. — One of the ino.-i vigorous growers. Begins 
to color and is very .«:ood to eat almost as early as the 
Delaware, but does not hasfeti to maturity as that kind 
does. 
Herbemont. — Needs protection in winter, and will not 
ripen its fruit north of New York, as a rule. It gives 
abundant crops of delicious, spicy fruit, the berries of 
which are bags of wine. 
Anna. — First fruited while A. J. Downing was living. 
Flavor reminds one of the Muscat of Alexandria. It 
grows much like the Catawba, and seems to resist mil- 
dew better than any except Delaware. Berries large, 
much like Catawba, peculiarly dotted and covered with 
bloom. Color, greenish white, sometimes light amber. 
Less acid than the Catawba. Ripens as early as the Isa- 
bella. 
Rebecca. — Any one who tastes it will be unwilling to 
do without it. Mildews a little, but not more than the 
Isabella. Requires but time to rank as the “American 
Chasselas.” 
Hartford Prolific. — Very hardy, and ripens e irlier 
than any grape in his collection. Not as good in quality 
as Isabella. Berries drop from the bunch as soon as 
ripe. 
Union Village. — Not fully tested. 
York Madeira. — Hardy, productive. “Pretty good.” 
A few days earlier than Isabella. 
Hyde's, Eliza, Canbifs Aitgiist and Baldwin's Early. 
— All probably same as York Madeira. 
Clara. — Excellent so far, but not fully tested.— 
culturist. 
Grapes and Wjne. — At a late meeting of the N. Y. 
Farmer’s Club, Dr. Gallager exhibited some wine from 
the native grape of the vicinity of Washington, N. C., and 
some also from the Mish grape, supposed to be a Scup- 
pernong stock, grafted with the Butters grape Though 
there was a great deal of saccharine matter in the grape, 
sugar had been aided in the manufacture. Prof. Mapes 
remarked that the fermentation of the fermentation 
of the sugar of grape makes brandy, while the 
fermentation of the cane sugar makes rum. Bran- 
dy decomposses anim;! matter, rum preserves it. — 
The older a wine becomes, to which sug.ar has been 
added, the worse it is ; the older the wine which has no 
sugar added, the better its flavor. Old rum has higher 
flavor than new, brandy loses flavor with age. Hence, 
the French when they put up fine wines of fleeting flavor 
add brandy, not sugar, after it has passed the period of 
fermentation. He had been making what they called 
“wines” from fruit, from rhubarb, &c., to which he added 
sugar. They eert iin'y were very pleasant, but the trouble 
was that they would not stay what he made them; as fast 
as the fusil oil separates, they become rummy. It was 
easy to increase and change the flavor of fruits, especially 
of grapes. The experiment of mixing a drop of fusil oil 
with a drop of different acids was familiar, and the pro- 
duction thereby of the flavors of different fruits. Now, 
when he saw that the union of tannic acid and fusil oil 
gave the strawberries flavor, it was easy to believe that 
dressing the strawberry bed with tan-bark would improve 
the flavor of strawberries— especially when it was remem- 
bered that the wild wood strawberry, where the fallen 
leaves and decaying bark of trees furnished an abundant 
supply of tannic acid, had a finer flavor than any cultiva- 
ted berry. But the finest flavored grapes did not produce 
the finest flavored wines, for the reason that they contain- 
ed too much fusil oil. This topic was one of immense 
interest to fruit-growers, and experiments were already 
being freely tried. There were 800 kinds of pears now 
in existence which were unknown when he came on the 
stand, and he felt sure that the palate was only just be- 
ginning to enjoy the pleasures in store for it, and which 
che.mistry and the horticulturists were fast developing. 
YEEEOW JUNE AND SHOCKEEY APPEES. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — Your correspondent 
“ Windsor” wishes to know if any one can inform him 
whether the Yellow June Apple is of Southern origin — 
There is in this County, (Macon, Ala.) about four miles 
from Tuskegee, a tree bearing very fine Yellow ^June 
Apples. Said tree was found growing in an Indian’s 
yard when this country was first settled by the whites ; 
and from it I distributed cuttings somewhat extensively, 
a few years since — Dr. W. 0. Baldwin, wrote Mr. Van 
Buren, requesting him to name the Apple, and the latter 
gentleman called it “ Nantehalee” — an Indian word which, 
I believe, means “ Maidens Bosom.” 
With regard to the Romanite or Shockley A^pple, be- 
sides its close resemblance to the Holley, Maj. Richard- 
son of Cave Spring, Geo., sent it to this county under 
the name of “ Spitzenburg and a gentleman from Har- 
ris County, Georgia, brought a load of Apples which he 
called the “ Sugar Crab” to Tuskegee, which would pass 
any where for Shockleys. The load of Sugar Crabs how- 
ever would have averaged twice as large as any lot of 
Shockleys I have seen. 
Yours &c. J. L. MouLTtE. 
Union Springs, Ala., Jan , 1859. 
^ 
GRAPE VINE— PRUNING, &c. 
We copy the following remarks from the California 
Culturist, and endorse the leading ideas as equally appli- 
cable to our own climate : 
The proper season for pruning the vine, with a view 
of securing its fruitfulness, is now at hand ; and pruning 
can be cont’nued at convenience, till just previous to that 
season in early spring, when the vines on being cut, 
“ bleed,” or throw off their juices from the newly cut 
wood. Cutting-in, as injudiciously practiced by some, is 
usually performed “ when the fruit is swelling;” with 
this process then we have, at this season of the year, 
nothing to do but record our protest against the practice, 
based upon our own personal experience for years, as 
well in the western States as in California; and this ex- 
perience endorsed by the oldest vine culturists of this 
State, and in a section that produces the largest and best 
grapes that have ever yet appeared in the market of San 
Francisco. 
All cultivators of the vine admit the necessity of an 
annual pruning. It is this that gives to the cultivated 
vine a productiveness over the uncultivated “ wild grape 
vines indigenous to our mountain gulches and ravines ;” 
for it is a well known fact, that such wild vines, subject- 
ed to a proper winter pruning are rendered fruitful, and 
this without any after cutiing-in or “ shortening” of the 
fruit bearing branches, at the season of the swelling of 
the fruit, The proper mode then, of pruning the vine to 
secure fruitfulness, as well as a vigorous, healthy growth, 
is one of the first importance to the vine grower. Every 
day’s experience is teaching the observant California 
grape culturist the utter fallacy and error of being un- 
changeably wedded to the old system of pruning, or of 
supposing that because entirely applicab’e to other coun- 
tries, the same must necessarily be here. Men of but one 
idea, natmally hold to the one already acquired, no mat- 
