158 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
eulture. Had the people of the South of Europe attempt- 
ed to follow the methods of the Rhine, and planted the 
same kinds of grapes, it is more than probable that instead 
«f Madeira, Port, Bordeaux, Burgundy, &c., we would 
have had miserable imitations. Those about to engage in 
Ihe business should be cautious, and try some of each, lest 
they be disappointed. The Catawba, from descriptions, 
is subject to all the defects of the Isabella. 
bland’s MADEIRA. 
Mr. R. Bushanan, in his excellent work on the Grape, 
»ays this is a delicious table grape, resembling the Cataw- 
ba in its appearance, but too tender for vineyard culture 
on the Ohio. From descriptions, I think our Bland’s 
Madeira identical with theirs, but it is far from being a 
superior table grape. It has a decided astringency, which 
is not very agreeable ; it has no musky flavor. It fruits 
well, but the leaves often drop before maturity, causing 
the fruit to remain in '^statu quo." 
We have not thought it worth propagating ' either for 
the table or the vineyard. 
CAPE. 
Once a favorite in Ohio, but now forsaken for the Ca- 
tawba. Scarcely known at the South. It has not yet 
fruited with us, but many prove itself worthy of attention. 
It is said to be less subject to the rot than the Catawba. 
I shall say more of it another year. 
I will not now speak of any other grape, my intention 
not being here to give a description of the great and still 
increasing number of varieties, each bearing several names 
or different names in different places. The kinds above 
described are the most extensively cultivated and are pro- 
bably better known than others. I have placed each in- 
dividual in his proper place beneath the head of the fami- 
ly, and should any one wish to prove the accuracy of this 
arrangement let them plant seeds of any of these varieties 
and they will find a goodly number of the seedlings iden- 
tical in every way with the wild stock. I have no doubt 
every other grape can be referred to one or the other of 
the three species named above, and this thould be done 
and recorded before hybridspartaking of each, efface the 
line of demarcation still very plainly discernable, and 
cause much confusion. We would thus avoid the im- 
possibdii.y they now experience in Europe of tracing the 
origin of their vines. They now find but one wild species 
in the Old World — “the Vitis Labrvsca." Whether all 
their present varieties are derived from that one stock, or 
from others now lost, will remain a mystery. 
The names I have given to the three types may and will 
probably be contested ; for instance, what we call at the 
South, Muscadine, is called, in Ohio, “Fox.” What name 
they give to the small black grape I have called Fox, Ido 
not know. 1 believe they call our Bullace, “Muscadine.” 
Whence came the name “Bullace,” will ever remain a 
conjecture, uidess as some one suggests it was originally 
“Bullets.” Be this as it may, I see no good reason why 
it should not retain its name; and Muscadine is certainly 
quite appropriate to the strong, musky fruit it desig- 
nates 
I have, I hope, given a sufficient description of the three 
Southern species, with their habitsand differences. I have 
never seen or heard of any other “i-/?cca?s,” although I have 
many wild '■■vo.rvtus" for being found in the woods does 
not constiiuie them a “species.” It woidd be both inter- 
esting an'.i instructive if persons from the different States 
would o(ien a correspondence on this subject and state 
wliether our same species above described are to be found 
witli them, and whether they possess other distinct 
Species, and if so, what are their habits and characteristics 
and what their cultivated varieties, if any. I earnestly 
entreat all who take an interest in this matter, and in 
whose power it is to give information, to correspond 
with me, and, if possible send me short cuttings through { 
the mail. By grafting these I would soon be enabled to 
decide whether they really are distinct or identical species r 
or simply varieties. A. C. 
Woodward, S. C., 1856. 
N. B. — Since writing the above I have read Mr. Long- ■ 
worth’s letter in the January number of the Cultivator -, : 
he seems uncertain whether the Warren and Herbemont 
are different grapes ; there is some confusion in this ; it is ; d 
evident he possesses but one; which of the two remains " 
to be proved. We have both, and we can affirm they are ' 
very different, and moreover the Warren can make wine ; • ■ 
susceptible ofhigher colour than Madeira, and it darkens - 
with age, I am told from good authority that Mr. L. is ' 
getting an extra price for his Herbemont wine. 
There is, in the same letter, an assertion from which I i - 
beg leave to dissent. He tells us we cannot make, nor i : 
keep it at the South without deep and cool cellars. My ni' 
friend and neighbor, Dr. McD., and I have both made | 
all our wines without cellars ; and six years since I made u - 
tw’O barrels in a barn, and kept the wine, as a trial, in a ^ 
hot garret, the entiie summer after it was made; the wine u • 
is now of a superior quality. We have yet lost no wine i 
from acidity, excepting where a barrel had leaked out the u 
greatest part of its contents. Now, would our wines be i 
better if made in deep cellars ; perhaps not! It is possible i 
they may require different treatment. 
EVERGREENS FOR THE SOUTH. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — While the gardens of 
the North are covered with ice, and a few dark colored i 
pines are looking through the snow, like monuments of 
the summer past, the Southern garden may look bright \ 
and gay. It is to the ^^Evergreens" that we are indebted i 
for this pleasure. ; 
As yet, most of our Southern periodicals have indis- : 
criminately contented themselves by copying articles on 
new evergreens and other plants from Northern adver- 
tisements, many for which are entirely unsuited to our cli- 
mate ; and very little has been written about them by ex- 
perienced Southern horticulturists. Though diffident as « 
to my capacity for so doing, still I will try to give your 
readers an article on this subject. The objection w ill per- 
haps be made, that there are more evergreens suitable to ‘ 
the Southern climate than those which 1 am going to enu- 
merate; but being opposed to all kinds of humbug, I will 
onlv mention such as 1 can recommend from my own ex- 
p^pence in this latitude, 
I regret very much that, in writing this article, I cannot 
follow your rule of brevity, and 1 fear that many of your i 
readers will get tired before I shall have finished. 
Great complaints are often heard as to the difficulties, 
connected with the propagation and transplanting of ever- i 
greens. I am of the opinion that this failure may, to -a 
great extent, be attributed to the ignorance of the nature of 
such plants, and, consequently, the mismanagement of 
them. 
All deciduous trees and shrubs prefer transplanting, 
and partly propagation, while in a dormant slate ; that > 
is to say, in tall and wdnter. But the case is entirely dif- 
ferent with evergreens, which seem to bear transplanting 
best while in a state. In fact, during their period 
of rest their roots are also at rest, and when transplanted 
at such seasons they must evidently suffer a great deal, 
as the roots are unable to sustain life, and support the top; 
they are at such periods living mostly upon the moist at- 
mosphere. During their g70?L‘Mig period, however, they 
seem to possess so much vitality that life cannot so easily 
be extinguished. 
The propagation also of most of them is easiest and in : 
many instances only possible while they are in that con- 
