AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
THE CONCORD GRAPE. 
It will be recollected, by those familiar 
with our pages, that, at page 37 of our last 
volume, we made some remarks in relation 
to this newly introduced fruit, question¬ 
ing somewhat its vaunted equality to the Is¬ 
abella and Catawba in flavor; and suggesting 
that the trial of another season should be 
given, before the public receive it with per¬ 
fect confidence, in all the good qualities 
claimed by its propagators. The season has 
now passed ; and we had the gratification of 
testing the fruit for ourselves, at the Show 
of the State Agricultural Society, recently 
held in this city. Mr. Hovey, of Boston, the 
selling agent for the Concord grape, had 
several fine grown bunches on exhibition, 
among the fruits in the Pomological depart¬ 
ment, which we examined, and we are free 
to give our opinion of its merits as we found 
them. 
In appearance, it has a well-developed, 
large-shouldered bunch, well filled with full, 
roundish, oval berries, with a fine bloom, 
like the Isabella, and of about equal size 
to that fruit. This we call great praise, 
thus far. Its flavor is good, sweet, with a 
slightly vicious, Catawba flavor, and a dash 
of the foxy taste of its parent. (It origina¬ 
ted from the seed of a good New-England 
Fox grape, crossed, probably, by the pollen of 
a Catawba, near which it grew.) The pulp 
is soft, and not objectionable. On the whole, 
an excellent grape. Its great merit, how¬ 
ever, and that which will give it precedence 
over other native grapes for out-of-door cul¬ 
ture in the northern States, is its early ripen¬ 
ing, which is said to be two or three weeks 
before the Isabella, and quite four weeks be¬ 
fore the Catawba ; for neither of these will 
ripen uniformily, and with certainty, above 
latitude 42° North. Grape growers above 
that degree, have hitherto had no really 
good variety on which they could rely, for 
neither the Clinton nor Diana can be called 
truly fine grapes. Here, then, is one pre¬ 
sented to them, which, if we are right in our 
premises, is to supply the desideratum. 
A word as to the flavor of the Concord, in 
comparison with the Isabella and Catawba. 
It has been claimed to be equal to either of 
these delicious fruits. But we think that is 
claiming a little too much. These fruits, 
although of quite different and distinct flavor, 
are peerless in their kind, as native grapes. 
The Concord lacks the luscious sweetness 
of the one, and the delicious champagne aro¬ 
ma of the other, which nothing short of the 
long, continuous sunny Summer of their own 
climate will give them. Yet it is rich and 
sweet; and those who can not mature either 
of the others, may be well content that so 
good a fruit as this is at last offered to their 
cultivation. It may, indeed, be quite possi¬ 
ble that, when the Concord shall have ob¬ 
tained greater age, or be grown on more ma¬ 
ture vines, or farther south, its flavor may 
improve to an equality with either of the 
others. It is a strong, rapid grower, with 
hardy wood, and we see no difficulty in cul¬ 
tivating it in the garden of every farmer 
north and east of Pennsylvania, We wish 
the Copeord grape every possible spaoess \ 
but we still opine that the asking-price, of 
five dollars for a single plant, is above the 
mark ; and that, in the long run, its owners 
will be quite as well compensated, in its in¬ 
creased sale, at a dollar or two for a plant. 
Many would pay this price cheerfully, while 
they will never purchase it at so exorbitant 
a sum as the other. At a dollar, five men 
would send for a plant each, while at five 
dollars they will not touch it at all; or they 
will club the five dollars and send for a sin¬ 
gle vine, preferring to wait a year or two 
till they can multiply it for themselves, by 
layers or cuttings. 
Fine Apples. —We have received of Mr. 
J. C. HastingsofClinton, this State,abasket 
of apples of the following choice varieties: 
Sweet Belle et Bonne, tart Belle et Bonne, 
Jonathan, Pound Sweet, English Fall Pear- 
maine, a small sweet apple without a name, 
St. Lawrence,Fameuse, Tallman Sweet, and 
Swaar. 
These apples are among the best grown and 
fairest specimens of the kind we have yet 
seen, and of very fine flavor. The Belle et 
Bonnes, both tart and sweet, are rare apples 
in this market, and superior kinds. The 
English Fall Pearmaine is truly magnificent. 
Mr. Hastings, we understand, has a large 
and choice nursery, and we suppose he can 
supply trees of the above, and most other 
kinds of fruit grown in the northern States. 
MY MADEIRA VINE. 
BY ANNA HOPE. 
It is our Indian Summer. Frost has come, 
and commenced his work of spoliation ; but 
he has been driven back, for a time, to the 
cold regions of the North, where he delights 
evermore to dwell, and where he is so forti¬ 
fied in his fastnesses that Summer scarce 
dares venture to show her smiling face, or 
to dispense the rich treasures which it is her 
pleasure to scatter over the earth. Her ex¬ 
cursions into that forbidding territory are 
often short, but they fill the earth with glad¬ 
ness. The Frost King must cherish some 
spirit of revenge, and wish, to retaliate upon 
the fair domains of Summer, or else he is 
fond of traveling, and would fain explore 
other regions than those peculiarly his own. 
Wherever he goes he carries the same cold 
heart, and breathes the same destroying 
breath over the fair work which it has been 
the delight of Summer to bring forward and 
perfect. The flowers have disappeared, ex¬ 
cept a few hardy plants which, for a short 
time longer, will cheer us with their charms, 
and then they, too, must pass away. 
As I sit at my open window, enjoying the 
balmy air, and thinking how soon it will give 
place to chilly frosts, a most delightful odor 
greets my senses, and I, for a moment, won¬ 
der what it is that can be so fragrant and 
June-like. I drop my work, and draw closer 
to the casement. It is the Madeira vine, 
which I planted in the Spring, and which has 
climbed up over the bay-window, and is now 
covered with its delicate white blossoms. 
How well it repays me for the care it has 
received' Its incense-offering is roost 
ceptable. When I planted it in the earth it 
was a mere tuber, destitute of beauty; but 
the rains of Spring watered it, and the sun 
warmed it, till it sent forth its shoots, and 
gracefully twined itself around the cedar- 
support at whose foot it had been deposited. 
It has wound its way up, up, till its odorous 
flowers hang luxuriantly from the top of the 
cedar, and cast forth their delicate perfume 
on the Autumn air. 
During the Summer the living green of the 
succulent leaf has gratified my eyes, and has 
added a new beauty to my vine-embowered 
cottage. Soon Frost will invade the warm 
neighborhood in Avhich it has thrived ; the 
flowers will drop, and the leaves wither and 
decay; but my Madeira vine has hidden a 
treasure for me in the earth. If I look for 
it, I shall find a cluster of tubers—no more 
beautiful than their parent, but each whis¬ 
pers to me a promise of future growth and 
development, if I will preserve them from the 
enemy rvhose power they have not strength 
to resist. I listen to the tiny voice, for their 
mother told me the same story last Fall, and 
she has faithfully kept her word. I can not 
doubt her children. I shall carefully remove 
them to my cellar, where no frost can touch 
them, and in the Spring I shall commit them 
to the earth, and they will reward me for 
my care, by their cooling shade and most, 
delicious perfume. 
I wish all my young friends knew the 
beauty which a few climbing plants would 
throw around their homes. I should like to 
give them some tubers of my Madeira vine ; 
but as I can not, I can only recommend them 
to get, next Spring, a few from some gar¬ 
dener, and train them over their windows, or 
around the pillars of their porch. It would 
make their houses so attractive and cheer¬ 
ful, that they would love home more than 
ever; and, when they grow old and gray¬ 
haired, memory will fondly return to the 
days of youth, and linger around the old 
homestead, made more lovely by their own 
hands. 
FLAX IN INDIA. 
It seems that a good deal of flax has been 
grown, for years past, in the Punjaub, for 
the oil alone. Now that the war adds great¬ 
ly to the expense of importation from Rus¬ 
sia, it is proposed to grow it extensively, for 
the lint, in India. We hope our own farm¬ 
ers will keep an eye to this business ; for, 
should Europe continue at war another year 
or so, a profitable market will be found there, 
not only for flax, but hemp. The western 
country is capable of growing almost unlim¬ 
ited quantities of both of these staple arti¬ 
cles. 
A Goon Crop for a Small Farm. —The 
Montreald Heiald gives the following as the 
crop of sixty-three acres, at Bowmansville, 
Canada East: 
Wheat.. 
Peas.... 
Oats. 
Barley... 
Total 
Bushels. 
. .1,300 
.... 200 
. 250 
. 300 
Potatoes. 
Carrots. 
Turnips . 
Bushels. 
.1,000 
...3,000 
.2,500 
.8,550 
Beside other small matters, Spring wheat 
yielded forty bushels per acre, 
