wmivi; 
VOIi. XX V. No. IN. 
WHOLE No. 129‘2. 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N, Y,, OCT, 31, 1874. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
*2.50 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1874, by the Rural Publishing Compnny, in the otttce of the Llbrarlun of Congress at Washington. | 
<®lte ©incpni. 
THE NEW EARLY GRAPE, “ LADY.” 
Mr. U. W. Campbell, Delaware, O., sent 
us about the last of August a single cluster 
of a seedling white grape, which we recog¬ 
nized as the grape shown last year as “ t\ hi to 
Lady.” Mr. CAMPBELL says it is a seedling 
of the Concord and so far as he knows—and 
he surely ought, to know—the earliest ripen 
ing grape yet introduced, being a week or 
ten days earlier than Hartford Prolific and 
“ a very good grape.” Mr. Campbell claims 
it to be two weeks earlier than the Martha 
and says the vine is tvs vigorous and hardy as 
its parent. We quote from Mr. Campbell's 
letter: 
“ it is a pure Concord seedling, and seems 
to retain all the best characteristics of the 
parent in the way of health, hardiness and 
productiveness, with improved quality in the 
fruit and at least two weeks earlier ripening. 
It was first brought to notice by Mr. Imlay 
of Muskingum Co., some live years ago, at a 
meeting of the Ohio Horticultural So¬ 
ciety. The original vine fruited for 
five or six years, but wo* destroyed a 
year ugo by removal. I think there 
are no vines now iu existence that 
have borne more than two or three 
years. I have grown it for five years 
and fruited it for three. The illustra¬ 
tion [on this page] is from a photograph 
of a cluster from a vine in its second 
bearing year. The fruit is very at¬ 
tractive ; a light greenish yellow, cov¬ 
ered with pure white bloom ; skin 
thin ; seeds few and very small; clus¬ 
ters medium large; berries large, 
round ; flavor sweet, rich, with a trace 
of native aroma and just enough of 
sprightly, vinous aei<l to prevent cloy- / 
ing the appetite ; iu character, sug- ^ 
gestivo of Concord, but much more 
refined and delicate ; it has a little 7®' 
consistence of pulp, but is of uniform 
character and flavor throughout, with 
no sour or unpleasant taste at the cen- mm 
ter ; the berries bang perfectly to the 
cluster, never falling, even when over 
ripe, like Hartford and some others. 
So far, neither mildew of the foliage 
nor rot or nildew of the fruits has oc 
curred, and having endured uninjured 
the unprecedented cold of the winter < 
of 187:3-3 in full open exposure, when 
the thermometer fell to o 3’ below zero, 
it may be fairly classed among the 
“ iron-clad” varieties suited tu general / 
cultivation ; ripening before Hartford 
Prolific or auy other of the early varie¬ 
ties now grown.” 
--- 
AMERICAN VINES FOR FRANCE. 
A little over a year since Prof, 
Planchon, ft French naturalist, visited 
this country for the purpose of learn¬ 
ing something of the ravages of the 
grape louse (Phylloxera) upon our na¬ 
tive vines. Prom the report of this 
gentleman upon his return home, we 
conclude he made some wonderful 
discoveries in the four weeks’ sojourn 
in America, one of which must be a 
great surprise to our old vineyardists, 
i. e., that the failure of the European 
varieties for the past Iwo centuries is 
due to the presence and prevalence of 
this identical Phylloxera which has 
for the past few years been so destructive to 
the vineyards in Europe. 
If other causes of failure were not well 
known, we might take some stock in this 
theoretical statement; but as it is, we shall 
hold to our doubts pretty firmly until some¬ 
thing better in the way of proof is ottered 
than the worth of a man who spent the 
vvhole-of-one-month examining the condition 
of the vineyards of America. 
But Mr. PlancBOH's visit, has produced 
other results more practical and substantial 
in their nature, for he lias told his people 
that we have really good grapes in America, 
and those from which good wine is and can 
be made. This, of course, is news to the 
Frenchman, for nothing short of the destruc¬ 
tion of their own vineyards by insects or dis¬ 
ease, would ever open their Oars to anything 
American. Mr. Plawiion has also told them 
that although the native vine of America lias 
always been infested with the terrible Phyl¬ 
loxera, (which is far from being proven,) still 
It Is so vigorous and hardy that it is capable 
of resisting the ravages of this pest. The 
results of these statements are a great de¬ 
mand in France for our American varieties 
of grapes. Last winter agents of French 
firms scoured the country for grape cuttings 
and car-loads came into the city from the 
North, West and South, and were sent for¬ 
ward by steamers to France. 
It is an old saying, that “Turn about is 
fair play,” and we appear to have a chance 
now to get even with our foreign cousins in 
this grape vine trade, for it is not many years 
since we had men among us who were just 
foolish enough to spend their time and n loney 
iu planting foreign varieties in vineyards on 
the Atlantic Slope. Already the purchasing 
agents are busy in securing grape cuttings 
for exportation to France, and wo have no 
doubt the heretofore waste wood from many 
a vineyard will be disposed of to good ad 
vantage. 
Of course it is useless to undertake to teach 
the French Vtgneron anything in regard to 
growing vines from cuttings ; for what his 
ancestors learned from Pliny or Columella 
two thousand years ago, is just what he 
“pins his faith on” to-day, consequently he 
orders long cuttings—nothing short of eight¬ 
een iuches or two feet will answer, and our 
vineyardists must look to this when making 
THE NEW EARLY GRAPE, 
LADY'.’ 
up for a French market. The Yankee vine 
raised from a one or two-bud cutting would 
not satisfy a French vineyardist, although 
they are really as near perfection as we can 
come in the art of propagat ing plants. 
This foreign demand comes in quite oppor¬ 
tune, for our cultivators of the grape have 
for some time needed a market for their sur¬ 
plus stock. 
-+++- 
IS THERE ANY PROFIT FOR THE GRAPE 
GROWER THIS YEAR 1 
I have been reading of the crop and I 
know something of the cost of culture, lack¬ 
ing and boxing for shipment. Taking all in 
all, I can but say that, as 1 view it, grape 
growing this year is on a par with Western 
corn fields. Thousands of pounds of Con¬ 
cords have been sold in New York City at 
two and two and a-half cents per pound 
and Delawares at four to seven cents. To¬ 
day (Oct. 11) as I write, I have been offered 
on the street the best of Concords at five 
cents per pound, Delawares at ton cents per 
pound and Catawbas same as Delaware,-j. I 
have bought a box, weighing five pounds, 
from T. M. Younoi.ovk’h vineyard, 
in Pleasant Valley, for 135 cents, at a 
huckster’s stand upon the street. 
So far as 1 go among the dealers in 
native wines, there is no demand for 
that class of wine, and the trade is a 
dead letter. Few wine dealers are 
preparing to manufacture largely 
grapes into wine this autumn, They 
will of course work up their own vine¬ 
yards, amounting in the aggregate to 
perhaps 200,000 gallons; but what is 
it, or would it be, were there a de¬ 
mand equal to that of 1870. Echo 
must answer ! and it will sound faint, 
as I think ; for not a dealer can oon- 
trovert the fact above stated. 
Ye who have vineyards and ye who 
have land which you have designed to 
5V plant to grape vines, be not dis- 
7 couraged from what we have written, 
Bap for know ye not that in all things 
I J i lh - there is a shadow of doubt and error 
in conception l The future of grape 
^ \ growing is to-day just as promising as 
- , it ever was. Only tills—the grower 
' 'i must be sure that the variety he 
\ v '| grows will meet the public demand. 
Ba So far our varieties have been de¬ 
ficient iu quality with size to meet the 
| r publics taste ; but ttie old vineyards 
yl should not be abandoned. The new 
ones should be planted with varieties 
f after carefully and thoughtfully 
studying them with reference to the 
probable future results, 
• F. It. Elliott. 
-- 
VINEYARD NOTES. 
Whitehall Grape. — From Messrs. 
Merrill and Coleman, Geneva, N. 
Y., we have received a sample of a 
grape, with this name. We forwarded 
the sample to our associate, Andrew 
K, Fuller who says of it, “ This is a 
rather inferior variety of the Isabella— 
perhaps a seedling and perhaps not.” 
A New White Grape. — We have 
received from B. W. Smith, Syracuse, 
N. Y., a sample of a new white grape 
of considerable promise. The bunch 
sent us is quite small, but presume it 
will improve in this respect with age 
or upon strong, old vines, Berries are 
large, pale amber in color ; pulp mod¬ 
erately tender, of a sprightly flavor. 
