VOL. XLVIII. NO. 2080 . 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 7, i889. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1889 , by the Rural New-Yorker, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.j 
(Tlje XHnnjart'. 
MINER’S SEEDLING GRAPES—THE 
ANTOINETTE. 
T B. MINER spent many years of his 
• life in raising seedling grapes, all, 
in so far as the writer recalls, from Concord 
seeds. Several years before his death, he 
brought specimen hunches of the varieties 
he most prized to the R. N.-Y. office. They 
were Antoinette, Augusta, Adeline, Belin¬ 
da, Carlotta, Victoria, Lexington, Rock¬ 
ingham and two or three others not re¬ 
called as we write. These were a selection 
from some 1,500 seedlings which he had 
raised, as we have said, from Concord 
seeds, there never having been any pre¬ 
tense on his part of having made any 
crosses. Some time later specimen vines 
of Victoria, Rockingham, Carlotta, Antoi¬ 
nette and one or two others were sent to 
the Rural Grounds for testing. All died 
except one each of Rockingham, Carlotta 
and Victoria, notes in regard to which have 
appeared in these columns every season 
since. The Rockingham is a black grape of 
higher quality than the Concord ripening 
at the same time. But the berries crack 
open and the bunches are often loose. Car¬ 
lotta i3 a white grape ripening a few days 
before Concord. The berries are sweeter 
than the Concord and in other respects of 
the same quality. The vine is a 
rather shy bearer. The Victoria 
has been so fully described that no 
further reference need be made at 
this time. The vine is remarkable 
for hardiness, healthiness and 
fruitfulness. A vine of Antoinette 
was sent to the Rural Grounds 
in April of 1886 by George W. 
Campbell of Delaware, O., and has 
borne for two seasons, the past 
season heavily, though the 
bunches were all imperfect from 
the injury the buds sustained 
from the rose beetles. The photo¬ 
engraving, Fig. 2S6, shows aver¬ 
age bunches. 
The vine is very vigorous and 
perfectly healthy and, thus far, 
perfectly hardy. The berries ripen 
with Concord or a trifle earlier. 
They are medium to large, round, 
a little flattened, yellowish white, 
free of rot and mildew. Pulp part¬ 
ly breaking, sweet; better than 
Concord to those w T ho do not object 
to their foxiness which is more 
pronounced. As grown at the 
Rural Grounds and judged at this 
time, it is preferable to either Em¬ 
pire State, Hayes or Pocklington. 
FROM SEC’Y GEO. W. CAMPBELL. 
The Antoinette was sent to me 
by the late Mr. T. B. Miner, of 
Linden, N. J., its originator, nine 
or 10 years ago. The vine has 
proven a very vigorous and healthy 
grower, very hardy, and always 
free from mildew. As to produc¬ 
tiveness: it has been rather varia¬ 
ble; in some seasons it has borne 
well; in others not, and although 
this may be said of all varieties, 
I think the Antoinette somewhat 
less reliable in this respect than 
some other seedlings of similar 
character of Concord parentage, 
among which may be named 
Lady, Pocklington and per¬ 
haps Hayes. In general 
character it is much like other white 
Concord seedlings, all of which have a gen¬ 
eral family resemblance. Its berries are 
round, and nearly as large as those of the 
Pocklington ; the clusters average smaller, 
though they are of fair size. It ripens 
about with Concord, and keeps about as 
well, either on or off the vine. In quality 
it is, when well ripened, somewhat like the 
Lady, but, to my taste, hardly as good. 
Mr. Miner originated more than a dozen 
white varieties which he regarded very 
highly, among which were the Victoria, 
Carlotta and the Antoinette, the latter 
having been sent to me as one of those 
which he regarded as very promising. The 
Victoria he also commended very highly, 
and he wrote me that it was “ in quality 
so much superior to the Concord as 
to throw that variety back as worth¬ 
less in comparison with Victoria.” He 
had also several black varieties which 
he regarded highly, among which 
were Belinda, Linden and Lexington. 
I tested them, but could not find them 
equal to either Concord or Worden for gen¬ 
eral culture. The finest-flavored of all his 
grapes I consider the Carlotta, but it is in 
all its characteristics so much like the Hayes 
that I do not think I could tell the one 
from the other, either in vine, foliage or 
fruit. Although the Antoinette is healthy, 
hardy and vigorous in growth, of fairly 
good quality, usually productive and free 
from rot, I hardly feel justified in recom¬ 
mending it as a variety likely to be found 
useful for general and profitable planting; 
but as an amateur grape to make up a va¬ 
riety it would doubtless be interesting, and 
in many places might be found successful 
and valuable. 
Delaware, Ohip. 
FROM G. W. PECK. 
In the autumn of 1879 I purchased from 
the estate of the late T. B. Miner, in Lin¬ 
den, N. J., several new seedling grape¬ 
vines : Linden and Lexington for black, Be¬ 
linda, Victoria, Carlotta, and Antoinette 
for white. My collection has since been in¬ 
creased by about 50 other varieties repre¬ 
senting old and new sorts, including sever¬ 
al of Rogers’s Hybrids. From nearly a de¬ 
cade of experience I am enabled to draw a 
fair average comparison of such as are 
suited to this locality. Among the whites, 
both for vigor of growth and abundance of 
fruitage, Antoinette bears the palm, giv¬ 
ing bunches of six to 10 ounees of grapes as 
large as Moore’s Early, so rich in sugar as 
to excel in general approval; but having a 
medium-thick skin and full pulp. I prefer 
it to the Concord and it ripens earlier. 
[That the Antoinette should bear berries 
as large as those of Moore’s Early shows 
either that Mr. Peck’s situation and soil 
suit it particularly well or that he has not 
the true Antoinette. After Mr. Miner’s 
death, his varieties were neglected.— Eds.] 
Victoria yields a heavy crop of very large 
berries in attractive bunches; the vine is 
not so vigorous or is the fruit so sweet as 
Antoinette, and it has a thinner skin and 
less pulp. In quality it is equal to the Con¬ 
cord and it ripens later. It is the best 
keeping grape I have. 
The Carlotta is not so distinguished for 
the growth of its canes or the size of its 
bunches or berries as either of the above; 
but to me it is decidedly superior. The 
bunches and berries are medium to large ; 
the skin is thin, there is very little pulp, 
and it is more juicy, with a sweet, aro¬ 
matic flavor. The vine bears a well bal¬ 
anced crop, maturing with the Concord. 
Other white grapes do well here such as 
Lady, Walter, Pocklington, Elvira, Grein’s 
Golden, and among the blacks Worden, 
Cottage, Concord. Linden, Moore’s Early, 
Wilder and Herbert, and among the reds 
Brighton, Vergennes, Perkins and Lindley. 
Roselle, N. J. 
i'urm d'c.ottoimj. 
WEIGHTING THE SILO, 
Well ■ Known Men Present 
Their Views. 
Since Mr .Colcord gave his rea- 
sons[for using jack-screws in press¬ 
ing the silage into his silo, the R. 
N.-Y. has been asked to state how 
some of the men who have used 
the “silo successfully cover and 
weight their product. Letters of 
inquiry have called out the fol¬ 
lowing notes: 
FROM HIRAM SMITH. 
I put on top of the silage about 
eight inches of green wild grass, 
or of any green crop that will pack 
closely so as to exclude the air, or 
tar-board paper and a few inches 
of saw-dust, or any kind of earth. 
This excludes the air perfectly. 
Eighteen inches of cut-straw make 
a good cover, which is useful for 
bedding, as the silage is fed out, 
and it is therefore the cheapest 
of all the covers I have used. 
Boards, planks and weights are 
expensive and useless. 
Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 
FROM J. M. HEATH. 
The best covering for silage is 
about one foot of earth. When 
the silage settles, the earth follows 
it and the loss, as compared with 
that incurred by the use of any 
other method, is practically noth¬ 
ing. 
La Fayette, Ind. 
FROM O ATM AN BROS. 
| After the silage has all gone into 
the silo, the top Is leveled and the 
edges are well tramped. Then we 
place on it a layer of two inches 
of bran, or two layers of one-inch 
boards directly on top of it. On 
this we put either a light cover- 
ANTOINETTE GRAPE (MINER’S). From Nature. Fig. 286. 
