292 
THE AMERICAN 
GARE)®^il 
December, 
it alone. This Grape should 
three weeks after appeai-ing to be ripe to at¬ 
tain its highest degree of excellence. It is 
then a very good Grape. 
Isabella .—^An old favorite, that has of late 
years become so fickle that she cannot be de¬ 
pended on to ripen, and if perchance she 
reaches the condition, does not seem to ac- 
quh-e that degree of perfection in (piality for 
which she was noted thirty to foi’ty years 
ago. IITiy? is a conundrum he confesses his 
inability to -solve. 
Catawba .—Another old friend and for 
many years the favorite consort of the Isa¬ 
bella, has followed in her footsteps and be¬ 
come so capricious .as to be verj"^ uncertain. 
He stiU retains a vine or two for “Auld 
Lang Syne.” 
Clinton .—This variety was widely dissem¬ 
inated when the Isabella and Catawba began 
to fail, but as a table Grape it failed to meet 
with general’ favor, but for some purposes 
it is still retained and has been quite exten¬ 
sively planted. 
Bacchus .—A Grape of like character as the 
Clinton and so nearly like it in all character¬ 
istics of fruit and vine as hardlj^ to be dis¬ 
tinguishable save by an expert. It is said, 
however, to possess better wine properties. 
Both are vigorous, hardy and productive. 
Canada.—This is one of Arnold’s hybrids, 
said to be a cross of Clinton with Black St. 
Peter. Vine a moderate grower, beriy larger 
than Clinton, cluster resembling it somewhat 
but not shouldered; decidedly the fcesfGrape 
of this family he has yet tested. It has a 
sprightly, vinous flavor and ought to make 
a better wine than the Clinton. 
Black Eagle.—X hybrid Grape raised by Dr. 
Underhill, a fine Grape in perfection, but the 
vine is not very tigorous and the fruit is 
liable to set imperfectly and rot badly. 
Black Dejiauce is another of Dr. Under¬ 
hill’s hybrids, a late Grape of fine quality 
and splendid appearance. It ought to be a 
.splendid Grape farther .South where the sea¬ 
sons are longer; cluster very long, berry 
large, quality very good. 
Ladg Washington.—Ow of the most showy 
of all our white Grape.s; vine vigorous and 
healthy, berry medium, cluster very large, 
quality variable, sometimes very good, at 
others very inferior. In apjjeai-ance, well- 
grown clusters are without a jjcer. 
Pocklbvjton .—This Concord seedling of 
which such extravagant claims were made 
has not thus far come up to the standard 
claimed for it. The clusters , are small to 
medium and the foliage has mildewed and the 
fruit rotted every year. 'VV^hen f ul ly ripe, very 
handsome golden yellow and drops freely. 
Older vines and higher eulture may improve 
its cluster if nothing more. The native 
ai'oma in the first is very abuiulant. 
'Delaware.—X line, delicate Grape, by 
some considered the finest of all our nativ(! 
varieties, among Grajjes whiit the Seekel is 
among Pears. Vine a very moderate grow¬ 
er generally, and when first introduced many 
vines were propagated from green wood to 
such an extent as to ruin its constitution; of 
late years it seems to be recovering in this 
respect, so that vines planted in eongfujial 
soil and liberally treated, give good results 
when well estfiblished. 
Verijennes.—X red Grape tliiit wjis claimed 
to be the Grape “par e-Mellenne" we had been 
looking for, as it was. going to keep 
than any other, but somehow his vines hac 
mildewed so badly for three years pas le 
had not been able to ripen a decent ciop o 
fruit; berry large, cluster medium. ^ _ 
Elvira.—X white Grapefrom Missouri said a 
to be valuable for wine. Vine a vigorous 
grower and cnorinoiisly ijrodiictive, live anc 
six clustei’s on a cane being common. Clus¬ 
ter short, often shouldered; very compact, so 
much so as often- to crowd the berries oil the 
peduncles. It often cracks badly on ap¬ 
proaching maturity, especially in rainy 
weather; of no value as a table Grape. 
Eoah.—An Illinois seedling of Sayler, the 
same as Elvira but a great improvement over 
that variety in size and beaut)’’ of cluster; 
vine a strong, vigorous grower but very lia¬ 
ble to mildew, and on reaching maturity tlie 
fruit drops as biully fis any kind he knows 
of. It is a pity so handsome ii Grajie should 
be of so poor quality for table use. As a 
wine Grape it may be fill that is cliiimed for it. 
Goethe, Rogers’ No. 1.—A Grape of excel¬ 
lent quality, berry large, bunch medium; it 
is often called a white Grape but wheu fully 
matured becomes of a delicate pink. Like 
all of these hybrids the foliage and fruit are 
liable to mildew, but its delicious quality 
will justify the risk and extra care in this 
direction to secure it. 
Salem .—One of the most popular of Rog¬ 
ers’ red varieties, cluster medium, berries 
large, quality excellent, vine vigorous and 
productive, sometimes rots badly. 
UIWc')', Rogers'No. 4.—One of tlie best and 
mo.st popular and reliable of his black varie¬ 
ties ; berries and clusters large, quality ex¬ 
cellent. 
Merrimack, Rogers’ No. 19.—Black, qual¬ 
ity good, cluster medium, often fails to set 
well. 
Rar;-y,Rogers' No. 43.—Blaek, berry large, 
cluster medium to large, vine vigorous and 
productive, fpiality very good and keeps 
well. 
Herbert, Rogers' No. 44—Clusters medium 
to large, seldom shouldered, bei-ry very 
large, black, e.xcellent vine, vigorous and 
productive. 'J'his with Bairy and Wilder 
are the best of Rogers’ black varieties he has 
tested. 
MussasoU, Rogers’ No. 3—An excellent 
and beautiful i-ed Grape, early, beri-y and 
cluster large, vine vigorous and productive. 
4 he chief fault is its tendency to set its fruit 
imijerfectly, otherwise it would be one of 
the be.st early varieties. 
Agawwm, Rog(n-s’ No. lo.-A very poi)ular 
I’cd Grajjc, early, of lai-ge sizes, tiiick skin 
with a jieculiar musky, aromatiis flavor 
cluster large but often imperfect, q’hi.s Is 
by some eon.sidensd the best of allot these 
Jiybrids. ' ' ' 
.re.0yrson.-A lute red Grape of ex.sellent 
quality, vine a moderate gi’ower, and with 
him has seemed a little tisnder, isspeeiallv the 
last severe winter; the, buds started fisisblv in 
the spring and the clusters were small. 
Missouri HiesUng _A wine 
.Missouri; vine appears to 
healthy so far; fruiting this 
first time. 
Beanlg Is also a, Missouri s.-eufing and 
seems appropriately named ; vine so fa,, vi 1 
orous wit), a remarkable l.ealthy foil,,,,,." 
the f ruit promises well as to quality aiul 
small. 
Grape f|.(„|| 
be lia|.dy 
season fo,. t|„, 
Heedllnji 
beauty; this being its first fruit we may rea. 
conably look for improvement in size of both 
Lrrv and cluster as the vines get more age. 
mcjhland, Kickets.-A large, handsome 
herrv and cluster, but late and needs to hang 
louo- while after coloring to reach perfec¬ 
tion. He fears it will prove too late to ripen 
satisfactorily in this vicinity. 
Empire State, Rickets.-A new white Grape 
of superior quality and very promising. 
Thou-di not so huge in berry and cluster as 
some^t pi'omises to make up for these defi¬ 
ciencies in quality. The vine is a vigorous 
oTOwer and quite healthy. 
” Brighton.—An early red Grape of excellent 
quality, viuc vigorous and productive, beiTy 
of good size, clusters large and handsome, 
one of the very best in all respects. 
Niagara.— ’For vigor, productiveness, size 
and beauty of berry and cluster this has so 
far proved tiie ‘LVe plus ultra’’’’ of all white 
Grapes yet tested. 'I’he quality is good, not 
of the best, but it suits most peoples’ tastes 
so far as his observation goes. 
The late Charles Downing pronounced 
some fruit sent liim last fall as better than 
Concord. High authority! The cupidity 
and haste to make money on the part of 
some growers has kept the market supplied 
with unripe fruit all the season, which has 
injured the reputation of the fruit, as well as 
their own, and the persistent assertion of 
some parties that it is ripe when it is not, 
tends in the same direction. A little more 
honesty and self-respect in these regards 
would be of benefit to all concerned, and 
to none more than those Avliose greed for 
gain prompts them to spoil the market for 
themselves as well as others. 
Pearl and (Trein's Golden are new white 
varieties fruiting for the first time, and it 
would be premature to express an opinion of 
their merits further than to say that thus far 
the vines remained healthy. 
Out of all the varieties he has thoroughly 
tested, he coidd not name tiiree kinds—one 
of each colo,-—possessing so many o-ood 
qualities, siudi as vigor, health, productive¬ 
ness, size and beauty of berry and cluster, 
quality. Cor his section, as the 
WOUDKN, muGlITOX AND NIAUAKA. 
In this he know many would disagree with 
him, but with present experience that is his 
choice, and although frankly admitting that 
there are manykindsof bettor quality, taking 
the average of all the merits combined of the 
three varieties named, they stood higher 
than any Im was acquainted with. 
Me did not wish to be undcr-stood as cou- 
•s I ermg tile market propertiesof the dill'orent 
raids, 'riu! markets were overstocked because 
I'be consumption was not equal to the sup- 
It was the home supply and home coii- 
«uinpLion he would encourage. Every man 
01 woman who owned a 
11 cemetery, should grow 
lor their own family u.se, and till 
they would not know 
outside of 
they did 
. 1’ luxury of the dc- 
olous in,lt tre,sh from the vines, a luxury 
boy never would know if they depended on 
buying tlieir siqiply i,, market. 
be great dlllleultyhe lias to contend with 
b <-rape growing is mildew and rot. Nom- 
ami,. I»"bjeet to those cursed 
full ' *'birn how to sueecss- 
Grln nope with these troubles 
Giapi, growing would lose half Its terrors. 
