The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-08-25
FRUIT CULTURE IN TEXAS,
Transforming whole Mountains into Rioom-
Ing vineyards-wud PIums aud Cherries.

From NJ Ants0r des Wf''NnA
Among the wild grapes which grow In
western Texas in enormous abundance will
mention the mustang grape. great blue-back
grape like the mustang, the small black noun
tam grape. with small berries which form
compact clusters and rpcn Mt the end OF Otto
her wild red grape, with large sweet berries !;
tho creeplng mountain Crap, with small Gus
trrs OF sweet. light-red. middling sized berries :
and more rare climbing grape, with large
aromatic green berries.
Not only have the wild grapes been cnnobod
by grating upon them, but foreign sorts have
been introduced, especially the black Spanish
grape; me Burgundy grape, and along the Rio
rrande tle Madeira grape. The black Span
isl grape flgurishcs here with astonishing lux
uriancc. and in almost every kind ol soil Ii
supcrlluous wood ~ all that is requisite To- keep
II constantly fresh and vigorous As 1t has
never yet been attacked by the phyloxera. the
cuttings OF this vine are greatly sought for and
mllllons OF them are sent every winter to
France and Germany.
or late years whole mountains in tho noun
TAN country, on which tho small mountain
grape grows in immense masses. have been
changed into vineyards 10y grating The nobl'st
sorts upon the wild staks-not only French
vines, but Spanish. German, Italian. and Hun
kNrlun., Iho success which has hitherto hrcn
attained promises extraordinary results. The
VI lhsO grape. q variety oi the Madeira. IL cul-
tiNaied especially ia FL lasO county. along the
Endy ana ALMOST waterlcss shores OF the Rio
trunde, In such abundance that In the locality
Ne fruit has no value at ALL
pums are also found wild In western Texas.
There are two sorts Of them. a dwarf plum and
dwarf plum Is produced by small many
hranchcd, thick shrub. which covers the high
slope of the mountains 'n vast thchcts. Ii has
more the appearance Of n cherry than Of a
plum. is dark red. small. and ripens I'm
autumn. The flavor X harsh hut highly
aromatic. and II furnishes a most excellent
rTrscrve II j. the iavorte fruit of the house,
wife, and II Put up in great quantities. The
same ~ true OF the other kind Of plum. which
IL much larger. light yellow in color and when
perfectly ripe IL ot agreeable taste. The tree
on which IT grows Is very similar to the Ger
man plum tree II H. found standing sugiy I'm
the woods along IN" streams. II IL greatly im-
proved 10y transplanting. ana IS now already
found in most Texas iruit gardens The mar
Rot Is thoroughly supplied with plums.
With cherries many experiments have boon
tried without any great success The reason
probably is that the right sorts have not been
planted. and favorable soil has not been
chosen. II IS certain that where these rOndi-
tons have boon regarded. the cherry prosprrs
ia Texas. and numbers of gr"nt. fun. learing
cherry trees in Cumal county give abundant
evidence that the cherry Is destined To he u
TeXan fruit.
Two sorts Of persimmons grow wild in West
crn Texas. one Il dark blue. and one "A dorp yell
low. They ripen late IN the summer and have
a very sweet. peculiarly aromatic taste. But
they are very stringent. and cannot los eaten
with pleasure, though an agreeable CONNECTION
Is made from them. No attempts have been
made 10 cultivate or improve this fruit.