Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-12

- large and as good as the Black. or
MUscat Hamburger; fired, as good and as
large as the Grizzly FrOntignan: and il
white. the Muscat Hamburger would do
ior prototype. 1t is probably too much
to expect to attain all this. bur IT, is not too
much 10 either strive or hope for; and that
these grand results may be approximate
iY reached through careful and mdicious
crossing and hybridizing, | have little
doubt
Inc Delaware grape has great hardi-
ness IN winter; great prOductiYeness: fine
quaLty and remarkable exemption from
TOT. Its weak point is in it's sensitive and
dehcate foliage, subject to mildew in many
localities ana in variable aud untaVora-
BILE seasons. l nave found that crossing
the Delaware upon the Labrusca, such AS
we Concord and Worden, produces vines
win healthy, embarrassing foliage,
ana with canes that endured, uniniured,
% DEG. below zero last winter; and wheu
Concord, MOore's Early, and other La
pruscas We're killed to the ground, with
wood brown clear through. Some of tue
crosses above named, which has fruited,
approach, but do not equal the Delaware
in quality.
improvement by means of cross bud.
ding or hybridlzng IS necessarily slow
ana tedious, but it is measurably certain
IN lis results and Infinitely more rapid
IMAM trusting TO chance, or the planting OF
promlscuOus seeds, however selected.
flantlng seeds from varieties growing
near each other may, possibly, produce
some natural crosses between them. but
the probabilities are all against it. While
careful removal OF the aBthers from one
variety before the polleu-cells have
outst, ana supplying the tertilizing pol
len nom the other with which it is to be
crossed, under proper conditions nearly
always produces q definite result. ] nave
thus produced the Nuscat flavor in seed
Ilngs OF the first cross between Muscat
Hamburgh and Hart1ords and COncOrds
as pronounced S in the Hamburger itself.
Seedlings not artiiicialy fertiiized have
been IN my experience much more varia-
bic ana more disposed to degenerate to-
wards the wild, original species. Della
ware seedlings usually 20 back tO the
wild form, having small, black grapes,
sour and acrid, with large seeds; and Of
the many Delaware unfertilized seedlings
tnat have raised, have never mad one
really worth perpetuating.
l nave long experimental by crossing
some OF the finer Ioreign varieties upon
our hardest natives, in the hope Of pro-
duclns "a grape with the native habits of
vine and foliage and the quality of the
foreign, andthough have produced many
that approached this desired result, none
have quite reached il. In future expert
ments | shall only use these hybrids in
crossing The healthiest and hardest ma
tive varieties.
Besides the Seeding crosses between
the Delaware and the Labruscas, | have
FOUND the Rupestris grape vines perfectly
hardy, and perfectly healthy. The most
unfayOrable seasons have no injurious
effect upon the foliage, and they seem to
rejoice IN 81 deg. below zero, not a bud
being hurt. This season one Of them bore
Characteristic crop OF its small, black
clusters, ripe middle Of August. pleasant
Favored and less acid than most of our
Wild grapes. l have crossed it with Mus
cut Hamburger, and several of our best
varieties, native and hybrid, and shall look
for some interesting and, perhaps, valua-
bic results. The past three winters have
been so severe, and the destruction OF
vines has been so great in many places, it
IS apparent that hardness Or ability to re-
sisJ extreme cold must become one OF the
most rtantrequirements in all grapes
for general culture.
A list of a few of the crosses which l
have made, and many of which are in
bearing, will show the direction OF my re-
cent experiments. The first-named is the
pistillate. or seed-bearlng variety:
Delaware, crossed with Concord, Cataw-
ba, w Orde0, Brighton and Norton.
Belvidere, with Muscat Hamburger and
Grizzly Frontignan; some Of these are on
exhibition.
Concord, with Delaware, Muscat Ham
buTgh, Chasselas Mosque and others.
Lady, with Lady Washington, Grizzly
FrOntignan.
Elvtra, with Delaware, Juno, Muscat
Hamburgh, Chasselas Musque and 9TH
ers.
Worden, with Delaware and Purity.
GAINESVILLE, with w est's ST. Peters.
Nergennes, with Rupestris and several
hydrids.
Brighton, with Delaware.
Rupestrls, with Delaware, Brighton,
Pocklington, Muscat HambuTgh and sew
eral hybrids.
Seedlings from various kinds, Far
West, Niagara, Poughkeepsie Red, sever
al hybriGs, Empire State, and various
others.
Hardness, healthy foliage and good
quality are what should now be sought by
all growers of new grape; and it appears
TO me not unreasonable To expect this
combination from some OF the above cross
es. VIgor of growth, prOductigeness
and fine quality have been attained, but
so far, it must be confessed, the highest
quality is accompanied by a degree OF
delicacy also Of foliage, and tenderness in
severe winters. Ii this can be overcome
and / believe it can. in time--we have
already the fine quality. and need only the
healthy foliage and hardy vine TO rival
any grape in the world.