The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-08-07
THE SCUPPERNONG GRAPE.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS
ABOUT 1T.
North Carolina Not to he DeDriV-
cd of the Honor of ITS Origin or
YaIue-COI. 4Oyt Goes Back
Three Hundred Years, Etc.

Editor SltlZen :-ln your ISSUE Ol Liz
3rd inst. commenting on Mr.. Creccy's
account of the scuppernong grapes OF
Roanoke island you stated that "tht
scuppernong did not grow on Roanoke
island at the time of its discovery
Well aware of the extensive informa
ton YOU possess on this and other kin
dred subjects, attach great Importance
to this statement. What renders it par
ticularly interesting is the fact, that il
differs from the commonly accepted his
tory of this grape. In September o
| 1869, visited Roanoke island and was
there shown a scuppernong vine said tc
have been growing when $ Walter Raj
eigh's colony landed, which, if my memo
ry serves me right, was in 1854. From
the vast area ofland covered by this vine
and the enormous girth of its trunk,
did not deem the story as at all improb
able. This tradition has been handed
down from the earliest inhabitants
through successive generations to the
present time, and is implicitly believed
by the natives of the island.
Standing under that vine, my fancy
carried me back three hundred years, ant
| pictured the gallant and chivalrous
Raleigh, resting under its grateful shade
and perhaps refreshing himself with its
luscious fruit; the same fruit which wa!
hanging everywhere in such dense masses
over my head. 1t was, To my mind, Tho
most interesting feature connected witt
the island, living link binding us to thu
long ago. And now you come, my dea1
sir, with your pitilcss assertion and dis
| IL
away from us forever.
But will not give it up SO readily
One by one, what were taught to ON
youthful minds as facts, have been rath
lrsslv aSsaIcd and destroyed by moderl
research; and now am called on to sur
render Raleigh standing under the great
sruppcrnong vino at Roanoke island
The proofs, my dear sir!
You say ut was found one hundred
and fifty years later in Tyrrell county ol
the main land" That is another impOr
tant fact in the obscure history of thi
most singular and interesting grape
which some of our northern vitculturist
claim is not a grape at all, but a monde
script. Their opinion in my estimation
however, goes for naught, for its frui
must be sour grapes to them, seeing i
will not grow north. 1t is aloyal South
ron and true son Of North Carolina. |
will not fruit even in Virginia. Th
State which absorbed all the glory q
Pcttigrew's charge ut Gettysburg, ant
reports all North Carolina S tobacco GRO
ms her own, cannot take from us on
scuppcrnong grape. Had it originate
in Massachusetts, for instance, the HON
of moral ideas, and the Concord grape
it would have been the finest grapcin tn
world. But asst is, it has no diaphragm
in its branches, and its fruit is not born
in punches, but in clusters of three O
four, which ripen singly and drop; and
is so deficient in sugar that its Juice wi
not make wine unless by the addition {
sugar, and it's tendrils are not torkeC
and it will not grow from cuttings, an
it will not stand pruning, and it is no
subject to any disease, and its seeds ar
different from those of any other grape
and, in short, it is not worthy of beln
mentioned in the same breath as on
grapes So they say.
We'll, it suits us. We like both it
fruit and it's wine and beside, Will
, moral ideas and Concord grapes bot
suffer terribly from rot and mildew, til
scuppcrnong never does.
Admitting the scuppernong was not
existence when Raleigh's colony LANDED
its parent, the muscadine, was; and po'
siblv it was that grape, and not the VIII
ter grape, as you suggest. which wa
found growing i'll such protuslon by tt
: colohStS.
The winter grape, or, as it is botan
callv called, Wits Cordilolia, and know
in this immediate section as the "possur
grape" does not grow i'll that section
| at feast that is my impression. But IL
, Wits Rotundifolia, variously called mu
cadinc bullace and fox grape, grow
everywhere in the eastern counties. I'll
, Wits Acstivalis, known as the summt
} grape in some sections and fall grape
Others, according to the season for the
ripening, and of which family the No
tons, Cvnthiana, Herbcmont, etc, are Gu
| tivated varieties, also abounds.
: The scuppernong is a sprout ofthc wi
G muscalinc, is a true RotundifOlia, ar
the only white one known. All theOth
{ members of that family bear black grape
i The Thomas, the Mish, the Flower
: seedlings of the wild muscadine, a
\ black. Fruit of the vines produced |
planting scuppernong seed invariably I
; vcrts to its original color, black. Th
c being the case, why could not a seed
+ the muscadinc, dropped on Roanol
: island bv some bird, have resulted in
scuppcrnong, Just as well as, and even i
fore the one found in TyrrCll county?
c is quite probable. found in the forest
my vicinity wild Aestivalis vine bcaril
. a white grape. For some time was Ii
der the impression that this was the on
T instance of the kind ever known, but /
:. Gently have heard OF similar vine ha
ing hccn found in Arkansas
At a meeting of the American Pom'
ogical Society held last winter. the Mi
r grape was mentioned as "a grape of +
e merit" | wonder if this can be true.
\ remember very we'll when it was first
- troduced. was a boy then and thoug
" it possessed a delicious flavor. The or
'e inator, Mr.. Mish, Scotchman a
o farmer, living on the banks of the Pa
ir leo river, a few miles below the town
:. Washington, found it growing wild
Is the forest. Struck by its superior flavC
G. he transplanted the vine to his gard
$, and cultivated it. He brought Sol
specimens of the fruit to town, and n
Thoms Sparrow, at that time a proI
nent lawyer in Eastern North Carroll
Ie and an amateur horticulturist, was
:, favorably impressed that he persuad
+ Mr.. Mish to propagate it with view
n its introduction. They gave it the ma
lc of the "Pamlico" grape. After \
ST Mish's death, the name was changed
-. Mish. 1t is now cultivated largely int
- Tokay vineyards of Mr.. Green, at F;
st etteville, and in the Mcdoc vineyards
re Col. Garrett, in Halifax county, for w
m making purposes.
~ When Nicholas Longworth, "the ia
III er of American wine making, "estahlisl
)S his Cataw ba vineyards near Cincimn;
American wines were but little drar
The "Longworth's Catawba" soon ga
ed a-celebrity, and gave an impetus
ee wine making. Although many 9th
,,,. ,,,,do TotnNvho wine vet LOupwOrt