Catawba grape

“ Many varieties remain wild, while others have been improved by cultivation. The three finest native American grapes, the Catawba, the Isabella, and the Scuppernong, are all indigenous to the soil of North Carolina. The Catawba, native to the banks of the river Catawba, from which it takes its name, is still found wild in North Carolina, while it has become celebrated at the North as a table-grape, and in Ohio as a wine-grape. In its adopted home it has revolutionized land values because of the money value of the product. ”

“ At the same time he offered n reward of five hundred dollars for any improvement in the quality of the Catawba grape.
The enthusiasm which he manifested, as well as the liberality of his offer, had a decidedly beneficial effect upon the small growers in the neighborhood. "It proved a great stimulus to the growth of the Catawba vine in the country around Cincinnati," to know that a man of Mr. Longworth's means stood ready to pay cash, at the rate of from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter a gallon, for all the grape-juice that might be brought to him, without reference to the quantity. ”

“ The quality of the fruit is very good, being much like that of Catawba both in flesh characters and in flavor. The color of the berries seems to vary greatly, sometimes being nearly as red as Catawba and under other conditions an unattractive green with a reddish tinge. As a rule the fruit keeps well but there are exceptions especially when the variety is not grown under the conditions best suited to it. Ulster has many good qualities but its deficiency in vigor and capriciousness in both vine and fruit characters prevent its becoming a grape of value for either vineyard or garden. ”

“ But it crowds the whole mass of fruit and leaves together so closely that mildew and rot will follow almost as a natural consequence, and those who follow it are almost ready to give up grape-culture in despair. Nor is this surprising. With their tenacious adherence to so fickle a variety as the Catawba, and to practices and methods of which experience ought to have taught them the utter impracticability long ago, we need not be surprised that grape-culture is with them a failure. We have a class of grape-growers who never learn, nor ever forget, anything ”

“ Few small growers seem to have learned the art of keeping grapes in common storage, There are but few difficulties in keeping European grapes for several months after picking if they are stored under favorable conditions. Not all, but several of the native grapes may also be kept practically throughout the winter if proper precautions are taken. Among these varieties Catawba is the standard winter sort, but Diana, Iona, Isabella, Rogers' hybrids and Vergennes, all rather commonly grown, may be kept by the small grower. ”

“ It cannot be otherwise than in the highest degree beneficial; for when we simply look at grape-culture as it was ten years ago, with the simple product of the Catawba as its basis; a variety which would only yield an average of, say 200 gallons to the acre—often very inferior wine—and look at it to-day, with such varieties as the Concord, yielding an average of from 1,000 to 1,500 gallons to the acre, which we can yet easily double by gallizing, thus in reality yielding an average of 2,500 gallons to the acre of uniformly good wine ”

“ Bunch long, large shouldered and compact; berry medium, black, with blue bloom—"bags of wine," as Downing fitly calls them; skin thin, sweet flesh, without pulp, juicy and high flavored, never clogs the palate; fine for the table, and makes an excellent wine, which should be pressed immediately after mashing the grapes, when it will be white, and of an exquisite flavor; generally ripens about same time as Catawba. A very vigorous and healthy grower, but tender in rich soils, and should be protected in winter. Extremely productive. ”

“ If a Catawba or Delaware, you may let them grow unchecked, tying them along the uppermost wire, when they have grown above it. The Concord, Herbemont, Norton's Virginia, and other strong-growing varieties, I treat in the following manner: When the young shoot has reached the second wire I pinch off its leader. This has the tendency to force the laterals into stronger growth, each forming a medium-sized cane. On these we intend to grow our fruit the coming season, as the buds on these laterals will generally produce more and finer fruit than the buds on the strong canes. ”

“ Yet the day is fast coming when the growing of superior varieties, which have for the most part failed, will alone be remunerative; and I believe that nothing will so tend to enable us to successfully grow them as a thorough knowledge of Phylloxera, which is, in reality, the principal cause of their failure. Take as an instance the case of the Catawba. It is in growing demand in the Mississippi Valley, as, so far, the best white-wine grape, and the only one extensively used in the manufacture of sparkling wines. ”

“ Norton is the leading wine grape in eastern America, and, if we except Cynthiana, which can hardly be told from it, the wine made from it is the best of its class made in the regions in which the variety will grow. The fruit is of small value for any other purpose than wine. Norton is fairly hardy but requires a long warm season to reach maturity. While it is said that it may be grown wherever Catawba thrives, this has not proved to be the case in New York ”

“ These will either prefer to confine their attention to varieties which resist the enemy, or abandon the business entirely. Yet, if it shall once be demonstrated that varieties which now fail may be grown when grafted on to those which resist, I see no reason why it should not become as much a custom and a maxim among grape-growers to use some other vine as stock for such varieties as the Catawba, for instance, as it already is among pear-growers to use the quince, or among cherry-growers to use Mahaleb, Mazard, or Morello, as stocks. ”

“ For the West, and very likely further South, this is a very desirable grape for wine, of the Herbemont class. Bunch compact and heavy, sometimes shouldered; berry rather small, black, without pulp, juicy sweet and good; productive, but somewhat tender; strong grower; should be covered in Winter; makes a very delicious wine, of the Madeira class, which very often remains sweet for a whole year. Ripens late, about a week after the Catawba. ”

“ The flavor resembles that of Catawba but has less of the wild taste. The chief point of superiority of Diana over Catawba is in earliness, the crop ripening ten days sooner, making possible its culture far to the north. The defects of Diana are: the vine is tender in cold winters; the grapes ripen unevenly; the berries and foliage are susceptible to fungi; and the vine is a shy bearer. Diana demands poor, dry, gravelly soil without much humus or nitrogen. On clays, loams or rich soils, the vines make a rank growth, and the fruits are few, late and of poor quality. ”

“ Vitis labrusca represented by Catawba, Vitis rotundifolia, by Scuppernong, Vitis aestivalis, by Norton, and Vitis riparia, by Clinton, are, after a century of improvement, with several hundred varieties, scarcely excelled by others{52} of their species. Yet it is not so much the wonder that grape-breeders have so little improved upon these first varieties, as that our forefathers could allow them to grow comparatively neglected at their doors for two centuries while they wasted time in the attempt to grow a foreign grape that had been a failure from the very start. ”

“ David M. Dunning, of Auburn, was an interesting feature of the grape exhibit and amazed crowds of visitors on account of their size and handsome appearance. The varieties were Barbarossa and Muscat Hamburg. One cluster of the latter variety weighed nine pounds and measured seventeen inches in length, exclusive of stem. This collection of grapes far surpassed anything of the kind shown in the Horticulture building, not even excepting California specimens.
The varieties in cold storage were as follows: Catawba, Diana, Iona, Isabella, Niagara, Salem and Virgennes. ”

“ But a new impetus was given to this branch of industry, by the introduction of the Catawba, by Major Adlum, of Georgetown, D.C., who thought, that by so doing, he conferred a greater benefit upon the nation than he would have done, had he paid the national debt. It seems to have been planted first on an extensive scale by Nicholas Longworth, near Cincinnati, whom we may justly call one of the founders of American grape culture. He adopted the system of leasing parcels of unimproved land to poor Germans, to plant with vines ”

“ Although our winters are seldom severe enough to destroy the hardy varieties, yet they will often fatally injure such half hardy varieties as the Herbemont and Cunningham, and the severe winter of 1863,-'64, killed even the Catawba, down to the snow line, and severely injured the Norton's Virginia, and even the Concord. Fortunately, such winters occur but rarely, and even in localities where the vines are often destroyed by the severe cold in winter, this should deter no one from growing grapes, as, with very little extra labor he can protect them, and bring them safely through the winter. ”

“ In favorable situations Diana may be expected to make a most satisfactory grape for the amateur and where it does especially well it will prove a profitable variety for the local market. Its splendid keeping qualities make it a very desirable grape for late winter. It is even better in this respect than Catawba, one of the best keepers. While the pulp of Diana has the meaty structure which adapts it for long keeping its pulpiness is not objectionable as in some grapes and its thick skin has a rich, spicy flavor. ”

“ The vine is very vigorous, hardy, and productive to a fault. The fruit ripens late, at the time of Catawba, and too late to make the variety of value for New York. Etta is not a good table grape and, as with its parent, makes only a fair grade of white wine but this can be produced in such quantity as to give the variety value in producing a wine for blending with more highly flavored products. ”

“ The necessity of much heading-in has been largely obviated in late years by the adoption of high or drooping systems of training, and by setting the vines far apart. The strong varieties, like Concord, Brighton and Niagara, should be set ten feet apart in the row, especially if grown upon the Kniffin system. Catawba, being a very upright grower and especially well adapted to upright training, may be set eight feet apart, and Delawares are often set as close as six or eight feet. It is doubtful, however, if any variety should be set less than eight feet apart for trellis culture. ”

“ Vigorous, healthy, very productive; clusters large, cylindrical, shouldered, moderately compact; berries large, bronze or wine-colored, oval; pulp tender, mild, very juicy with a peculiar musky flavor and foxy aroma; fair quality; ripens about two weeks after Concord.
Western Beauty. Grown from mixed seed by E. P. Fisher, Sterling, Kansas, about 1904. Described by the originator as a black or purple grape of superior quality, better than Concord, a stronger grower than that variety and perfectly hardy; ripens about with Catawba. ”

“ Does this mean that all of our cultivated American varieties which show oval berries, such as Isabella, Catawba, and others, contain Vinifera blood? It could not be said without careful study that this is true but it is certainly worthy of consideration. This point seems to have escaped the attention of our later-day botanists.{104}
The sexual status of the grape has always been a source of misunderstanding. The earlier botanists spoke of American vines as dioecious, that is, bearing staminate and pistillate flowers on separate individuals. ”

“ The strong varieties, especially those making long and drooping canes, are well adapted to the Kniffin styles; but the smaller sorts, and those stronger sorts which, like Catawba, make an upright and stocky growth, are usually trained upon the upright systems. But the merits of both systems are so various and even so little understood, that it is impossible to recommend either one unqualifiedly. ”

“ The variety is now practically lost to cultivation and was never largely grown in New York.
Beauty is a cross between Delaware and Maxatawney originated by Jacob Rommel of Morrison, Missouri, over thirty years ago. Bush questions the parentage as given by Rommel and thinks it more likely Catawba and Maxatawney. Rommel’s Beauty should not be confused with the Beauty{181} of Minnesota, a grape from the State for which it was named, which has been discarded because of poor quality.
Vine fairly vigorous, usually healthy and hardy, produces medium to good crops. ”

“ A grape arbor is a most attractive feature and since pruning can be done any pleasant winter day, the work of tending a few vines is so small as to be hardly worth considering. In September it is a real pleasure to stray past the arbor and pluck a bunch of Niagara, Catawba, or Concord grapes and eat them on the spot. ”

“ Pour into a silver goblet, grate the nutmeg on the top, and let the invalid drink it as hot as it can be swallowed without suffering.
A Summer Drink. (Very good.)
2 lbs. Catawba grapes.
3 table-spoonfuls loaf sugar.
1 cup of cold water.
Squeeze the grapes hard in a coarse cloth, when you have picked them from the stems. Wring out every drop of juice; add the sugar, and when this is dissolved, the water, surround with ice until very cold; put a lump of ice into a pitcher, pour the mixture upon it, and drink at once.
You can add more sugar if you like, or if the grapes are not quite ripe. ”