of a slight amber-coloured russet when fully exposed to the sun. Skin thin, almost transparent. Juice rather acid in ripening, but when fully matured of a rich saccharine flavour. It requires a vinery. This is the principal grape employed in Madeira for the making of Madeira wine. It is pronounced Verdellio by the natives. Introduced into this country by John Williams, Esq., of Pitmaston. The Verdelho Grape may be grown to great advantage in pots in the greenhouse the plants might be brought in early in the spring. The leafless stems of the vines, when first introduced, and indeed till the middle of May, would not injure the greenhouse plants; and the fruit would become perfectly ripe long before the middle of October, the Verdelho being rather an early grape. 52. WHITE AUVERNAT. Miller, No. 32. Bunches small, rather larger than those of the Miller's Burgundy. Berries small, somewhat oval, growing close upon the bunches, and when ripe of a muddy white colour. Juice pretty good. It will ripen against a south wall: but it is much better adapted to the purpose of making wine than for the dessert; for the former it is excellent. 53. WHITE CORINTH. Speechly, No. 48. Corinth Blanc. Duhamel, 14. t. 7. Bunches small. Berries small, round, white, with a very thin skin; when perfectly ripe they ripe they are transparent, so that the seeds, although small, may be seen through them. It requires a vinery. 54. WHITE FRONTIGNAN. White Frontignac. Speechly, No. 11. Muscat Blanc. Duhamel, 6. t. 3. Bunches rather long, without shoulders. Berries middle-sized, rather closely set, of a muddy white, or greenish yellow, and covered with a thin, white, powdery bloom. Flesh delicate. Juice sugary, very rich, with a highly musky flavour. Against a south wall, upon a dry soil, and in warm seasons, this grape ripens well in many parts of England; but it highly merits either a vinery or a hothouse. 55. WHITE HAMBURGH. Speechly, No. 20. White Raisin. Langley, p. 116. t. 43 and 44. White Lisbon. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 78. White Portugal. Ib. Bunches large, loosely formed. Berries large, of an oval figure. Skin thick, of a greenish white colour. Flesh hard. Juice sweet, slightly mixed with acid. It requires a hothouse. This grape, although not abounding much in flavour, keeps a long time after it is ripe; and, on that account, it is by many much admired. Large quantities, to the value of 10,000l., are annually brought into this country from Portugal, in the winter season, and sold in the shops by the name of Portugal grapes. 56. WHITE KISHMISH. Hort. Trans. Vol. iv. p. 212. t. 4. Bunches little more than five inches long, well shouldered, and tapering evenly to the point. Berries little larger than those of white currants, and of the same form, of a greenish tint, deepening to pale yellow, and becoming ultimately of an amber hue. They are not very sweet, but juicy, of a pleasant refreshing flavour, and wholly free from seeds. Leaves rather thick, roundish, and not deeply cut. This grape is said to be a native of the island of Kishm, or Kishmish, in the Persian Gulf, and was brought from St. Petersburgh by Mr. Oldacre, in 1812. It requires a vinery or a stove. 57. WHITE MELIE. Miller, No. 29. Melier Blanc. Knoop, Fruct. p. 136. Berries middle-sized, somewhat of an oval figure, and grow pretty close upon the bunches; they are of a greenish white, and covered with a thin white bloom. Juice very sweet. It will ripen on a warm south wall, and is very good for the purpose of making wine. 58. WHITE MUSCADINE. Langley, p. 114. t. 35. Kitt, p. 307. Miller, No. 10. Speechly, No. 27. Common Muscadine. Pom. Mag. t. 18. Royal Muscadine. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 97. according to the Pom. Mag. Early White Grape, from Teneriffe. No. 42. Speechly, Bunches middle-sized, loose, with a broad shoulder, occasionally acquiring considerable size; but more frequently, against a wall, of about six inches deep, and four inches and a half or five inches across the shoulder. Berries quite round, middle-sized, clear watery green, when very ripe becoming a dull yellowish brown on the most exposed places. Flesh firm, watery, and sweet; when well ripened acquiring a rich saccharine quality, but at no time high flavoured. The leaves are middlesized, roundish, with an open base, slightly and regularly lobed, quite smooth on each side, pale green, becoming yellow late in the autumn. This ripens upon a south wall generally from the middle to the end of September; and the bunches will hang upon the vines, if the season be favourable, till the beginning of November. The White Muscadine Grape of Langley, Hill, Miller, and Speechly, has always been considered to be the one described as above. It is the most common and the best known of any white grape in our gardens, in consequence of its hardiness and productiveness, and the certainty with which it ripens against our common walls. According to Langley, the White Muscadine ripened at Twickenham, in 1727, on a south-east wall, Aug. 16, O. S., or Aug. 27, N. S. Under this mode of culture it has a pretty general and uniform appearance; but when grown in the vinery, or under a higher temperature, it assumes a different character. Vigorous wood, with the free use of the scissars in thinning out the bunches, will give them, as well as the berries, an increased size, and, when highly ripened, a fine amber colour: in addition to this, like the Black Prince, the largest bunches become more shouldered, and in proportion shorter. In this state it is supposed by many to be a distinct grape, and called the Royal Muscadine. The application of this name to a fruit with which it cannot, with any propriety, be associated, can have but this effect, that of perpetuating an absurdity instead of removing it. A further continuance of a practice like this, it is conceived, cannot be sanctioned by any one who takes any pride in his profession, or who is desirous to promote its further improvement. 59. WHITE MUSCAT OF ALEXANDRIA. Speechly, No. 1. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 100. Frontiniac of Alexandria. Jerusalem Muscat. Ib. Ib. Miller, No. 27. Muscat d'Alexandrie. Duhamel, 10. t. 5. Passe-longue Musqué. Passe-Musqué, } Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 100. Bunches large, and well shouldered. Berries large, oval, and when well ripened of a fine pale amber colour, and where exposed to the sun tinged with a deep amber russet the large ones are generally without stones. Skin rather thick, and the flesh firm and hard. Juice not plentiful, but of a sweet, highly musky, and most delicious flavour. This may be justly considered as one of the very best grapes ever introduced into this country. It requires a higher degree of temperature to ripen than many others, and generally succeeds best in the pine stove. It may, nevertheless, be ripened very well in a lower temperature; but then it is necessary it should be forced early in the spring. The Tottenham Park Muscat, which was said to be the produce of a seed of the Muscat of Alexandria, sown in 1819, turns out to be nothing more than this. It has been proved to be so over and over again, by the best practical gardeners, who have grown them both. The size of its berries has been urged as constituting its difference; but berries of the Old Muscat have been grown, near London, which measured four inches in circumference the long way, and three inches and a half the short one, when the largest produced by Mr. Burn, of the Tottenham Park Muscat, which were compared with them, did not equal that size. I have several times seen the original tree at Tottenham Park, where it has a small house to itself, which, under Mr. Burn's excellent management, certainly produces fruit of the very highest character; and I have always observed that there were other bunches, besides the first, which would form two other crops, and ripen in succession. The Old Muscat, however, will do the same, when subjected to similar treatment. 60. WHITE MUSCAT FROM LUNEL. Speechly, 49. Berries large, oval, and when perfectly ripe of a fine amber colour, sometimes clouded with russet, especially on the side next the sun; they form pretty large bunches. The skin is thin, and the flesh delicate, replete with a vinous juice. It requires a hothouse or a vinery. |