GRAPE. Fruit of the vine of many various species, both American and European. The fruit is largely consumed as it ripens, and also in making wines and raisins. The dried currants of commerce are a small grape peculiar to the Islands of Greece. California grapes are now the finest in our markets, and vine culture is spreading all over the United States.
" Grapes are the only kind of fruit which is plentiful and cheap during times of extraordinary drouth. A wet season is what the grape grower fears. In dry weather the vines bear and the fruit is large and well-flavored. In California, where not a cloud is seen in the sky from May till October, the grape reaches its greatest perfection, and many kinds unknown to our Eastern markets are cultivated from stocks brought from Europe. There is not much variety with us. The growers believe it most profit able to make no experiments, and stick to the standard sorts with which the public is familiar. Upon our city fruit stands and in our markets the Concord appears first and stays the longest. Early in the season it has the Delaware for a rival, but this deli cious little grape, with its red coat and its delicate aromatic flavor, is not a prolific bearer, and it sells for about twice the price of the Concord. Later comes the Catawba, an excellent grape, but one
too often picked before its best qualities have developed. Besides these three varieties there is rarely anything to be seen save the California grapes, which come 3,000 miles by rail, and are too costly for general sale. Numerous varieties are to be found in private vineyards that are seldom seen in the cities, because the men who make a business of raising grapes have found by expe rience that it pays best to stick to the kinds that are hardy and prolific, and that buyers do not need to be made acquainted with. The quantity of grapes consumed annually for food in this coun try is enormous; yet one need not be very old to remember when a bunch of grapes was a rarity save upon the tables of the rich. How much has been done for American health, and thus indi rectly for American civilization, by the cheapening and popular izing of the small fruits during the past thirty years can hardly be estimated. Best of them all is the grape. It appeals to the aesthetic taste as well as to the palate ; it is grateful to the eye as well as to the stomach, and at four or five cents a pound, is within reach of the leanest purse."