in this work, however, the relationships of varieties have been indicated as fully as knowledge permits, thus making a start toward natural classification.

In the lists of synonyms given, all known names for a variety used in the American literature of the grape are brought together. These lists ought to be useful in correcting and simplifying the nomenclature of the grape which, like that of all of our fruits, is in more or less confusion. It is hoped that the work may become a standard guide, for some time to come at least, in the identification of varieties and in nomenclature, and that it will aid originators of new grapes and nurserymen in avoiding the duplication of names. In matters pertaining to nomenclature, the revised rules of the American Pomological Society have been followed, though in a few cases it has not seemed best to make changes which their strict observance would have required. The necessity for rules is shown by an examination of the synonymy of any considerable number of varieties as given in the body of the work. In some cases varieties have from ten to twenty names and very often different varieties are found to have the same name. This chaotic condition is confusing and burdensome and it has been one of the aims in the preparation of the work to set straight the horticultural nomenclature of the grape, thus lessening the difficulty and uncertainty of identification and making the comparative study of varieties easier.

It would be impossible, and not worth while, could it be done, to give all of the references to be found in even the standard grape literature. Only such have been given as have been found useful by the writers or as would serve to give the future student of the literature of grape varieties a working basis.

A brief history of each variety is given so far as it can be determined by correspondence and from grape literature. In these historical sketches the originator and his method of work justly receive most attention. The place, date and circumstances of origin, the distributor, and the present distribution of the variety, are given when known and are of about equal importance in the plan of this work.

The technical descriptions of grapes are all first-hand and made by members of the present horticultural department of the Station from living plants. But rarely has it been necessary to go to books for any one character of a vine or fruit though the leading authorities have been consulted in the final writing of the descriptions and modifications made when the weight of authority has been against the records of the Station. Some differences must be expected between descriptions of varieties made in different years, different localities and by different men. For most part the varieties described are growing on the Station grounds but every opportunity has been taken to study several specimens of each variety and especially of the fruit. In many instances the descriptions have been submitted to the originators, introducers, or to some recognized grape specialist.

A number of considerations have governed the selection of varieties for full descriptions. These are: First, the value of a variety for the commercial or amateur grower for any part of the State as determined by the records of this Station, by reports collected from over 2000 grape-growers, and by published information from whatever source. Second, the probable value of new sorts as determined by their behavior elsewhere. Third, to show combinations of species or varieties, or new characters hitherto unknown in fruit or vine, or to portray the range in variation, or to suggest to the plant-breeder a course of future development. Fourth, a few sorts have been described because of their historical value—for the retrospection of the grape-grower of the present and the future. It is needless to say that many of the varieties described are worthless to the cultivator.

In all of the descriptions the effort has been to depict living plants and not things existing only in books; to give a pen picture of them that will show all of their characters. An attempt has been made, too, to show the breeding of the plants, their relationships; to show what combination of characters exist in the different groups of varieties; to designate, as far as possible, the plastic types; in short to show grapes as variable, plastic plants capable of further improvement and not as unchangeable organisms restricted to definite forms.

It is hoped that the color-plates will be of great service in illustrating the text. All possible means at the command of photography and color printing have been used to make them exact reproductions. The specimens, too, have been selected with the utmost care. In preparing these illustrations the thought has been that technical descriptions, however simply written, are not easily understood, and that the readiest means of comparison and identification for the average reader would be found in the color-plates. Through these and the accompanying descriptions it is hoped that all who desire may acquire, with time and patience, a knowledge of the botanical characters of grapes and thereby an understanding of the technical descriptions. The plates have been made under the personal supervision of the writer.

With all care possible, due allowance must yet be made for the failure to reproduce nature exactly in the color-plates. The plates are several removes from the fruit. Four negatives were taken of each subject with a color filter between the lens and the fruit. A copper plate was made from each negative, one for each of the four colors, red, yellow, black and blue. The color-plates in the book are composed of these four colors, combined by the camera, the artist, the horticulturist and the printer. With all of these agencies between the fruit and the color-plate they could not be exact reproductions. It must ever be in mind, too, that grapes grown in different localities vary more or less in all characters and that the reproduction can represent the fruit from but one locality. The specimens from which the plates were made came for most part from the Station grounds. The illustrations are life size and as far as possible from average specimens.

Acknowledgments are due to Professor Spencer A. Beach of Ames, Iowa, who, while in charge of this Department previous to August, 1905, had begun the collection and organization of information on grapes, much of which has been used in this volume; to Mr. F. H. Hall, who as Station Editor has read the manuscripts and proof sheets and given much valuable assistance in organizing the information presented; to Zeese-Wilkinson & Co., through whose zeal and painstaking skill the color-plates, which add so much to the beauty and value of the book, have been made; and lastly to the grape-growers of New York who have given information whenever called upon and who have generously furnished grapes for descriptive and photographic work.

U. P. HEDRICK,

Horticulturist, New York Agricultural Experiment Station.

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