"J. J. B.,"Fishkill, N. Y., writes: " I send you by express, this day, prepaid, a bunch of the Downing grape for your inspection. I have grown bunches of this variety that weighed two pounds each. Its season of ripening is about September 20th in this latitude, and I have kept it in good condition until spring. They have now been picked three weeks".

[Amid so many grapes that are as much like each other as two peas, it is pleasant to note one we can readily recognize. The bunch is lance oval in outline, and the berries are oval, black or somewhat brown towards the stem, the whole appearance very much like that of an European grape. It has, however, the thick skin of an American, and other American peculiarities. It has not the honeyed sweetness of some kinds, but has a flavor intermediate between this and the more juicy kinds, quite equal to the Malaga of the fruit stores. The bunch weighed fourteen ounces. - Ed. G. M].