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.
The Isabella grape, so generally cultivated for table use, is thought
to be a hybrid between the Burgundy and the native fox-grape of the
Carolinas. The tradition runs that the Burgundy was brought to South
Carolina by the Huguenots, and that cuttings from this hybrid were
brought to North Carolina and successfully propagated. Mrs. Isabella
Gibbs, for whom this well-known grape was named, carried a vine from
North Carolina to Long Island, where it attracted attention because of
its hardiness.

To the people of the South Atlantic coast the Scuppernong is by far the
most important of the native grapes, for while it refuses to flourish
away from its native home, yet its great possibilities as a wine-grape
are beginning to be appreciated. All the early explorers gave it
special mention. Hariot in his famous Narrative wrote, "There are two
kinds of grapes that the soil does yield naturally, the one is small
and sour, of the ordinary bigness of ours in England; the other far
greater and of _himself luscious sweet_. When they are planted and
husbanded as they ought, a principal commodity of wines by them may be
raised." (Hakluyt, 1586.) Lawson in his history (1714) describes
several varieties, and dwells on the abundant supply of grapes and the
great tangles of green vines. He wrote of a native _white_ grape, which
many in that day thought existed only in his imagination; but it was
a reality and was the now well-known Scuppernong, whose fame history
and tradition both perpetuate, and whose real worth, greater than its
legendary fame, is now being recognized and appreciated. There are
several varieties of the Scuppernong, all luscious and yielding rich
juices, and when ripe they fill the air with a fragrance unknown to any
other grape.

[Illustration: Old "Mother" Scuppernong Vine.]

The first Scuppernong vine known to history was found on the mainland
of the North Carolina coast by Amadas and Barlowe on their first voyage
(1584). Tradition relates that they transplanted this vine to Roanoak
Island. On this island there still flourishes an old vine, which
despite its gnarled body and evident age continues to bear fruit. It is
claimed that it is the same vine Amadas and Barlowe plan