The original vine of Taylor was a wild seedling found in the early part of the last century on the Cumberland Mountains near the Kentucky-Tennessee line by a Mr. Cobb who planted the vine on his farm in Shelby County, Kentucky. Later the farm was sold to Cuthbert Bullitt. About 1840, the grape came to the attention of Judge John Taylor of Jericho, Henry County, Kentucky, an enthusiastic amateur horticulturist who secured the vine from Bullitt and sent cuttings to many grape-growers for testing. It was early introduced into the grape region of the middle West where it was widely tested but was never extensively planted owing to its lack of productiveness. Its culture has been on the wane for many years and only an occasional nurseryman in that section handles the variety to-day. This variety has, at different times, passed under the names Bullitt, Taylor, Taylor’s Bullitt, with various spellings of the name Bullitt.
The following description has been compiled from various sources:
Vine vigorous to rank, healthy, hardy, variable in productiveness. Leaves small, attractive in color, smooth. Flowers bloom early; stamens reflexed. Fruit ripens about two weeks before Isabella. Clusters small to medium, shouldered, loose to moderately compact. Berries small to medium, roundish, pale greenish-white, sometimes tinged with amber. Skin very thin. Pulp sweet, spicy, fair to good in quality.
TELEGRAPH.
(Labrusca, Aestivalis.)
1. U. S. D. A. Rpt., 1863:549. 2. Gar. Mon., 9:51. 1867. 3. Ib., 10:19, 344. 1868. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1869:42. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1869:56. 6. Grape Cult., 1:44, 115, 296. 1869. 7. Gar. Mon., 11:83. 1869. 8. Horticulturist, 30:73. 1875. 9. Bush. Cat., 1883:82, 139. 10. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 36:43. 1891. 11. N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt., 11:637. 1892. 12. Tenn. Sta. Bul., Vol. 9:187. 1896. 13. N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt., 17:535, 546, 547, 557. 1898. 14. Mo. Sta. Bul., 46:41, 42, 44, 45. 1899. 15. Kan. Sta. Bul., 110:237. 1902. 16. Mo. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1906:65, 67.
Christine (2, 3, 7). Christine (4, 8, 9, 10, 12). Telegraph (2, 3).
The characters of Telegraph are not such as to give it high rank among grapes and now that nearly forty years have passed since its origin, and many better varieties have come into cultivation, the variety is worth mentioning only as a matter of record. Its most remarkable character is compact, well shouldered bunches, making them attractive in appearance though somewhat small for a commercial variety. Telegraph is susceptible to rot and the birds are particularly fond of its fruit. It ripens very early and is of better quality than Hartford—not high praise. The variety is peculiar in that the ripening season seems to vary from a few days after Hartford to as late as Concord. It is earlier, comparatively, in the South than in the North; that is, in cool summers it matures slowly.
Telegraph, or Christine, as it appears to have first been called, is a chance seedling which appeared about the middle of the last century in the yard of a Mr. Christine, Hestonville, near Westchester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. About 1860 P. R. Freas, editor of the Germantown Telegraph, to whom fruit was sent, bestowed upon it the name of his paper, which finally supplanted the original name. It was placed on the grape list of the American Pomological Society fruit catalog in 1869 and removed in 1899. Telegraph is apparently a Labrusca with a strain of Aestivalis.
Vine vigorous, hardy, usually healthy, very productive. Canes unusually long, medium to numerous; tendrils continuous, trifid to bifid. Leaves healthy, medium to large, inclined to roundish, light green; lower surface grayish-white, pubescent. Flowers fertile, open in mid-season or earlier; stamens upright. Fruit usually ripens soon after Hartford but sometimes later, a fair shipper and keeper. Clusters medium to small, often short, broad, cylindrical, blunt at ends, single-shouldered, very compact. Berries intermediate in size, roundish to slightly oval on account of compactness of cluster, dull black covered with a large amount of blue bloom, persistent. Skin intermediate in thickness, tough, does not adhere to the pulp, astringent. Flesh greenish, tough and solid, slightly foxy, pleasant flavor, sweet at skin to tart at center, fair to good in quality. Seeds somewhat adherent and numerous, medium to above in size, variable in shape and size.