Early Malingre (Madeleine Blanche de Malingre; Malinyre; Précoce de Malingre; Precoce Blanc)

Bunches, of pretty good size, but loose and badly set. Berries, very small, round, inclining to oval. Skin, white. Flesh, rather richly flavoured, juicy, and sugary.

One of the earliest grapes, ripening in a cool vinery in the beginning of August; and in the open air, against a wall, it is the earliest white crape. The vine forms a handsome bush, and is well suited for pot culture; but the bunches are so ill set and the berries so small, that the sort is not worth growing, notwithstanding its rich and sweet flavour.

Early Saumur Frontignan (Muscat de Saumur; Muscat Hatif de Saumur; Madeleine Musquée de Courtiller; Précoce Musque)

Bunches, small, shouldered, and very compact. Berries, medium sized, round, frequently very much flattened. Skin, thin, beautifully transparent, white, assuming an amber tinge towards maturity, and marked with tracings of russet like the Royal Muscadine. Flesh, firm, rich, sugary, and juicy, with the distinct Muscat aroma.

A first-rate and very early grape, ripening with the Black July. The vine is an abundant bearer, and may be grown either in a cool vinery or against a wall in the open air, and it is valuable for pot culture.

It was raised in 1842 by M. Courtiller, of Saumur, from seed of Ischia.

Early Silver Frontignan (Muscat Bifère)

Bunches, of good size, cylindrical. Berries, large and round. Skin, thin, pale green, covered with a thin white silvery bloom. Flesh, very tender and juicy, not very richly flavoured, and with an agreeable Muscat flavour, which is not so powerful as in Chasselas Musque or White Frontignan.

In the south of Europe it produces a second crop from the young shoots, which is frequently more abundant than the first.

Early Smyrna Frontignan (Muscat de Smyrne; linker Daisiko)

The bunch and berries are not so large as those of the old White Frontignan. Bunches, well set, about six or seven inches long, not shouldered, cylindrical. Berries, about the size of those of Royal Muscadine, of a fine rich amber colour when fully ripe, and sometimes dotted over with minute rose-coloured dots. The flesh is melting, very juicy, and with a fine brisk Muscat flavour, in which is a distinct orange-flower aroma.

This is a sort well worth cultivating, and it may possibly succeed out of doors, as it ripens as early as the Royal Muscadine. It belongs to the White Frontignan, and not to the Chasselas Musqué class, and shows no trace of cracking in the berries.

Early White Frontignan (Muscat Primavis)

This has very generally been regarded as synonymous with Chasselas Musqué, in consequence of that variety having been received under the same name from the Continent. The true one, however, is a form of White Frontignan; earlier than it is, and about eight or ten days later than Early Saumur Frontignan. It may be distinguished from the White Frontignan by the much shorter joints of the wood, and consequent crowding of the leaves, which in the young state are much more red than those of the White Frontignan. The bunches and berries are not larger; the latter are covered with a thick white bloom, and the flavour, which is rich, is not so much of the Muscat.