Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

This species is an inhabitant of southwestern Texas, extending eastward and northward into New Mexico, southern Missouri, Indiana and Tennessee to southern Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Its favorite places are gravelly banks and bars of mountain streams or the rocky beds of dry watercourses. This species is rather variable both in type and growth. It was introduced into France at about the same time as Vulpina, and the French vineyardists selected the most vigorous and healthy forms for grafting stock. These pass under the various names of Rupestris Mission, Rupestris du Lot, Rupestris Ganzin, Rupestris Martin, Rupestris St. George and others. In France, these varieties have given particularly good results on bare, rocky soils with hot, dry exposures. In California, Rupestris does not flourish in dry locations, and as it suckers profusely and does not take the graft as readily as Vulpina and Æstivalis, it is not largely propagated.

The clusters of fruit are small, with berries about the size of a currant and varying from sweet to sour. The berry is characterized by much pigment under the skin. The fruit has a sprightly taste wholly free from any disagreeable foxiness. Rupestris under cultivation is said to be very resistant to rot and mildew of the foliage. The vine is considered hardy in the Southwest. The attention of hybridizers was attracted to this species over thirty years ago, and various hybrids have been produced of great promise for grape-breeding. The root system of Rupestris is peculiar in that the roots penetrate at once deeply into the ground instead of extending laterally as in other species. Like those of Vulpina, the roots are slender, hard and resistant to phylloxera. The species is easily propagated by cuttings. The vines bench-graft readily but are difficult to handle in field grafting.

4. Vitis vulpina, Linn. (V. riparia, Michx.). Winter Grape. River Grape. Riverside Grape. Riverbank Grape. Sweet-scented Grape.

Vine very vigorous, climbing. Shoots cylindrical or angled, usually smooth, slender; diaphragms thin; tendrils intermittent, slender, usually bifid. Leaves with large stipules; leaf-blade large, thin, entire, three- or lower ones often five-lobed; sinuses shallow, angular; petiolar sinus broad, usually shallow; margin with incised, sharply serrate teeth of variable size; light green, glabrous above, glabrous but sometimes pubescent on ribs and veins below. Cluster small, compact, shouldered; peduncle short. Berries small, black with a heavy blue bloom. Seeds two to four, small, notched, short, plump, with very short beak; chalaza narrowly oval, depressed, indistinct; raphe usually a groove, sometimes distinct. Very variable in flavor and time of ripening.

Vulpina is the most widely distributed of any American species of grape. It has been discovered in parts of Canada north of Quebec and from thence southward to the Gulf of Mexico. It is found from the Atlantic coast westward, most botanists say, to the Rocky Mountains. Usually it grows on river banks, on islands or in upland ravines. Vulpina has always been considered of great promise in the evolution of American grapes. It can hardly be said that it has fulfilled expectations, there probably being no pure variety of this species of more than local importance, and the results of hybridizing it with other species have not been wholly successful. Attention was early turned to Vulpina because of the qualities presented by the vine rather than those of the fruit, particularly its hardiness and vigor. However, both of these qualities are rather variable, although it is only reasonable to suppose that in such a widely distributed species, plants found in a certain region would have adapted themselves to the conditions there present; thus, it should be expected that the northern plants would be more hardy than those from the South, and that the western prairie forms would be more capable of resisting drouth than those from humid regions. It is, consequently, impossible to say what conditions best suit this species. It may be said, however, that Vulpina is adapted to a great variety of soils and locations; vines have withstood a temperature of 40 to 60 degrees below zero and they show equal ability in withstanding the injurious effects of high temperatures in the summer. On account of its habit of early blooming, the blossoms sometimes suffer from late frosts in the spring.

While Vulpina is not a swamp grape and is not found growing under swampy conditions, it is fond of water. In the semi-arid regions always, and in humid regions usually, it is found growing along the banks of streams, in ravines, on the islands of rivers and in wet places. It is not nearly so capable of withstanding drouth as Rupestris. Vulpina likes a rather rich soil, but in France has been found to do poorly on limestone land and calcareous marls. The French tell us, however, that this is a characteristic of all our American grapes, and that Vulpina is more resistant to the injurious effects of an excess of lime than either Rupestris or Æstivalis.

The fruit of Vulpina is usually small, there being occasional varieties of medium size or above. The clusters are of medium size and, if judged from the standpoint of number of berries, might frequently be called large. The flavor is usually sharply acid but free from foxiness or any disagreeable wild taste. If eaten in quantity, the acidity is likely to affect the lips and end of the tongue. When the acidity is somewhat ameliorated, as in the case of thoroughly ripe or even over-ripe and shriveled fruit, the flavor is much liked. The flesh is neither pulpy nor solid and dissolves in the mouth and separates readily from the seed. The must of Vulpina is characterized by an average amount of sugar, varying considerably in the fruit from different vines, and by an excess of acid.

Vulpina is very resistant to phylloxera, the roots are small, hard, numerous and branch freely. The roots feed close to the surface and do not seem to be well adapted to forcing their way through heavy clays. Vulpina grows readily from cuttings and makes a good stock for grafting, its union with other species being usually permanent. When Vulpinas were first sent to France to be used as a stock in reconstituting the French vineyards, it was found that many of the vines secured from the woods were too weak in growth to support the stronger-growing Viniferas. On this account the French growers selected the more vigorous forms of the Vulpinas, to which they gave varietal names, as Vulpina Gloire, Vulpina Grand Glabre, Vulpina Schribner, Vulpina Martin and others. With these selected Vulpinas, the graft does not outgrow the stock. Vulpina is less resistant to black-rot than Æstivalis but somewhat more resistant than Labrusca. The foliage is rarely attacked by mildew. One of the chief failings of this species is the susceptibility of the leaves to the attack of the leaf-hopper. The Vulpinas are generally late in ripening; the fruit is better in quality in long seasons and should be left on the vines as late as possible.

5. Vitis cordifolia, Michx. Winter Grape. Frost Grape. Fox Grape. Chicken Grape. Heart-leaved Vitis. Possum Grape. Sour Winter Grape.

Vine very vigorous, climbing. Shoots slender; internodes long, angular, usually glabrous, sometimes pubescent; diaphragms thick; tendrils intermittent, long, usually bifid. Leaves with short, broad stipules; leaf-blade medium to large, cordate, entire or indistinctly three-lobed; petiolar sinus deep, usually narrow, acute; margin with coarse angular teeth; point of leaf acuminate; upper surface light green, glossy, glabrous; glabrous or sparingly pubescent below. Clusters medium to large, loose, with long peduncle. Berries numerous and small, black, shining, little or no bloom. Seeds medium in size, broad, beak short; chalaza oval or roundish, elevated, very distinct; raphe a distinct, cord-like ridge. Fruit sour and astringent and frequently consisting of little besides skins and seeds. Leafing, flowering and ripening fruit very late.