Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

Vine vigorous, precariously hardy, productive. Canes short, slender, light brown. Leaves healthy, thick, dark green, sometimes rugose; veins showing indistinctly through the slight pubescence of the lower surface. Flowers open in mid-season, on plan of five or six, self-fertile.

Fruit mid-season, keeps well. Clusters large, long, slender, cylindrical, usually high-shouldered, compact. Berries variable in size, round, purplish-black, dull with heavy bloom, firm; skin tough, adherent with a large amount of purplish-red pigment, astringent; flesh tender, aromatic, spicy, vinous, mildly subacid; good. Seeds free, large, broad, blunt, notched.

Berckmans

(Vulpina, Labrusca, Bourquiniana)

In Berckmans we have the fruit of Delaware on the vine of Clinton. The berry and bunch resemble Delaware in shape; the fruit is of the same color; bunch and berry are larger; the grapes keep longer; the flesh is firmer but the quality is not so good, the flesh lacking tenderness and richness in comparison with Delaware. The vine of Berckmans is not only more vigorous, but is less subject to mildew than that of Delaware. The vine characters are not, however, as good as those of Clinton. The variety is poorly adapted to some soils, and on these the grapes do not color well. In spite of many good qualities, Berckmans is but an amateur's grape. The name commemorates the viticultural labors of P. J. Berckmans, a contemporary and friend of A. P. Wylie, of Chester, South Carolina, who originated the variety. Berckmans came from Delaware seed fertilized by Clinton, the seed having been sown in 1868.

Vine vigorous, hardy, productive. Canes long, numerous, slender, dark brown; nodes prominent, flattened; internodes short; shoots glabrous; tendrils intermittent, long, bifid. Leaves small, thin; upper surface light green, smooth; lower surface pale green, glabrous; lobes one to three, terminal one acute; petiolar sinus shallow, wide; basal sinus usually lacking; lateral sinus shallow. Flowers open early, self-fertile; stamens upright.

Fruit ripens with Delaware. Clusters shouldered, compact, slender; pedicel long, slender with few warts; brush short, light green. Berries small, oval, Delaware-red, darker when well ripened, covered with thin bloom, persistent; skin thin, tough, adherent, astringent; flesh pale yellowish-green, translucent, fine-grained, tender, melting, vinous, sweet, sprightly; very good. Seeds free, one to four, small, broad, blunt, brown.

Black Eagle

(Labrusca, Vinifera)

The fruit of Black Eagle is of the best, but the vine lacks in vigor, hardiness and productiveness and is self-sterile. Bunch and berry are large and attractive. The season is about with Concord. Black Eagle has wholly failed as a commercial variety, and its several weaknesses prevent amateurs from growing it widely. The variety originated with Stephen W. Underhill, Croton-on-Hudson, New York, from seed of Concord pollinated by Black Prince. It fruited first in 1866.