Black Morocco
(Vinifera)
Black Morocco very generally meets the approval of grape-growers on the Pacific slope without being a prime favorite for either home use or commerce. The grapes are not high enough in quality for a home vineyard, and, while they ship well, are hard to handle because of the large size and rigidity of the bunches. Another fault is that the vines are subject to root-knot. The chief asset of the variety is handsome appearance of fruit. This variety is remarkable for the number of second-crop bunches which it produces on the laterals. The following description is compiled:
Vine very vigorous, productive; canes spreading, few. Leaves medium to small, very deeply five-lobed; the younger leaves truncate at base, giving them a semi-circular outline, with long, sharp teeth alternating with very small ones; glabrous, or nearly so, on both sides. Bunches very large, short, shouldered, compact and rigid; berries very large, round, often misshapen from compression; dull purple, lacking color in the center of the bunch; flesh firm, crisp, neutral in flavor, lacking in richness; quality rather low. Season late, keeping and shipping well.
Brighton
(Labrusca, Vinifera)
Brighton ([Plate VIII]) is one of the few Labrusca-Vinifera hybrids which have attained prominence in commercial vineyards. It ranks as one of the leading amateur grapes in eastern America and is among the ten or twelve chief commercial sorts of this region. Its good points are: for the fruit, high quality; for the vine, vigorous growth, productiveness, adaptability to various soils and ability to withstand fungi. Brighton has two serious defects which keep it from taking higher rank as a commercial variety: it deteriorates in quality very quickly after maturity, so that it cannot be kept for more than a few days at its best, hence cannot well be shipped to distant markets; and it is self-sterile to a more marked degree than any other commonly-grown grape. Brighton is a seedling of Diana Hamburg pollinated by Concord, raised by Jacob Moore, Brighton, New York. The original vine fruited first in 1870.
Vine vigorous, hardy, productive, subject to mildew. Canes long, numerous, light brown; nodes enlarged, usually flattened; internodes long; tendrils continuous, long, bifid. Leaves large, thick; upper surface dark green, dull, smooth; lower surface pale green, pubescent; lobes three when present, terminal one acute; petiolar sinus intermediate in depth and width; lateral sinus shallow; teeth narrow. Flowers open late, self-sterile; stamens reflexed.
Fruit mid-season. Clusters large, long, broad, tapering, heavily shouldered, loose; pedicel thick; brush pale green with brown tinge, thick, short. Berries irregular, large, oval, light red, glossy with heavy bloom, persistent, soft; skin thick, tender, adherent, astringent; flesh green, transparent, tender, stringy, melting, aromatic, vinous, sweet; very good. Seeds free, one to five, broad, light brown.