Bloom, Bloomburg, Catawissa, Columbia Bloom
Creveling was long a favorite black grape for the garden, where, if planted in good soil, it produces fine clusters of large, handsome, very good grapes. Under any but the best of care, however, the vine is unproductive and sets loose, straggling bunches. The variety is markedly self-sterile. The origin of Creveling is uncertain. It was introduced about 1857 by F. F. Merceron, Catawissa, Pennsylvania.
Vine vigorous, not hardy, often unproductive. Canes long, numerous, thick, reddish-brown; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes long; shoots glabrous; tendrils continuous, long, trifid or bifid. Leaves large, thick; upper surface dark green, dull, rugose; lower surface pale green, pubescent; lobes three, or obscurely five, terminal one acute; petiolar sinus deep, closed, overlapping; basal sinus very shallow; lateral sinus shallow, narrow; teeth shallow. Flowers on plan of six, self-sterile, open in mid-season; stamens reflexed.
Fruit early, does not keep well. Clusters long, broad, irregularly tapering, single-shouldered, the shoulder often connected to the cluster by a long stem, loose; brush thick, dark wine-color. Berries large, oval, dull black, covered with heavy bloom, persistent, firm; skin thick, tough, adherent with wine-colored pigment, astringent; flesh pale green, translucent, juicy, stringy, tender, coarse, foxy; good. Seeds free, one to five, broad, notched, blunt, light brown.
Croton
(Vinifera, Labrusca, Bourquiniana)
The fruit of Croton is a feast both to the eye and to the palate. Unfortunately the vine is difficult to grow, being adapted to but few soils and proving unfruitful, weak in growth, precariously tender and subject to mildew and rot in unfavorable situations. The grapes have a delicate, sweet Vinifera flavor with melting flesh which readily separates from the few seeds. The crop hangs on the vines until frost and keeps well into the winter. In spite of high quality of fruit, Croton has never become widely distributed, wholly failing as a commercial variety. It originated with S. W. Underhill, Croton Point, New York, from a seed of Delaware pollinated by a European grape. Fruits were first exhibited in 1868.
Vine vigorous, tender, productive. Canes long, numerous, thick, dark reddish-brown; nodes enlarged; internodes short; shoots glabrous; tendrils intermittent, long, bifid. Leaves of medium size, hang late; upper surface light green, dull, smooth; lower surface pale green, pubescent; lobes five, terminal one blunt; basal sinus narrow; lateral sinus deep and narrow; petiolar sinus narrow, often closed and overlapping; teeth shallow, wide. Flowers self-fertile, open late; stamens upright.
Fruit mid-season, keeps well. Clusters uniform, very large, long, slender, irregularly tapering with heavy shoulder, very loose; pedicel long, thick with inconspicuous warts; brush green. Berries irregular in size, round-elongated, yellowish-green with thin bloom, persistent, soft; skin thin, tough, adherent, unpigmented; flesh green, transparent, very juicy, melting, vinous, pleasant, agreeably sweet; very good. Seeds free, one to three, elongated, notched, sharply pointed.