Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

Diamond

(Labrusca, Vinifera)

Few other grapes surpass Diamond in quality and beauty of fruit. When to its desirable fruit characters are added hardiness, productiveness and vigor of vine, the variety is surpassed by no other green grape. Diamond is a diluted hybrid between Labrusca and Vinifera and the touch of the exotic grape is just sufficient to give the fruit the richness in flavor of the Old World grape and not overcome the refreshing sprightliness of the native fox-grapes. The Vinifera characters are wholly recessive in vine and foliage, the plant resembling closely its American parent, Concord. Diamond is well established North and South and can be grown in as great a range of latitude as Concord. Jacob Moore, Brighton, New York, grew Diamond about 1870 from Concord seed fertilized by Iona.

Vine vigorous, hardy, productive. Canes short, brown with a slight red tinge; nodes enlarged; internodes short; tendrils intermittent, bifid. Leaves thick; upper surface light green, dull, smooth; lower surface light bronze, downy; lobes three in number, indistinct; petiolar sinus very shallow; teeth shallow. Flowers self-fertile, open early; stamens upright.

Fruit early, keeps well. Clusters medium to short, broad, blunt, cylindrical, often single-shouldered, compact; pedicel short, thick with a few inconspicuous warts; brush slender, pale green. Berries large, ovate, green with a tinge of yellow, glossy, covered with thin bloom, persistent, firm; skin thin, tough, adherent, astringent; flesh pale green, transparent, juicy, tender, melting, fine-grained, aromatic, sprightly; very good. Seeds free, one to four, broad and long, sharp-pointed, yellowish-brown.

Diana

(Labrusca, Vinifera)

Diana ([Plate XII]) is a seedling of Catawba to which its fruit bears strong resemblance, differing chiefly in having lighter color, in being less pulpy and more juicy. The flavor resembles that of Catawba but has less of the wild taste. The chief point of superiority of Diana over Catawba is in earliness, the crop ripening ten days sooner, making possible its culture far to the north. The defects of Diana are: the vine is tender in cold winters; the grapes ripen unevenly; the berries and foliage are susceptible to fungi; and the vine is a shy bearer. Diana demands poor, dry, gravelly soil without much humus or nitrogen. On clays, loams or rich soils, the vines make a rank growth, and the fruits are few, late and of poor quality. The vine needs to be long pruned and to have all surplus bunches removed, leaving a small crop to mature. Diana is a satisfactory grape for the amateur, and where it does especially well proves profitable for the local market. Mrs. Diana Crehore, Milton, Massachusetts, grew Diana from seed of Catawba, planted about 1834.

Vine vigorous, doubtfully hardy, often unproductive. Canes pubescent, long, reddish-brown, covered with thin bloom; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes long; tendrils intermittent, long, bifid. Leaves large, thick; upper surface light green, heavily pubescent; lobes three to five, terminal one acute; petiolar sinus deep, wide, often closed and overlapping; basal sinus shallow; lateral sinus narrow; teeth shallow. Flowers self-fertile, open in mid-season; stamens upright.

Fruit late, keeps well. Clusters large, broad, tapering, occasionally shouldered, compact; pedicel covered with small warts; brush slender, pale green. Berries medium in size, slightly ovate, light red covered with thin bloom, persistent, firm; skin thick, tough, slightly adherent; flesh pale green, translucent, juicy, tough, fine-grained, vinous, good. Seeds adherent, one to three, light brown.