Fruit mid-season, keeps and ships well. Clusters variable in size, broad, tapering; pedicel slender, covered with numerous inconspicuous warts; brush wine-colored. Berries large, round, black, glossy with abundant bloom, persistent, firm; skin thick, tough, adherent, astringent; flesh light green, translucent, juicy, fine-grained, tender, stringy; good. Seeds adherent, one to five, broad, long, with enlarged neck, brown.
Mills
(Labrusca, Vinifera)
The bunches and berries of Mills are large and well-formed; the berries are firm and solid, with the skin adherent as in Viniferas; the flesh is juicy and parts readily from the seeds; the flavor is rich, sweet and vinous; and the grapes are hardly surpassed in keeping quality. But when the fruit characters of Mills have been praised, nothing further can be said in its favor. The vines are neither vigorous, hardy nor fruitful and are very subject to mildew; neither wood nor roots ripen well in the North in average seasons; and the variety is a most difficult one for nurserymen to grow. Mills is of doubtful commercial value, but for the garden it is possible that the grower may be able to graft it to advantage on some variety with better vine characters. William H. Mills, Hamilton, Ontario, grew Mills about 1870 from seed of Muscat Hamburg fertilized by Creveling.
Vine medium in vigor, hardiness and productiveness. Canes long, thick, light brown; nodes enlarged, flattened; tendrils intermittent, bifid or trifid. Leaves large, thick; upper surface dark green, dull, rugose; lower surface pale green, cobwebby; lobes three to five with terminus acute; petiolar sinus intermediate in depth and width; basal and lateral sinuses deep and wide; teeth deep. Flowers self-fertile, open in mid-season; stamens upright.
Fruit mid-season, keeps well. Clusters large, long, slender, cylindrical, often double-shouldered, compact; pedicel slender with numerous, small warts; brush long, wine-colored. Berries large, oval, jet-black with abundant bloom, persistent, firm; skin thick, tough, adherent; flesh light green, translucent, juicy, rich, tender, sprightly, vinous, sweet; very good to best. Seeds free, one to three, large, brown.
Mish
(Rotundifolia)
Mish is a favorite Rotundifolia in North Carolina, being planted extensively in some parts of that state. Its outstanding characters are vigor and productiveness in vine and high quality in the fruit. Mish is named by many as the best all-round Rotundifolia, being of value for dessert, wine and grape-juice. The variety was found by W. M. Mish, about 1846, near Washington, North Carolina.