Peabody
(Vulpina, Labrusca, Vinifera)
Peabody is as yet a comparatively unimportant offspring of Clinton. The grapes are of excellent quality. It appears to do better in the northern tier of states or in Canada, than farther south. This variety was grown by J. H. Ricketts about 1870.
Vine vigorous, hardy, productive. Canes long, numerous, thick, light brown with ash-gray tinge, darker at nodes, covered with thin bloom; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes short; tendrils intermittent, bifid or trifid. Leaves medium in size; upper surface dark green, thin; lower surface pale green, nearly glabrous; lobes three, acuminate; petiolar sinus shallow, wide; serration deep, narrow. Flowers semi-fertile, mid-season; stamens upright.
Fruit early, keeps well. Clusters large, long, usually with a shoulder connected to the bunch by a long stem, compact; pedicel short, slender, warty; brush short, green. Berries oval, black, glossy, covered with thin bloom, persistent; skin thick, tough; flesh very juicy, tender, vinous, spicy, agreeably sweet at the skin, tart at the center; good. Seeds free, broad.
Perfection
(Labrusca, Bourquiniana, Vinifera)
Perfection is a seedling of Delaware, which it greatly resembles but does not equal in fruit; its fruits being hardly as high in quality, do not keep as well, shrivel more before ripening, and shell more readily. In its vine characters, it is much more like a Labrusca than Delaware, suggesting that it is a Delaware cross. In the Southwest, Perfection is considered a valuable early red grape. J. Stayman, Leavenworth, Kansas, grew Perfection from seed of Delaware; it was sent out for testing about 1890.
Vine vigorous, healthy, injured in severe winters, productive. Canes of medium length and number, slender; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes short; tendrils intermittent, trifid or bifid. Leaves healthy, medium in size; upper surface light green; lower surface grayish-white with a tinge of bronze, heavily pubescent; lobes wanting or three to five; petiolar sinus shallow, wide; serration shallow. Flowers self-fertile or nearly so, open in mid-season; stamens upright.
Fruit early. Clusters usually single-shouldered, compact; pedicel short, slender, smooth; brush short, yellow. Berries small, round, red but less brilliant than Delaware with faint bloom, inclined to drop from pedicel, soft; skin thin, free from astringency; flesh medium in juiciness and tenderness, vinous, mild, sweet; good in quality. Seeds adherent, numerous, small, often with an enlarged neck.