Vines vigorous, hardy, healthy and productive; canes rather slender, half erect. Leaves of medium size, glabrous on both surfaces, except below near the axis of the main nerve; sinuses well marked and generally closed, giving the leaf the appearance of having five holes; teeth long, unequal, acuminate. Bunches large to very large, irregular, long-conical, usually compact; shoulders small or lacking; berries large or very large, yellowish-green; skin thick but tender; flesh crisp, firm; flavor agreeable but not rich; quality good. Season very late, keeping and shipping well.
Vergennes
(Labrusca)
The most valuable attribute of Vergennes ([Plate XXIX]) is certainty in bearing. The vine seldom fails to bear although it often overbears, causing variability in size of fruits and time of ripening. With a moderate crop, the grapes ripen with Concord, but with a heavy load from one to two weeks later. Vergennes is somewhat unpopular with vineyardists because of the sprawling habit of the vines which makes them untractable for vineyard operations; this fault is obviated by grafting on other vines. The grapes are attractive, the quality is good, flavor agreeable, the flesh tender, and seeds and skin are not objectionable. Vergennes is the standard late-keeping grape for northern regions, being very common in the markets as late as January. The original vine was a chance seedling in the garden of William E. Greene, Vergennes, Vermont, in 1874.
Vine variable in vigor, doubtfully hardy, productive, healthy. Canes long, dark brown; nodes enlarged, strongly flattened; tendrils continuous, long, bifid or trifid. Leaves large, thin; upper surface light green, glossy, rugose; lower surface pale green, very pubescent; leaf usually not lobed with terminus broadly acute; petiolar sinus wide; teeth shallow. Flowers semi-sterile, mid-season; stamens upright.
Fruit late, keeps and ships well. Clusters of medium size, broad, cylindrical, sometimes single-shouldered, loose; pedicel with numerous small warts; brush slender, short, pale green. Berries large, oval, light and dark red with thin bloom, persistent; skin thick, tough, adherent, astringent; flesh pale green, juicy, fine-grained, somewhat stringy, tender, vinous; good to very good. Seeds free, one to five, blunt, brown.
Walter
(Vinifera, Labrusca, Bourquiniana)
Were it not almost impossible to grow healthy vines of Walter, the variety would rank high among American grapes. But stunted by fungi which attack leaves, young wood and fruit, it is possible only in exceptionally favorable seasons satisfactorily to produce crops of this variety. Besides susceptibility to diseases, the vines are fastidious to soils, everywhere variable in growth and are injured in cold winters. As if to atone for the faults of the vine, the fruit of Walter is almost perfect, lacking only in size of bunch and berry. The bunch and berry resemble those of Delaware, but the fruit is not as high in quality as that of its parents. Walter is adapted to conditions under which Delaware thrives. A. J. Caywood, Modena, New York, grew this variety about 1850 from seed of Delaware pollinated by Diana.
Vine vigorous. Canes medium in length and size, dark reddish-brown with thin bloom; nodes enlarged, flattened; tendrils intermittent, bifid. Leaves thick; upper surface dark green, glossy, smooth; lower surface tinged with bronze, heavily pubescent; lobes one to three with terminus acute; petiolar sinus narrow; basal sinus lacking; lateral sinus a notch if present. Flowers mid-season; stamens upright.