Fruit ripens about with Concord but colors early, appears to keep well. Clusters small and short, slightly tapering, sometimes single-shouldered, variable in compactness; peduncle short, inclined to slender; pedicel short, slender to medium, covered with numerous inconspicuous warts; brush short, of average thickness, dark wine color. Berries irregular in size, averaging small, roundish to slightly oblate, jet-black, glossy, covered slightly with blue bloom, usually persistent, firm. Skin intermediate in thickness, tough, adheres slightly to the pulp, contains a large amount of dark purplish-red pigment, not astringent. Flesh greenish, with distinct tinge of red, rather transparent, moderately juicy, somewhat tender, fine-grained, spicy, sweet to agreeably tart at center, not good enough in quality for dessert purposes. Seeds separate from the pulp somewhat easily, one to four in number, average two, intermediate in size and breadth, short to medium, sharp-pointed, dark brownish; raphe buried in a shallow, narrow groove; chalaza large with surface roughened and warty, central to slightly above, irregularly pear-shaped, distinct.
ISABELLA.
(Labrusca, Vinifera.)
1. Amer. Farmer, 5:241. 1823. 2. Ib., 9:221, 294, 309, 325. 1827. 3. Sou. Agr., 2:552. 1829. 4. Prince, 1830:165. 5. Spooner, 1846:13, 29, 49. 6. Horticulturist, 6:410, 412. 1851. 7. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt., 1851:48-51. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1852:54. 9. Horticulturist, 15:73. 1860. 10. Gar. Mon., 2:156, 265. 1860. 11. Ib., 5:73, 74. 1863. 12. N. Y. Agr. Soc. Rpt., 1864:42, 45, 141. 13. Mag. Hort., 31:107, 157. 1865. 14. Husmann, 1866:18, 79, 122. 15. Downing, 1869:542. 16. Grape Cult., 2:76. 1870. 17. Ib., 3:67, 103. 1871. 18. Gar. Mon., 14:105, 167, 296. 1872. 19. Horticulturist, 29:20, 245. 1874. 20. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1883:57, 124, 128. 21. Bush. Cat., 1883:110. 22. Rural N. Y., 50:418, 482. 1891. 23. Ill. Sta. Bul., 28:255. 1893. 24. Kan. Sta. Bul., 44:116. 1893. 25. N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt., 15:432, 433. 1896. 26. N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt., 17:531, 541, 544, 548, 552. 1898. 27. Ala. Sta. Bul., 110:83. 1900. 28. Rural N. Y., 59:719, 722. 1900. fig. 29. Traité gen. de vit., 5:203. 1903.
Alexander (29). Black Cape (29). Cape (29). Captraube (29). Champania (29). Cherokee? (11). Christie’s Improved Isabella (15, 21, 29). Conckling’s Wilding (11). Constantia (29). Dorchester (1). Framboisier (29). Garber’s Red-Fox (29). Gibb’s grape (4, 11, 18). Hanover (southern) (11). Hensell’s Long Island (11). Isabella (1). Isabelle d’Amerique (29). Lespeyre (2, 10, 11, 18). New Hanover (11). Paign’s Isabella (15, 21, 29). Payne’s Early (11, 15, 21, 29). Raisin de Cassis (29). Raisin du Cap (29). Raisin Fraise (29). Raisin Framboise (29). Sainte-Helene (29). Saluda (11). Sanbornton? (15, 21, 29). Schuylkill? (29). Uva Fragola (29). Vernet (6, 11, 18). Woodward (15, 21, 29).
Isabella is now of little more than historical interest yet for a half century after its introduction, about 1816, it and Catawba were the mainstays of American viticulture. In the early days of grape-growing in this country Isabella was the grape of the North Atlantic and New England States while the vineyards of the South were planted with Catawba, the latter requiring too long a season and being too susceptible to fungal diseases for a northern grape. Isabella has been almost wholly replaced in the North by Concord, because the latter is earlier, hardier and more productive, and the older variety can now hardly be found except in the collections of experimenters and amateurs.
In appearance Isabella is quite as attractive as any of the black grapes, having large, well-formed clusters and a deep black color with thick bloom. The flavor is good but the thick skin and muskiness in taste are objectionable. The fruit keeps and ships well and seldom rattles or cracks but the variety is surpassed in vine characters by many other standard kinds, notably Concord, which, as stated above, has taken its place. The lustrous green, ample foliage which remains late in the season, and the vigor of Isabella, make it an attractive ornamental, well adapted for growing on arbors, porches and trellises. Individual vines of this variety growing in New York, the Middle States, and New England, realize more than any other grape that ideal of peace and plenty for which the grape has been the symbol since the vines of Judah and of Israel. While it is of small commercial importance, Isabella is still worthy a place in the garden and as an ornamental.
The origin of Isabella is not certainly known. It was secured by William Prince of Flushing, Long Island, from Mrs. Isabella Gibbs, the wife of Geo. Gibbs, a merchant then living in Brooklyn, New York. Prince states that he first saw this grape in 1816 and was so struck with its appearance that he considered it worthy of a name and introduction to the public. It was consequently named in honor of Mrs. Gibbs and introduced shortly after 1816. In answer to a request from Prince as to the place of its origin, Mrs. Gibbs reported that it had come originally from the vicinity of Dorchester, South Carolina. This account of its origin was published at the time in several agricultural periodicals and later in Prince’s Treatise on the Vine. The whole question was thoroughly discussed in the agricultural press of that day but without a satisfactory solution of the place of its nativity.
