This variety, which is variously known under the names Sage, Mammoth Sage, Mammoth, and Globe, is of interest because it represents a type of large-fruited, early-ripening Labruscas which have been used frequently by breeders as the native parent in a Vinifera cross. A variety similar to this was used in particular by E. S. Rogers as the mother plant in making his notable crosses. They have also been used by White and others.
The original vine was a chance seedling found by Henry E. Sage about 1811 on the banks of a small stream near Portland, Connecticut. The variety was first brought to public notice by John Fiske Allen in 1848 through a very laudatory description which was much criticised by those who objected to the foxy aroma of the Sage but as warmly defended by others who liked the foxiness. The variety was later advertised and sent out by the Shaker community at Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts. Within a few years it seems to have been disseminated throughout eastern New England, and was particularly acceptable in those sections where Isabella failed to ripen. There is no evidence that it was ever planted except in gardens. With the introduction of Concord and other early varieties of higher quality the cultivation of the Sage was dropped. It is probably now obsolete.
The best description we have of Sage is the following, copied from the United States Department of Agriculture Report for 1864:
“It is much like most of the wild Fox grapes of this vicinity, [Massachusetts] but the berries are much larger, light chestnut or mahogany color, and they have a flattened or compressed shape, instead of being round, frequently an inch in diameter. The bunch is small with three to six berries in a round, ball-like cluster, with sometimes a side stem with one berry at the end of it for a shoulder. The stem of the bunch is not very long. The leaves usually are ‘entire’ with a short pointed termination at the end of the midrib, and two other points of the other divisions into which all American leaves are divided, making always either plainly, or in the rudimental state, five lobes. Thus the leaves are not much lobed, scarcely toothed, and have a rusty, woolly appearance. The young wood, last season’s growth, is hard and wiry and covered with bristles. The grape itself is sweet, but has a hard pulp, that some compare to a piece of India-rubber when eating it. It is early, and perfectly hardy, as much so as any wild grape in this vicinity.”
ST. LOUIS.
(Labrusca.)
1. Mo. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1899:54. 2. Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1905:166. 3. Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul., 30:11. 1905.
As St. Louis grows on the Station grounds it is so similar to Worden and Concord that it would seem to be superfluous in the grape list of the State. But the variety is so highly recommended in the West, especially in the states from which the above references come, that it is possibly worthy of trial in the grape regions of New York as an early type of Concord.
St. Louis was introduced by Henry Wallis of Wellston, Missouri, about 1897. In 1900, he states that it is a seedling of Concord, was originated in St. Louis, and that it had created a sensation for twenty years in the St. Louis markets. The general character of both fruit and vine corroborates the Concord parentage though the frequently intermittent tendrils indicate there is a strain of other than Labrusca blood present.
Vine vigorous, hardy, medium to productive. Canes long to medium, intermediate in number, often rather thick, medium brown to nearly dark reddish-brown deepening in color at the nodes, covered with considerable pubescence; tendrils continuous to intermittent, bifid to trifid. Leaves very large to medium, variable in color, thick; lower surface grayish-white tinged with bronze; heavily pubescent. Flowers fertile or nearly so, open medium early; stamens upright. Fruit ripens about with Concord, or slightly earlier, keeps and ships well. Clusters large to medium, intermediate in length, rather broad, usually single-shouldered but occasionally with a double shoulder, medium to compact. Berries nearly large to medium, roundish, dull black, covered with thick blue bloom, persistent. Skin of average thickness and toughness. Flesh tough, foxy, sweet at skin to slightly acid at center, good in quality with a slight resemblance to Concord. Seeds do not separate easily from the pulp, medium to above in size and width, intermediate in length.