CANANDAIGUA.
(Labrusca, Vinifera.)
Canandaigua has not been generally distributed and would not be mentioned here were it not for its exceptional keeping qualities. To test the keeping qualities of grapes in common storage, 265 varieties were put in the fruit house at this Station in the fall of 1907. The test ended April 16, 1908, when it was found that Canandaigua was in the best condition of all varieties. Its quality is very good at picking time but seems, if anything, to improve in storage, and it was as good at the end of the test as at the beginning. Its vine characters are those of Labrusca-Vinifera hybrids and such, as the variety grows on the Station grounds, as make it the equal of the average cultivated hybrid of these two species. The characters of the fruit, too, show plainly an admixture of Vinifera and Labrusca so combined as to make the grapes very similar to the best of such hybrids. The variety is quite worthy of trial.
Canandaigua is a chance seedling found by E. L. Van Wormer of Canandaigua, New York, growing among wild grapes. Its high quality and handsome appearance attracted his attention and the vine was put under cultivation, after which its long-keeping qualities were discovered. Vines were sent to this Station for testing in 1897. All of its characters indicate that it is a hybrid between Labrusca and Vinifera.
Vine vigorous, doubtfully hardy, medium to productive. Tendrils semi-continuous to semi-intermittent, bifid, dehisce early. Leaves large to medium, thin. Flowers sterile or sometimes partly fertile, open in mid-season; stamens reflexed. Fruit ripens after mid-season, keeps unusually well. Clusters variable in size, usually heavily single-shouldered, loose to medium. Berries large to medium, slightly oval to roundish, black, covered with a fair amount of blue bloom, persistent. Flesh firm, sweet and rich, good in quality, improving as the season advances. Seeds often long, with enlarged neck; raphe shows as a partially obscured cord in a medium deep groove; chalaza above center, distinctly pear-shaped.
CAPTAIN.
(Lincecumii, Rupestris, Labrusca, Vinifera.)
1. Rural N. Y., 60:637. 1901. 2. Mo. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1904:306. 3. Munson Cat., 1906-7:16.
Captain has not made a good showing in the Station vineyard and we have no reports of it from other parts of the State. The clusters are large and long but very loose and unattractive in appearance, and the fruit ranks low in quality. We are forced to conclude, judging from the several seasons the variety has fruited on these grounds, that it is of little value in New York. The breeding of Captain is such that it could hardly be expected to thrive in this latitude.
Captain was produced by T. V. Munson from seed of America fertilized with R. W. Munson.
Vine vigorous, hardy, moderately productive. Canes long to medium, numerous, covered with rather thick blue bloom; tendrils intermittent, bifid and trifid. Leaves very large to medium, thick, not pubescent but very hairy along ribs. Flowers semi-fertile, open rather late; stamens upright. Fruit ripens later than Concord, does not keep long although it ships well. Clusters large to above medium, long, slender, sometimes double-shouldered, very loose. Berries very large to below medium, inclined to roundish, black, covered with heavy blue bloom, persistent. Skin contains a large amount of purplish-red pigment. Flesh medium juicy, coarse, tender, lacks character, tart from skin to center, fair in quality. Seeds numerous, separate easily from the pulp.