240 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



hang until frost. To the fact that Diana is so easily influenced must be 

 attributed the great diversity of opinion as to its worth, some holding 

 it to be a most excellent variety while in a nearby vineyard it is considered 

 worthless. 



In favorable situations Diana may be expected to make a most 

 satisfactory grape for the amateur and where it does especially well it will 

 prove a profitable variety for the local market. Its splendid keeping 

 qualities make it a very desirable grape for late winter. It is even better 

 in this respect than Catawba, one of the best keepers. While the pulp 

 of Diana has the meaty structure which adapts it for long keeping its 

 pulpiness is not objectionable as in some grapes and its thick skin has a 

 rich, spicy flavor. Wine made from Diana is said to be second to none 

 from our native grapes, equalling or surpassing that made from Catawba. 



To Mrs. Diana Crehore of Milton, Massachusetts, is due the honor of 

 having originated Diana. The variety was produced from seed of the 

 Catawba open to cross-pollination, planted about 1834. It was exhibited 

 before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1843. The Pomological 

 Congress at their second meeting in 1850 placed Diana on their list as a 

 " new variety which promises well," and in 1854 it was included in the 

 American Pomological Society list of sorts recommended for general culti- 

 vation. The demand for this grape was so keen that in 1850 it was sold 

 for $15 a vine. 



The species of Diana is usually given as Labrusca but the Vinifera- 

 like l)erries and the intermittent tendrils indicate Vinifera and the bloom 

 on the shoots suggests a strain of either Bicolor or Aestivalis. 



Vine vigorous, not always hardy, produces light to medium crops, somewhat sus- 

 ceptible to attacks of leaf-hoppers and fungi. Canes pubescent, long, of average number, 

 thick to medium, light brown to reddish-brown, covered with thin blue bloom; nodes 

 enlarged, slightly flattened ; internodes medium to long ; diaphragm thick ; pith medium 

 to large; shoots pubescent; tendrils intermittent, long, bifid. 



Leaf-buds large, of average length, thickish, obtuse to conical, open in mid-season. 

 Young leaves colored on lower side and along margin of upper side with faint carmine, 

 the smaller leaves usually heavily coated with thick silvery down. Leaves medium to 

 large, inclined to thick; upper surface variable in color ranging from light to dark green, 

 usually rather dull, nearly smooth to slightly rugose; lower surface pale green, heavily 

 pubescent; lobes vary from three to five, terminal lobe acute; petiolar sinus moderately 



