402 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



SECRETARY. 



(Vinifera, Riparia, Labrusca.) 



I. Grape Cult., 2:158. 1870. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1871:41, 112. 3. Mass. Hort. Soc. 

 Rpt., 1872:94. 4. Horticulturist, 29:328. 1874. 5. Ohio Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1876-7:32. 6. .V. /. 

 Hort. Soc. Rpt., i88i:ii. 7. 11'. .V. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 27:21. 1882. 8. Bush. Cat., 1883:135. 

 fe. 9. Mass. Hatch Sta. Bid., 37:11, 16. 1896. 10. Tex. Sta. Bui., 48:1151, 1162. 1S98. 11. 

 Mich. Sta. BiiL, 169:176. 1899. 12. Mo. Sta. But., 46:41. 1S91. 



Injured by mildew and rot which nearly every year attack leaves, fruit 

 and young wood, Secretary is able only in exceptional seasons and in favored 

 localities to produce a crop of good grapes. Nevertheless it has many 

 excellent qualities as an amateur grape and should not be lost to cultivation. 

 The fact that it is the result of the fecundation of a Riparia by a Vinifera, 

 both parents being excellent varieties, gives Secretary added interest and 

 value and makes its perpetuation still further worth while. 



There is no question as to the rank of the fruit characters of Secretary. 

 Taken together they make it a grape of exceptionally high quality, the 

 berries being meaty yet juicy, fine-grained and tender with a sweet, spicy, 

 vinous flavor. The bunches are large, well formed with medium-sized, 

 purplish-black berries covered with thick bloom, making a very handsome 

 cluster. While the vine and foliage somewhat resemble those of Clinton, one 

 of its parents, the variety is not nearly as hardy, vigorous or productive 

 nor as healthy, falling short in all of these respects and making its culture 

 in New York precarious. Moreover, in an}' but favored localities in this 

 State, its maturity is somewhat uncertain. These defects of vine have 

 kept Secretary from becoming of commercial importance and make it of 

 value only to the amateur. 



Secretary is one of the first productions of Ricketts of Newburgh. He 

 grew the original vine from seed of Clinton fertilized by Muscat Hamburg. 

 Planted in 1867, it is said to have bonie a little fruit when one year old 

 from the seed. Specimens of the variety were exhibited before the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society in 1871. Ricketts sold the variety about 1875 to 

 S. W. Underhill of Croton Point, New York, who introduced it a few years 

 later. On account of its many weak points it has never been popular and 

 it is apparently not offered for sale by any of the nurserymen to-day. 



Vine not unifonn in vigor, doubtfully hardy, quite variable in productiveness, 

 inclined to be an uncertain bearer, subject to attacks of fungi. Canes medium to below 



