428 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



adverse conditions. It ripens a little before or with Concord and comes 

 on the market at a good time, especially for a red grape. When introduced 

 Woodruff promised to be a valuable commerciid grape but its poor quality, 

 the fact that it does not keep well, and a pronounced tendency to crack 

 and shatter, have ke])t the variety from becoming prominent for either 

 vinevard or garden. While it is worthy of attention under some conditions 

 because of hardiness and possibly other vine characters, yet it is hardly 

 worth growing where other varieties of its color and season can be had. 



Woodruff, or as it was first known, Woodruff Red, came from C. H. 

 Woodruff of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He reported it as a chance seedling 

 which came up in 1874 and fruited for the first time in 1877. It was sup- 

 posed to be a cross of Catawba and Concord. It was introduced in 1885 

 and placed on the grajie list of the American Pomological Society fruit 

 catalog in 1889. 



Vine verv vigorous, hardy, produces as heavy or heavier crops than Concord, 

 inclined to mildew in unfa\-orable locations. Canes intermediate in length, number 

 and thickness, dark brown; nodes slightly enlarged, flattened; internodes medium to 

 short; diaphragm medium to above in thickness; pith below average size; shoots pubes- 

 cent; tendrils continuous, of mean length, bifid to trifid. 



Leaf-buds small, short to medium, slender, pointed to conical. Leaves inter- 

 mediate in size, of average thickness, somewhat roundish; upper surface light green, 

 dull, rugose; lower surface greenish-white to bronze, pubescent; veins indistinct; leaf 

 usually not lobed with terminus acute to obtuse; petiolar sinus intermediate in depth, 

 medium to wide; basal sinus lacking; lateral sinus shallow and narrow when present; 

 teeth very shallow and narrow. Flowers semi-fertile, open moderately early; stamens 

 upright. 



Fruit variable in season of ripening, usually shortly before Concord but sometimes 

 slightly later, does not always keep well. Clusters variable in size, of fair length, broad, 

 often widely tapering, usually single-shouldered or with largest clusters sometimes 

 double-shouldered, compact; peduncle medium to long, variable in thickness; pedicel 

 medium to short, thick, smooth, with scarcely any enlargement at point of attachment 

 to fruit; brush long, pale green. Berries large to below medium, roundish to oval, dark 

 red, dull, covered with thin lilac to faint blue bloom, sometimes drop badly from pedicel, 

 finn. Skin thin, medium to tender, adheres strongly to the pulp, contains no pigment, 

 slightly astringent. Flesh very pale green to nearly white, translucent, juicy, tough, 

 coarse, very foxy, sweet at skin but quite tart at center, fair in quality. Seeds do not 



