MUSCADINE GRAPE BREEDING 



The Native Grape of the Southeastern United States Has Been Hybridized 



Successfully with the European Grape — Valuable Self-fertile 



Varieties Produced. — A New Possibility for the 



Cut-over Pine Lands of the South 



Charles Bearing 

 Office of HorticulHire and Pomology, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C. 



IT IS a well-recognized fact that 

 cultivated grape varieties derived 

 from the species native to a partic- 

 ular locality thrive under the envi- 

 ronmental conditions existing there. 

 The grape varieties best adapted to the 

 hot and more or less arid portions and 

 the higher elevations of the South 

 Central States are those produced by 

 T. V. Munson of Texas, Herman Jaeger 

 of Missouri, and others, from the 

 summer grape, V. aestivalis, of the 

 southern Great Plains area. The best 

 grape varieties for the northeastern 

 United States are those, such as Con- 

 cord, which have been obtained from 

 the northeastern fox grape, V. labrusca. 

 The varieties of the river-bank grape, 

 V. riparia, thrive in alluvial districts. 

 In like manner the Muscadine^ grapes, 

 V. rotundifolia and V. nmnsoniana, are 

 the proper species for the Southeast 

 because that is their native home. For 

 this reason, in endeavoring to foster 

 grape culture in the Coastal Plain, 

 Piedmont, and Gulf sections of the 

 southeastern United States, the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture has en- 

 deavored to ameliorate the native 

 Muscadine grape rather than to intro- 

 duce varieties of species known to be 

 ill adapted to the climatic and other 

 environmental conditions. 



In their native habitat the Musca- 

 dines thrive and produce abundant 

 crops. They do well on lands where 



other fruits do not succeed, flourishing 

 in poorly drained soils, and warm, 

 humid atmospheric conditions which are 

 detrimental to other species of grape. 

 They have been cultivated for a great 

 many years in the Southeast, but little 

 effort was made until recently to bring 

 about improvement through breeding. 

 Even at the present time the standard 

 commercial varieties are less than six 

 in number and all named varieties are 

 of the 1'^. rotundifolia species. These 

 varieties have been named, propagated 

 and disseminated merely because they 

 represented the best that occurred in 

 Nature. Even so, however, they are 

 good grapes, highly prized by the 

 people of the South, who grow them 

 extensively for wine, table, and culinary 

 purposes. 



In addition to being native to the 

 Southeast and adapted to soil and 

 climatic conditions there, the Musca- 

 dines further cjualify as the best grapes 

 for that section by having such desirable 

 characteristics as : 



1 . Vigorous growth habit. 



2. High productiveness. 



3. Distinctive and agreeable flavor. 



4. Large berries. 



5. Late and long blooming period, in- 

 suring regular crops. 



6. Resistance to diseases and insects. 



7. Marked ability to withstand ad- 

 verse conditions, though responsive to 

 good care. 



^ The Muscadine grapes, which include two botanical species, Vitis rotundifolia and Vitis 

 munsoniana, are one group of the grape genus. This group is called Muscadinia. The other 

 group, comprising the other native grape species and the European grape ( Vilis vinifera), is called 

 Euvitis. The Muscadinia is distinct from Euvitis botanically in that it has closely adherent bark 

 on the branches, continuous pith through the nodes, unforked tendrils, and flattened seeds with 

 transverse wrinkles on both sides. 



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