TYPES OF MUSCADINE GRAPE BLOSSOMS 



At the left is the imperfect hermaphrodite blossom — the so-called female. The male or 

 staminate blossom is at the right, while the new, perfect type produced by the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is shown in the center. It will be noted that this new type is a self- 

 fertile hermaphrodite, which produces pollen for its own flowers. Its introduction will do 

 away with the necessity of giving space in a vineyard to male "drone" vines that yield pollen 

 but no fruit. The flowers are photographed about three times natural size on a background 

 of very fine silk. (Fig. 12.) 



recommended for planting;;. Many of 

 these varieties are improNX'd in more 

 than one cliaracter. 



Intercrossinjj; has been extensively 

 practiced from >'ear to year, the best 

 available fruitin<^ vines bein<j: pollinated 

 by the l^est male seedlin<i;s of desirable 

 ♦groups. This work has necessitated 

 most intimate and careful study of 

 the thousands of seedlings produced, 

 in order to be able to select parents 

 intellijT^ently. Certain male vines have 

 become known by their behavior in 

 cross-breeding just as the fruiting 

 seedlings are known by the fruit char- 

 acters they pos.sess and transmit. 



1. Production of Improved Male Vines 



One of the first results, therefore, 

 from cross-breeding operations has been 

 the obtaining of certain male vines, 

 selected seedlings, which are improved 

 varieties to the extent that they trans- 

 mit desiraljle rather than undesirable 

 characters and because they hax'c been 

 selected for vigor, freedom from disease 

 and insect attacks, ])r()fuseness of blof)m, 

 long ])eriod of bloom, and jjroper lime 

 for bloom (i. e., simultaneous with 

 frtiiting varieties to be |X)llinatcd). 

 These better male vines have, where 

 conditions warranted, already been dis- 

 tributed to grai)e growers along with 

 fruiting vines to be tested co6perati\ely 



in representative sections of the Musca- 

 dine territory. 



2. Production of Self-fertile Varieties 



Undoubtedly the most important 

 result of the dei)artment's work is the 

 ])roduction of self-fertile varieties. It 

 should be emphasized that at the time 

 these in\'estigations were inidertaken. 

 there was not such a thing as a self- 

 fertile Muscadine grape. All the fruit- 

 ing varieties were self-sterile and de- 

 pendeilt on insects to bring fertile 

 pollen from the 'wild male muscadines. 

 The Department now has a large collec- 

 tion of self-fertile varieties. 



The value of these self-fertile varieties 

 is evident, (a) They are of inestimably 

 great value in breeding work in that 

 they afford for the first time the oppor- 

 tunity to intercross within the species 

 without using as one parent a variety 

 of unknown fruiting qtialities (male 

 vine). We can now breed directly for a 

 combination of the desirable characters 

 found in the fniiting varieties of 1'. 

 rotundifolia. {b) They afTord directl>' 

 a cluster of increased size (a breeding 

 ol)ject) in that the self-fertile Varieties 

 are the result of i)erfecting the large- 

 clustered male type blossoms rather 

 than the small-clustered female type 

 blossoms. ((•) They afTord greater pro- 

 ductiveness in that thev are able to set 



412 



