FERN MUNSON 



GOLD COIN 



245 



FERN MUNSON. V. cestivalis Lince- 

 cumii X Admirable. Fern. Hilgarde. Fern 

 Munson is a southern grape not adapted to 

 northern regions, 40 degrees north latitude 

 being its limit of adaptation. The fruits show 

 some very good characters, as attractive ap- 

 pearance, agreeable quality, and unobjection- 

 able seeds and skin. The vines are vigorous 

 and productive, but the foliage is not healthy, 

 although very abundant. This variety origin- 

 ated with T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas, from 

 seed planted in 1885. 



Vine vigorous, doubtfully hardy. Canes long, nu- 

 merous, thick, dark brown with a faint red tinge ; 

 tendrils intermittent, bifid. Leaves large, thick. Flow- 

 ers semi-fertile, open very late ; stamens upright. Fruit 

 late, keeps well. Clusters large, irregularly tapering, 

 usually single-shouldered, often with many abortive 

 fruits. Berries large, round, slightly Battened, dark 

 purplish-black, glossy, covered with thin 'iloom, strongly 

 persistent, firm ; skin thin, tough, astringent ; flesh 

 juicy, tough, firm, fine-grained, vinous, briskly subacid ; 

 good. Seeds adherent, broad. 



FLAME TOKAY. V. vinifera. This is 

 the leading shipping grape jf the Pacific slope, 

 where it is everywhere grown under the name 

 "Tokay," with several modifying terms, as 

 "Flame", "Flame-colored", and "Flaming". 

 The fruit is not especially high in quality nor 

 attractive in appearance, but it ships and keeps 

 well, qualities making the variety popular in 

 commercial vineyards. The description is 

 compiled. 



Vine very vigorous, luxuriant in growth of canes, 

 shoots and leaves dark green with a brown tinge ; 

 lightly lobed. Bunches very large, sometimes weighing 

 8 or 9 pounds, moderately compact ; shouldered. Ber- 

 ries large, oblong, red when mature, covered with lilac 

 bloom ; flesh firm, crisp, sweet ; quality good. Season 

 late, keeps and ships well. 



FLOWERS. V. rotundifolia. Flowers is 

 noted for its vigorous and productive vines, 

 its large fruit-clusters, and dark-colored grapes 

 that cling in the cluster unusually well for a 

 variety of this species. The crop is late, ripen- 

 ing in North Carolina in October and No- 

 vember. The fruit is valuable only for wine 

 and grape-juice, and has little to recommend 

 it for dessert purposes. Flowers was found 

 in a swamp near Lamberton, North Carolina, 

 more than a hundred years ago, by William 

 Flowers. Improved Flowers, probably a seed- 

 ling of Flowers, was found near Whiteville, 

 North Carolina, about 1869. It differs from its 

 supposed parent in having a more vigorous and 

 productive vine and larger clusters, the berries 

 of which cling even more tenaciously. 



Vine vigorous, healthy, upright, open, very produc- 

 tive. Canes long, slender, numerous. Leaves variable 

 but average medium in size, longer than broad, pointed, 

 cordate, thick, dark green, smooth, leathery ; margins 

 sharply serrate ; flowers perfect. Fruit very late, keeps 

 well. Clusters large, consisting of 10-25 berries. Ber- 

 ries large, round-oblong, purple or purplish-black, cling- 

 ing well to the cluster-stem ; skin thick, tough, faintly 

 marked with dots ; pulp white, lacking in juice, hard, 

 sweetish, austere in flavor ; poor for a table-grape but 

 excellent for grape-juice. 



GAERTNER. V. vinijera X V. Labrusca. 

 The berries and clusters of Gaertner are large 

 and handsomely colored, making a very showy 



fruit. The plant is vigorous, productive, and 

 as hardy as any of the hybrids between Lab- 

 rusca and Vinifera. In view of these qualities, 

 Gaertner has not received the attention it 

 deserves, probably because it is more capricious 

 as to soils than some others of its related 

 hybrids. As a market grape, the fruits have 

 the faults of ripening unevenly and of ship- 

 ping poorly, but they keep well, and this 

 quality, with the desirable ones noted, make 

 Gaertner excellent for the home vineyard. 

 Gaertner is often compared with Massasoit; 

 the two varieties are similar in fruit-characters, 

 but the fruits of Gaertner are of distinctly bet- 

 ter quality. The variety originated with E. S. 

 Rogers, Salem, Massachusetts. It was first 

 mentioned about 1865. 



Vine vigorous, hardy except in severe winters, pro- 

 ductive. Canes long, dark reddish-brown, surface cov- 

 ered with thin bloom ; tendrils continuous, bifid or 

 trifid. Leaves medium in size, round. Flowers self- 

 sterile, open late ; stamens reflexed. Fruit midseason, 

 matures unevenly, keeps only fairly well. Clusters me- 

 dium in size, short, cylindrical, usually with a single 

 shoulder but sometimes double-shouldered, loose with 

 many abortive fruits. Berries large, round-oval, light 

 to dark red, glossy, covered with bloom, persistent ; skin 

 thin, tender ; flesh pale green, juicy, fine-grained, tough, 

 stringy, agreeably vinous ; good to very good. Seeds 

 free, large, broad, distinctly notched, brown. 



GOETHE. V. vinifera X V. Labrusca. Of 

 all Rogers' hybrids, Goethe shows Vinifera 

 characters most; the fruits resemble in ap- 

 pearance those of the White Malaga of Eu- 

 rope, and do not fall far short of the best 

 Old World grapes in quality. But the variety 

 is difficult to grow, especially where the sea- 

 sons are not long enough for full maturity. 

 The vine is vigorous to a fault; it is fairly 

 immune to mildew, rot, and other diseases; 

 and, where it succeeds, bears so freely that 

 thinning becomes a necessity. In addition to 

 high quality, which makes the fruits excellent 

 table-grapes, they keep well. Goethe was first 

 mentioned in 1858. 



Vine vigorous, hardy. Canes short, dark brown ; 

 nodes enlarged, flattened ; internodes short ; tendrils 

 continuous or intermittent, long, bifid to trifid. Leaves 

 irregularly round, thin ; leaf usually not lobed, terminus 

 broadly acute ; petiolar sinus narrow, closed and over- 

 lapping ; basal sinus usually lacking ; lateral sinus 

 shallow, often a notch ; teeth shallow, narrow. Flowers 

 partly self-fertile, open in midseason ; stamens upright. 

 Fruit late, keeps well. Clusters short, broad, tapering, 

 frequently single-shouldered, usually 2 bunches to shoot ; 

 pedicel long, thick with numerous conspicuous warts ; 

 brush long, slender, yellowish-brown. Berries very 

 large, oval, pale red covered with thin bloom, per- 

 sistent ; skin thin, tender, adherent, faintly astringent ; 

 flesh pale green, translucent, tender, with Vinifera flavor ; 

 very good. Seeds adherent, 1-3, large, long, notched, 

 blunt, brown. 



GOLD COIN. V. cestivalis X V. Labrusca. 

 In the South, where alone it thrives, Gold 

 Coin produces a handsome market-grape of 

 very good quality. The vines are productive 

 and are unusually free from attacks of fungal 

 diseases. The variety originated with T. V. 

 Munson, Denison, Texas, and was introduced 

 in 1894. 



Vine vigorous, hardy, productive. Canes slender, 

 numerous ; tendrils continuous, sometimes intermittent, 

 trifid or bifid. Leaves medium in size. Flowers self- 



