SECRETARY 



ULSTER 



259 



small, thin. Flowers very late ; stamens reflexed. Fruit 

 late, ripens unevenly, berries drop as they mature. 

 Clusters small, round, unshouldered, loose. Berries few 

 in a cluster, large, round, dull green, often with brown 

 tinge, firm ; skin thick, tough with many small russet 

 dots ; flesh pale green, juicy, tender, soft, fine-grained, 

 foxy, sweet to agreeably tart ; fair to good. Seeds 

 adherent, large, short, broad, unnotched, blunt, plump, 

 surface smooth, brown. 



SECRETARY. V. vulpina X V. vinifera. 

 Injured by mildew and rot, which attack 

 leaves, fruit, and young wood, the vines of 

 Secretary are able to produce good grapes only 

 in exceptional seasons and in favored localities. 

 The fruit-characters, however, give the grapes 

 exceptionally high quality, for the berries 

 are firm, 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 so hardy, vigorous, or productive. 

 Moreover, in any but favored localities in the 

 North, the maturity of the crop is somewhat 

 uncertain. These defects keep Secretary from 

 becoming of commercial importance and make 

 it of value only to the amateur. Secretary is 

 one of the first productions of J. H. Ricketts, 

 Newburgh, New York; the original vine came 

 from seed planted in 1867. 



Vine vigorous, doubtfully hardy, variable in produc- 

 tiveness. Canes numerous, light brown, conspicuously 

 darker at nodes, surface covered with thin, blue bloom ; 

 tendrils intermittent, bifid. Leaves small to medium, 

 thin. Flowers semi-fertile, early ; stamens upright. 

 Fruit ripens after Concord, keeps and ships well. Clus- 

 ters large, long, cylindrical with a large, single shoulder, 

 often loose and with many abortive fruits. Berries 

 large, round, flattened at attachment to pedicel, dark 

 purplish-black, glossy, persistent ; firm ; skin tough 

 with wine-colored pigment ; flesh green, juicy, fine- 

 grained, tender, vinous, sweet ; good. Seeds free, large, 

 broad, notched, long, dark brown. 



SULTANA. V. vinifera. This variety was 

 formerly the standard seedless grape in Cali- 

 fornia for home use and for raisins, but it is 

 now outstripped by Sultanina. The fruits of 

 Sultana are possibly better flavored than those 

 of Sultanina, but the vines are hardly so vig- 

 orous or productive, and the berries often have 

 seeds. Sultana is not worth trying in the 

 East, as the season is too short for the ma- 

 turity of the crop. The description is com- 

 piled. 



Vine vigorous, upright, productive. Leaves large, 

 five-lobed, with large sinuses, light in color, coarsely 

 toothed. Bunches large, long, cylindrical, heavily 

 shouldered, sometimes not well filled, often loose and 

 scraggly. Berries small, round, firm and crisp, golden- 

 yellow, sweet with considerable piquancy ; quality good. 



SULTANINA. V. vinifera. Sultanina is 

 one of the standard seedless grapes of the 

 Pacific slope, grown both to eat out of hand 

 and for raisins. Probably it can be grown in 

 home plantations in favored parts of eastern 

 America where the season is long and warm. 

 The following description is compiled from 

 California viticulturists : 



Vine very vigorous, very productive ; trunk large with 

 very long canes. Leaves glabrous on both sides, dark 

 yellow-green above, light below ; generally 3-lobed, with 

 shallow sinuses ; teeth short and obtuse. Bunch large, 

 conico-cylindrical, well filled, with herbaceous peduncles. 

 Berries oval, beautiful golden-yellow color ; skin mod- 

 erately thick ; flesh of rather neutral flavor ; very good. 



THOMAS. V. rotundifolia. Thomas is a 

 variety of Rotundifolia discovered in the 

 woods near Marion, South Carolina, by Drew- 

 ery Thomas about 1845. It has long been 

 considered one of the standard Rotundifolia 

 grapes for the South. 



Vine vigorous, healthy, very productive. Leaves 

 cordate, rather large, longer than broad, thick ; margins 

 coarsely serrate. Fruit midseason, borne in' clusters of 

 from 4 to 10, medium to large ; skin thin, dotted with 

 pimples, varying in color from reddish purple to black, 

 marked at the base with greenish-yellow ; pulp tender, 

 sweet, vinous ; quality good to very good. 



TRIUMPH. V. Labrusca X V. vinifera. 

 When quality, color, shape, and size of bunch 

 and berry are considered, Triumph is one of 

 the finest dessert grapes of America. At its 

 best, the fruit is a magnificent bunch of golden 

 grapes of highest quality, esteemed even in 

 southern Europe, where it must compete with 

 the best of the Viniferas. In America, how- 

 ever, its commercial importance is curtailed 

 by the fact that the fruit requires a long sea- 

 son for proper development. Triumph has, 

 in general, the vine-characters of the Labrusca 

 parent, Concord; it has Concord's habit of 

 growth, vigor, productiveness, and foliage- 

 characters, falling short of this parent in hardi- 

 ness, resistance to fungal diseases, and earliness 

 of fruit. While the vine-characters of Tri- 

 umph are those of Labrusca, there is scarcely 

 a suggestion of the foxy odor and taste of 

 Labrusca, and the objectionable seeds, pulp, 

 and skin of the native grape give way to the 

 far less objectionable structures of Vinifera. 

 The flesh is tender and melting, and the flavor 

 rich, sweet, vinous, pure, and delicate. The 

 skins of the berries under unfavorable con- 

 ditions crack badly; the variety, therefore, 

 neither ships nor keeps well. Triumph was 

 grown soon after the Civil War by George W. 

 Campbell, Delaware, Ohio. 



Vine vigorous. Canes long, dark brown with much 

 bloom ; nodes enlarged ; tendrils intermittent, long, 

 trifid, sometimes bifid. Leaves large ; leaf usually not 

 lobed with terminus obtuse ; petiolar sinus deep, narrow, 

 often closed and overlapping ; basal sinus absent ; lateral 

 sinus shallow and narrow when present ; teeth deep, 

 wide. Flowers self -fertile, late ; stamens upright. Fruit 

 very late. Clusters very large, long, broad, cylindrical, 

 sometimes single-shouldered, compact ; pedicel slender, 

 smooth ; brush short, yellowish-green. Berries medium 

 in size, oval, golden yellow, glossy with heavy bloom, 

 persistent, firm ; skin thin, inclined to crack, adherent, 

 without pigment, slightly astringent ; flesh light green, 

 translucent, juicy, fine-grained, tender, vinous ; good 

 to very good. Seeds free, 1-5, small, brown. 



ULSTER. V. Labrusca. The vines of Ul- 

 ster set too much fruit, in spite of efforts to 

 control the crop by pruning; two undesirable 

 results follow, the bunches are small and the 

 vines, lacking vigor at best, fail to recover 

 from the over-fruitfulness. These defects keep 

 the variety from becoming of importance 

 commercially or even a favorite as a garden 



