Candicans. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Labrusca. 25 



bCvSt bases for hybridization, as it readily en- 

 dures all hardships of climate and resists the 

 fungus parasites remarkably well. It grows 

 readily from cuttings, resists Phylloxera per- 

 fectly, is stocky, and thrives in nearly all 

 soils and situations. So far no hybrids have 

 been artihcially produced ; the writer now 

 expects to experiment hybridization with 

 some selected vines of Doaniana. 



V. Campini is native of the same regions 

 with ]". Monticoki and T'. Berhoidferf, among 

 the cretacious, dry, chalky limestone hills of 

 central Southwest Texas, to the northwest- 

 ward of Austin, the capital. It is a strong, 

 branching species, with small leaves, very 

 broad opening at base, dark green, thick and 

 leathery, with little cottony down ; the clus- 

 ter and berries are of about same size as in 

 V. Doaniana, but have a distinct pure flavor, 

 vinous, sprightly-, with some pungency in the 

 thin, tough skin, possessing intense abundant 

 coloring matter, fitting them well for making 

 superior red wine. This species flowers and 

 ripens early, but the fruit will hang on long 

 after ripening, growing constantly better. 

 Its cuttings grow with greatest ease. It is 

 remarkably deep-rooting and drouth-resist- 

 ing, a very promising base to hybridize upon. 

 The writer has now fruiting numerous beau- 

 tiful hybrids of it ; they have no musky (foxy) 

 aroma or flavor, and, all in all, furnish good 

 bases upon which to build for future viticul- 

 ture, especially for the trying, changeable 

 Southwest climate, where so much richness in 

 color, flavor and sugar can be developed. As 

 a graft-stock ChamjJini has few equals and 

 no superior. In my experience it takes the 

 graft readily and carries it robustly to a good 

 age. 



V. Candicans, the Mustang grape of the 

 black lands, is known to every Texan. The 

 vine grows to enormous size, has a persistent 

 fibrous bark; the leaves are of a somewhat 

 triangular outline, on old vines numerously 

 and deeply lobed, on young vines with broad 

 open bases ; when 3'oung, both sides are white 

 with a dense cottony wool ; at maturity the 

 upper surface of leaves becomes very dark, 

 smooth, shining green, and convex, the bor- 

 ders being reflexed backward, the lower side 

 permanently holds the dense, felty, white 

 layer of wool (tomentum). The clusters are 

 small, forked; the berries large, dull black; 

 skin thick, tough, and of a fiery pungency, so 

 that the chewing of a few skins makes the 

 mouth sore. The berry is very persistent, 

 the pulp tough, slippery, juicy and agreeably 

 sweet, 3'et deficient in sugar. It would be 

 supposed that such a grape would be of little 

 value in viticulture, yet, in some of its hybrids 

 with Vinifera, produced by that learned bot- 



anist and experimenter on grapes. Prof. A. 

 MiUardet, of Bordeaux, France, and one b}^ 

 the writer, named "Elvicand," in which 

 "Elvira" is hybridized by Candicans pollen, 

 we have grapes good in quality and remark- 

 ably vigorous. But as cuttings of Candicans 

 root with the greatest difficulty, it is not liked 

 as a graft-stock. Considerable quantities of 

 wine are made in Texas from fruit of this 

 species, gathered from wild vines. 



V. Labri:sca. This species, represented 

 pre-eminentlj^ by the Concord, its many 

 seedlings, crosses and hybrids with Vinifera, 

 is so well known that I need not dwell upon 

 it. It is the great market grape east of the 

 Rocky Mountains ; but the time is at hand 

 when it will ''lift its hat" to others of our 

 native species.* 



(Extract from the Third Edition.) 



*V. Labrusca, the species of which the largest 

 number of our cultivated varieties and those most 

 extensively cultivated in our country are the off- 

 spring, is still the most limited local species, its 

 home being confined to the region between the 

 Atlantic Ocean and the Alleghany Mountains, the 

 wild Labrusca being unknown in the Mississippi 

 Valley. "Whatever has been called so there, or 

 in Louisiana or Texas, is a large and downy - 

 leaved form of ^Estivalis, always readily distin- 

 guished by its " intermittent '' tendrils, while La- 

 brusca has more or less ' contimious ' tendrils. 



•Tor table use, this species, in its improved va- 

 rieties, will probably always occupy a prominent 

 position in a lafge portion of the Eastern and 

 Northern States. 



"As a wine grape the T". Labrusca has been 

 over-estimated; the tough, musky pulp of even 

 the best varieties requires a long and favorable 

 season of growth to reduce the acid center so as 

 to produce a proper ratio of the ingredients neces- 

 sary for a passable quality of wine.'' — 



William Saunders. 



The large size of the fruit, the vigor and pro- 

 ductiveness of the vine, and its easy propagation 

 from cuttirgs, made the varieties of this species 

 preferable to others for hybridizing with Euro- 

 pean grapes; and it was expected to thereby 

 ameliorate, if not to remove, their foxiness. While 

 this improvement in Havor has been thus accom- 

 plished, the process has diminished the hardiness 

 and has increased the sensitiveness to climate 

 and to fungoid diseases in the varieties thus 

 produced. It has proven far more successful 

 to grow seedlings from pure Labrusca varieties 

 (though of the hundreds laised from pure Con- 

 cord seed not one has so far been produced sur- 

 passing it), or seedlings from crosses between the 

 coarser and more tender varieties of this species,, 

 as the Niagara (cross between Concord and Cas- 

 sady), the Jefferson and the Diamond (crosses be- 

 tween Concord and lona). Moreover, the much 

 decried 'foxy taste*' becomes much less objec- 

 tionable by habit. 



The hardy varieties of the Labrusca are also ex- 

 cellent grafting stock for tender, le?s vigorous 

 varieties, especially for hybrids of the V. Vinifera, 

 being quite resisting to the Phylloxera; but in 

 some localities the Labrusca does not feel at home. 



