352 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



though the vine is so exceptionally healthy and vigorous as to 

 give it prominence for these characters as well. The variety 

 has remarkably thick leathery leaves which seem almost proof 

 against either insects or fungi. The quality of the fruit, how- 

 ever, is inferior, and the small clusters vary in number of 

 berries and these shell easily. The only value of the variety 

 is for exhibition purposes and for breeding to secure the desirable 

 characters named. The parentage of Columbian Imperial is 

 unknown. It originated with J. S. McKinley, Orient, Ohio, 

 in 1885. 



Vine vigorous, hardy, healthy, unproductive. Canes long, nu- 

 merous, thick, dark reddish-brown, heavily pubescent, spiny ; nodes 

 prominent ; internodes short ; tendrils continuous, long, bifid. Leaves 

 green, very thick ; lower surface pale green shading into bronze on 

 older leaves with little pubescence ; lobes three, indistinct ; teeth 

 sharp, shallow, wide. Flowers self -fertile ; stamens upright. 



Fruit late. Clusters medium in size, sometimes shouldered ; 

 peduncle slender ; pedicel long ; brush long, slender, green. Berries 

 very large, round, slightly oval, dull reddish-black with faint bloom, 

 firm ; skin thick, tough, unpigmented ; flesh juicy, tough, sweet at 

 the skin but acid at center ; fair in quality. Seeds adherent, large, 

 plump, broad, blunt. 



CONCORD 



(Labrusca) 



Concord (Plate XI) is the most widely known of the grapes of 

 this continent, and with its offspring, pure-bred and cross-bred, 

 furnishes 75 per cent of the grapes of eastern America. The 

 preeminently meritorious character of Concord is that it 

 adapts itself to varying conditions ; thus, Concord is grown 

 with profit in every grape-growing state in the Union and to an 

 extent not possible with any other variety. A second character 

 which commends Concord is fruitfulness the vine bears 

 large crops year in and year out. Added to these points of 

 superiority, are : hardiness ; ability to withstand the ravages 

 of diseases and insects; comparative earliness; certainty of 



