VARIETIES OF GRAPES 425 



farther south. This variety was grown by J. H. Ricketts 

 about 1870. 



Vine vigorous, hardy, productive. Canes long, numerous, thick, 

 light brown with ash-gray tinge, darker at nodes, covered with thin 

 bloom ; nodes enlarged, flattened ; internodes short ; tendrils inter- 

 mittent, bifid or trifid. Leaves medium in size; upper surface dark 

 green, thin ; lower surface pale green, nearly glabrous ; lobes three, 

 acuminate ; petiolar sinus shallow, wide ; serration deep, narrow. 

 Flowers semi-fertile, mid-season ; stamens upright. 



Fruit early, keeps well. Clusters large, long, usually with a shoulder 

 connected to the bunch by a long stem, compact ; pedicel short, slender, 

 warty ; brush short, green. Berries oval, black, glossy, covered with 

 thin bloom, persistent ; skin thick, tough ; flesh very juicy, tender, 

 vinous, spicy, agreeably sweet at the skin, tart at the center ; good. 

 Seeds free, broad. 



PERFECTION 

 (Labrusca, Bourquiniana, Vinifera) 



Perfection is a seedling of Delaware, which it greatly re- 

 sembles but does not equal in fruit ; its fruits being hardly as 

 high in quality, do not keep as well, shrivel more before ripen- 

 ing, and shell more readily. In its vine characters, it is much 

 more like a Labrusca than Delaware, suggesting that it is a 

 Delaware cross. In the Southwest, Perfection is considered a 

 valuable early red grape. J. Stayman, Leavenworth, Kansas, 

 grew Perfection from seed of Delaware ; it was sent out for 

 testing about 1890. 



Vine vigorous, healthy, injured in severe winters, productive. 

 Canes of medium length and number, slender ; nodes enlarged, flat- 

 tened ; internodes short ; tendrils intermittent, trifid or bifid. Leaves 

 healthy, medium in size ; tipper surface light green ; lower surface 

 grayish-white with a tinge of bronze, heavily pubescent ; lobes wanting 

 or three to five ; petiolar sinus shallow, wide ; serration shallow. 

 Flowers self -fertile or nearly so, open in mid-season ; stamens upright. 



Fruit early. Clusters usually single-shouldered, compact ; pedicel 

 short, slender, smooth ; brush short, yellow. Berries small, round, red 

 but less brilliant than Delaware with faint bloom, inclined to drop 

 from pedicel, soft ; skin thin, free from astringency ; flesh medium in 



