426 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



juiciness and tenderness, vinous, mild, sweet ; good in quality. Seeds 

 adherent, numerous, small, often with an enlarged neck. 



PERKINS 



(Labrusca, Vinifera) 



At one time Perkins was grown largely as an early grape but 

 has been discarded very generally on account of the poor qual- 

 ity of the fruit. The pulp of the grape is hard and the flavor 

 is that of Wyoming and Northern Muscadine, grapes char- 

 acterized by disagreeable foxiness. As with nearly all Labrus- 

 cas, Perkins is a poor keeper. Notwithstanding the faults of 

 its fruit, the variety v may have value in regions where grape- 

 growing is precarious ; for in fruiting it is one of the most re- 

 liable grapes cultivated, the vines being hardy, vigorous, pro- 

 ductive and free from fungal diseases. Perkins is an accidental 

 seedling found about 1830 in the garden of Jacob Perkins, 

 Bridgewater, Massachusetts. 



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

 thick, dark brown, deepening in color at the nodes, surface heavily 

 pubescent ; nodes enlarged, flattened ; internodes long ; tendrils con- 

 tinuous, bifid or trifid. Leaves medium in size, thick ; upper surface 

 rugose ; lower surface heavily pubescent ; veins distinct ; lobes three ; 

 petiolar sinus deep, narrow; serration shallow. Flowers self -fertile, 

 early ; stamens upright. 



Fruit early, ships well. Clusters of medium size and length, broad, 

 cylindrical, often with a single shoulder, compact ; pedicel short, 

 thick, warty ; brush long, yellow. Berries large, oval, pale lilac or 

 light red with thin bloom, inclined to drop from the pedicel, soft ; 

 skin thin, tough, without pigment; flesh white, juicy, stringy, fine- 

 grained, firm, meaty, very foxy ; poor in quality. Seeds adherent, 

 numerous, medium in size, notched. 



POCKLINGTON 



(Labrusca) 



Before the advent of Niagara, Pocklington (Plate XXII) was 

 the leading green grape. The variety has the fatal fault, how- 



