GRAPE MANUAL. 



varieties, and not rarely in the cultivated ones, 

 it is* mainly observed in the young growth of 

 spring and is apt to disappear in the mature 

 leaf; but even then such leaves are never shin- 

 ing as they are in the glabrous species, but have 

 a dull or unpolished, or even wrinkled surface. 



The form of the leaves is extremely variable, 

 and descriptions must necessarily remain vague. 

 Leaves of seedling plants are all entire, i. e. not 

 lobed; young shoots from the base of old stems, 

 as a rule, have deeply and variously lobed 

 leaves, even where the mature plant shows no 

 such disposition. Some species * or some forms 

 of a few species f have all the leaves more or 

 less lobed, while others exhibit on the mature 

 plant only entire, or, I should rather say, not 

 lobed leaves. Only the leaves of flower-bearing 

 canes ought to be considered as the normal ones. 



The surface of the leaves is glossy and shining, 

 and mostly bright green ; or it is dull above and 

 more or less glaucous below. The glossy leaves 

 are perfectly glabrous, or they often bear, es- 

 pecially on the nerves of the lower side, a pu- 

 bescence of short hair. The dull leaves are cot- 

 tony or cobwebby, downy on both or only on 

 the under side; and this down often extends to 

 the young branches and to the peduncles, but 

 as has been stated above, often disappears later 

 in the season. 



Not much of a distinctive character can be 

 made out of the flowers. It is observed, how- 

 ever, that in some forms the stamens are not 

 longer than the pistil, and very soon bend under 

 it, while in other forms they are much longer 

 than the pistil, and remain straight till they fall 

 off. It is possible that those with short stamens 

 are less fertile than the others. 



The time of flowering is quite characteristic 

 of our native species, and it seems that the cul- 

 tivated varieties retain herein the qualities of 

 their native ancestors. The different forms of 

 Riparia and Cordifolia flower first of all ; next 

 comes Labrusca and its relatives, and the last 

 flowering species is ^Estivalis. If we are per- 

 mitted to judge from a few isolated observations, 

 Vinifera flowers later than Labrusca, and a lit- 

 tle earlier than .^Estivalis. Riparia begins to 

 open its flowers, according to the season, from 

 one to over two weeks earlier than the first 

 blossoms of JEstivalis are seen in the same local- 

 ity. In favorably situated vineyards in the vi- 

 cinity of St. Louis, the first grape-vines (Ripa- 

 ria'), begin to bloom between May 10th and 28th 

 and the last (^Estivalis), end between June 1st 



* Vitis Riparia. 

 jForms of Vitis Labrusca and of Vitis JSstivalis. 



and 15th; and we are not likely to have here 

 any grape-vines in bloom before May 10th, nor 

 after June 16th.* 



One of the botanical characters of the Grape- 

 vines is found in the seeds. The bunches may 

 be larger or smaller, looser or more compact, 

 branched (shouldered) or more simple, condi- 

 tions which, to a great extent, depend on soil 

 and exposure; the berries may be larger or 

 smaller, of different color and consistency, and 

 contain fewer or more seeds (never more than 

 four), but the seeds, though to some extent va- 

 riable, especially on .account of their number 

 and mutual pressure, where more than one is 

 present, exhibit some reliable differences. f The 

 big top of the seed is convex or rounded, or it 

 is more or less deeply notched. The thin lower 

 end of the seed, the beak, is short and abrupt, 

 or it is more or less elongated. On the inner 

 (ventral) side are two shallow longitudinal de- 

 pressions. Between them is a ridge, slight 

 where there are one or two seeds, or sharper 

 where the seeds are in threes or fours ; along 

 this ridge the raphe (the attached funiciilus or 

 cord) runs from the hilum, at the beak, over 

 the top of the seed, and ends on its back in 

 an oval or circular well-marked spot, called 

 by botanists chalaza. This raphe is on that 

 ridge represented by a slender thread, which 

 on the top and back of the seed is entirely indis- 

 tinct, or scarcely perceptible, or it is more or 

 less prominent, like a thread. In our Amer- 

 ican species these characters seem pretty reli- 

 able, but in the varieties of the old world grape- 

 vine {Vinifera}} several thousands of years re- 

 moved from their native sources, the form of 

 the seed has also undergone important modifi- 

 cations, and can no longer be considered such a 

 safe guide as in our species. 



The annexed cuts of 18 grape seeds illustrate 

 the different characters which have been men- 

 tioned above. The figures are magnified four 

 times, (4 diameters), accompanied by an outline 

 of natural size, all represent the back o of the 

 dry seed. 



Figs. 1 to 3. Vitis ^Estivalis with the raphe 

 and the more or less circular chalaza strongly 

 developed; the seeds are from wild grapes 

 gathered about St. Louis, the seeds of the cul- 



* V. Vulpina blooms even later than ^Estivalis, in the 

 South ; it does not grow here. 



These remarks are thrown out, more to induce grape 

 growers to devote some attention to such observations, 

 than as definitely settling these points. 



t A single seed is always thicker, plumper, more 

 rounded; two seeds are flattened on the inner, rounded 

 on the outer side; three or four seeds are more slender 

 and angular; these different variations, may sometimes 

 be found in berries of the same bunch. 



