Breeding Botundifolia Grapes 
35 
not increase proportionately with the size of the flower cluster. There 
appears to be a limit to the size of the fruit cluster which seems to 
be somewheres between twenty-five and thirty berries. Among our 
hybrid vines many clusters were observed that had more than seventy 
flowers, but no fruit cluster could be found which had more than 
twenty-three berries, and this where there was an abundance of pollen 
from male vines. The largest fruit cluster ever found by the writers 
on the best Scuppernong vines had twenty-seven berries. 
We have found that the hybrids which produce the largest clusters 
also produced the greatest number of flower clusters per vine. The 
male vine used in the production of these hybrids produced very large 
clusters and these in great profusion. 
Size of the Berries of the Hybrid Seedling Vines. 
That the size of the berries can be modified by breeding is also shown 
by our work. Since we do not know the parentage of the male vines 
used in this work, it is impossible to say just what influence the male 
vines have had in determining the size of the berries of these hybrids. 
It is evident, however, that the size of the berries may be increasd or 
decreased by breeding. We do not find any correlation between the size 
of the fruit cluster and the size of the berries. The berries on some of 
the largest clusters are just as large as those on some of the smallest 
clusters. 
TABLE NO. 12. 
Table Showing the Relative Sizes of the Berries. 
Parents 
Small 
Medium 
Large 
Very 
Large 
Scuppernong X Male vine with small flower clusters. 
0 
4 
3 
0 
Scuppernong X Male vine with large flower clusters... ... . 
1 
173 
162 
0 
Scuppernong X Male vine with large flower clusters. 
5 
128 
167 
3 
James X Male vine with large flower clusters. __ .. 
0 
10 
40 
2 
Thomas X Male vine with large flower clusters... 
1 
24 
3 
0 
The above tabulated results seem to indicate quite clearly, that 
the mother parent vines apparently control to some extent the size 
of the berries of their progeny. Of course we must keep in mind the fact 
that we know very little of the parentage of the different male viles that 
were used in these experiments. However, since Light Male Vine 1STo. 
2 was used with three varieties, each of which bears fruit of a different 
size, we note some very interesting results: The seedlings of Thomas, 
crossed with this male vine, produced fruits mostly of medium size. 
The seedlings of the Scuppernong, crossed with this male vine, pro¬ 
duced fruits of different sizes, ranging all the way from medium to 
large. The seedlings of James, crossed with this same male vine, pro¬ 
duced mostly large and very large fruits. 
