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< r />
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 maturity in northern regions; and fair size and handsome

appearance of bunch and berry. Concord also blossoms late in the

spring and does not suffer often from spring frosts, nor is the fruit

often injured by late frosts. The crop hangs well on the vine.



The variety is not, however, without faults: the quality is not high,

the grapes lacking richness, delicacy of flavor and aroma, and having

a foxy taste disagreeable to many; the seeds and skin are

objectionable, the seeds being large and abundant and difficult to

separate from the flesh, and the skin being tough and unpleasantly

astringent; the grapes do not keep nor ship well and rapidly lose

flavor after ripening; the skin cracks and the berries shell from the

stems after picking; and the vine is but slightly resistant to

phylloxera. While Concord is grown in the South, it is essentially a

northern grape, becoming susceptible to fungi in southern climates and

suffering from phylloxera in dry, warm soils.



The botanical characters of Concord indicate that it is a pure-bred

Labrusca. Seeds of a wild grape were planted in the fall of 1843 by E.

W. Bull, Concord, Massachusetts, plants from which fruited in 1849.

One of these seedlings was named Concord.



Vine vigorous, hardy, healthy, productive. Canes long, thick, dark

reddish-brown; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes long; shoots

pubescent; tendrils continuous, long, bifid, sometimes trifid.

Leaves large, thick; upper surface dark green, glossy, smooth;

lower surface light bronze, heavily pubescent; lobes three when

present, terminal one acute; petiolar sinus variable; basal sinus

usually lacking; lateral sinus obscure and frequently notched;

teeth shallow, narrow. Flowers self-fertile, open in mid-season;

stamens upright.



Fruit mid-season, keeps from one to two months. Clusters uniform,

large, wide, broadly tapering, usually single-shouldered,

sometimes double-shouldered, compact; pedicel thick, smooth; brush

pale green. Berries large, round, glossy, black with heavy bloom,

firm; skin tough, adherent with a small amount of wine-colored

pigment, astringent; flesh pale green, translucent, juicy,

fine-grained, tough, solid, foxy; good. Seeds adherent, one to

four, large, broad, distinctly notched, plump, blunt, brownish.