Bertrand is a southern variety, almost without question an offspring of
Herbemont, and so far as can be judged from the descriptions of others,
we not having seen the fruit, not nearly equal to its parent. The
variety is hardy only as far north as Maryland and even in that State
must be planted in sheltered situations.
Judge J. B. Jones, Herndon, Burke County, Georgia, found Bertrand as an
accidental seedling, which had germinated in the spring of 1878. Judge
Jones gives the species as being Cordifolia but Berckmans says it looks
like an Aestivalis; it is now generally classed in the Bourquiniana
group. The following description of this variety is compiled from
various sources:
Vine vigorous. Cluster above medium to rather large, usually
conical, most often shouldered, moderately compact; peduncle long.
Berries below medium in size, round, black with blue bloom; flesh
melting, juicy, very high flavored. Skin thin, tough. Ripens late.
Seeds few. Very productive in the South. Of value only for wine.
BLACK DEFIANCE.
(Labrusca, Vinifera.)
=1.= _Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt._, =1868=:10. (No name given.) =2.=
_Bush. Cat._, =1883=:75. =3.= _Okla. Sta. Bul._, =14=:6. 1895. =4.=
Husmann, =1895=:31. =5.= _Mo. Sta. Bul._, =46=:37, 43, 76. 1899.
=6.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._, =53=:41. 1901.
_Underhill's 8-8 Hybrid_ (2).
Black Defiance is one of Stephen Underhill's Vinifera-Labrusca hybrids,
at one time quite popular as a late table grape, but now superseded by
thriftier varieties. It ripens too late to be of much value in New York.
When phylloxera had driven French grape-growers to look to America for
varieties of grapes, and before grafting on resistant stocks was
practiced in that country, Black Defiance was looked upon with much
favor in France where it succeeded very well. The fruit is distinguished
by the size, lustrous blackness and handsome bloom of the berry. It is
now rarely cultivated in New York having been replaced by varieties more
certain to mature in this State.
Stephen Underhill of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, produced Black Defiance
from seed of Concord fertilized by Black Prince. It first fruited in
1866. The variety was introduced without the originator's consent.
Black Defiance is described as follows:[163]
[Illustration: BLACK EAGLE]
"Growth medium, shoots smooth; leaves large, more or less
three-lobed, with uneven margin; bunches large, oblong with large
base, frequently branched; berries black, decidedly acid, pulp
rather firm, ripe July 22nd; defoliated on October 6, 1896. Not
good for table use."
BLACK EAGLE.
(Labrusca, Vinifera.)
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