Diamond is surpassed in quality and beauty by few other grapes. When to
its desirable fruit characters are added its earliness, hardiness,
productiveness and vigor it is surpassed by no other green grape.
Niagara is more productive and therefore more profitable in most
localities but in many essential characters it falls short of Diamond
and the difference in productiveness is not marked. We usually accord
Niagara first place among green grapes but Diamond rivals it for the
honor. The former attained high rank not only through merit but by much
advertisement while Diamond has made its way by merit alone. If we
consider the wants of the amateur and of the wine-maker as well as those
of the commercial vineyardist, unquestionably Diamond must be accorded a
high place among the best all-around grapes.
Diamond is a diluted hybrid between _Vitis labrusca_ and _Vitis
vinifera_; the touch of the exotic grape given by the Vinifera parents
has been just sufficient to give it the richness in flavor of the Old
World grape and not overcome the refreshing sprightliness of our native
fox grapes. It is without the insipid sweetness of the first or the
foxiness of the latter. The Vinifera characters are wholly recessive in
vine and foliage, the plant resembling very closely its American parent,
Concord. Diamond is not as highly esteemed as a commercial variety as it
deserves to be, for beside being of high quality the fruit packs,
carries and keeps well. Were it known by consumers the demand for it
would be such that it would command a fancy price and thereby more than
make up for its lack in fruitfulness, but through the unfortunate
condition of American fruit markets it is, more often than not, sold as
Niagara and has not therefore established the reputation it should have
in the markets. Diamond is in demand among wine-makers and especially
for the making of champagnes. For the amateur it has few superiors, the
chief drawback for the small garden being that robins prefer it to most
other varieties and greatly reduce the crop. Diamond is well established
in Canada and can be grown in as great a range of latitude as the
Concord. The vine is as free from the attacks of fungi as the Concord
but the fruit is a little more susceptible to cryptogamic diseases and
especially to black-rot, though not attacked by fungi so much as
Niagara.
The late Jacob Moore of Brighton, New York, originated Diamond about
1870 from Concord seed fertilized by Iona. It was introduced about 1885.
It has gained in favor somewhat slowly, and was not placed on the grape
list of the American Pomological Society fruit catalog until 1897.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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