the fruits often fail to ripen. It is chiefly grown in the San Joaquin
Valley. It could hardly be expected to ripen even in the most favored
grape regions in the East. The following brief description is
compiled:

Vine strong, healthy and productive. Leaves very large, with five
shallow lobes; teeth short and obtuse; light green in color;
glabrous above, wooly beneath. Bunches very large, loose,
sometimes inclined to be straggling, long-conical. Berries large,
dull purple, oval; flesh firm and crisp; skin thick; flavor and
quality good. Ripens late and keeps and ships well.

EMPIRE STATE

(Vulpina, Labrusca, Vinifera)

Empire State (Plate XVII) competes with Niagara and Diamond for
supremacy among green grapes. The variety is as vigorous in growth, as
free from parasites, and on vines of the same age is as productive,
but is less hardy, and the grapes are not as attractive in appearance
as those of the other varieties named. In particular, the clusters are
small in some localities, a defect which can be overcome only by
severe pruning or by thinning. The quality is very good, approaching
the flavor of the Old World grapes, its slight wild taste suggesting
one of the Muscats. Empire State ripens early, hangs long on the vine
and keeps well after picking without losing flavor. This grape
originated with James H. Ricketts, Newburgh, New York, bearing fruit
first in 1879.

Vine vigorous, somewhat tender. Canes short, few, slender,
brownish; nodes enlarged; internodes short; tendrils intermittent,
bifid. Leaves small; upper surface light green, glossy, smooth or
somewhat rugose; lower surface tinged with bronze, heavily
pubescent; lobes three to five when present, terminal one
acuminate; petiolar sinus deep, narrow, often closed and
overlapping; basal sinus variable in depth and width; lateral
sinus deep, narrow, often enlarged at base; teeth deep, wide.
Flowers self-fertile, open late; stamens upright.

Fruit mid-season, keeps well. Clusters large, long, slender,
cylindrical, frequently single-shouldered, compact; pedicel
slender with small warts; brush short, light green. Berries medium
or small, round, pale yellowish-green, covered with thin bloom,
persistent, firm; skin thick, adherent to the pulp, slightly
astringent; flesh pale yellowish-green, translucent, juicy,
fine-grained, tender, agreeably flavored; good to very goo