berries are small. The grapes are pleasant
eating when fully ripe, rich, spicy and pure-flavored but tart if not
quite ripe. The variety is difficult to propagate from cuttings and to
transplant, and the vines do not bear grafts well. The origin of
Norton is uncertain, but it has been under cultivation since before
1830, when it was first described.

Vine very vigorous, healthy, half-hardy, productive. Canes long,
thick, dark brown with abundant bloom; nodes much enlarged;
internodes long; tendrils intermittent, occasionally continuous,
long, bifid, sometimes trifid. Leaves large, irregularly round;
upper surface pale green, dull, rugose; lower surface pale green,
pubescent; leaf usually not lobed with terminus acute; petiolar
sinus deep, narrow, sometimes closed and overlapping; basal sinus
usually absent; lateral sinus shallow or a mere notch when
present. Flowers self-fertile, late; stamens upright.

Fruit late, keeps well. Clusters medium in size, short, broad,
tapering, single-shouldered, compact; pedicel slender with a few
warts; brush dull, wine-colored. Berries small, round-oblate,
black, glossy with heavy bloom, persistent, soft; skin thin, free
with much dark red pigment; flesh green, translucent, juicy,
tender, spicy, tart. Seeds free, two to six, small, brown.

OPORTO

(Vulpina, Labrusca)

Oporto was at one time in demand as a wine grape because its wine
resembled in color and flavor that from Oporto. The variety is now
scarcely known, being inferior in most of its horticultural characters
to others of its species, but might be valuable in breeding for some
of its characters. The vine is very hardy, unusually free from fungal
diseases, is very resistant to phylloxera and has been used in France
as a phylloxera-resistant grafting-stock. The juice is very thick and
dark, a deep purple, hence suitable for adding color to wine or
grape-juice. The origin of Oporto is unknown. It was brought into
cultivation about 1860 by E. W. Sylvester, Lyons, New York.

Vine very vigorous, hardy, healthy, variable in productiveness.
Canes long, reddish-brown; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes
long, diaphragm thin; tendrils continuous, bifid. Stamens
reflexed.

Fruit mid-season, ships and keeps well. Clusters small,
cylindrical, often single-shouldered. Berries medium in size,
round, black, glossy with abundant bloom, persiste