Hartford

(Labrusca)

The vine of Hartford may be well characterized by its good qualities,
but the fruit is best described by its faults, because of which the
variety is passing out of cultivation. The plants are vigorous,
prolific, healthy and the fruit is borne early in the season. The
canes are remarkable for their stoutness and for the crooks at the
joints. The bunches are not unattractive, but the quality of the fruit
is low, the flesh being pulpy and the flavor insipid and foxy. The
berries shell badly on the vine and when packed for shipping, so that
the fruit does not ship, pack or keep well. The grapes color long
before ripe, and the flowers are only partly self-fertile, so that in
seasons when there is bad weather during blooming time the clusters
are loose and straggling. The original vine of Hartford was a chance
seedling in the garden of Paphro Steele, West Hartford, Connecticut.
It fruited first in 1849.

Vine vigorous, very productive. Canes long, dark brown, covered
with pubescence; nodes enlarged, flattened; internodes short;
tendrils continuous, long, bifid. Leaves large, thick; upper
surface dark green, dull, rugose; lower surface pale green, thinly
pubescent; lobes variable; petiolar sinus deep, narrow; basal
sinus usually lacking; lateral sinus shallow, narrow; teeth
shallow. Flowers partly self-fertile, open in mid-season; stamens
upright.

Fruit early. Clusters medium in size, long, slender, tapering,
irregular, often with a long, large, single shoulder, loose;
pedicel short with a few small warts; brush greenish. Berries
medium in size, round-oval, black, covered with bloom, drop badly;
skin thick, tough, adherent, contains much purplish-red pigment,
astringent; flesh green, translucent, juicy, firm, stringy, foxy;
poor in quality. Seeds free, one to four, broad, dark brown.

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