Cassady is a
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
which is greenish-white in color. It is related to the "Fox Grape", ''
Vitis labrusca
''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, C ...
'', and it is an offspring of an
open pollination
"Open pollination" and "open pollinated" refer to a variety of concepts in the context of the sexual reproduction of plants. Generally speaking, the term refers to plants pollinated naturally by birds, insects, wind, or human hands.
True-breedi ...
variant of ''V. labrusca'', which means that it is classified as an interspecific crossing, a
hybrid grape
Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a crossing of two or more ''Vitis'' species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically ''Vitis vinifera'', the European grapevine. Hybrid grap ...
.
[Cassady](_blank)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430070047/http://www.vivc.de/datasheet/dataResult.php?data=2148# , date=2012-04-30 , Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...
, accessed 2010-07-14 It was first described in the Interim Fruit Report of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in November, 1853. The first Cassady grapevine sprang up as a volunteer (unplanted) seedling in the yard of P.H. Cassady at 29 Logan Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1847. It did not bear fruit for five years, but when it finally did, the grapes it produced were found by Cassady to be juicy, pleasantly flavoured, and of very good quality. The Cassady grape was propagated and subsequently crossed with the better-known
Concord grape
The Concord grape is a cultivar derived from the grape species '' Vitis labrusca'' (also known as fox grape) that are used as table grapes, wine grapes and juice grapes. They are often used to make grape jelly, grape juice, grape pies, grape-fl ...
to produce a new white grape variety, the
Niagara grape, which is the cultivar most commonly used for the production of white
grape juice
Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7–23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as '' must''. The sugars in grape juice allow it to be ...
in North America.
The original description of the Cassady grape was published in November 1853 on page 563 of ''The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs'', Vol. XIX, 1853:
[A copy of the original publication was obtained from Harvard University and digitized by ]Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
on 11 Jul 2007. It is available online at https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUEAAAAYAA
ART. III. Societies.
PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL.
''Ad Interim Fruit Report'', for November, 1853. — Since the October meeting
of the Society, the following fruits have been forwarded to the Fruit
Committee for examination : —
From P. H. Casaady, 29 Logan Square, two varieties of grapes.
1. The Cassady. — An accidental seedling white grape, with native leaf,
and dark purplish wood, that sprung up in Mr. Cassady's yard in 1847, and
fruited in 1852 for the first time. Bunch, of medium size, tolerably compact,
and sometimes shouldered. Berry, below medium, five-eighths of an
inch in diameter ; form round ; color, greenish white with occasionally a
faint salmon tint, and thickly covered with white bloom ; flesh, juicy with
but little pulp; flavor, pleasant; quality "very good."
Synonyms
Cassady is also known under the synonyms Arcott, Arnott, and Arrott.
References
*Hovey, C.M. (editor). 1853. ''The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs'', Vol. XIX, 1853 (VOL. IX, new series), p. 563 (published by Hovey and Company,
Merchants Row (Boston), Merchant's Row, Boston, Mass).
Hybrid grape varieties
White wine grape varieties