246 Mississipjn Valley Hoi-ticuHural Society. 



thorough cultivation in a good location and hybridize the one with the other. 

 Save the seeds of these and plant them, and they will produce a new race of 

 grapes that Avill succeed. 



This is the new and fertile field that we referred to; it is now yours to pos- 

 sess. That you will occupy it and prove worthy of your trust, is our sincere 

 desire. 



THE GRAPES OF THE SOUTHWEST. 



BY GILBERT ONDERDONK, OF TEXAS. 



To whatever purpose Ave may apply the products of the vineyard, the viti- 

 culture of a region is a matter of no small importance to its people. While 

 grape culture has not taken its place among the leading industries, except in 

 a few localities, yet, if the products of the vineyard were to be stricken from 

 among our resources it would reveal a void that would be seriously felt by 

 the nation. 



Such is the extent of our national domain, such the variety of our climate, 

 such the diversity among our population, and so various the degrees of de- 

 velopment in the different sections of our widespread country in every other 

 department of human industry, that it is, after all, not a matter of wonder 

 that such different degrees of advancement in different sections have been 

 made in the culture of the grape. While the horticulturists of some sections 

 feel as though they have made vast strides toward perfection in their list of 

 grapes, yet in other regions it is clearly realized that there is yet much to be 

 done before reaching the standard of excellence demanded by the times. 



We have been slow in recognizing the fact that while in some favored. re- 

 gions varieties are practicable, that yet, after all, each section must have its 

 peculiar type of grapes. We may choose this or that variety or class, because 

 we are informed of its results in some other region ; still, questions of soil, 

 altitude, temperature, humidity, and even conditions which we have been 

 unable to detect, all take their part in the matter of results. We may in- 

 vent contrivances to gain the effect of local modifications of climate, we may 

 multiply every effort of human skill and wisdom, and yet, if we are attempt- 

 ing to succeed with a certain variety in a region hostile to its existence, we 

 are lighting against nature, and must meet with practical failure. While w-e 

 all recognize this principle in every other department, yet many of us have 

 most singularly ignored it in our horticulture. 



Perhaps I ought to beg pardon for such a lengthy introduction, but I must 

 excuse myself by pleading the general disposition on the part of cultivators 

 to each think that the special favorite in his own grounds ought to prove the 

 sum of perfection everywhere. Again, there arc so many who seem to be- 

 lieve that every variety can be made to succeed anywhere, and, as the title of 

 this paper indicates, I very distinctly claim that the Southw^est (I mean the 



