260 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



culture, only such varieties as have been long and widely tested under 

 various conditions, on all soils, and under various conditions of treatment, 

 can be safely recommended for general culture, provided, under those 

 diverse conditions, they have given general satisfaction. In this connec- 

 tion, too, the wants of the market and the demands of the times can not 

 be safely ignored. While the fancy grajDes and all other fruits from Cali- 

 fornia find a ready market in all our large, and many of our small towns 

 throughout the country, whenever accessible by rail, at good paying figures, 

 the great fruit-consuming population of the country east of the Rocky 

 mountains must, for the present, and perhaps for all time, depend upon 

 our native fruits for its supply. As a rule, the mass of our people can not 

 afl^ord the luxury of the fancy fruits from California. It is also well known 

 that, in point of quality, many of them are inferior to our home produc- 

 tion. The demand of our markets is for a dark-colored grape and this 

 demand instead of being on the decline, is evidently on the increase. I 

 think it safe to say that nine tenths of all the grapes sold in our western 

 markets, and the same ratio will probably hold good in the east, are Con- 

 cords. While the Delaware is conceded to be the standard of quality 

 among all our grapes, the demand for this grape does not increase with 

 the supply. The demand for it appears to be on the decline, especially 

 when the market is well supi^lied with the dark grapes. When the so- 

 called white grajies, of whatever variety, are largely grown for market, I 

 doubt not they will be grown at a loss. The best of market grapes for 

 Michigan, and I doubt not the east generally, can readily be counted on 

 the fingers and thumb of one hand. These, in my opinion, are for the 

 present the best grapes for profit, in the order here named: Black, Con- 

 cord, and Worden; red, Delaware and Brighton; white, Niagara. The time 

 may come, in the next decade or two, when the Worden and Brighton will 

 change places with the Concord and Delaware; and in the meantime, 

 others may come forward and contest the claims of some or all. The white 

 grape, as yet, is a novelty, and when the novelty is gi'atified I think the 

 fruit itself will be unpopular. This seems to be clearly the tendency of 

 our leading markets now in the west. This lake shore is largely a grape- 

 producing locality, as also are many of the interior portions of our state, 

 and this production is on the increase. Our locality is somewhat anomal- 

 ous. We are located between two contending forces, the west and the 

 east — California on the extreme west, Ohio and New York on the east. 

 As between our productions and those of California, there is ordinarily 

 but little competition. Each has its allotted place on the market. The 

 one is mainly for the fancy trade, the other for the million; the one pays 

 a high-protection railway tariff tax; the other has free-trade transportation. 

 But not so with our eastern neighbors. They grow the same kinds of 

 fruit we do, and are largely supplying the same markets. We have little 

 to fear from Ohio; they have many home markets for their surplus fruit, 

 and besides they are not so aggressive and ambitious as those York state 

 fellows. The latter are going to crowd our market more and more, year 

 after year. Locality makes our season a trifle earlier than theirs, and if 

 we can take advantage of this circumstance, without throwing our fruit 

 upon the market in an unripe condition, we may generally avoid the glut 

 consequent upon their heavy shipments. If we had the Worden and they 

 the Concord we could easily bridge the chasm. But if we change fruit, 

 won't they too? So we have to trust to Providence and take our chances. 

 The black rot, mildew, and other fungoid diseases of the grape, are 



