236 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE 



THE KALAMAZOO GRAPE. 



"Kalamazoo, Oct. 28, 1871. 



"A request has been made that I answer inquiries which 

 have been made in reference to a grape exhibited this present 

 fall at the exhibition of the Pomological Society at Grand 

 Eapids, and also at the State Fair, hpld at Kalamazoo. 



" This grape, named here by Mr. Davis the ' Kalamazoo,' I 

 brought to this village come ten years since, from the city of 

 Stenbenville, in the county of Jefferson, and State of Ohio. 

 There I found it in possession of Mr. Dixon, an Englishman, 

 who informed me that he had grown the parent vine from 

 seed that he knew had been taken from the Catawba. This 

 vine I saw growing on a brick wall in the rear of his dwelling- 

 house, and bearing at the time a large crop of well-matured 

 fruit ; this was in the early part of the month of September. 

 "Within a few years of this time, as I was advised, the dwelling- 

 house on which this vine was growing was destroyed by fire, 

 and with it the vine. This grape is a strong and rapid grower, 

 generally maturing its wood well ; the fruit is larger than the 

 Catawba, and grows in bunches larger than those of that vari- 

 ety, and more marked in the peculiar richness of its deep blue 

 bloom. I am informed by persons here who have experimented 

 with the 'Kalamazoo,' that it is readily reproduced from cut- 

 tings, in soil with a proper mixture of clay. From my own 

 observation, I should deem its season for ripening some ten 

 days later than the Delaware. We had the 'Kalamazoo,' 

 this year, grown here, and thoroughly ripe on the 15th of 

 September. "When I saw them at this date, the vines were 

 growing on the grounds of Mr. Erasmus Davis, on soil nicely 

 adapted to tlie cultivation of the grape, and the management 

 skillful, and the grounds having the advantage of an abrupt 

 slope to the east. Considering the prompt and vigorous 

 growth of this vine, its hardiness, the faciUty of reproducing 

 it in the open air from cuttings, its bearing qualities, and the 



