130 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



cord seedlings. There are also a few Delaware and a few other 

 varieties, but the main bulk are Concord or have Concord blood. And 

 all this in fifty years from the time Mr. Bull produced the Concord 

 grape. Today the Concord is the leading table grape of the world. A 

 very large per cent of grapes are grown for table use, but the Concord 

 is the recognized leader. 



Now, the question is: Does the Concord fill the bill to our entire 

 satisfaction? I think not. The Concord is a very good grape, but 

 there are other varieties of grapes that are better than the Concord in 

 one way or another. There are grapes which are better than the 

 Concord in size, some are better in quality, some perhaps are better in 

 productiveness. The Concord will yield from three to five tons per acre 

 And when you look at it from a commercial or money point of view, it 

 makes lots of difference to a man whether he gets two or three tons 

 to the acre. So from the commercial side the Concord is certainly our 

 leading grape. 



Throughout all these years there has been a great deal of work 

 going on in the growing and breeding of grapes. Some of this work is 

 very interesting. Between this work and the mere taking up of chance 

 seedlings there are all gradations. Many of the resulting grapes are 

 of unknown parentage. Some men have experimented with the cros^- 

 fertilization of the blossoms, and followed the seedlings up just to see 

 what they would get. Others breed grapes by making careful crosses 

 and knowing exactly what the parentage is. Now if we are going to 

 make any real progress at all in the matter of breeding and growing 

 grapes, it seems to me, that these methods of gambling with grapes 

 of unsound or unknown parentage have been practiced long enough. 

 It is time for us to work something different. If we are to make any 

 real progress, we must know just what there is in the grape we are 

 using as a parent. Most of our material is composed either of hybrili 

 or crosses. Only in a few cases do we know exactly what the parent 

 grapes are. In very few cases indeed do we know what the grand- 

 parents are. I believe the time has come when we should adopt a sys- 

 tematic and scientific way of getting at this and knowing what we hav3 

 as parents. Learn something about the hardiness of these vines; 

 learn something about the particular habits, tendencies and character- 

 istics of these vines. We can thus get very valuable and reliable 

 information. Those who are breeding grapes for the money alone 

 cannot afford to take the time to do this. Those who have followed 

 the grape business and nothing else have not made much money out of 

 it. There is not much inducement for men to take up the business of 

 breeding grapes for commercial purposes, but it should receive attention 

 from some one. 



