Breeding Grapes. 129 



BREEDING GRAPES. 



By Prof. S. A. Beach, Ames, Iowa. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: When I was a young man. 

 I followed Horace Greeley's advice and came West. I found a very 

 congenial home in the prairie state of Iowa, and one of the most en- 

 joyable periods of my life was when I was in college and a sub-fresh- 

 man in the classes of Dr. Bessey. I feel yet the inspiration to work 

 which he gave us in his class room. 



About breeding grapes: In about the year 1848, a man whose 

 health was failing, felt that it would be good for him to get some out- 

 door work for at least part of the time, and consequently he took up 

 the future of growing grapes. It was in the northwestern part of 

 Massachusetts, and no grapes would ripen up well in that climate. 

 They had the old varieties, Isabella, Cacawba, etc., but these would 

 not ripen well in this atmosphere except occasionally. This man kept 

 on experimenting with seeds and grape seedlings, planting them along- 

 side the fences. 'He wanted to get a good grape which would ripen 

 early. A few years later he got a good variety of grapes and sold them 

 for $5 a vine. He named this grape after the town in which he lived 

 — Concord. That was the origin of the Concord grape. 



At that time we did not have the California grapes. There was a 

 good deal fo money made in growing grapes. Grapes like the Isabella 

 would sell for 18 cents a pound. There was a lively interest in grape 

 growing and breeding. About the time that Mr. Bull was originating 

 the Concord, interest was aroused also by the introduction of a hybrid 

 known as Allen's Hybrid. There was a great deal of interest manifested 

 along many horticultural lines in that part of the country just then. 

 Marshall P. Wilder was very busy advancing the interests of horticult- 

 ure at that time. In the vicinity of Boston some of the finest pears in 

 the country were grown. There was really a great interest in these 

 horticultural matters. This interest in the planting and growing of 

 grapes was well sustained until the '70s. 



Today in the state of New York there are probably sixty thousand 

 acres planted to grapes. Outside of California, New York is the leading 

 state of the Union in the production of grapes. The most important 

 district for grape vineyards is along the south shore of Lake Erie. 

 Perhaps you would be surprised to know that in some twenty-five 

 thousand acres of grapes in this region 90 per cent are Concord. Thea 

 there are Worden, Moore's Early, Niagara, and some other of the Con- 



