17 



Mr. Bucke. — Yes. It is never injured by the thrip, and it bears very early, but it is 

 so thick in the bunch that it bursts, and you must thin it or you do not get a crop. 



Mr. Woodward being called on to address the meeting, said : — I do not know of 

 any grape in the whole list that is not desirable for the amateur to cultivate. He will 

 have all the pleasure of cultivating it whether he gets any fruit or not. But with the 

 farmer it is a different thing. He wants certainty. He has not time to grow grapes for 

 the sake of growing the vine. He wants grapes for his children, and he wants them in 

 plenty. And there are only a few grapes that the farmer caia grow to a certainty. If 

 the thrip attack a grape badly it is worse for the farmer than for the amateur. If the 

 Philloxera attack it that makes it worthless for the fai-mer also. The farmer wants a 

 pure native American grape, with us, and I believe it is the same thing in Canada. 

 Foreign blood is not for him. He wants something that is hardy, that is early, of which 

 the quality is fairly good. I would not like to have my children learn to eat Champion 

 grapes. I don't want them to eat anything that the hogs or the birds will not eat, and 

 they certainly will not eat Champion grapes. Other grapes that mildew are good for 

 nothing. The Hartford Prolific is not appreciated among the people for the i-eason that 

 it drops badly, but if you take the Hartford Prolific, thin it out^ and only let a moderate 

 crop of fruit grow on it, it is not a bad grape — it is a hundred times better that the Cham- 

 pion. Farmers will not grow .Delaware grapes. That variety of grapes must have a 

 peculiar cultivation, and a peculiar position. It must be looked after carefully. But a 

 farmer can plant the Concord, and, if he gives it a little care, he will grow Concord grapes 

 for certain. There are some newer varieties that I think will be as early and as productive as 

 the Concord, among them is the Worden. The Moore's Early, while it is earlier than the 

 Worden, is not a grape that I would recommend. It cracks so badly, and it drops so badly. 

 If it is not properly pruned it drops as badly as the Hartford. In quality it is not good 

 enough. It is not as good as the Concord, nor beginning to be. The Rogers' hybrids we can- 

 not grow for family use. They must have more care than the ordinary farmer will give them. 

 So with the Burnet. "We tried them over there with us, and they mildew very badly. 

 I know of very few new grapes that it would pay anybody to plant them for family use or 

 for farmers' use. 



Mr. Willard was also asked to speak, and said : — The wind has been pretty much 

 taken out of my sails by those who have spoken. I have to speak from my own stand- 

 point, and what I may say should be taken with a great deal of latitude, there being such 

 a difference of soil and climate, even in localities so near together as that in which I live 

 and Canada. There were certain general principles advanced by my friend, Mr. Wood- 

 ward, that carry a great deal of weight with them. I think with him in meetings of 

 this kind we ought to recommend something that will please, something that is adapted to 

 the masses. The people generally do not discriminate with that nicety that your Presi- 

 dent or Secretary, or Mr. Woodward would. My own idea is that you have got to go to 

 the Concord parentage or that type for those varieties of grapes that are adapted to the 

 masses. I have studied that subject so much that I may have got into a rut, but if I 

 .have I cannot get out of it very well. I cannot get rid of the idea that we must stick 

 to a certain type of grape to give the people the kind they want. In my opinion we 

 want a good dark grape, the best ; we want a good amber coloured grape, the best ; and 

 we want a good white grape, the best ; as the best adapted to the masses. I have found in 

 my experience that all our hybrid grapes that have been crossed with foreign blood suc- 

 -ceed in some localities admirably, and t rn miles away are a failure. I fear that, with 

 regard to some of our newer varieties of white grapes ; I fear, that with regard to the 

 Prentiss for instance. I hav3 no doubt whatever but what the grape, of which my friend 

 Mr. Woodward is the advocate, will succeed well anywhere, because it has the right 

 parentage. And I believe that true in regard to the Pocklington. I believe it is a good 

 grape ; and I believe it will succeed well, because it has the right parentage at the bottom 

 •of it. I believe that for an early grape, we have, perhaps, nothing better than the Wor- 

 den Seedling. I believe I planted it among the first vines sent out by Mr. Worden, and 

 it has succeeded well with me. I desire to mention a new amber-coloured grape which I 

 •believe is going to make its mark — that is, the Vergennes. I have no interest in it, but 

 .it ripens early, and also keeps till very late. It originated up in Vermont. It ripens 



2 (F. G.I 



