THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



2oa 



years of existence has been so exten- 

 sively cultivated and generally approved 

 of in New England and many other 

 States. When we reflect on the bless- 

 ings which this grape has conferred on 

 our country, supplying by its abund- 

 ance the poor as well as rich, how it 

 has cooled the fevered lip and parched 

 tongue, and added to the comforts and 

 luxuries of our tables, we surely should 

 remember with gratitude the hand that 

 gave it to us. I therefore rejoice that 

 Mr. Hovey in his wisdom has brought 

 us together to recognize this fact, that 

 we may thus publicly testify to its pro- 

 ducer our sense of gratitude for this 

 benefaction to our countiy. 



" And now, my dear old friend, per- 

 mit me in my own behalf and in behalf 

 of these other friends, to assure you of 

 the deep interest we feel in your future 

 welfare. May the remainder of your 

 days be crowned with health and hap- 

 piness, and when you shall have done 

 pruning and training of the gi'ape on i 

 earth, may you and we meet again in 

 the Vineyard of the Lord, and gather 

 fruit from that Vine of which if a man 

 partake he shall never die. 



•' ' Where life fills the wine cup and love makes it clear, 

 Where Gilead's balm in its freshness shall flow 

 O'er the wounds which the pruning knife gave us 

 below.' " 



Mr. C, M. Hovey reviewed the his- 

 tory of grape culture in this country, 

 showing that up to the time of the in- 

 troduction of the Concord grape, there 

 was no variety in cultivation that could 

 be relied upon to ripen its finiit in our 

 iioi-thern latitudes; and concluded his 

 remarks by presenting to Mr. Bull the 

 testimonial that had been provided. 



To this Mr. Bull responded in fitting 

 terms, and gave the following account 

 of the origin of the Concord grape : — 



"You ask me how I got the Con- 

 cord 1 



" At the foot of a wooded hill with 

 a south aspect, a wooded soil and shel- 



ter from all winds coming from the 

 north of east and of west, the hill coming 

 down to the road at Hawthorne's 

 " Wayside " on the west and to the 

 same road about 1500 feet east of the 

 "Wayside," forming an amphitheatre 

 of which the road formed the chord — 

 all the conditions favorable to the grape 

 being present, I expected to grow grapes 

 to perfection without difficulty, but this 

 hope was doomed to disappointment ; 

 the late and early frosts incident to the 

 valley of the Concord made it impossi- 

 ble to ripen any grape then in cultiva- 

 tion. 



" The thought occurred to me*that it 

 might be possible to improve the native 

 grape by reproduction from seed, and I 

 looked about for the best grape which 

 met the necessary conditions of hardi- 

 ness, vigorous growth, size of berry and 

 bunch, early ripening, and, with these . 

 conditions, as good flavor as the wild 

 grape afibrds. At the foot of the hill 

 before mentioned, a woodland path, 

 leading to the river, debouched into the 

 open space, and there I found an acci- 

 dental seedling, which in 1843 bore its 

 fii'st crop. It was very full of fruit, 

 handsome and sweet, and the whole 

 crop — dead ripe — had fallen to the 

 ground before August went out. Here 

 was my opportunity. I planted these 

 grapes at once and got many vines, 

 most of them hareh and wild, but one 

 of them bore a single bunch wliich I 

 found ripe on the 10th of September, 

 1849, six years from the sowing of the 

 seed. This was the Concord. When 

 I found that I had attained such a 

 gratifying success at a leap, so to speak, 

 I resolved to continue my efforts in the 

 hope of establishing the vineyard in 

 Massachusetts, which had been found 

 impossible up to that time. In this I 

 have succeeded, and in establishing a 

 strain of seedlings giving new grapes 

 to the country almost yearly. The 

 marvellous success of the Concord, its. 



