CHAPTER XI. 



THE GRAPE. 



Origin. There are about twenty species of wild grapes in 

 America and but few of them have been fully tested under 

 cultivation. No part of habitable North America is found with- 

 out some native species and in many sections these are im- 

 portant fruits, in their wild state. The grapes commonly cul- 

 tivated in this country east of the Rocky Mountains are of 

 native origin but in the Pacific Coast states the best European 

 grapes are grown in great perfection. They are also grown 

 under glass. The species commonly grown in vineyards in this 

 country are as follows: 



(1) Northern Fox Grape (Vitis labrusca), the species from 

 which almost all of our popular varieties have sprung. Ex- 

 amples of these are Concord, Worden, Moore's Early and Lady. 

 As found in its native state, it has a large purple fruit, thick 

 skin, and very pulpy meat surrounding the large seeds. The 

 flowers are either perfect or staminate; the leaves are large, 

 with whitish down on the underside. It is found occasionally 

 in the southeastern part of Minnesota, and very abundantly in 

 states farther east and south and in parts of Canada. The Con- 

 cord grape resulted from the selection of seed from a wild vine 

 which had been cultivated for two generations by Ephraim Bull 

 of Concord, Massachusetts. Seedling Labrusca grapes are fre- 

 quently white or greenish in color. The cultivated grapes of 

 this class have perfect flowers with well developed stamens. 

 They also cross readily with the European wine grape, the River 

 Bank and several other native grapes. 



(2) River Bank or Frost grape (Vitis riparia), the com- 

 mon wild grape found far north in Canada and in the northern 

 United States, is as yet scarcely cultivated, but it is probable 

 that some of its hybrids will prove valuable for cold locations. 

 This grape has thin, smooth foliage, green on both sides; short 

 jointed wood and perfect or staminate flowers. The vines bear- 

 ing the staminate flowers generally make an extremely rapid 



