THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 221 



tinuous tendrils, the diaphragm, all belong to Vitis labnisca. There are 

 those, however, who maintain that it is possibly a Labrusca-Vinifera hybrid, 

 basing their claim upon the upright stamens, the characters of some of the 

 seedlings, and the opinion expressed by Bull that a Catawba vine growing 

 near by had fertilized the seed from which Concord was raised. 



Concord is a virile variety, having begotten a great number of valu- 

 able oflfspring, both as pure-breeds and as cross-breeds. To these it has 

 seemingly transmitted its characters to a high degree. The reader who 

 takes the pains to look them up will find that many of these, even of the 

 pure-breeds, are white and that they are usually of higher quality than 

 the parent, indicating a white ancestor of Concord in which high quality 

 was possibly correlated with the light color. 



The seed of a wild grape was planted in the fall of 1843 by E. W. Bull' 

 of Concord, Massachusetts, from which fruit was borne in 1849. The wild 

 grape from which the seed came had been transplanted from beside a field 

 fence to the garden in which there was at least another grape, the Catawba, 

 and the wild vine was open to cross-pollination. One of these seedlings was 

 named Concord and the variety was exhibited before the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society in the fall of 1852. The new grape was introduced 

 in the spring of 1854 by Hovey & Co., of Boston. From the time of its 

 introduction the growth of this variety in popularity was phenomenal. 

 In 1854. the year of its introduction, it was placed on the grape list of the 

 American Pomological Society fruit catalog as one of the "new varieties 

 which promise well." In 1858 it was placed on the regular list of recom- 

 mended sorts where it has since been retained. Husmann states, in the 

 winter of 1855. that he secured buds at Hermann. Missouri, from Soulard 



'Ephraim W. Bull was bom in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1805 and died in 1895. He will long 

 be remembered by grape-growers as the originator and introducer of the Concord grape, the history 

 of which is given in the above account of that variety. Bull grew many other seedlings, none of 

 which attained a reputation among growers unless it be Cottage. Ephraim Bull's ninety years were 

 spent in the quiet of his Concord home and he would have remained unknown by others than his 

 neighbors, who honored and loved him, had it not been for his fortunate discovery of the Concord 

 grape, which must always give him a place in the history of American grape culture. The grape 

 which has added immensely to the wealth of a nation, brought its originator scarcely a year's com- 

 petence. As a partial recompense for his great service to horticulture and to the nation, the memory 

 of Ephraim W. Bull should Uve long. 



