SECRETARY'S REPORT. 77 



aspects, than upon the soil where it originated, when all the 

 conditions of soil, climate and culture were the same always. 



Beginning with the wild grape — the best I could find — the 

 earliest, having also those qualities which I have endeavored to 

 describe to you ; I got, from tlic seedlings of that grape, first 

 the mother of the Concord ; second, out of that seedling, the 

 Concord ; out of the seeds of tlie Concord, many new grapes, 

 nearly a score of which are great improvements over the Con- 

 cord ; so that the pulp, which is one of the distinguishing char- 

 acteristics of our native grape, is lost, and you have a grape of 

 tender and delicate texture throughout, like the hot-house grape ; 

 so that tlie wild flavor so objectionable to us is lost, and there 

 is now no sign of wildness about it. Indeed, I venture to say, 

 that if I were to show you several of these new grapes at this 

 time, and tell you they were seedlings of hot-house grapes, you 

 would assent to it. So far as the texture, appearance, and even 

 the flavor are concerned, you would say, " These are better 

 than any of our native grapes," and that the foreign grape must 

 always be the best. I could deceive you, I think, into that con- 

 clusion, so great is the improvement. From these, again, I 

 have seedlings now two years grown. In five years they 

 will come to fruit, and I shall have a new point of departure. 

 I know it requires patience, and some enthusiasm, on the part 

 of a man to grow seedling grapes and wait six years for the first 

 fruit ; and when he has got his first fruit, perhaps it is not so 

 good as he expects ; but if it is pretty good, if it is an improve- 

 ment, if for any reason it is worth saving at all, let him count 

 confidently on its improving for several years, from year to year, 

 for that is the uniform result. The fruit of the first year is not 

 so good as that of the next, other things being equal, and it 

 grows better and better for several years. I plucked this year, on 

 the twentieth day of August, one white seedling grape, and one 

 black seedling from seedling vines planted ten years ago. And 

 that brings me to the consideration of a point I ought to have 

 mentioned before, relating to climate. The grape wants heat 

 at the time of ripening the fruit. Now, if it be late, ripening 

 when the early frosts have come, and our nights have grown 

 cool, and our days foggy and cold, it cannot be so good. It 

 will not ripen so much in two weeks of such weather as it 

 would in four days of absolutely hot, clear weather, such as we 



