274 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The subject for discussion was " Fruit-Culture and Market- 

 Gardening," and was opened by a lecture on 



GRAPE-CULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS, 

 By Dr. Jabez Fisher, of Fitchburg. 



At the request of your committee of arrangements, I have 

 consented to open the meeting tliis afternoon with some re- 

 marks upon grape-culture. I do not propose to go over the 

 whole ground, because it would take too much time, but only 

 to touch upon the salient points ; and more especially upon 

 some points in which I may present something new, or some- 

 thing different from the opinions entertained by other culti- 

 vators. At the same time, I give you permission to ask any 

 question, at any time ; it will not disturb me ; only be sure 

 to put your questions in such a way that they will be pat to 

 the point under consideration, or else bottle them up until I 

 get through, and then put them all at once. . 



A very important consideration, and one which seems to 

 be lost sight of by most cultivators, is this : that we in Mas- 

 sachusetts are situated away up at the northern limit of suc- 

 cessful grape-culture. We are almost too far north to suc- 

 ceed, and in many parts of the State it is impossible to suc- 

 ceed. There are a very few favored spots, a little north of 

 Massachusetts, in which fair success may be had ; but the 

 most northerly isothermal line of success in grape-culture 

 runs just about through the spot where we stand, in Fitch- 

 burg. In the Connecticut Valley, it runs up to a higher lati- 

 tude ; in the Gfeen Mountain range it comes down below this 

 latitude. We have this to contend against as our first enemy, 

 and we must use all the means in our power to overcome this 

 difficulty, which results from the fact of our being at the ex- 

 treme northern limit of successful grape-culture. You may 

 say, " Why not go South, where we should not have this dif- 

 ficulty to contend with?'' Well, we were born iti Massachu- 

 setts, and we propose to stay here. That is the first reason. 

 Secondly, if I were to select a place for the successful culti- 

 vation of the grape, I should choose a location right here, 

 not because I can get better success here in the way of culti- 

 vation, but because it requires more intelligence, more brains 



