D THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



cidental seedling at the foot of the hill. The crop was abundant, ripe in August, 

 and of a very good quality for a wild grape. I sowed the seed in the autumn of 

 1843. Among them the Concord was the only one worth saving. EPHRAIM 

 WALES BULL." 



This is the simple story of the origin of the greatest grape ever produced. 



Mr. Bull was born March 4, 1806, and died September 26, 1895. Mrs. Lothrop 

 then bought the grounds of her father's old friend, and is keeping the quaint old 

 cottage and its surroundings in perfect repair, just as Mr. Bull left them, except 

 for a little addition to the back for accommodation of the renter. On the man- 

 telpiece in the sitting-room she has had daintily painted this "confession" of Mr. 

 Bull: 



"I confess I did not expect to arrive at so great a success so soon, but when I 

 had the good fortune to find the Concord among the first crop of seedlings, the 

 thought dawned upon me that in the perhaps far-off future higher success awaited 

 the cultivator who had the patience to wait, I had almost said also the courage 

 to venture, for I was sensible that any attempt to improve the wild grape would 

 be considered an imputation upon the judgment and sagacity of the Creator. 

 Fully aware of this, I kept my own counsel, and if I had not succeeded nobody 

 would have known that I had ventured." 



And above the old fireplace in the dining-room is painted : 



"Final summing up of thirty-seven years' work, from over 22,000 seedlings, 

 twenty -one grapes which in the light of to-day I consider valuable. I had at one 

 time 125 vines which I thought worth saving, but, grown more critical with every 

 new success, I have discarded most of them." 



What a world of patience and love of his work this discloses ; I was told by 

 one of Mr. Bull's old neighbors that the original wild grape which was found 

 ripening in August Mr. Bull found on the banks of Concord river, just a little 

 above the old bridge where the battle of Concord was fought, and where now 

 stands that marvelously beautiful statue, "The Minute Man," on the base of 

 which is carved : 



"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 



Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 

 Here once the embattled farmers stood, 

 And fired the shot heard round the world." 



Just across the meadow on the little hill stands "The Old Manse," sacred to 

 all lovers of good literature. 



Knowing the classic surroundings of the birth of the Concord grape, perhaps 

 some of our readers will enjoy a little more the refreshing fruit from their own 

 vine descended from this parent vine, which old Ephraim Wales Bull gave to the 

 world fifty-eight years ago. 



EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN GRAPE. 



"Evolution of Native Fruits," by Bailey. 



The first American grape introduced was the Cape or Alexander, found wild 

 in the woods of Pennsylvania. The Catawba was found in the woods in South 

 Carolina, and introduced by John Adlum, of the District of Columbia, in 1802. 

 The Concord was found by E. W. Bull, in his garden in Concord, Mass. Wor- 

 den is a seedling of the Concord. Delaware was found in the garden of a French- 

 man in New Jersey. Brighton was produced by crossing the Concord and Diana 

 Hamburg (a hybrid) by Jacob Moore, then of Brighton, N. Y. Diana came 

 from a Catawba seed, at Milton, Mass.; Moore's Early came from a Concord 

 seed; Clinton came up at Clinton, N. Y.; Norton's Virginia, a Virginia wildling 



