THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GRAPES. 



From Bulletin No. 46, by Prof. J. C. WHITTEN, Horticulturist of Missouri Agricultural 



Experiment Station. 



Nearly all the cultivated grapes of the United States east of the Rocky moun- 

 tains ^originated from various native species found growing wild by the early 

 settlers of the country. Improvement of these wild grapes began by planting 

 the seeds of the best of them and by cultivating and selecting the best of these 

 seedlings. From the most promising of these cultivated vines seeds were again 

 taken and planted, and so on until some of our cultivated varieties are many 

 generations removed from the wild vine with which improvement started. As 

 these seedling generations began to be cultivated they became more variable 

 than the wild vines from which they descended, and improved forms appeared. 

 Whenever a vine exhibited any particular merit it was propagated by means of 

 cuttings, given a name, and became known as a cultivated variety. In some 

 cases wild vines have been found possessing sufficient merit to warrant their 

 being propagated and named as distinct varieties. Neosho and probably, also, 

 Cynthiana and many others have been propagated directly from vines found 

 growing wild in the woods. Improvement of our native grapes has progressed so 

 rapidly in recent years that we now have more than 1000 named varieties in cul- 

 tivation, though but few of these varieties are known to the average cultivator. 

 Since our grapes may be grouped or classified according to the species from 

 which they sprang, a brief description (from a horticultural rather than from a 

 botanical standpoint) of the species represented by the varieties mentioned in 

 this bulletin is here given. 



Our grapes are referred to the genus Vitis, comprising numerous species, 

 among which the following will be considered : 



THE NORTHERN Fox GRAPE. Vitis labrusca Linn. Native from New Eng- 

 land to South Carolina and from the Alleghany mountains eastward to the coast ; 

 not known in a wild state in the Mississippi valley ; is the parent species of more 

 than one-half of our cultivated grapes, including the Concord, Hartford, Ca- 

 tawba, and Niagara. Distinguished from all other species by its continuous 

 tendrils or inflorescence that is, having a tendril or flower cluster opposite 

 each leaf; while other species have intermittent tendrils that is, two leaves 

 each with a tendril opposite it, and then a third leaf with no such tendril. The 

 fruit clusters of the grape occupy positions corresponding to those of the tendrils, 

 hence, on account of this continuous arrangement, grapes of the labrusca 

 species often bear three or more clusters of fruit in succession on the same 

 branch, while other species bear only two clusters of fruit in succession, the 

 third leaf having no tendril or fruit cluster opposite it. The leaves of labrusca 

 are large, thick, and very cottony beneath, especially while young. It has, gen- 

 erally, very large berries and large bunches. Except when hybridized with some 

 other species, its fruit usually has a distinct musky flavor. 



This species, which has produced more cultivated varieties than all other 

 species combined, is generally regarded as occupying the most important position 

 in the make-up of our American grapes. Its numerous varieties furnish grapes 

 of every shade from white to red and black, of every quality from bad to good, and 

 of various seasons, from the earliest to the latest. A single one of its varieties, 

 Concord, is more largely planted and marketed than all other varieties, and when 

 we include Moore's Early, Worden, Wyoming Red, and other popular sorts, it 

 will be seen that the bulk of American grapes grown and marketed east of the 

 Rocky mountains belong to this species. While various cultivated varieties of 



