104 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



THE GRAPE. 



A paper read by SAMTJEL MILLER before the Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



The grape was grown before the deluge. Whether Noah took rooted vines or 

 cuttings with him when he entered the ark does not matter; but the first thing 

 he planted when he came out of it was a vineyard. This certainly gives the 

 grape a prominent character among the productions of the earth. That it is one 

 of the best and most wholesome fruits is also admitted. When Noah's vines bore 

 fruit, he made wine and got drunk; this is only what countless thousands have 

 done since then and will most likely continue to do to the end of time. 



From that vineyard of sacred history to the present time the grape has held a 

 prominent place among the best fruits of the world. Its range of latitude is 

 almost as great as that of any other fruit except the strawberry. It grows in 

 swamps and on high mountains, in a great variety of soils ; yielding many varie- 

 ties, from the little, insignificant summer grapes of our Missouri islands and bot- 

 toms to the magnificent Muscats, Hamburgs, Moroccos, and Syrians. The latter 

 has grown bunches that weighed twenty-eight pounds. A traveler once stated 

 that he came across grapes in Afghanistan with bunches half a yard in length, 

 and with berries as large as small walnuts. 



In the early part of this century the grape received, in this country, but little 

 attention, and the attempts to grow the viniferas were failures. The fox grape 

 (labrusca), in the East, and the chicken or fort grape were about the only ones 

 that survived, and even these, to my personal knowledge, failed some years from 

 rot and mildew. Some years the first named all rotted, and the latter I have 

 seen when the bunches looked as if they had been made wet and then rolled in 

 flour, they were so white with mildew. 



Now where are we ? Here in the West we can grow good grapes, and we have 

 boasted about it in times past, notwithstanding there are car-loads imported into 

 our state yearly from Ohio and New York. This should not be so, as we can grow 

 our own grapes. Of course the early ones are soon gone; but we have late ones, 

 such as Goethe, Woodruff Red, Norton, Cynthiana, Kentucky, Ozark, and Her- 

 mann, that can be kept late if properly cared for. 



There is no occasion for me to dwell on the subject of cultivation in this paper, 

 for every journal gives instructions in this line ; or on propagation of vines, as this 

 topic is also freely discussed. That some varieties grow readily from cuttings, 

 while others cannot be grown successfully in that way, each one will learn by ex- 

 perience. Varieties differ in their habits and no definite rule can be laid down 

 for all varieties. 



Of the newer varieties introduced within the last few years, I will mention 

 Campbell's Early, of Concord parentage; bunch and berry large, black; quality 

 superior to Concord and ten days earlier. This should be in every collection and 

 can now be bought for fifty cents a strong vine. I paid $2.50 when getting my 

 first vine. Then we have the McPike, a most noble grape, a seedling of the Wor- 

 den ; just like it, but much more so larger and better. Hicks, a grape brought 

 out by Henry Wallis, of western St. Louis county, Missouri. This grape is des- 

 tined to make its mark. The bunch and berry are above the medium, black; 

 quality as a table grape the best. . . . The Kentucky is another of recent in- 

 troduction, of the Norton type, but larger in bunch and berry; a pleasant table 

 grape. . . . Just here let me say that the Norton and Cynthiana are consid- 

 ered by most folks as only wine grapes, but I deem them excellent for eating, and 

 prefer the latter, when it is ripe, to the Concord. 



Among the older varieties, I would name the following for a small collection 



