GRAPE GROWING AND ITS POSSIBILITIES ON A GEN- 

 ERAL FRUIT FARM. 



Mr. Lloyd S. Tknny. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



1 come with a little hesitancy to talk to you on the culture of the 

 grape. It is not one of our large crops. However, as I understand 

 the conditions in this county, you are not contemplating going into 

 the grape industry on a large commercial scale. It is a question of 

 the possibilities of the small vineyard for home use. It is along that 

 line that I am going to give you a sort of a rambling talk this after- 

 noon. 



First, as to soil : you will need a well drained soil. After that 

 you have said about all that is necessary. Some of the very best 

 vineyards are on soil we would call comparatively heavy. Our vine- 

 yards at home are on a soil of this quality. I have never been able 

 to see that the quality which we have been able to produce is infer- 

 ior on account of the type of soil we have. So I say if you have a 

 soil on which the peach or many varieties of apples will do well, 

 you have a soil which will answer well for grape growing. 



Varieties. — There is no fruit that offers greater possibilities 

 for one who loves varieties than grapes. It is a fruit that takes 

 but little room, the number and wealth of varieties is immense, and 

 if you desire to encourage the love of classification of fruits in 

 yourself and children, there is absolutely no fruit that will surpass 

 the grape. We have difference in color an difference in the type 

 of growth. There are shades and delicacies of flavor, hard to surpass, 

 in the grape. Commercially I would advise just about two varieties 

 of grapes for our locality. I would say 75% of the vines should be 

 Concord and the other 25% should be Niagara. I appreciate the 

 fact that some would change that around, and some would put 50% 

 of each and some would add other varieties. I am talking from my 

 own personal knowledge. These two are more easily grown than 

 most of the other varieties and the net returns are decidedly the 

 best. The Concord will bring more money. However, the Niagara 

 crowds it closely, and on some soils you can get larger clusters 

 and a better type of fruit. The Niagara is the leading white grape 

 and the Concord the black one. 



Here are some other varieties — The Delaware does splendidly 

 in some localities and the Catawba does well in places. It is a late 

 grape and if you have difficulty in ripening the Salway peach you 

 might have difficulty in ripening the Catawba grape. Rogers va- 

 rieties are subject to diseases and are difficult to grow, and I would 

 advise amateurs at least to keep away from most of the Rogers 



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