104 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
ORIGIN OF THE CONCORD GRAPE. 
Towards the close of the first, half of the century interest in the improve- 
ment of American grapes became especially active in New England. Work 
in this direction was undertaken by various persons and encouraging results 
soon followed. The most notable success was obtained by E. W. Bull of 
Concord, Mass. Finding that even Isabella did not always ripen early 
enough in his garden to perfect its fruit, he endeavored to raise an earlier 
variety. A chance seedling of the Labrusca species which came up on his 
place he transplanted to a trellis by the side of a Catawba vine. It proved to 
be a very early variety, ripening in August; but the fruit did not hang well to 
the clusters, and for other reasons the vine was not worthy of cultivation. 
Nevertheless because it was sweet, good in quality and had the very desirable 
characteristic of earliness in ripening, Mr. Bull decided to grow seedlings from 
it. The best one of the seedlings which he thus obtained is today the most 
widely cultivated of American grapes. It is a significant fact that this, the 
Concord, was produced by one of the very earliest efforts to improve the 
native grape by breeding from purely American vines. It will be remembered 
that Isabella and Catawba are chance seedlings. At one time Mr. Bull was 
growing over two thousand seedlings, but all things considered none of his 
seedlings has proved equal to the Concord, although some of them are still 
cultivated. 
INFLUENCE OF CONCORD AND DELAWARE ON AMERICAN VITICULTURE. 
About the time that the Concord made its appearance the Delaware was 
brought to notice. The introduction of these two hardy and early ripening 
grapes, whose merits and defects are too well known to need discussion here, 
gave a wonderful stimulus to the interest in viticulture. It really inaugurat- 
ed a new era. in American grape growing. Vineyard planting rapidly ex- 
tended, especially in localities naturally suited to the vine which also had 
good facilities for transporting the fruit to market, for it was found to be 
much more profitable to grow grapes for table use than for wine. 
As an illustration of the prices at which the new varieties were then intro- 
duced it may be said that Concord vines at first sold at $5 each. A nursery 
firm in Geneva, N. Y., lost 10,000 rooted one-eye cuttings of the then new 
Israella and Iona by the burning of some propagating houses. Since these 
vines would have met ready sale at $1 each, by their destruction the firm lost 
$10,000. In one instance a little box of grape vines which a man could carry, 
was forwarded C. O. D., and the express company collected for it and re- 
turned the sum of $1,425. Under such circumstances it is not strange that 
new varieties were being constantly introduced. For thirty years at least 
interest in the improvement of the American grape was well sustained, as 
the records of this and other similar societies plainly show. 
THE INTRODUCTION OF VINIFERA HYBRIDS. 
The hybridizing of American vines with vinifera sorts received much at- 
tention. It was hoped by this means to combine the hardiness of the one 
with the desirable fruit of the other. Allen and Rogers were among the first 
to obtain good results. The first authentic hybrid between the two species 
mentioned was Allen’s hybrid between Golden Chasselas and Isabella, which 
