THIRTY-THIRD BlENNIAI, SESSION 
>27 
We will now proceed with our program as outlined. The title for the 
next paper is “The Past and Present Status of the Grape Industry in the 
United States,” by George C. Husmann, Viticulturist of the Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. G. In introducing Mr. Husmann, permit me to 
say: “The father of Mr. Husmann was one of my very intimate friends, 
who, I am glad to say, always fostered and did a great deal for the develop- 
ment of the grape industry, especially in the Central West. George 
Husmann’s name is a name honored in pomology throughout the land, but 
especially through the Central States and particularly in Missouri. He was 
one of my very dear friends until the time of his death. I am glad that we 
have with us to-day his son, Mr. George C. Husmann, who will talk to us 
about grape growing.” 
PAST AND PRESENT STATUS OF THE VITICULTURAL INDUSTRY OF 
THE UNITED STATES. 
G. C. Husmann, Washington, D. C. 
In America, the native grape vine species have, through centuries, so 
adjusted themselves that some of them thrive in nearly all the different 
soil, climatic, and other conditions found in it. In fact, when America was 
discovered, the wild vines were so prominent a feature of the vegetation 
that it was frequently called Vineland. 
No class of plants adjusts itself, grows and thrives under conditions so 
varied, and responds to care and attention more generously than grape vines. 
No other plant yields so many abundant annual crops, neither is there a 
plant that can be so cheaply and successfully grown, under so many condi- 
tions, as the grape. 
By properly selecting the varieties of the species suited for the 
different latitudes, soils, and other conditions and purposes, grapes can be 
grown in this country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Early Attempts at Grape Culture. 
The d ai *ly attempts at grape culture on our Eastern coast, having been 
confined almost exclusively to the introduction of vinifera varieties, were 
unsuccessful, largely due likely to the phylloxera, which was then present, 
though unknown. 
The fathers at the California missions were the first to successfully 
grow vinifera in the United States. They had only one variety, called 
Mission, which is grown to some extent at present. It was introduced into 
Mexico in 1520 and brought to the California missions as follows: San 
