THIRTY-THIRD BlENNIAI, SESSION 
295 
upon the life of his community. Much of the work of the society in its 
early days was moulded and influenced in character, tone and results by 
the stimulating forces of a group of Massachusetts’ minds among which 
that of this departed member was not the least. It is with a sense df 
deep regret, and a feeling of irreparable loss that we record on these 
pages our tribute to the lives and labors of these men, who in the past 
have been such pillars of strength in the promotion and the service of the 
society. 
Thomas Volney Munson. 
At 8 o’clock the 21st day of January, 1913, there passed away the noble 
spirit of one of the foremost of our American pomologists, Thomas Volney 
Munson. In his seventieth year, and at his home in the suburbs of Den- 
ison, Texas, he closed a life that was filled with good deeds, especially for 
the pomological world. It is fitting that the American Pomological So- 
ciety should permanently record some notes concerning them. Mr. Mun- 
son was of New England parentage, but was born at Astoria, Illinois, Sep- 
tember 26th, 1843. There he grew to young manhood, getting his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of that place. He graduated from the University 
of Kentucky in 1870, and was at once chosen as an instructor in natural 
science in that institution, which position he occupied for only one year 
because of signs of failing health and his desire for a life of practical 
horticulture. He married Miss Ellen Scott Bell, of Lexington, Kentucky, 
In 1870, and moved to the vicinity of Lincoln, Nebraska, soon after. But 
the desire for a home in a milder climate, and an opportunity to engage 
in fruit growing and the nursery business led him to locate near Denison, 
Texas, in 1876. A love for pomological experimentation dominated his 
whole life and among the first of his efforts at his new home in Texas was 
the planting of numerous varieties of many kinds of fruits. The grape 
was his special favorite, and he at once began the planting of seeds se- 
cured from many sources for the production of new varieties. Recogniz- 
ing the great need for varieties that would endure the peculiar climatic 
conditions of the Southern States, he searched that whole region for species 
of wild grapes to use in hybridizing. From these extensive collections, 
and others obtained by correspondence with the viticulturists of all parts 
of the world, there were produced thousands of seedlings. From these 
seedlings other seeds were planted, one generation after another, until it 
was possible to select a very few that combined the most desirable points. 
To accompany Mr. Munson through his vineyards, and in his explorations 
examining the new and old varieties and comparing the growth of vine 
and leaf; there productiveness, or the lack of it; to gather and label the 
ripe clusters and finally to test their qualities of size, shape, color, flavor, 
and all their many good and bad points, under the shade of the trees near 
bis house was a treat that any pomologist would surely enjoy and remember 
to the end of his days. These rare treats are bright spots in my memory. 
From our own American problems in grape culture to those of other 
countries was an easy step for this man of wide and penetrating thought. 
