122 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
dustry, based upon the growing of native 
American “bunch grape” varieties, de¬ 
rived by breeding and selection from the 
native grape species of that region. In 
the Southeastern United States, the Mus¬ 
cadine grape industry has developed from 
the selection and breeding of good varie¬ 
ties from the native Muscadine grapes. 
We may gain in the study of Florida 
grape growing by noting briefly the his¬ 
tory of these three grape growing dis¬ 
tricts, the Pacific coast district, the Cen¬ 
tral and Northeastern district, and the 
Southeastern district. 
The European grape is the more highly 
developed type having been selected and 
bred since the earliest days of history. It 
was brought to this country apparently by 
all the pioneer expeditions. The Spanish 
Mission fathers carried it into Southern 
California from Mexico and because of 
the climatic and soil adaptability of that 
section the European grape succeeded on 
the Pacific coast, but it failed utterly when 
the Pilgrim fathers and other emigrants 
to the Northwestern States endeavored to 
establish it in their section, where the cli¬ 
mate was not congenial. In the grapes of 
New York by Hedrick you may find the 
record of these sad failures and the grad¬ 
ual turning to the native bunch grapes of 
the region with the resulting development 
of such varieties as the Concord, Niagara 
and Catawba from the wild “Fox grapes” 
which are the basis of Northeastern grape 
industry. 
In the Southeast the early emigrants, as 
in the Northeast, brought the European 
grapes to America, and after failing with 
them they naturally sought to grow the 
native grapes developed further North, 
but these Fox grape varieties, the Con¬ 
cord, Niagara, etc., though quite success¬ 
ful in the North, were as foreign to condi¬ 
tions found in the Southeast, almost, as 
the European grape; and they have not 
succeeded (except in the higher elevations 
such as Western North Carolina, where 
climatic conditions are much as they are 
further North.) Then the Southern hor¬ 
ticulturist began selecting and growing 
the native Muscadine grapes. This has 
proven profitable as the growing of the 
native grapes proved profitable in the 
North. 
Now let us note the grape history of 
Florida. Today all three types of grapes 
are represented, and judging by my cor¬ 
respondence and the statements I note in 
the horticultural and daily news press of 
the State, there is some confusion and 
misunderstanding among the general pub¬ 
lic. 
When the early Spanish settlers came 
to Florida they brought with them the 
European grapes and planted these along 
the eastern coast of the State and on the 
Florida Keys. Only one representative of 
this planting has survived the climatic and 
soil conditions and even this one, known 
as the Key Grape, is considered somewhat 
a curiosity. It has been maintained in the 
plant gardens of horticultural enthusiasts, 
but it cannot be considered as ever having 
thrived in Florida. Later as emigrants 
came to Florida from the North and Cen¬ 
tral West they introduced the best grapes 
of those regions and while these grapes 
did better than the European grapes, they 
certainly did not thrive and it was the fail- 
