THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
lOI 
CHARLES S. CURTICE. 
THE GREEN MOUNTAIN GRAPE. 
Charles S. Curtice of Portland, N. Y., was born at 
Webster, Monroe County, N. Y., and his first nursery 
experience was gained with George A. Stone, of 
Rochester, N. Y. In 1880 he began the nursery busi¬ 
ness for himself, starting in a very small way, at Port¬ 
land, growing exclusively grape vines and small fruit 
plants. The business rapidly increased and in 1891 he 
organized the C. S. Curtice Company with a paid up 
capital of $40,000, retaining a majority of the stock, 
the balance being taken by local capitalists. The firm 
has built up an immense business in this particular 
line reaching to every state and territory and even 
foreign countries. It is safe 
to say that in the nursery 
trade no firm stands higher or 
enjoys the confidence of its 
customers to a greater degree. 
The annual planting is about 
100 acres. The firm is well 
equipped with commodious 
offices, storage cellars and all 
necessary conveniences for 
conducting the business. Mr. 
Curtice in addition to his nur_ 
sery interests, is quite largely 
interested in grape growing. 
He is a prominent Free Mason 
and an active worker in every¬ 
thing he undertakes. He is 
well known in Rochester where 
he is a frequent visitor. Mr. 
Curtice is one of the most 
popular of the many popular 
young men in the business. 
At the recent Spokane con¬ 
vention it was suggested that 
an orchard might take the 
place of a life-insurance policy. Comparing it to a 
paid-up policy on which $100 or more is paid yearly, a 
speaker said this sum might be put into an orchard. 
Every year the money value would double many times, 
and in a few years there would be returns. In ten years 
one would have a $20,000 orchard with $5,000 net in¬ 
come. 
Mr. Booksin, of Santa Clara County, Cal., is quoted 
as saying : “This year I received a check for $25,000 
for the fruit product of 80 acres of land divided up as 
follows : $ 11,800 for the fruit from 29 acres of prunes ; 
$3,200 for the crop from 6 acres of cherries and the bal¬ 
ance of the $25,000 for the rest of the 80 acres of assort¬ 
ed fruit. I was offered $1,200 per acre for my 80 acres, 
but I don’t want to sell it that cheap.” 
The frontispiece of this issue represents a bearing 
vine five years old, in the vineyard of Stephen Hoyt’s 
Sons, New Canaan, Conn. It is from the American 
Agriculturist. Each year’s test more emphatically dem¬ 
onstrates its merits as the leading early white grape. 
The quality is delicious, the bunches nicely shouldered 
and very handsome and the productiveness and hardi¬ 
ness of the vine are remarkable. The present season, 
throughout Southern Connecticut especially, is one which 
has proven most unfavorable for grapes. The blossoms 
were blighted just as they came into bloom, causing 
almost a total failure of fruit. The Green Mountain for 
some reason escaped almost 
entirely this blight. The 
vines are loaded with fruit, 
while the Eaton, Colerain, 
Moore’s Diamond and Jewell, 
growing on the same trellis 
and with the same care, are 
almost a total failure. Tha 
vine is a very strong grower, 
and resists mildew and other 
diseases to a remarkable de¬ 
gree. Its earliness, together 
with its vigor of growth and 
4 ^ 
superb quality, makes it a 
grape especially adapted for 
planting in northern localiiest, 
where later varieties seldom, 
if ever, ripen, while it is equally 
desirable for planting anywhere 
where the grape grows and 
flourishes. The Messrs. Hoyt 
cordially invite any nursery¬ 
man, dealer in trees or vine- 
yardist, or others interested 
in grapes, to visit their vine¬ 
yard and see the Green 
Mountain grape as grown in their unfavorable grape soil. 
The last week in August or first week in September will 
find the fruit in good eating condition. 
CHARLES S. CURTICE 
At the recent meeting of the Florida Horticultural 
Society, the fruit committee called attention to a for¬ 
midable rival of Florida which was much nearer than 
California ; this was the coast-region of Texas, where an 
area equal to the entire peninsula could be utilized for 
growing subtropical fruits. During the last twenty-five 
pears the progress of fruit-growing in both these states 
had been so rapid, .and they had so many interests in 
common, that it was proposed to hold a joint meeting 
of Texas and Florida horticulturists to devise the best 
means of uniting for mutual benefit. 
