The National Nursery 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK.ll 
Copyright, 1893, by The National Nurseryman Publishing Co. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1893. 
THE GRAPE INDUSTRY. 
Oldest Grape Growing Region in the United 
States. 
History of the central new york grape growers union 
—Successful result of pooling issues —Vineyards 
AND appurtenances VALUED AT $6,000,000—OUTPUT THIS 
YEAR AMOUNTS TO 12,000,000 BASKETS—THE CHAUTAUQUA 
GRAPE BELT— Heavy yields PROM A SINGLE VINEYARD— 
The home of the concord—Some prominent growers. 
For several years the marketing of grapes from 
Central New York has been quite unsatisfactory to the 
growers, and the subject of considerable discussion, so 
much so that at the instance of a large number of growers 
on Lake Keuka, a meeting of all those interested in the 
subject was called for Jan. 5, 1893, at Grange Hall, 
in the village of Penn Yan, N. Y. Hon. William T. 
Remer and R. B. Ayres, of Penn Yan, were selected 
chairman and secretary respectively of the meeting. A 
general discussion was had and a committee was ap¬ 
pointed to interest the growers on Canandaigua and 
Seneca lakes, with power to call a meeting at a subse¬ 
quent date. After considerable preliminary work, this 
committee called a meeting for January 19, 1893, at 
the court house, in Penn Yan. At this meeting Trevor 
Moore, of Hammondsport, was elected chairman and 
Berlin H. Wright, of Jerusalem, secretary. A committee 
of thirty was elected, representing 23 shipping points 
in the Central New York Grape Belt, with instructions 
to organize a Union. This committee met on February 
7, 1893, at the Benham House, in Penn Yan, for the 
purpose of organizing a Union, and it was then decided 
to organize a corporation under the laws of the state of 
New York, with a capital stock of $10,000, divided into 
'2,000 shares, of the par value of $5 each, to be known 
as “The Central New York Grape Growers Union” 
such corporation to be managed by 13 directors, 6 of 
whom should be taken from the Lake Keuka district, 
3 from the Seneca lake district, 3 from the Canandaigua 
lake district, and i at large. For the purposes of in¬ 
corporation, 13 of the committee were selected for 
signing the articles of incorporation, naming themselves 
as directors. They subscribed for one-half of the capi¬ 
tal stock, ten per cent, of which subscription was then 
paid, and a permanent organization was thereupon 
effected. The incorporator in each of the several sec¬ 
tions entitled to a director then called a meeting in his 
locality, giving the plan of the organization and suggest¬ 
ing to the growers that they name some one as director 
for that section, that the incorporators who were then 
directors might resign, and such person as should be 
named by the locality, could be elected director in his 
place. The result of the meetings was that the follow¬ 
ing were elected directors to fill the vacancies caused by 
the resignation of the original directors of the Union ; 
At large, Henry O. Fairchild ; Urbana, Trevor Moore 
and George H. Keeler; Pulteney, W. A. Prentiss ; 
Wayne and Barrington, Francis M. McDowell ; Jerusa¬ 
lem, Everett Brown ; Milo, James A. Thayer ; East side 
Seneca lake, Clarence E. Spence ; West side Seneca 
lake, J. Elbridge Gano and Clark H. Bronson ; Canan¬ 
daigua, Charles C. Wilcox ; Vine Valley, Hezekiah 
Green ; Naples, Frank M. Pottle. 
On May 9th, the board of directors elected Trevor 
Moore, of Hammondsport, president ; James A. Thayer, 
of Penn Yan, secretary ; H. O. Fairchild, of Ham¬ 
mondsport, treasurer, and Hon. Everett Brown, of Penn 
Yan, chief salesman. Charles C. Wilcox, of Canan¬ 
daigua, F. M. McDowell, of Penn Yan, and J. E. Gano, 
of Starkey, together with the president and secretary, 
were made the executive committee. Subscription lists 
were circulated by the directors and each grower was 
asked to subscribe for one share of stock, sign a contract 
for one year to ship his entire crop through the Union, 
subject to its rules, regulations, pooling and inspection. 
When these lists were brought in it was found that there 
were over one thousand subscribers, holding considerably 
more than three-fourths of the entire acreage of the 
three lakes, Keuka, Canandaigua and Seneca. Accord¬ 
ing to the contract the agreement between the grower 
and the Union was not to become binding until this pro¬ 
portion of the acreage had been signed, and this being 
done, practical work was begun. Spraying with the 
Bordeaux mixture was advised as soon as the shoots 
were at least six inches in length, and again just after 
blowing, when the berries had formed, and then with 
the ammoniacal solution when the berries were at their 
normal size. This alone has been of great value to the 
growers, as at the present time one of the finest crops 
of grapes ever produced in this section is on the vines. 
An effort was made to have all baskets conform to 
a certain size, but the basket-makers had so far arranged 
for their material that this part of the plan could not be 
formulated in time to accomplish its purpose. It is 
hoped that another year this may be perfected, so theie 
