UC-NRLF LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Lib. Afric. Dcpt Class HOW TO GROW AND USE. AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA. THE GKAPE IN KANSAS. The oldest cultivated fruit. The finest of all table fruits. A fruit too good to be made a chief source of the degradation of the race as an alluring (yet intoxicating) principle. To the glory of Kansas, 99 £ per cent, of this luscious fruit which grows freely all over the state is used without fermentation. COMPILED AND EEVISED FOB THE KANSAS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, By WILLIAM H. BARNES, SECRETARY, State Capitol, Topeka, Kan. ISSUED BY THE STATE, 1901. Main PRESS OF W. Y. MORGAN, STATE PRINTER, TOPEKA, 1901. AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY — OF— ^CALIFORNIA. THE PROBABLY THE OLDEST OF DOMESTICATED FRUITS. "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture," by L. H. BAILEY. It is probable that wine was made from it even before the species was brought into cultivation. It seems to have been cultivated at the dawn of history. Its product was certainly no rarity in Noah's time. Of all countries, North America is richest in species of Vitis. These species range from ocean to ocean and from the British posses- sions to the tropics. The greatest development of the native-grape industry has taken place in New York and Ohio, bordering lakes and large streams. These areas are the lower Hudson river valley ; the region of the central western New York lakes ; the Lake Erie region of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. There are also important grape interests in Ontario, Michigan, and other northern parts. There is considerable interest in grape culture in the cooler parts of Georgia and Alabama, and there are enlarging areas in the country extending from the Ozark region southward. Nearly all the country, excepting the northernmost parts, raises grapes, but in most cases the growing of them cannot be said to be extensive enough to be called an industry. Although the grape sections of the North hug the water areas, and the land, therefore, is often steep, all grape growers prefer nearly level land. The old-world plantations are largely on very steep lands ; such lands, by virtue of their warmth and drainage, are thought to give an extra quality of wine. These ideas were brought to this country, and many of our early vineyards were planted on terraced slopes. But we grow grapes for a different purpose from the Europeans, and land is cheap and labor is dear. Old-world methods cannot be followed in American commercial plantations. The ideal bunch of grapes is one which is of medium size for the variety, compact, uniformly developed and ripened thoroughly, containing no small or diseased berries, and with the bloom intact. • • A very dense or crowded cluster is not the most desirable, for all the berries cannot develop fully, and the cluster is not easily handled when the fruit is eaten. Unfermented grape juice is a product which deservedly is growing in popularity. The lack of secondary domestic uses of the grape is one reason for the very serious gluts in the markets. However, one year with another, the profit on a good vineyard may be expected to exceed that on the staple farm crops. (3) A *M r* f\ f\ f \ THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. ORIGIN OF AMERICAN GRAPES. From Bulletin No. 46, by Prof. J. C. WHITTEN, Horticulturist of Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. Nearly all the cultivated grapes of the United States east of the Rocky moun- tains ^originated from various native species found growing wild by the early settlers of the country. Improvement of these wild grapes began by planting the seeds of the best of them and by cultivating and selecting the best of these seedlings. From the most promising of these cultivated vines seeds were again taken and planted, and so on until some of our cultivated varieties are many generations removed from the wild vine with which improvement started. As these seedling generations began to be cultivated they became more variable than the wild vines from which they descended, and improved forms appeared. Whenever a vine exhibited any particular merit it was propagated by means of cuttings, given a name, and became known as a cultivated variety. In some cases wild vines have been found possessing sufficient merit to warrant their being propagated and named as distinct varieties. Neosho and probably, also, Cynthiana and many others have been propagated directly from vines found growing wild in the woods. Improvement of our native grapes has progressed so rapidly in recent years that we now have more than 1000 named varieties in cul- tivation, though but few of these varieties are known to the average cultivator. Since our grapes may be grouped or classified according to the species from which they sprang, a brief description (from a horticultural rather than from a botanical standpoint) of the species represented by the varieties mentioned in this bulletin is here given. Our grapes are referred to the genus Vitis, comprising numerous species, among which the following will be considered : THE NORTHERN Fox GRAPE. Vitis labrusca Linn. — Native from New Eng- land to South Carolina and from the Alleghany mountains eastward to the coast ; not known in a wild state in the Mississippi valley ; is the parent species of more than one-half of our cultivated grapes, including the Concord, Hartford, Ca- tawba, and Niagara. Distinguished from all other species by its continuous tendrils or inflorescence — that is, having a tendril or flower cluster opposite each leaf; while other species have intermittent tendrils — that is, two leaves each with a tendril opposite it, and then a third leaf with no such tendril. The fruit clusters of the grape occupy positions corresponding to those of the tendrils, hence, on account of this continuous arrangement, grapes of the labrusca species often bear three or more clusters of fruit in succession on the same branch, while other species bear only two clusters of fruit in succession, the third leaf having no tendril or fruit cluster opposite it. The leaves of labrusca are large, thick, and very cottony beneath, especially while young. It has, gen- erally, very large berries and large bunches. Except when hybridized with some other species, its fruit usually has a distinct musky flavor. This species, which has produced more cultivated varieties than all other species combined, is generally regarded as occupying the most important position in the make-up of our American grapes. Its numerous varieties furnish grapes of every shade from white to red and black, of every quality from bad to good, and of various seasons, from the earliest to the latest. A single one of its varieties, Concord, is more largely planted and marketed than all other varieties, and when we include Moore's Early, Worden, Wyoming Red, and other popular sorts, it will be seen that the bulk of American grapes grown and marketed east of the Rocky mountains belong to this species. While various cultivated varieties of THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 5 this species succeed well in Missouri, and will probably Igng continue to be im- portant here, it should be borne in mind that they are not so capable of enduring our summers, particularly if the season be dry and hot, as are some of the species that are native to this region and to the south and west. THE RIVER BANK GRAPE. Vitia riparia Michx. — This species is of wider distribution than any other native American grape, being found along the streams in southern Canada and many parts of the United States east of the Rocky mountains. It extends farthest north, and is the hardiest of our grapes. It is the parent of Clinton, Bacchus, and other well-known varieties. As these cultivated varieties indicate, its fruit is small in both bunch and berry. It may be distinguished from other species by having very thin diaphragms at the nodes of the stem, small, light green, shiny glabrous leaves, almost or quite without hairiness beneath, large stipules, and very early flowering habit. This species, with some of its cultivated varieties, has become of great importance in European vineyards by furnishing a phylloxera-proof stock upon which to graft the Euro- pean varieties. The vines of this species are rank, tall, straggling growers. They are readily propagated by means of cuttings. While grapes of this species are reasonably free from rot, they are more susceptible to the attack of leaf- hoppers than other species. During certain seasons varieties of this class have their foliage almost entirely destroyed by this insect when other species in the same vineyard are injured but little. In fact, the attacks of this insect on varie- ties of riparia are a serious drawback to its successful culture in this section. In the number of cultivated varieties which this species has furnished it ranks next to V. labrusca. THE ORIGINAL CONCORD GRAPE-VINE. By CHAS. E. NEWL.IN, in Indiana Farmer. I thought your readers might be interested in a little horticultural history which has been of great interest to me. Perhaps few of those who annually feast on the luscious Concord grape ever stop to think where the variety originated or when or by whom it was first cultivated. An hour's ride northwest from Boston, through historic old Cambridge and Lexington, is the quaint little, scattered town of Concord, where the first battle of the revolution was fought, April 19, 1775, though the little skirmish at Lexington on the way out here is usually given that distinction. After a walk out two miles over the fir-covered hill to Walden pond, where Thoreau's happy hours were spent in the little hut on its shores, and back to a New England dinner in Wright's tavern, built in 1747 and used ever since as a tavern (it was here the English general, Pitcairn, got drunk before the battle of Concord), I wandered out the old Lexington road past Emerson's home, where his daughter still lives, and past the Alcott home, where "Little Women" was written, and in whose door-yard, by the foot of the hill, stands the plain, un- painted "Concord school of philosophy." A little further on is "Wayside," the "House of Seven Gables" (and it has them), where Hawthorne wrote "Scarlet Letter" and where his daughter, Mrs. Lothrop, still lives. Next door to this historic house stands Bull's cottage, in whose door-yard still grows the first Concord grape-vine, from which stock the unnumbered millions of vines of this variety came. [See frontispiece to this book.] The vine is now enclosed in close latticework, around and above, to keep vandal relic-hunters, like myself, from carrying it away by inches. On one side hangs a square oak board on which these words are burned most artistically : " I looked about to see what I could find among our wildings. The next thing to do was to find the best and earliest grape, for seed, and this I found in an ac- D THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. cidental seedling at the foot of the hill. The crop was abundant, ripe in August, and of a very good quality for a wild grape. I sowed the seed in the autumn of 1843. Among them the Concord was the only one worth saving. — EPHRAIM WALES BULL." This is the simple story of the origin of the greatest grape ever produced. Mr. Bull was born March 4, 1806, and died September 26, 1895. Mrs. Lothrop then bought the grounds of her father's old friend, and is keeping the quaint old cottage and its surroundings in perfect repair, just as Mr. Bull left them, except for a little addition to the back for accommodation of the renter. On the man- telpiece in the sitting-room she has had daintily painted this "confession" of Mr. Bull: "I confess I did not expect to arrive at so great a success so soon, but when I had the good fortune to find the Concord among the first crop of seedlings, the thought dawned upon me that in the perhaps far-off future higher success awaited the cultivator who had the patience to wait, I had almost said also the courage to venture, for I was sensible that any attempt to improve the wild grape would be considered an imputation upon the judgment and sagacity of the Creator. Fully aware of this, I kept my own counsel, and if I had not succeeded nobody would have known that I had ventured." And above the old fireplace in the dining-room is painted : "Final summing up of thirty-seven years' work, from over 22,000 seedlings, twenty -one grapes which in the light of to-day I consider valuable. I had at one time 125 vines which I thought worth saving, but, grown more critical with every new success, I have discarded most of them." What a world of patience and love of his work this discloses ; I was told by one of Mr. Bull's old neighbors that the original wild grape which was found ripening in August Mr. Bull found on the banks of Concord river, just a little above the old bridge where the battle of Concord was fought, and where now stands that marvelously beautiful statue, "The Minute Man," on the base of which is carved : "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world." Just across the meadow on the little hill stands "The Old Manse," sacred to all lovers of good literature. Knowing the classic surroundings of the birth of the Concord grape, perhaps some of our readers will enjoy a little more the refreshing fruit from their own vine descended from this parent vine, which old Ephraim Wales Bull gave to the world fifty-eight years ago. EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN GRAPE. "Evolution of Native Fruits," by Bailey. The first American grape introduced was the Cape or Alexander, found wild in the woods of Pennsylvania. The Catawba was found in the woods in South Carolina, and introduced by John Adlum, of the District of Columbia, in 1802. The Concord was found by E. W. Bull, in his garden in Concord, Mass. Wor- den is a seedling of the Concord. Delaware was found in the garden of a French- man in New Jersey. Brighton was produced by crossing the Concord and Diana — Hamburg (a hybrid) by Jacob Moore, then of Brighton, N. Y. Diana came from a Catawba seed, at Milton, Mass.; Moore's Early came from a Concord seed; Clinton came up at Clinton, N. Y.; Norton's Virginia, a Virginia wildling THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 7 of 18,35. Rogers's hybrids created a great stir. T. V. Muiyson, of Texas, is doing a great work in cross-fertilizing and growing hybrid grapes. Most of these hybrids obtain their excellent qualities from some of the European, and their vigor and hardihood from their native American ancestry. Some are of second or even third crossings of hybrids on hybrids, or hybrids and European on native. The American hybridizer cares little for ancestry, excepting asit;adds an ele- ment of anxiety and uncertainty to its influence, but he goes for a combination of certain desired qualities, and only partially successful, he goes still farther in the combination to remedy the defect ; and this plan, while not scientific, is bound to succeed, because it has an aim, a goal, an ideal, and, with patience and perse- verance, this ideal will be attained, if not set too high. STATISTICAL UPS AND DOWNS IN KANSAS. No reliable statistics of the acreage of vineyards in the counties were taken previous to 1881. In 1881, we find Doniphan county in the lead, with 384 acres. It was also first in acreage in '82, '84, '85, '89, '91, '92, and '93, with varying acreage, from 414 to 567. It was second in '87, '96, and '98, with 480 and 537 acres, respectively. It was third in '83, '95, '97, '99, and 1900, with 414, 457, 497, 450 and 351 acres, re- spectively; fourth in '86 and '94, with 335 acres and 308 acres, respectively. Thus Doniphan county was first in acreage for ten years, second for three years, third for five years, fourth for two years, standing third in 1900, with 351 acres. Washington county was reported second in 1881, with 293 acres, and in '95, with 252 acres, but did not hold out, and is now (1900} reported with only 84 acres, be- ing twenty-second in rank. Douglas county was third in 1881, with 206 acres. It has varied in standing from tnird to seventeenth, with from 134 to 239 acres, ranking now (1900) twelfth, with 157 acres. Leavenworth county was fifth in 1881, with 181 acres; in '98 it ranked third, with 232 acres. Its greatest acreage was in '93, when it ranked fourth, with 274 acres. In 1900 it ranked tenth, with 167 acres. Sedgwick county came to the front in 1894, ranking first, with 445 acres; also ranking first in '96, with 565 acres. In '89, '91, '92, '93, '97, '99 and 1900 it ranked second, having now (1900) 404 acres. Wyandotte county was ninth, with 147 acres, in 1881, and has never fallen back much, although in 1888 it ranked thirteenth, with 164 acres; it was in the lead, ranking first, in 1895, '97, '98, '99, and 1900* varying from 550 to 709 acres, with 1900 at 538 acres. Nemaha county claimed second place in 1884, with 393 acres, and third place in 1886, with 391 acres, falling back to fourteenth place, with 131 acres, in 1900. Chase county got third place in 1885, with 212 ; stands now (1900) No. 42, with only 24 acres. Saline county got third place, in 1891, with 348 acres, but went back to thirty- first place, with 51 acres, in 1900. The above ups and downs, covering nine leading counties, while they pos- sibly point out the best localities for successful grape growing, do not indicate that grapes will not do well elsewhere. Grapes grow readily from cuttings, and many people once put out large tracts so located that they had no market; thus grapes became very plentiful and cheap, and the vines were neglected and the acreage fell off. To-day —1900— the leading counties are : Wyandotte, 538 acres ; Sedgwick, 404 acres; and Doniphan, 351 acres. 8 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. PROPAGATION BY SEED. New varieties of the grape can only be obtained by propagation from seed. Many of our prominent and useful varieties were accidental seedlings that fell into the hands of wise and careful horticulturists. But many vineyardiets are ap- plying themselves to the propagation of grape-vines from seed of known parentage, the blossoms being fertilized by hand and seed thus obtained carefully labeled, and the little seedlings tended to in a most solicitous manner. In Kansas our fruit should be like our people, vigorous and up to date; therefore do not plant grape seeds from vines of any but the best varieties, of vig- orous growth, strong, thick foliage, free from mildew, and hardy ; also be sure the grapes are ripe. Do not even then expect too much. Grape seedlings are not like grape cuttings, and are often frail, delicate, and puny, requiring your close attention until they are able to cope with the world. Another thing : do not pull up the weaker or delicate ones as soon as a few vigorous ones come into bearing ; the chances are that the delicate and backward ones may have the bet- ter fruit. The vigorous early bearers may take after a wild ancestor. PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. From Caiman's Rural World. In pruning vines, the wood of which I wish to propagate, I merely cut loose from the trellis, cut out the old wood that is to be abandoned, and cut the lateral branches and tendrils off; then, afterward, cut them to the proper shape, carry- ing the wood in canes to the house to dress the cuttings ready for planting, which I have often done in the fall with success. Owing to the danger of having them heaved out somewhat by frost, I have for many years planted them out in the spring. Make the cuttings six to ten inches long, according to the joints, as a cutting should have two or three eyes, and some short- jointed varieties may have four or five eyes. Cut under the lower bud, at right angles with the bud [that is, square across] and one-half inch above the upper bud. Tie in bundles of 100 or 200 each and bury, covering about six inches with earth. Some recommend burying them upside down, but I have found that it makes but little difference whether right or wrong side up, or lying horizontal. If the wood is sound when put in, the cuttings will come out all right in the spring. As soon as the frost is out of the ground in the spring, and it is dry enough to work well, they may be planted in rows three feet apart, and from three to six inches apart in the rows. Make a slanting trench at an angle of forty-five degrees, deep enough to hold the cuttings, so that the upper eye will be half an inch under ground when the earth is leveled. When the cuttings are laid in, always have the top bud on the upper side, so that the shoot can start straight out, fill the trench over half full and tread the ground firmly, then fill in the rest of the soil loosely. Of about 10,000 put in last spring, not five per cent, failed. These are as fine a lot of plants as I ever grew. The cestivalis class is difficult to grow • from cuttings, and these are propagated by layers. [See elsewhere.] At times, when ready to set out my grape cuttings, I found the base of them calloused, and the buds swollen, ready to burst. When in this condition, they should not be exposed to the sun or air any length of time. THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 9 PROPAGATION OF GRAPE-VINES BY LAYERING. Layering is a method of raising young vines by burying a branch of an old vine while it is still attached to the original root. The plan is especially desirable for growing vines which do not root readily from cuttings, as well as to get bear- ing vines quickly. Layers usually fruit at least a year soorer than those grown from cuttings. Strong canes of well-ripened wood should be selected, choosing those that can be bent to the ground without breaking. The soil should be dug away to a depth of two or three inches and the cane laid into the trench with the end left out. The cane should be fastened down firmly with pegs and be covered with only a small depth of soil, perhaps an inch at first. The work is usually done in June, but can be done later if water is given occasionally, so the young roots will not dry out. At every joint of the covered cane roots will start out, and the latent buds will develop into new shoots. Not all should be allowed to grow, however, as there is not sufficient strength for all; so the rankest-growing shoots are selected and the other ones broken off, only about half that start be- ing allowed to grow. When the shoots are a few inches in height stakes should be provided, as the growth is much more rapid when support is given them. When the shoots get nicely above ground a little more soil may be hoed around them every time they are cultivated, until the trench is a little more than even full. The reason for filling it up slowly is because, if too great depth of earth is over the cane at first, it will be liable to rot. These layered vines should be cul- tivated once a week until late in the season, except there should be a period of very dry weather, when it might be best to mulch them heavily with strawy manure and give up cultivation for the rest of the season. In late fall the young plants can be separated and set out in the vineyard, or stored in a cool cellar till spring. SPRING AND SUMMER LAYERING, AND HOW PERFORMED. Layering is the simplest, surest and easiest method of increasing the grape, and is the best way to grow vines where only a few are wanted. There are two kinds of layers, called spring and summer layers, from the season at which they are made. Summmer layers are made in the summer, generally the last of July, from a branch of the same season's growth. They are likely to be weak for several years, and do not make as good plants as the spring layers. In making them the wood should be slit for an inch or so near the buds that are covered. Bury about one foot of the cane four inches deep in the ground and it will be rooted by late autumn, when it should be separated and be treated as a young vine, and it is generally best to get them well started in a garden or nursery before planting in the vineyard permanently. Spring layers may be made by laying down any cane early in the spring. It will root in one season. By fall it will have made a good growth of roots, when it may be cut from the main cane, and, if strong, it may be divided into two plants. By a little different treatment of the spring layer a vine may be grown from each bud on the layered cane. For this purpose some thrifty cane should be selected in autumn, pruned of its laterals and buried. In the spring it should be uncovered and only one shoot permitted to grow from each joint. 10 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. After the new growth has started about six inches from each bud the whole cane should be layered about four inches deep, handling it carefully, so as not to break the new growth. It is a good plan to cover it not more than three inches at first, and to fill up the trench as the shoots grow. If covered four inches deep at once, the young growth will sometimes rot, though this seldom happens, and some skilful grow- ers fill the trench full at once. In the autumn roots will be found growing from ^ach joint, and these may be cut apart. If this method of propagation is used to some considerable extent, vines should be grown especially for the purpose. It is not a good plan to use fruiting vines for layering, though it may be safely done in a small way, says a Farm and Fireside writer, in concluding the advice here reproduced. SUCCESSFUL GRAPE GRAFTING. An old Clinton vine stood at the corner of the woodhouse which was so vigor- ous that its branches spread over everything within reach, but bore no fruit. In April, 1896, I cut branches off close to the ground and grafted in a Delaware grape and an lona. I used no wax; simply wrapped carefully with strings of