The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-29
THE ORIGINAL CONCORD, PARENT
OF THOUSANDS, STILL ALIVE
AND BEARING
WAS FOUND SIXTY YEARS AGO
Developed From Chance Wild
Vine. 1t Has Sent Offspring to
Every Corner of the
World.

Sun. There are many localities where
other varieties are scarcely known, but
there is not a nook or corner of the
land where the Concord is not found,
and it appears abundantly even in the
vineyards of France. Years and years
ago Horace Greeley gave the Concord
the name of the peoples grape, and in
spite Of the fact that since its discovery
nearly sixty years ago many other eX-
cellent varieties have been put upon the
market the reliable old Concord has
ever maintained its lead.
"A remarkable thing in the history OF
this grape is that the original vine-the
parent of all the thousands and thou
sands Of acres of Concord vineyards, and
OF the untold numbers of Concord vines
that cover the arbors and trelises of
home gardens throughout the country
5 alive and vigorous yet, and bearing
generously every year of the grape that
has done more for the general advance
ment Of viticulture as a great commercial
industry than any other grape. That
patriarch vine is on the old Ephraim
Bull place. mile from Concord close by
the historic home of Nathaniel Haw-
thorne.
1T is doubtful if even among vine
yardists who have made fortunes out of
the Concord grape there are many who
know how the popular and profitable
grape originated. 1t was the product of
chance wild grapevine. More than
sixty years ago Ephraim w Bull. an
ln' aid, removed from Boston to Concord
Tor the benefit of his health. His
brother then lived in the Hawthorne
house and Ephraim bought the cottage
and grounds near by. He had some
knowledge Of grapes and grape-growing
and planted number of ChaSselas and
Black Hamburg vines-both foreign
Yarieues-and the native Isabella, but the
season was so short that it was only
with the greatest care and attention that
ne succeeded in getting ripe grapes from
tnIm- He tried other varieties in his ex-
periments in raising a table grape sue
cessfully. but none could withstand the
Iate spring and early autumn frosts of
that locality. He then conceived the idea
Of producing grape from seed
A neighbor of Balls had two sons who
were constantly in the woods or fields
hunting and fishing. In the fall of 1910
they came home with a quantity of wild
grapes, which they said grew on a vine
IN piece of woods near the Concord
river. They showed Bull where the vine
was. but the grapes then upon it were
not just in the condition he desired for
his experiment. Not until the fall of
Ie}5 did they bear and ripen in that con-
oIuon' and that fall early in October.
Sun planted a number of the grapes
whole Ihey were a large, sweet grape,
tawney in color and with foxy after
taste. They were unlike any wild grapes
he had ever seen, and there We're no
others like them anywhere in the vicin-
ity.
me seeding vines that came up from
the grapes were transplanted and cared
Tor until lS49 without result but in that
year, on September 10, Mr.. Bull picked a
large bunch of black grapes from one of
them-the first bunch of Concords that
ever grew. Delicious as the grapes were
ne continued the cultivation of the vines
untl! 1892 before he considered that the
IFult mad come to a state of perfection.
ana IN that year he placed a basket of
them on exhibition with the Massacbu-
Setts Horticultural society. with the re-
suit that an instant demand for cuttings
from his vines arose.
ne creating of the Concord Crane was
Tee hrst successful use of the seed of the
"-lu grape. IN obtaining a new variety of
tdpie grapes. The name of Concord wa
given to this grape by Mr. Bull The
grape Itself was not put on the market
UNtlI 1904. 1t has been there ever since
with constantly increasing demand for
IL -allHons of dollars have been made
rom It's sale and the sale of the vines.
us dlscoverer died few years ago AT
1AiS eSS OF nearly 30 and moor
New ork city receives q, 600 tons of
sidpes from the vineyards of this state
d.ohe every season, and the great hulk
OF mat supply is made up of Concords
ne ChabtauQua district of l2O0O acres
grows comparatively few other eranas
and great part of the vast Lake Ken1ro
region Is planted with Concords II 10
PROBABLY fact little known outside tbe
1 rue, mat the favorite Catawba grape,
N'iIch Is the latest native grape to come
III 10 market, cannot be proftahlv o,,o1,,,,
elsewhere than in Lake Keul,a diS+Uiot
owing to climatic and meteoroIogicoi
CONDITIONS Hence the supply of Cataw-
GA mat comes to this city is from tba+
region. Ai'iii 'hat
II was Tor many years a source of
Noiluer 10 consumers Of grapes why there
va" no standard variety of native white
6i'Fe IN the market. such as the Com
- CalaWoa ana Delaware were among
LACK grapes. In the trade all erara,
t..at are not white are 'blacA.' w1etbor
tneX are black, red or purnIe r.
since grape culture became an tnd,1S+r1,
IN IS country, vineyardists and nurser,,-
men have been striving to produce NJ
i've white grape which would moses.
quantities to commend it as proftab Ie in
the market "ie III
Nany excellent white cranes arc +bo
result of these experiments. among tbano
being the Lady Washington pra,,+is..
Pockiington, Rebecca and Dncb tlss
1nese are all grapes Of fine quality and
|aen the Prentiss vas discovered IL no.,
believed that the ideal American wbite
grape had at last been found. If ori y.
al b9ltney, Steuben county y.
!, ana the nrst year the vine was Of
Isred FOR sale 10000 plants We're sold nv,
HrentlsS, its discoyerer. at 50 q nIapf
me sale OF plants continued to be large
When The grape came into general hea ~
lEg II was found that, although If woS q
delicious fruit, it had not the Qualities
necessary TO make it a profitable ma ct
The trouble with ali white grapes has
-eh IraiitN OF berry, lack of tenacitv al
tiie stem and disposition to do well
oIaS IN lSoIateo PAGES or localities OF
peculiar climatic influences. Thus The
) iputchess, one of the choicest of VIII
grapes, can be grown TO advantages in oniS
one locality i'll this country, and that Is
~ me EdIley' on Canandaigua lake The
l'itchesS belt. even there is limited anC
tae grape few rods off that belt in any
erection, cannot be successfully e,rour5
ne Lady Washington is a crane Of de.
llEhttul flavor, but it will not keen lone
after picking, and trifiing aeifeFio,, ,0i a
me punches tends to the akine Of III,
berries from the stem. ''''
Ihese were faults in white grane
grown IN this country that eXperin enta
vlneyardists had been for wears enf7aa e,
orthg to overcome. They were believe,
10 be due to the presence of foreisI
strains in all the crossings by which tn
various vines had been produced Thirf,
years ago C T.. Hoag, of I,ockport. be
gan experimenting in producing mar
ketable white grape, and accepting tn
tneory mat the presence of foreisn bloc,
IN ali previously discovered white CRANE
was the cause Of the failure, he use
Ia ms experiments no cross betWeel
grapes unless the pedigree of each win
was Enthusiastically known and the ab
sence of any foreign strain in lis pro
duction was absolutely certain. and I'm