One of the most interesting and promising steps in plum-growing is only beginning to be made, in the crossing of the three classes named. The most skillful and patient worker in this field is Luther Burbank, of California, who has already produced, by artificially pollenizing the flowers, some most excellent varieties. Some of these new varieties are larger than any plums ever before seen, delicious in flavor, and blood-red to the stone.
The Cherry.—Away back in the history of our country, cherry trees were planted here and there, but only for family use. The list of varieties was meagre. Most of them were sour, bitter, or small. Now we have hundreds of named varieties and of all grades of color, from creamy yellow to black, and both sweet and sour, early and late.
In Washington, Oregon, and California the cherry does better than in any of the regions farther East. The first cherries of the season to ripen are in the famous Vaca Valley of California, and sometimes shipments from there reach New York as early as April 1. The largest cherry trees in America are found in the foot-hill regions of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trees are sometimes seen there that have trunks three feet in diameter, with a spread of branches of more than fifty feet. Such trees sometimes yield more than fifty bushels of fruit at a time.
The Apricot.—All over the Eastern and Central States the apricot is almost an entire failure because of the ravages of the plum curculio. After many years of trial its culture there has been almost abandoned, except by those who are willing to follow the jarring of the trees to catch the insects. Across the Continental divide, where this enemy does not exist, the apricot flourishes as well or better than anywhere else in the world. It is one of the profitable fruits from western Colorado to the shores of the Pacific. California dried and sent to market in one year over 30,000,000 pounds. There is also a great amount of apricots canned there every year, a large part of which are shipped all over the world.
The Quince.—Although sour and unfit for eating from the hand, the quince is one of our most delicious fruits when cooked. No store of sweetmeats is complete without a generous supply of quince jelly. This fruit delights in a moist soil and a cool but not severe climate. However, it succeeds very well over the main part of North America. Almost every home plot has a tree or two. In western New York many commercial quince orchards have been planted within the last twenty-five years, some of them being of forty acres in extent.
American Grape Culture.—In no department of American pomology has there been more remarkable advancement than in grape-growing. It was the belief of those who first began to grow fruits here, that the grapes of Canaan, Persia, Greece, and Rome, which were brought down through the ages to the vineyards of modern Europe, would grow equally well in America. One great reason for this belief was the abundance of wild grapes of many kinds that were found from Nova Scotia to Texas.
One of the first things the pioneers of civilization did in New England, at Roanoke Island, and at Jamestown, was to make wine of the native grapes. The Spaniards in 1564 also made wine of the wild grapes of Florida. After testing the wine and finding it inferior to that produced in their old homes, they were more determined to grow vineyards of the choicest grapes of Europe. The French established a vineyard of this kind in Virginia, and another in southern Illinois; and William Penn did the same near Philadelphia in 1683. The most notable attempt that was made was by John James Dufour, a native of Switzerland. He came to America in 1796, and at once set about doing the wisest thing that he could have done, by first visiting and critically examining the vineyards that had already been started. He was not favorably impressed by what he saw, for the European vines had done very poorly, because of some unknown disease or weakness that seemed to cause them to make but feeble growth, or gradually dwindle and die. The cause has since been found to have been the fungus diseases and insect pests that are peculiar to the eastern half of America. But Dufour thought the right varieties had not been tried, except a few that he found near Philadelphia. From these he secured a start, and in 1799 organized a stock company with $10,000 in capital, to plant a vineyard, Henry Clay being one of the stockholders. A tract of 633 acres was selected near Lexington, Ky., and there he began work in the most enthusiastic manner. He induced two of his brothers to come from Switzerland to join him, and they brought other varieties of their best grapes. But after three years’ trial he gave it up as a hopeless effort and turned his attention to the cultivation of our native grapes.
The beginning of successful grape culture in America may be said to have been made by Dufour, in his next or second attempt, which was in 1802, at Vevay, Ind., on the banks of the Ohio, and with a variety of the wild Vitis labrusca, or fox grape, found near the Schuylkill River before the Revolutionary War. It was at first called the “Cape” grape, from a mistaken notion that it had been brought from the Cape of Good Hope. It was also known by several other names. Although this grape was the first of a very long list of native varieties which have made our country famous in grape culture, it has long since been entirely abandoned for better kinds. But the vineyard at Vevay, planted largely of this variety, was the first really successful one in America.
SINGLE VINE OF “LADY DE COVERLY” GRAPE (SEEDLESS) GROWN BY J. P. ONSTOTT, MARYVILLE, CAL.