[186] John Burr was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1800. In early life he removed to Ohio, where, although he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, he passed his leisure time in experimenting with strawberries. In this work he was quite successful, producing Burr’s Pine and Burr’s Seedling, once popular sorts. In 1858 Burr moved to Kansas and soon after began breeding grapes. For this work he was a believer in natural pollination and planted the varieties which he desired to use as parents in close proximity that they might pollinate each other. Burr at first used Concord, Hartford, Isabella, and other grapes of this class as parents, but later he destroyed all of the seedlings of these and used Delaware, Goethe, Salem, Catawba, and other Vinifera hybrids. He did not take trouble to note from which variety the seed came but mixed and planted all together. The records of the parentage of his productions are consequently usually unsatisfactory. Most of his grape productions were introduced to the public by Stayman & Black, a nearby nursery firm. Of Burr’s many seedlings he gave names to the following: Cochee, Early Victor, Eclipse, Evaline, Ideal, Iola, Jewel, Magnate, Matchless, Mendota, Omega, Osage, Osee, Paragon, Peola, Primate, Pulasky, Seneca, Superior, Standard, Supreme, and White Jewel. Burr died at his home in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1892.
[187] Traité gen. de vit., 6:192. 1903.
[188] Cat., 1907-8:18.
[189] This variety was named Glenfeld by Mr. Magee, its originator, not Glenfield as it is frequently spelled.
[190] Tex. Sta. Bul., 56:267. 1900.
[191] Munson regards them as identical.
[192] Dr. C. W. Grant was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1810. Early in life he became a Doctor of Medicine but soon became dissatisfied with that profession as it was then practiced, and entered dentistry. He settled in Newburgh, New York, where he built up a very large dental practice. Dr. Grant was an enthusiastic amateur horticulturist and numbered among his friends such men of national note as A. J. and Charles Downing, Horace Greeley, Henry Ward Beecher, W. C. Bryant, Donald G. Mitchell and others like these who were interested in rural pursuits. He bought Iona Island in the Hudson River and planted thereon a commercial vineyard. On the death of his wife in 1856 he gave up his dental practice and took up his residence on Iona Island. Here for twelve years he grew grapes and conducted a grape nursery. Unfortunately Dr. Grant’s business experience was not such as to enable him to make a success of a commercial nursery. In 1868 he retired from active pursuits and returned to his old home at Litchfield, where he died in 1881. Dr. Grant’s chief interest to grape-growers lies in the fact that he was the originator of Iona and Israella and the introducer of Anna and Eumelan. He was one of the first and a most ardent grape-breeder, working especially toward improving the quality of commercial varieties of grapes.
[193] On account of criticisms of the justice of the award, Grant returned the prize to be competed for a second time. At the second trial it went to Concord on vine characters.
[194] Sou. Agr., 2:552. 1829.
[195] In 1889 Munson sent out a grape under the name Jaeger and in 1890 he introduced the variety here described under the name Hermann Jaeger, at the same time withdrawing the former variety from further dissemination. As the first named Jaeger is apparently obsolete there seems to be no objection to shortening the name so as to conform in nomenclature with the recommendations of the American Pomological Society.