[196] James H. Ricketts was born in Oldbridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in 1830, the family moving to Indiana while Ricketts was still a child. When a young man Ricketts learned the trade of bookbinding in Cincinnati and later practiced this art in New York City. In 1857 he established a bookbinding business at Newburgh, New York; here he became interested in raising fruit, devoting to it such time as could be be spared from his business. In 1861 he started his work in grape improvement, reading all the books then published on this subject in order to prepare himself to carry on the work intelligently. His first production was Raritan which he says he thought not much improvement. In 1862, he built a glass house in order that he might have Vinifera vines for crossing with natives outside. His first production of foreign cross-breeds was the Charles Downing, now known as Downing.
Ricketts produced many hundred seedlings, and for ten or twelve years exhibited them at various fairs, horticultural society meetings and other places, where their magnificent appearance and fine flavor attracted universal and favorable attention and made him the recipient of many medals and prizes. Unfortunately Ricketts, like many other American grape-breeders, fell into financial difficulties, and in 1877 lost his vineyard and home by foreclosure. In 1888, he moved to Washington, D. C., to work at his trade but has again started to improve grapes and is now growing a number of new varieties which will probably be shown to the public in the near future.
Ricketts’ seedlings are characterized by a large size of bunch and berry, and by high quality. Unfortunately it has been the experience of growers in nearly all grape regions that the vine characters of his varieties are not equal to those of the fruit, the vines being subject to mildew and other Vinifera weaknesses. However, Ricketts produced magnificent specimens of his grapes, year after year, under conditions which every one admits were less favorable than those of the average grape-grower. The secret of his success seems never to have been discovered. This anomaly is so striking that Campbell did not hesitate to suggest that the fault was with the American grape-grower rather than with Ricketts’ grapes or the location of the vineyard. The best known of his varieties are: Advance, Bacchus, Don Juan, Downing, Eldorado, Empire State, Highland, Jefferson, Lady Washington and Secretary. Besides these he produced many others, some of which were named but many of which were known only under numbers.
[197] Amer. Farmer, 11:237, 412. 1829-30.
[198] The illustrations in The Grapes of New York, unless otherwise mentioned, are life-size; but it must be remembered that when objects having three dimensions are reproduced on a flat surface there is seemingly a considerable reduction in size. Allowance should be made for this illusion in comparing fruit with illustration.
[199] Bush. Cat., 1883:120.