Plant of the Week
Concord Grape
Latin: Vitis labrusca ‘Concord’
Grape growing had a slow start in the New World. European
grapes derived from selections of Vitis vinifera that were
susceptible to cold in the northern climates and susceptible to disease in
the South. European grapes did find a niche in California, but vineyards
were not significant there until late 1800’ s.
But by lucky happenstance a resident of Concord, Massachusetts
named Ephriam W. Bull (1805-1895) raised a grape seedling in his garden that
tolerated the vagaries of the American climate. Bull planted a few native
fox grapes, Vitis labrusca, for decoration around his new home about
1840. After raising seedlings from two generations of these plants he
selected a form with large fruit he named ‘Concord.’
The Concord grape leaves a lot to be desired by modern
standards, but it is tough and dependable. The nickel size purple grapes are
thick skinned, heavily seeded and with a sweet but strong grape flavor. By
the end of the 19th century it became the most commonly planted grape in the
nation and is given credit as the first really successful grape in the
United States.
The Arkansas connection to the Concord grape involves a bad
land deal. Plantation owners in the South during the 1890’s had chronic
labor problems as people abandoned farm life and began to relocate to
industrial centers in the north and east. Sharecropping solved some of the
problems, but some large landowners worked deals to import immigrant
workers.
In 1895 and 1896 a land developer named Austin Corbin (1827 -
1896) brought immigrant labor to land he owned in Sunnyside, AR. Located on
the south end of the oxbow lake in Chico County, this hamlet was the
destination of the 200 families from around Genoa, Italy. Cotton was the
principle crop in this swampland. The hill country farmers who raised mainly
fruit crops and grew grapes found themselves in a hostile environment
growing a crop they knew nothing about.
Corbin was what Southerners would lovingly refer to as a
carpetbagger - a banker turned railroad man who made most of his fortune
running Long Island railroads. Under the agreement with Corbin’s company,
the immigrants could own their land free and clear in as little as 21 years
if they could make a go at farming.
But in 1896 Corbin died in a carriage accident. Corbin’s
death, the failure of the dredging project he had started on the swampland,
and a malaria epidemic that killed 100 people caused the Sunnyside project
to fall apart.
Father Pietro Bandini, a Catholic priest in New York, learned
of the plight of the immigrants and stepped in to help. In 1896 he arranged
for the purchase of 80 acres of land a few miles west of Springdale and
moved 40 families to the new settlement, which was named Tontitown, in honor
of the 17th century Italian soldier-explorer who traveled swamps of the
region.
The farmers quickly discovered that grapes grew well in
northwest Arkansas and began establishing vineyards of Concord and hardy
forms of wine grapes. In mid August of each year the community celebrates
its Concord Grape Festival, the first being held in 1908. The queen selected
to reign over the festivities is rightly dubbed Miss Concordia. Residents of
the area endure long lines in the hot August sun to feast on the homemade
pasta and fried chicken prepared by the legendary cooks of the community.
Concord juice can be made into a wine of the rotgut type, but
its main claim to fame has always been for grape juice and jelly. In 1922
Welch Foods learned of the Concords being grown in the area and established
a juice plant in Springdale. Until 1992, when the company sold the local
plant, area farmers grew Concords under contract with Welch’s. The juice
plant is now owned by Pappas Foods who sells grape and other fruit juice
blends.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
September 13, 2002
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