D.C. Paschke

The late D.C. Paschke of North East, PA started as a technician for Cornell grape breeder Fred Gladwin. This was before WWI. When he left Gladwin to go out on his own, he collected grape varieties from every breeding program in north America over the years. He worked with grapes for over 80 years. I went to visit him when he was about 98, and took these pictures.

They are clusters of a numbered grape from Vineland, Ontario that were over 30 inches long, with very large berries. The berries were the size of Alden, for those who know that variety. The clusters were so large a single vine couldn't carry more than five or six of them. They were neutral and were supposed to make a fair wine. I have a list of the number somewhere, but am hoping someone on the list might know what I mean.

I should add that D.C. made his money on chrysanthemums and his place was (and still is) known as Mums By Paschke.

-Lon Rombough