Note 185 — Chapter V · THE LEADING VARIETIES OF AMERICAN GRAPES (continued 3)

Andrew Jackson Caywood was born near Modena, Ulster County, New York, in 1819. During his early life he was a mason and contractor and engaged in building operations in Orange and Ulster counties. When about twenty-five years of age he became interested in fruit culture and was soon one of the leading fruit-growers in his section. Caywood’s grape-breeding work appears to have started about 1850, while he still lived at Modena. In 1861 he removed to Poughkeepsie, and about 1865, what was probably his first grape, the Walter, was brought to the attention of the public. In 1877 he removed to Marlboro, where for many years he conducted a nursery business in connection with fruit raising, first under the firm name of Ferries & Caywood, and later as Caywood & Son, his son Walter having entered the business. Caywood’s last years were clouded with financial troubles and failing health. In 1889 he died at his home in Marlboro. No record is available of Caywood’s productions nor his manner of work. He appears to have differed from the grape-breeders of his day in that he produced second rather than first generation hybrids. Of these his most important productions are: Dutchess, Metternich, Nectar, Poughkeepsie, Ulster and Walter, though he raised many others, most of which were never named nor disseminated. Caywood’s years of unremitting labor in improving grapes will long make his name prominent in American viticulture.