Thomas Volney Munson

Thomas Volney Munson (1843–1913), often referred to simply as T.V. Munson, was a horticulturist and breeder of grapes in Texas.

Munson was born September 26, 1843 in Astoria, Illinois, and was an 1870 graduate of the University of Kentucky. Munson moved to Denison, Texas, in April 1876 where two of his brothers had already relocated.

Munson made extensive use of native American grape species, and devoted a great deal of his life to collecting and documenting them. He released hundreds of named cultivars, though only a few remain of significance today. Though breeding for wine quality seems to have occupied a great proportion of his effort, it was his work on rootstock development that had the greatest impact on viticulture. This work provided European grape growers with phylloxera-resistant stocks, allowing them to recover from the devastating epidemic of the late 19th century while still growing the ancient "Vitis vinifera" cultivars. In honor of this work, the French government named him Chevalier du Merite Agricole of the French Legion of Honor, and Cognac, France became a sister city to Munson's home of Denison.

His book, "Foundations of American Grape Culture", published in 1909, is regarded as one of the seminal texts of grape breeding and is widely referenced even today. Grape breeder Elmer Swenson credited it with inspiring his early interest in the field.

The West Campus of Grayson County College in Denison, Texas, preserves much of Munson's work. In 1974, the T.V. Munson Memorial Vineyard was established which preserves many of his cultivars and produces stock for propagation. This was followed in 1988 with the opening of the T.V. Munson Viticulture and Enology Center, which serves as a repository for documents and other historical materials regarding Munson. It also houses research, classroom and conference facilities.

While primarily remembered as horticulturist, Munson was interested in a variety of fields, and is credited with several inventions, including a primitive helicopter.

Munson died in Denison on January 21, 1913.

See also

*List of wine personalities

Sources

* [http://www.winepros.org/wine101/history.htm Wine History]
* [http://hcs.osu.edu/hort/history/123.html History of Horticulture]
* [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmu8_print.html Handbook of Texas]

External links

* [http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=chla;cc=chla;sid=4a18779badd730e34e52e34abad35c88;q1=foundations%20of%20american%20grape%20culture;rgn=full%20text;view=image;seq=0001;idno=3070288 Full digital copy of T.V. Munson's "Foundations of American Grape Culture"]