The son of a Swiss farmer and merchant by the name of Herman Jaegar, found his way to Newton County near Neosho in 1865 when he was a young man. He was formally educated in Switzerland until he was 16, and then gained experience working in a wine house. It’s these experiences that would lead to his success.
After acquiring a 40-acre farm in southwest Missouri, his brother, John, did the same. The brothers combined their properties, and the first grape vines were planted.
According to Missouri Encyclopedia, Jaeger experimented with grafting eastern varieties of grapes, such as the Concord and Virginia, onto the rootstock of wild native grapes that grew in the area. Grafting is a form of grapevine propagation in which a new grapevine is produced after cutting into the rootstock, and then cuttings from a separate plant are fitted into the rootstock cuts.
At first, the grafting was unsuccessful and led to a downy mildew fungus that threatened the vineyard. Jaeger experimented with a solution of sulfur, copper sulfate, and iron sulfate, to control the fungal disease. This experience was one that credited him as the pioneer of spraying crops to prevent and treat crop disease.
Jaeger’s developments focused primarily on creating hardy disease-resistant hybrid varieties of American grapes. He shared this information throughout the world of grape experts and scientific journals.
During the 1870s, a blight of phylloxera, a grape louse, ravaged the vineyards of France. Jaeger, an expert in raising pest-resistant vines during this time, sent 17 boxcars of the resistant rootstock to France to use in their own grafts. This act helped save the grape and wine industry in France.
Source: fourstateshomepage.com
Photo Credit: GettyImages-willhowecreative
Categories: Missouri, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables