Thomas V. Munson
Thomas Volney Munson—and the art of observation
People who garden, and appreciate the landscape that surrounds them, have one significant trait in common. They become great observers. They note their gardening actions and wait for, and register—whether in written form, by photograph, or simply by cognition, the perceived reactions that take place.
In April of 1876, Thomas Volney Munson, a master of observation moved his family from Nebraska, to the Red River town of Denison to escape the adverse weather of the plains and to join his brothers in their business endeavors. William Benjamin and J.T. Munson found Denison a growing community of opportunity. Their business ventures in real estate and insurance were successful. Thomas Munson, found Denison to be his horticultural Shangri-La.
The young T.V. Munson was a learned man, graduating from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where he taught Science in 1870-71. His field of interest was botany and horticulture, but his passion was grapes. Early in his career he declare the grape to be “the most wholesome and nutritious, most certain and profitable fruit that can be grown.” He found the sandy soils along the Red River and the black clay soils of the Cross Timbers to be a botanical crossroads of the very plant that piqued his love of horticulture. Being a master of observation, North Central Texas was his outdoor laboratory. He noted the biodiversity of the area and began to collect and catalogue plants. In the years that followed, Mr. Munson traveled extensively, using the newly established railroad system as his main source of transportation.
By 1885, his collection of American grapes was so extensive, he was asked by the American Horticulture Society to exhibit his glass framed herbarium and potted specimens of every known species of American grape at their New Orleans Exposition. His body of work soon became the definitive reference for the horticulture world. In 1893, he exhibited his grape collection at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition.
History best recognizes Mr. Munson for his research efforts that are credited for saving the French wine industry. His early work with Denison area grapes focused on their natural resistance, by species, to known diseases and insect pests. It was that facet of his work, highly respected by his grape growing peers that fostered growers in France to request grape hybrid rootstock for grafting purposes. The rootstock was found to be resistant to the disease issues plaguing the European vineyards. Economic disaster was evaded. In 1888, the French government sent a delegation to Denison to confer him the French Legion of Honor.
T.V. Munson continued to live in Denison until his death on January 21, 1913. His works—and observations continue to be a standard in modern horticulture. Now, almost 100 years after his death, Grayson Community College maintains the Thomas Volney Munson Memorial Vineyard, where visitors can see living examples of his work. Should you visit the vineyard, you might observe a single rosebush growing at the end of each row of trellised grapevines. Munson noticed that certain varieties of roses displayed powdery mildew, shortly before the fungal disease appeared on grape vines, alerting him to the need for attending the grapes. It is just one of his observations.