Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/260

Rh 238 VINE encircling the ovary. The seeds or grape stones are some what club-shaped, with a narrow neck-like portion beneath, which expands into a rounded and thickened portion above. On the inner or central side of the seed is a ridge bounded on either side by a shallow groove. This ridge indicates the point of union of the &quot; raphe &quot; or seed-stalk with the seed ; it serves to distinguish the varieties of V. vinifera from those of other species. In the true vines the neck of the seed is much longer than in the American vines, and the ridge or &quot; chalaza &quot; occupies the upper half of the seed, not the middle portion, as in the American kinds. In endeavouring to trace the filiation and affinities of the vine, the characters afforded by the seed are spe cially valuable, because they have not been wittingly inter fered with by human agency. Characters derived from the size, colour, or flavour of the berry are of less value for historical or genealogical purposes than those which are the outcome of purely natural conditions. The native country of the European vine is considered to be the region south of the Caspian. From this pre sumed centre it has spread eastwards into Central Asia and westwards to both sides of the Mediterranean, Central Europe, and as far north as Belgium (Planchon). Hegel has propounded the notion that the cultivated vine origin ated as a hybrid between V. vulpina and V. Labrusca, both North-American species ; but he offers little evidence in support of his opinion, which has not received the assent of botanists generally. It is interesting to note that grape stones have been found with mummies in Egyptian tombs of not later age than 3000 years. The seeds, according to Engelmann, have the characteristics of those of V. vinifera, but show some very slight variations from the type of seed now prevalent. Among the Greeks in the time of Homer wine was in general use. The cul tivation of the vine must also have been introduced into Italy at a very early period. In Virgil s time the varieties in cultivation seem to have been exceedingly numerous ; and the varied methods of training and culture now in use in Italy are in many cases identical with those described by Columella and other Roman writers (comp. HORTICULTURE, vol. xii. pp. 223, 277). Grape stones have been found among the remains of Swiss and Italian lake dwellings of the Bronze period, and others in tufaceous volcanic deposits near Montpellier, not long before the historic era. The vine requires a high summer temperature and a prolonged period in which to ripen its fruit. Where these are forthcoming, it can be profitably cultivated, even though the winter temperature be very low. Tchihatchef mentions that at Erivan in Russian Armenia the mean winter temperature is 7 l C. and falls in January to - 30 C., and at Bokhara the mean temperature of January is 4 C. and the minimum - 22 C., and yet at both places the vine is grown with success. In the Alps it is profit ably cultivated up to an altitude of 1870 feet, and in the north of Piedmont as high as 3180 feet. At the present time the limit of profitable cultivation in Europe passes from Brittany, lat. 47 30, to beyond the Rhine by Liege and through Thuringia to Silesia in lat. 51 55 (Grise- bach). In former centuries vines were cultivated to the north of this region, as, for instance, in Holland, in Bel gium largely, and in England, where they might still be grown. Indeed experiments have lately been made in this direction near Cardiff in South Wales. The yield is satisfactory and the wine made, the variety known as Camay noir, is described as being like still champagne. In the Middle Ages, owing to various causes, the better wines of France and Germany could not be obtained in England except at prohibitive prices ; but, when this .state of things ceased and foreign wine could be imported, the English consumers would no longer tolerate the in ferior productions of their own vineyards. It is also prob able that the English mixed sugar or honey with the wine and thus supplied artificially that sweetness which the English sun denied. It is a curious fact that at the present day much or even most of the wine of finest quality is made at or near to the northern limits of possible cultivation with profit. This circumstance is probably explained by the greater care and attention bestowed both on the cultivation of the vine and on the manufacture of the wine in northern countries than in those where the climate is more propitious. The relative inferiority of the wines made at the Cape of Good Hope and in Australia is partly due to variations of climate, the vine not yet having adapted itself to the new conditions, and partly to the deficient skill of the manufacturers. That such inferi ority may be expected to disappear is suggested by the success of vine-culture in Madeira and the Canary Islands. The development of other species of Vitis, such as the curious succulent species of the Soudan and other parts of equatorial Africa, or the numerous kinds in India and Cochin China, is of course possible under suitable con ditions ; but it is obvious that an extremely long period must elapse before they can successfully compete with the product of many centuries. For currants and raisins, both produced by varieties of the grape-vine, see the respective articles. Apart from their economic value, vines are often culti vated for purely ornamental purposes, owing to the elegance of their foliage, the rich coloration they assume, the shade they afford, and their hardihood. (M. T. M.) DISEASES OF VINES. The organic diseases which affect the vine may be divided into two categories, those caused by insects and those caused by para sitic fungi. Diseases Caused by Insects. Kaltenbach in 1874 enumerated Insect thirty-two species of insects which injure the vine ; and since then enemies, others have been added to the list. We here deal only with the most important. Amongst those which attack the leaves and young buds a small beetle, Anomala vitis, one of the Scarabnsidaz, does great harm in some parts of southern Europe by devouring the soft tissue of the leaves. A genus of weevils, Otiorhynchus, contains several species which are injurious to the vine, chiefly by the adult beetle devouring the buds. 0. raucus, hirticornis, picipcs, nigritus, ligustici, and sulcatus are all reported from various places as doing much damage ; the larva of the last-mentioned species attacks the roots of the vine, causing the shoots to be small and ultimately bringing about the death of the plant. Fortunately the members of this genus have no wings, so that the damage they cause is to a great extent localized. The same kind of injury is caused by a small Chrysomeleous beetle, Eumolpus vitis. The larvse of several Lcpidoptcra attack the vine in the same way, destroying the young buds. Amongst these Nsenia typica, Agrotis tritici, and A. pronuba may be mentioned. The larva of Tortrix pillcriana in the early spring weaves the young vine leaves to gether, and, enclosed in this nest, devours the soft tissue at leisure. The imago emerges from the chrysalis in July and shortly after lays its eggs upon tlie upper surface of the vine leaf. After a few weeks the caterpillars emerge and continue their work of destruction. Lethrus cephalotcs, one of the Scarabeeidtv, is very injurious in vineyards which have a dry sandy soil. The beetles live in pairs in holes in the ground ; during the summer the beetle bites off the small young shoots and drags them away to its hole, where it is believed they serve as food for the larva 1 ,. In this way very serious damage is caused to the vine plants. Rhy-iichitcs betulcti, a weevil, also does much damage to the young shoots and leaves. The grapes are attacked by the caterpillar of a moth, Conchylis ambiguella, which lays its egg in the young fruit ; and in a similar way the larva of Graptolitha (Conchylis) botrana attacks the flowers and fruit. The larva of the cockchafer, Mclolontha vulgaris, also does much damage by biting through and devouring the roots. Coccus vitis is a small scale insect of reddish brown colour, with irregular black spots in the female, which lives in the bark of old or neglected vines and weakens the tree. By far the most destructive of all insect pests which attack the Phyllo- cultivated vine is Phylloxera vastatrix. This much-dreaded insect xcra. belongs to the family Aphidse, or plant lice of the order Ilemiptera. The genus contains several species which live upon oak trees. Their proper home is in North America ; but they have been found