Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/171

 GRAPE 163 ___:iispheres. There is at present some con- fusion about the species, but in a horticultural view they are divided into European and American grapes. The European grape, mtis mnifera, is the species that in some of its nu- 3rous varieties is cultivated in most European European Grape (Vitis vinifera). Asiatic countries. Regel, the distinguished 1st and director of the imperial gardens St. Petersburg, has recently given the some- hat startling opinion that F. vinifera is not a true species, but a hybrid between F. la- brusca and F. milpina, both of which are na- tives of North America, Japan, Mantchooria, and the Himalaya. He bases his opinion upon the facts that the European vine is not found in a truly wild state, but only as an escape from cultivation, and that the two species sug- gested as its parents are found wild in that portion of Asia in which the cultivation of the vine originated. Whatever may have been its origin, it will continue to be known by our cultivators as the European or foreign grape. Very early in the history of America attempts ere made to cultivate the foreign grape in e open air, and these have been repeated m time to time up to the present day ; but in no instance have they met with success east of the Rocky mountains. In exceptionally fa- vorable localities, as in city yards, the foreign vine has here and there succeeded for a few years ; but in order to grow it with certainty it must have the protection of glass. Upon A he Pacific coast the case is different; the "esuit missionaries early discovered that the il and climate were adapted to the foreign ipe, and after California was settled by mericans grape culture, confined almost ex- lusively to foreign varieties, became one of the important industries of the state. (See AMERICAN "WINES.) The foreign vine is dis- tinguished from American species principally by the character of the fruit ; in the latter the we fro more or less firm pulp, which slips from the skin, while a foreign grape may be broken open with the pulp still adhering to the skin, and the seeds so free from it that they will fall out or may be readily separated. The culti- vation of the foreign grape under glass is fol- lowed to a considerable extent both as a mat- ter of luxury and of profit. Two modes of culture are practised: in the cold grapery, which is a glass house without artificial heat, and in the forcing grapery, which is heated and the vines brought into growth and fruiting at such times as are desired. For details ref- erence may be had to special treatises. Of American species of the genus mtis producing edible fruit, botanists recognize four: F. la- ~brusca, the northern fox grape; F. cestivalis, the summer grape; F. cordifolia, the frost grape; and F. vulpina, the muscadine or southern fox grape. Several grapes from west of the Mississippi have been described as dis- tinct species by some botanists, but others re- gard them as only forms of the above. The American grapes differ so much in the wild state, in form of leaf and size, shape, and color of the fruit, that it is often difficult to decide to which species a specimen should be referred ; and when they are subjected to cultivation the variation is still more strongly marked. In no branch of fruit culture has there been greater progress than in the cultivation of American grapes. Twenty-five years ago the Catawba and Isabella were the only kinds grown to any considerable extent, while at the present time the varieties are numbered by hundreds, and additions are yearly made to the list. In the article AMEKICAN WINES the leading varieties are named, and the species from which they are supposed to have originated indicated. In the vineyards of the eastern states the growing of the fruit for market is quite as important as raising it for wine, and in the wine districts the fruit is packed and shipped as table fruit so long as it will bring a price above that at which it can be profitably crushed for wine. By keeping them at a low temperature some varieties may be preserved in good condition Flower of the Grape, magnified. 1 . Young flower. 2. Vertical section of flower. 8. Flower without corolla. for several months after they are gathered. Aside from the commercial value of the grape, it is of great importance as one of the few fruits that can be conveniently produced in cities and towns. While judicious treatment seeds are enveloped and held together by a is essential to the best results, it will grow