Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/163

* GRAPE. 139 GRAPE, the Spaniards and Poilugiiese the vine was in- Iruduoecl into the Azores, the Madeira and Ca- nary Isles, and America. The lirst vines were carried to the Cape of Good Hupe by the Dutch in llioO; but while the wines of JMadcira and those of the limited district of Constantia at the Cape of Good Hope have long enjoyed a high celebrity, and those of Canary and TenerilVe have been exported in considerable quantities, it is only of late that much attention has begun to be paid to vine culture in the other parts of Cape Colony. Good wines are being made in Australia. The grape is a perennial, deciduous, woody, climbing vine, which makes itself fast to its support by strong persistent tendrils, opposite or alternate with the large angular, lobed, toothed, and generally hairy leaves. The stems are nu- merous, very long, branching, of rapid growth; and with many swollen joints; the outer bark readily splits and peels; the woody tissue abounds with vessels of large size, from which at the seasons of active vegetation the sap pours in prodigious quantity if the branch be wounded. The fruit-stalks, which are much branched modi- fied tendrils, are borne on wood of the present season's growth, opposite the leaves. The flowers are small, greenish-white, and fragrant. The fruit is a round or oval berry, two-cel-led, and four-seeded, which varies in size from about one- fourth of an inch in diameter, as in the Corinth or 'currant' grape, to nearh- an inch in some of the improved American varieties. The color, which is entirely in the outer skin, may be green, red, yellow, purple, or in some cases variegated. Although the pulp of the grape is wholesome, nutritious, and gently laxative, the skin is as- tringent and indigestible. Some of the ovules nia.y be abortive, or even all of them in the fruit of old vines of some varieties, as in the seedless Asealon or Sultana raisin. The stems sometimes reach a diameter of 18 inches, and the wood, which is very hard and durable, is occasionally employed in making furniture, statues, etc. It attains also a very great age; specimens may remain fruitful for 300 or 400 years. In the Old World Vitis vinifera is the basis of all viticultural interests; in America several native species and hybrids between them and Vitis vinifera are utilized. The grape upon which the vineyards of the Eastern United States are founded is one of the contributions of that region to the economic plants of the world. All early attempts at viticulture were based upon the Old World grapes. As early as 1021 an unsuccessful attempt was made to introduce the European vine into Virginia, and from that time forward numerous other attempts were made. The undertaking of John J. Dufour in 1798 is especially worthy of note. But. like all other undertakings in which European vines were used, Dufour's "Kentucky Vineyard Society," with $10,000 capital, was unsuccessful, although great care was exercised in the execution of every detail in the work. Later, a partial success came as a result of the introduction of the so- called 'cape grape,' which is now known to have been an offshoot from the fox grape (Vitis lahrus- crt). True success came with the introduction by John .Adlum of the Catairhn, 'the first trulv ■ American grape.' This variety ranks foremost among the wine and table grapes of the North- eastern United States. The success of grape cul- VOL. IX.— 10. ture in the Eastern L nitcd States has grown re- markably since 1800, and has reached its greatest perfection, both as regards methods of culture and marketing, in New York, New .lersey, Ohio, .Maryland, and Virginia, where thousands of acres are devoted to the cultivation of table grapes, although there is a considerable output of wine and brandy in each locality. In the East the end sought is dessert fruit; in the A"est, wine and raisins. The early Spanish and French missionaries jilauled the Euroi)ean vine (m tlu' Pacilie sIojh;. ilere the conditions are more congenial than in the Eastern States, and the industry has nour- ished from the beginning. Willi l.lic exception of the famous vineries of Europe, California leads in the production of wine and raisins from 'i'itis vinifera. The largest vineyards in the world are to be found there, and the output of raisins has so increased that the importation of the fruit has greatly diminished, despite the enormous increase in the country's population. Until 1820 the Mission variety was the only European vine planted in Western America, but the list has increased to more than fifty varieties, including those most prized in Europe. The repeated failures with the European grape in Eastern America were due not so much to the climate, as to the ravages of the phylloxera, which found a congenial and very susceptible food plant in the introduced vines Native vines are alile to resist its attacks, but the European vines possess no such power, and when this i)est was acci- dentally transported to France on some native American vines it spread havoc among Euro- pean vineyards. It was even thought that vine culture in Europe was doomed. Little wonder that varieties failed in the Eastern United .States. A remedy was hard to find, but the interest of the French Government in rescuing from destruc- tion its great vineyards and wineries stimulated research, which led to the utilization of the resistant American vines as stocks upon which to graft the European vine, even in its native clime. The success of this plan is evident from the fact that the most remunerative vineyards of Europe have roots of American species. The wine and raisin industry of the United States is being rapidly extended ; and numerous successful experiments have been conducted in the South- eastern United States with the European vines grafted upon resistant American stocks. Vine culture varies greatly in different coun- tries. Success seems to depend chiefly upon sunny exposure, congenial soil, control of dis- eases, intelligent manuring, and cultivation. New varieties are grown from seed, but the ordinary mode of propagation is by cuttings. The cuttings are made during the dormant period, preferably in the autumn, from ripe wood of the past season's growth, and usually carrying two or three buds. These .are heeled in or buried until the following spring, when they are set in nursery rows; one year later the young plants are ready for planting in the vineyard, A soil of medium fertility and gravelly texture is pre- ferred; but certain varieties will thrive upon light soils, others upon hea'y, if not too wet. Vines will endvire more moisture than most other fruit-bearing plants, yet they must have drained land to give the best results. The grape is U'^ually set in the vineyard at one year from the cutting, 8X8 feet or 8X10 feet being the popular