The name grape is from the French _grappe_, a bunch of grapes; from
the same root as _gripe_ or _grab_, to grasp. It is one of the most
valuable fruits, not only because of its use in the manufacture of
wine, and is the source also from which brandy, vinegar, and tartaric
acid are obtained, but because, both in a fresh and dried state, it
forms not a mere article of luxury, but a great part of the food of the
inhabitants of some countries.
The cultivation of the vine was introduced into England by the Romans,
and of late years its cultivation has much increased in gardens, on
the walls of suburban villas and of cottages, but chiefly for the sake
of the fresh fruit, although wine is also made in small quantities for
domestic use.
The first attempt at the culture of the vine in the United States for
wine-making was in Florida in 1564; and another was made by the British
colonist in 1620. In Delaware wine was made from native grapes as early
as 1648. In 1683 William Penn engaged in the cultivation of the vine
near Philadelphia, but with only partial success. In 1825 the Catawba
vine, a native of North Carolina, came into prominence; and it was
afterward cultivated extensively near Cincinnati by Nicholas Longworth,
who has been called the father of this culture in the United States. In
1858 the entire production of Catawba wine in Ohio amounted to 400,000
gallons. In the states east of the Rocky mountains the greatest
extent of territory in vineyards occurs in Ohio, New York, Missouri,
Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, but at present they exist
in nearly every state in the Union. Of all of the states, however,
California is the most important for vine-growing. The vineyards were
first cultivated there during the middle of the last century, the first
grape planted being the Los Angeles, which was the only one grown till
1820.
The cultivation of the vine varies much in different countries. In the
vineries of Britain the vines are carefully trained in various ways
so as most completely to cover the walls and trellises and to turn
the whole available space to the utmost account. The luxuriant growth
of the plant renders the frequent application of the pruning-knife
necessary during the summer. The bunches of grapes are generally
thinned out with great care, in order that finer fruit may be produced.
By such means, and the aid of artificial heat, grapes are produced
equal to those of the most favored climates, and the vine attains to a
large size and a great age. The famous vine at Hampton Court has a stem
more than a foot in circumference, one branch measuring one hundred and
fourteen feet in length, and has produced in one season two thousand
two hundred bunches of grapes, weighing on an average one pound each,
or in all about a ton.
* * * * *
About 250 years ago Dr. Power attributed the fly's locomotive power
to "a furry kind of substance like little sponges with which she hath
lined the soles of her feet, which substance is also repleated with a
whitish viscous liquor, which she can at pleasure squeeze out, and so
sodder and be-glue herself to the place she walks on, which otherwise
her gravity would hinder, especially when she walks in those inverted
positions." Scientific men refused to believe this explanation, and
taught that the bottom of a fly's foot resembled the leather sucker
used by boys to lift stones, and that this formation enabled it to move
back downwards. However it has been proved that Dr. Power was right in
every point but the sticky nature of the liquid that exudes from the
fly's foot. This substance is not sticky, and the attachment which it
causes is brought about by capillary attraction.