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The Rural Manuals
EDITED BY L. H. BAILEY
MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING
The Rural Manuals
EDITED BY L. H. BAILEY
MANUAL OF GARDENING--_Bailey_
MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS--_Harper_
FARM AND GARDEN RULE-BOOK--_Bailey_
MANUAL OF FRUIT INSECTS--_Slingerland and Crosby_
MANUAL OF WEEDS--_Georgia_
THE PRUNING-MANUAL--_Bailey_
MANUAL OF FRUIT DISEASES--_Hesler and Whetzel_
MANUAL OF MILK PRODUCTS--_Stocking_
MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS--_Crosby
and Leonard_
MANUAL OF TREE DISEASES--_Rankin_
MANUAL OF HOME-MAKING--_Van Rensselaer, Rose,
and Canon_
MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING--_Hedrick_
MANUAL OF
AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING
BY
U. P. HEDRICK
HORTICULTURIST OF THE NEW YORK AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1919
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1919,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Setup and electrotyped. Published June, 1919.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
PREFACE
Seventy-nine books on grapes enrich the pomology of North America, not
counting numerous state and national publications. Pomological writers
in America have been partial to the grape, for other fruits do not
fare nearly so well. Twenty-two books are devoted to the strawberry,
fourteen to the apple, to the peach nine, cranberry eight, plum five,
pear nine, quince two, loganberry one, while the cherry, raspberry,
and blackberry are not once separated from other fruits in special
books. Thus, though a comparative newcomer among the fruits of the
country, the grape has been singled out for a treatise more times than
all other fruits of temperate climates combined--seventy-nine books on
the grape, seventy on all other fruits.
This statement of partiality does not lead to an apology for a new
book on the grape. There is urgent need for a new book. But three of
the seventy-nine treatises on this fruit are contemporary, and all but
one, a handbook on training, are records from vanished minds. Methods
change so rapidly and varieties multiply so fast, that to keep pace
there must be new books on fruits every few years. Besides, the types
of grapes are so diverse, and different soils, climates, and
treatments produce such widely dissimilar results, that many books are
required to do justice to this fruit--the vineyard should be seen
through many eyes.
Commercial grape-growing is now a great industry in America, and
deserves a treatise or its own. But there are also many demands for
information on grape-growing by those who grow fruits for pleasure,
especially by those who are escaping from cities to suburban homes,
for the grape is a favorite fruit of the amateur. And so, though
Pleasure and Profit are a hard team to drive together, this manual is
written for both commercial and amateur grape-growers.
In particular, the needs of the amateur are recognized in the chapter
on varieties, where many sorts are described which have little or no
commercial value. No other fruit offers the enchantment of novelty to
be found in the grape. Alluring flavors, sizes, and colors abound, of
which the amateur wants samples. The commercial grower who plants but
one variety often finds himself dissatisfied with the humdrum of the
business. He should emulate the amateur and plant more kinds, if only
for pleasure, remembering the adage, "No profit grows where is no
pleasure ta'en." Greater pleasure in grape-growing, then, is offered
as the justification of the long chapter on varieties.
At the risk of too broad spreading, the author discusses, in a book
mainly devoted to native grapes, the culture of European grapes in the
far West. The chief aim is, of course, to set forth information that
will be helpful to growers of these grapes in the western states,
there being no treatises to which western growers can refer, other
than bulletins from state and national agricultural institutions.
There is, however, another reason for attempting to cover the whole
field of grape-growing in America. It is certain that eastern
grape-growers will sometime grow European grapes. Western vineyards
might well be enlarged with plantings of native grapes. On the
supposition, then, that the culture of both European and native grapes
is to become less and less restricted in America, the author has
ventured to discuss the culture of all grapes for all parts of North
America.
In the preparation of this manual, the author's "The Grapes of New
York," a book long out of print and never widely distributed, has been
laid under heavy contribution, especially in the description of
varieties. Acknowledgments are due to F. Z. Hartzell for reading the
chapter on Grape Pests and their Control and for furnishing most of
the photographs used in making illustrations of insects and fungi; to
F. E. Gladwin for similar help in preparing the two chapters on
pruning and training the grape in eastern America; to Frederic T.
Bioletti for permission to republish from a bulletin written by him
from the Agricultural Experiment Station of California almost the
whole chapter on Grape Pruning on the Pacific Slope; and to O. M.
Taylor and to R. D. Anthony for very material assistance in reading
the manuscript and proofs.
U. P. HEDRICK.
GENEVA, N. Y.,
Jan. 1, 1919.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE DOMESTICATION OF THE GRAPE 1
II GRAPE REGIONS AND THEIR DETERMINANTS 16
III PROPAGATION 36
IV STOCKS AND RESISTANT VINES 61
V THE VINEYARD AND ITS MANAGEMENT 73
VI FERTILIZERS FOR GRAPES 97
VII PRUNING THE GRAPE IN EASTERN AMERICA 108
VIII TRAINING THE GRAPE IN EASTERN AMERICA 123
IX GRAPE-PRUNING ON THE PACIFIC COAST 150
X EUROPEAN GRAPES IN EASTERN AMERICA 184
XI GRAPES UNDER GLASS 192
XII GRAPE PESTS AND THEIR CONTROL 204
XIII MARKETING GRAPES 230
XIV GRAPE PRODUCTS 250
XV GRAPE BREEDING 273
XVI MISCELLANIES 284
XVII GRAPE BOTANY 300
XVIII VARIETIES OF GRAPES 330
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
PLATE PAGE
I. Two views of vineyards in California; a vineyard
in the orchard region of central California, and
a vineyard in southern California 14
II. Fitting the land for planting 34
III. Cover-crop; cow-horn turnips, and rye 48
IV. A well-tilled vineyard of Concords 60
V. Vinifera grapes grown out of doors in New York;
Malvasia and Chasselas Golden 72
VI. Black Hamburg 82
VII. Barry. Delaware 96
VIII. Brighton 106
IX. Campbell Early 114
X. Clinton 122
XI. Concord 138
XII. Diana 148
XIII. Dutchess 164
XIV. Eaton 182
XV. Eclipse 190
XVI. Elvira 202
XVII. Empire State 218
XVIII. Herbert 228
XIX. Iona 248
XX. Isabella 272
XXI. Jefferson 282
XXII. Lindley. Lucile 298
XXIII. Lutie. Pocklington 328
XXIV. Moore Early 340
XXV. Muscat Hamburg 350
XXVI. Niagara 360
XXVII. Salem 370
XXVIII. Triumph 380
XXIX. Vergennes 390
XXX. Winchell 400
XXXI. Worden 416
XXXII. Wyoming 432
FIGURES IN THE TEXT
FIGURE
1. A shoot of _Vitis vinifera_ 3
2. A shoot of _Vitis Labrusca_ 6
3. A shoot of _Vitis rotundifolia_ 10
4. A shoot of _Vitis aestivalis_ 12
5. A shoot of _Vitis vulpina_ 14
6. Planting cuttings 40
7. A cutting beginning growth 40
8. Cutting off the trunk 46
9. Cutting the cleft 47
10. Inserting the cion 47
11. The completed graft 47
12. Bench-grafted cuttings of grape, showing the
cleft-graft and the whip-graft. (Adapted from
Husmann) 51
13. Vine ready for pruning 113
14. A "go-devil" for collecting prunings 119
15. A trellis and a common method of bracing end posts 120
16. Chautauqua training; vine ready to prune 127
17. Keuka method of training 130
18. Single-stem four-cane Kniffin training 133
19. Umbrella method of training 134
20. Two-trunk Kniffin training 135
21. Rotundifolia vines trained by the overhead method 144
22. A Rotundifolia vine trained by the 6-arm renewal
method 145
23. Forms of head pruning 154
24. Forms of head pruning 155
25. Head pruning: fan-shaped head; fruit canes tied
to horizontal trellis 156
26. Single vertical cordon with fruit-spurs 157
27. Unilateral horizontal cordon with fruit-spurs 158
28. Three-year-old vine ready for pruning 169
29. Vine of Fig. 28 after pruning for vase-formed head 169
30. Three-year-old vines: A, pruned for a vase-formed,
and B, for a fan-shaped head 170
31. Four-year-old vine pruned for vase-formed head 171
32. Four-year-old vine pruned for high vase-formed head 172
33. Fan-shaped vines: A, before pruning; B, after
pruning 173
34. Vertical cordon, young vine pruned 176
35. Unilateral horizontal cordon with half-long pruning 177
36. Leaf-galls of the phylloxera 205
37. The grape root-worm 207
38. Root-worm beetle 207
39. Injuries caused by beetles of the grape root-worm 207
40. Eggs of grape-vine flea-beetle 209
41. First four stages of the grape leaf-hopper 212
42. The fifth and the mature stages of the grape
leaf-hopper 212
43. A bunch of grapes despoiled by the grape-berry moth 214
44. Work of black-rot of the grape 219
45. Grapes attacked by downy-mildew 221
46. Packing grapes on a packing-table 234
47. Climax baskets in two sizes 236
48. William Robert Prince 274
49. E. S. Rogers 275
50. T. V. Munson 277
51. Staminate and perfect flower clusters on one vine 285
52. Ringing grape-vines; showing tools for ringing and
ringed vines 292
53. A grape flower; showing the opening cap and stamens 305
54. Grape flowers; showing upright and depressed stamens 306
MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING
CHAPTER I
THE DOMESTICATION OF THE GRAPE
The domestication of an animal or a plant is a milestone in the
advance of agriculture and so becomes of interest to every human
being. But, more particularly, the materials, the events and the men
who direct the work of domestication are of interest to those who
breed and care for animals and plants; the grape-grower should find
much profit in the story of the domestication of the grape. What was
the raw material of a fruit known since the beginning of agriculture
and wherever temperate fruits are grown? How has this material been
fashioned into use? Who were the originative and who the directive
agents? These are fundamental questions in the improvement of the
grape, answers to which will also throw much light on the culture of
it.
Botanists number from forty to sixty species of grapes in the world.
These are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, all but a few
being found in temperate countries. Thus, more than half of the named
species come from the United States and Canada, while nearly all of
the others are from China and Japan, with but one species certainly
growing wild in southwestern Asia and bordering parts of Europe. All
true grapes have more or less edible fruits, and of the twenty or more
species grown in the New World more than half have been or are being
domesticated. Of the Old World grapes, only one species is cultivated
for fruit, but this, of all grapes, is of greatest economic importance
and, therefore, deserves first consideration.
THE EUROPEAN GRAPE
The European grape, _Vitis vinifera_ (Fig. 1), is the grape of ancient
and modern agriculture. It is the vine which Noah planted after the
Deluge; the vine of Israel and of the Promised Land; the vine of the
parables in the New Testament. It is the grape and the vine of the
myths, fables, poetry and prose of all peoples. It is the grape from
which the wines of the world are made. From it come the raisins of the
world. It is the chief agricultural crop of southern Europe and
northern Africa and of vast regions in other parts of the world,
having followed civilized man from place to place in all temperate
climates. The European grape has so impressed itself on the human mind
that when one thinks or speaks of the grape, or of the vine, it is
this Old World species, the vine of antiquity, that presents itself.
The written records of the cultivation of the European grape go back
five or six thousand years. The ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks
and Romans grew the vine and made wine from its fruit. Grape seeds
have been found in the remains of European peoples of prehistoric
times, showing that primitive men enlivened their scanty fare with
wild grapes. Cultivation of the grape in the Old World probably began
in the region about the Caspian Sea where the vine has always run
wild. We have proof of the great antiquity of the grape in Egypt, for
its seeds are found entombed with the oldest mummies. Probably the
Phoenicians, the earliest navigators on the Mediterranean, carried the
grape from Egypt and Syria to Greece, Rome and other countries
bordering on this sea. The domestication of the grape was far advanced
in Christ's time, for Pliny, writing then, describes ninety-one kinds
of grapes and fifty kinds of wine.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. A shoot of _Vitis vinifera_.]
It can never be known exactly when the European grape came under
cultivation. There is no word as to what were the methods and
processes of domestication, and whose the minds and hands that
remodeled the wild grape of Europe into the grape of the vineyards.
The Old World grape was domesticated long before the faint traditions
which have been transmitted to our day could possibly have arisen. For
knowledge of how wild species of this fruit have been and may be
brought under cultivation, we must turn to New World records.
AMERICAN GRAPES
Few other plants in the New World grow wild under such varied
conditions and over such extended areas as the grape. Wild grapes are
found in the warmer parts of New Brunswick; on the shores of the Great
Lakes; everywhere in the woodlands of the North and Middle Atlantic
states; on the limestone soils of Kentucky, Tennessee and the
Virginias; and they thrive in the sandy woods, sea plains and
reef-keys of the South Atlantic and Gulf states. While not so common
west of the Mississippi, yet some kind of wild grape is found from
North Dakota to Texas; grapes grow on the mountains and in the canons
of all the Rocky Mountain states; and several species thrive on the
Mexican borders and in the far Southwest.
While it is possible that all American grapes have descended from an
original species, the types are now as diverse as the regions they
inhabit. The wild grapes of the forests have long slender trunks and
branches, whereby their leaves are better exposed to the sunlight. Two
shrubby species do not attain a greater height than four or five feet;
these grow in sandy soils, or among rocks exposed to sun and air.
Another runs on the ground and bears foliage almost evergreen. The
stem of one species attains a diameter of a foot, bearing its foliage
in a great canopy. From this giant form the species vary to slender,
graceful, climbing vines. Wild grapes are as varied in climatic
adaptations as in structure of vine and grow luxuriantly in every
condition of heat or cold, wetness or dryness, capable of supporting
fruit-culture in America. So many of the kinds have horticultural
possibilities that it seems certain that some grape can be
domesticated in all of the agricultural regions of the country, their
natural plasticity indicating, even if it were not known from
experience, that all can be domesticated.
Leif the Lucky, the first European to visit America, if the Icelandic
records are true, christened the new land Wineland. It has been
supposed that this designation was given for the grapes, but recent
investigations show that the fruits were probably mountain
cranberries. Captain John Hawkins, who visited the Spanish settlements
in Florida in 1565, mentions wild grapes among the resources of the
New World. Amadas and Barlowe, sent out by Raleigh in 1584, describe
the coasts of the Carolinas as, "so full of grapes that in all the
world like abundance cannot be found." Captain John Smith, writing in
1606, describes the grapes of Virginia and recommends the culture of
the vine as an industry for the newly founded colony. Few, indeed, are
the explorers of the Atlantic seaboard who do not mention grapes among
the plants of the country. Yet none saw intrinsic value in these wild
vines. To the Europeans, the grapes of the Old World alone were worth
cultivating, and the vines growing everywhere in America only
suggested that the grape they had known across the sea might be grown
in the new home.
That American viticulture must depend on the native species for its
varieties began to be recognized at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when several large companies engaged in growing foreign
grapes failed, and a meritorious native grape made its appearance. The
vine of promise was a variety known as the Alexander. Thomas
Jefferson, ever alert for the agricultural welfare of the nation,
writing in 1809 to John Adlum, one of the first experimenters with an
American species, voiced the sentiment of grape experimenters in
speaking of the Alexander: "I think it will be well to push the
culture of this grape without losing time and efforts in the search
of foreign vines, which it will take centuries to adapt to our soil
and climate."
[Illustration: FIG. 2. A shoot of _Vitis Labrusca_.]
Alexander is an offshoot of the common fox-grape, _Vitis Labrusca_
(Fig. 2), found in the woods on the Atlantic coast from Maine to
Georgia and occasionally in the Mississippi Valley. The history of the
variety dates back to before the Revolutionary War, when, according
to William Bartram, the Quaker botanist, it was found growing in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, by John Alexander, gardener to Governor Penn
of Pennsylvania. Curiously enough, it came into general cultivation
through the deception of a nurseryman. Peter Legaux, a French-American
grape-grower, in 1801 sold the Kentucky Vineyard Society fifteen
hundred grape cuttings which he said had been taken from an European
grape introduced from the Cape of Good Hope, therefore called the
"Cape" grape. Legaux's grape turned out to be the Alexander. In the
new home the spurious Cape grew wonderfully well and as the knowledge
of its fruitfulness in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana spread, demand for
it increased, and with remarkable rapidity, considering the time, it
came into general cultivation in the parts of the United States then
settled.
_The Labrusca or fox-grapes._
Of the several species of American grapes now under cultivation, the
Labrusca, first represented by the Alexander, has furnished more
cultivated varieties than all the other American species together, no
less than five hundred of its varieties having been grown in the
vineyards of the country. There are several reasons why it is the most
generally cultivated species. It is native to the parts of the United
States in which agriculture soonest advanced to a state where fruits
were desired. In the wild, the Labruscas are the most attractive,
being largest and handsomest in color; among all grapes it alone shows
black-, white- and red-fruited forms on wild vines. There is a
northern and a southern form of the species, and its varieties are,
therefore, widely adapted to climates and to soils. The flavor of the
fruits of this species, all things considered, is rather better than
that of any other of our wild grapes, though the skins in most of its
varieties have a peculiar aroma, somewhat pronounced in the well-known
Concord, Niagara and Worden, which is disagreeable to tastes
accustomed to the pure flavors of the European grapes. All Labruscas
submit well to vineyard operations and are vigorous, hardy and
productive, though they are more subject to the dreaded phylloxera
than are most of the other cultivated native species. Of the many
grapes of this type, at least two deserve brief historical mention.
Catawba, probably a pure-bred Labrusca, the first American grape of
commercial importance, is the most interesting variety of its species.
The origin of the variety is not certainly known, but all evidence
points to its having been found about the year 1800 on the banks of
the Catawba River, North Carolina. It was introduced into general
cultivation by Major John Adlum, soldier of the Revolution, judge,
surveyor and author of the first American book on grapes. Adlum
maintained an experimental vineyard in the District of Columbia,
whence in 1823 he began the distribution of the Catawba. At that time
the center of American grape culture was about Cincinnati, and an
early shipment of Adlum's Catawbas went to Nicholas Longworth of that
city and was by him distributed throughout the grape-growing centers
of the country. As one of the first to test new varieties of American
grapes, to grow them largely and to make wine commercially from them,
Nicholas Longworth is known as the "father of American grape culture."
Catawba is still one of the four leading varieties in the vineyards of
eastern America. The characters whereby its high place is maintained
among grapes are: Great elasticity of constitution, by reason of which
the vine is adapted to many environments; rich flavor, long-keeping
quality, and handsome appearance of fruit, qualities which make it a
very good dessert grape; high sugar-content and a rich flavor of
juice, so that from its fruit is made a very good wine and a very good
grape-juice; and vigor, hardiness and productiveness of vine. The
characters of Catawba are readily transmissible, and it has many
pure-bred or hybrid offspring which more or less resemble it.
The second commercial grape of importance in American viticulture is
Concord, which came from the seed of a wild grape planted in the fall
of 1843 by Ephraim W. Bull, Concord, Massachusetts. The new variety
was disseminated in the spring of 1854, and from the time of its
introduction the spread of its culture was phenomenal. By 1860 it was
the leading grape in America and it so remains. Concord furnishes,
with the varieties that have sprung from it, seventy-five per cent of
the grapes grown in eastern America. The characters which distinguish
the vine are: Adaptability to various soils, fruitfulness, hardiness
and resistance to diseases and insects. The fruits are distinguished
by certainty of maturity, attractive appearance, good but not high
flavor, and by the fact that they may be produced so cheaply that no
other grape can compete with this variety in the markets. Concord is,
as Horace Greeley well denominated it in awarding the Greeley prize
for the best American grape, "the grape for the millions."
The histories of these two grapes are typical of those of five hundred
or more other Labruscas. Out of a prodigious number of native
seedlings, an occasional one is found greatly to excel its fellows and
is brought under cultivation.
_The Rotundifolia or Muscadine grapes._
Long before the northern Labruscas had attained prominence in the
vineyards of the North, a grape had been domesticated partially in the
South. It is _Vitis rotundifolia_ (Fig. 3), a species which runs riot
from the Potomac to the Gulf, thriving in many diverse soils, but
growing only in the southern climate and preferring the seacoast.
Rotundifolia grapes have been cultivated somewhat for fruit or
ornament from the earliest colonial times. It is certain that wine was
made from this species by the English settlers at Jamestown. Vines of
it are now to be found on arbors, in gardens or half wild on fences
in nearly every farm in the South Atlantic states. That the
Rotundifolias have not been more generally brought under cultivation
is due to the bountifulness of the wild vines, which has obviated the
necessity of domesticating them. The fruit of its varieties, to a
palate unaccustomed to them, is not very acceptable, having a musky
flavor and odor and a sweet, juicy pulp, which is lacking in
sprightliness. Many, however, acquire a taste for these grapes and
find them pleasant eating. The great defect of this grape is that the
berries part from the pedicels as they ripen and perfect bunches
cannot be secured. In fact, the crop is often harvested by shaking the
vines so that the berries drop on sheets beneath. Despite these
defects, a score or more varieties of this species are now under
general cultivation in the cotton-belt, and interest in their
domestication is now greater than in any other species, with great
promise for the future.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. A shoot of _Vitis rotundifolia_.]
_The AEstivalis or summer-grapes._
The South has another grape of remarkable horticultural possibilities.
This is _Vitis aestivalis_ (Fig. 4), the summer-grape or, to
distinguish it from the Rotundifolias, the bunch-grape of southern
forests. There are now a score or more well-known varieties of this
species, the best known being Norton, which probably originated with
Dr. D. N. Norton, Richmond, Virginia, in the early part of the
nineteenth century. The berries of the true AEstivalis grapes are too
small, too destitute of pulp and too tart to make good dessert fruits,
but from them are made our best native red wines. Domestication of
this species has been greatly retarded by a peculiarity of the species
which hinders its propagation. Grapes are best propagated from
cuttings, but this species is not easily reproduced by this means and
the difficulty of securing good young vines has been a serious
handicap in its culture.
There are two subspecies of _Vitis aestivalis_ which promise much for
American viticulture. _Vitis aestivalis Bourquiniana_, known only under
cultivation and of very doubtful botanical standing, furnishes
American viticulture several valuable varieties. Chief of these is the
Delaware, the introduction of which sixty years ago from the town of
Delaware, Ohio, raised the standard in quality of New World grapes to
that of Old World. No European grape has a richer or more delicate
flavor, or a more pleasing aroma, than Delaware. While a northern
grape, it can be grown in the South, and thrives under so many
different climatic and soil conditions and under all is so fruitful,
that, next to the Concord, it is the most popular American grape for
garden and vineyard. Without question, however, Delaware contains a
trace of European blood.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. A shoot of _Vitis aestivalis_.]
Another offshoot of this subspecies is Herbemont, which, in the South,
holds the same rank that Concord holds in the North. The variety is
grown only south of the Ohio, and in this great region it is esteemed
by all for a dessert grape and for its light red wine. It is one of
the few American varieties which finds favor in France, being
cultivated in southwest France as a wine-grape. Its history goes back
to a colony of French Huguenots in Georgia before the Revolutionary
War. Very similar to Herbemont is Lenoir, also with a history tracing
back to the French in the Carolinas or Georgia in the eighteenth
century.
The other subspecies of _Vitis aestivalis_ is _Vitis aestivalis
Lincecumii_, the post-oak grape of Texas and of the southern part of
the Mississippi Valley. Recently this wild grape has been brought
under domestication, and from it has been bred a number of most
promising varieties for hot and dry regions.
_The Vulpina or river-bank grapes._
The North, too, has a wine-grape from which wines nearly equaling
those of the southern AEstivalis are made. This is _Vitis vulpina_ (_V.
riparia_), the river-bank grape, a shoot of which is shown in Fig. 5,
the most widely distributed of any of the native species. It grows as
far north as Quebec, south to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic
to the Rocky Mountains. Fully a century ago, a wine-grape of this
species was cultivated under the name Worthington, but the attention
of vineyardists was not turned to the Vulpinas until after the middle
of the last century, when the qualities of its vines attracted the
attention of French viticulturists. Phylloxera had been introduced
from America into France and threatened the existence of French
vineyards. After trying all possible remedies for the scourge, it was
discovered that the insect could be overcome by grafting European
grapes on American vines resistant to phylloxera. A trial of the
promising species of New World grapes showed that vines of this
species were best suited for the reconstruction of French vineyards,
the vines being not only resistant to the phylloxera but also vigorous
and hardy. At present, a large proportion of the vines of Europe,
California and other grape-growing regions are grafted on the roots of
this or of other American species, and the viticulture of the world
is thus largely dependent on these grapes.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. A shoot of _Vitis vulpina_.]
The French found that a number of the Vulpina (Riparia) grapes
introduced for their roots were valuable as direct producers for
wines. The fruits of this species are too small and too sour for
dessert, but they are free from the disagreeable tastes and aromas of
some of our native grapes and, therefore, make very good wines. The
best known of the varieties of this species is the Clinton, which is
generally thought to have originated in the yard of Dr. Noyes, of
Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, about 1820. It is, however,
probably the Worthington, of which the origin is unknown, renamed.
There are possibly a hundred or more grapes now under cultivation
wholly or in part from Vulpina, most of them hybrids with the American
Labrusca and the European Vinifera, with both of which it hybridizes
freely.
_Domesticated species of minor importance._
In the preceding paragraphs we have seen that four species of grapes
constitute the foundation of American viticulture. Nine other species
furnish pure-bred varieties and many hybrids with the four chief
species or among themselves. These are _V. rupestris_, _V. Longii_,
_V. Champinii_, _V. Munsoniana_, _V. cordifolia_, _V. candicans_, _V.
bicolor_, _V. monticola_ and _V. Berlandieri_. Several of these nine
species are of value in the vineyard or for stocks upon which to graft
other grapes. The domestication of all of these is just begun, and
each year sees them more and more in use in the vineyards of the
country.
[Illustration: PLATE I.--Two views of vineyards in California. _Top_,
a vineyard in the orchard region of central California; _bottom_, a
vineyard in southern California.]