344 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



As agriculture becomes more diversified in the south, when cotton 

 and tobacco no longer hold complete sway, the varieties of Vitis aestivalis 

 and its two sub-species will become important agricultural assets. 



The north, too, has a wine grape from which wines of their types 

 nearly equalling those of the southern aestivalis are made. This is Vitis 

 riparia, the river grape, 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 Kocky 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 riparias 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 it could be overcome by grafting the European 

 grapes on American vines resistant to the phylloxers. A trial of the 

 promising species of New World grapes showed that the vines of Vitis 

 riparia were best suited for the reconstruction of French vineyards, 

 being not only resistant to the phylloxera, but also vigorous and hardy. 

 It is interesting to note that 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 upon these grapes. 



The French found that a number of the riparia grapes introduced 

 for their roots were valuable as direct producers for wines. The fruits 

 of Vitis riparia 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 origi- 

 nated 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 Vitis riparia, 

 most of them hybrids with the American labrusca and the European 

 vinifera, with both of which it hybridizes freely. 



A curious fact in the domestication of all these species is that they 

 did not come under cultivation until forms of them striking in value 

 had been found. Catawba, representing the labrusca grapes ; the Scup- 

 pernong, the rotundifolias ; Norton from Vitis aestivalis; the Delaware 

 and Herbemont from the Bourquiniana grapes ; and Clinton from Vitis 

 riparia, are, after a century scarcely excelled, though in each species 

 there are many new varieties. It is with grapes as with all fruits ; the 

 majority of the best varieties originate by chance and for the reason 

 that a prodigious number of natural seedlings, pure or cross-bred, arise, 

 and natural selection, while wasteful, is wonderfully effective. 



