132 viTis. 



of France by the names of lamhrusra and lainhresquicro. The wine-bearing 

 grape is successfully cultivutf'd in France as far north as latitude forty-nine 

 degrees; but in Ikitain it seldom arrives at maturity unless protected, when 

 grown in tlie open air. The most northern limit in Prussia where it can ripen, 

 is at Konigsberg, in latitude fifty-four degrees and forty-two minutes ; and even 

 at Berlin, more than two degrees farther south, the fruit is very poor. It is also 

 successfully cultivated in Hindoostan, along the borders of the Euphrates, in 

 Syria, Lower Egypt, Abyssinia, Barbary, the Azores, Madeiras, Canaries, and 

 Sandwich Islands. In South America, it is cultivated at Buenos Ayres, and 

 various parts of Brazil, Guayaquil, Pisco, northern Chili, Valparaiso, and Valdi- 

 via, in latitude forty degrees south. In North America, it perfects its fruit, in the 

 open air, in Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, the United States, as far north as New York, 

 m latitude forty degrees and forty-two minutes, and at San Francisco, on the 

 north-west coast, in latitude thirty-eight degrees north. In comparing the cli- 

 mates of the above-named places, it will be seen that the successful culture of the 

 grape does not so much depend upon mean annual temperature, as upon the par- 

 allels of latitude under which they lie. For instance, the fruit will not arrive at 

 maturity in the latitude of Edinburgh or Copenhagen, where the mean annual 

 temperature is somewhat higher than at New York, although the latter place is 

 situated more than fifteen degrees farther south. This is owing almost entirely 

 to the increased length of summer, in low latitudes, which arises from the fact 

 that, although the heats of June and July may be as great in higher latitudes, 

 they are several degrees lower in August and September, than in places situated 

 nearer the equator. Nor does elevation above the level of the ocean retard the 

 maturation of the grape like an increased degree of latitude, for the summers are 

 equally long at high altitudes, as in low places situated under the same paral- 

 lels. In central Germany, the vine is cultivated at an elevation of one thousand 

 to fifteen hundred feet above the sea ; on the south side of the Alps, at two thou- 

 sand feet ; on the Apennines and Sicily, five thousand feet ; and on the Hima- 

 layas, at an elevation of ten thousand feet. 



The history of the vine, as a fruit-bearing shrub, and all that relates to its 

 varieties, have been described at length, by Du Hamel, of France, Dr. Sickler, 

 of Germany, and Don Roxas de Clemente y Rubio, librarian to the royal botanic 

 garden at Madrid, in Spain. 



Of the North American species and varieties, more than one hundred have 

 already been described, and from the proneness of this genus to change from 

 original differences, through the effects of soil, climate, and hibridization, many 

 more will doubtless be found to exist. As varieties without end may be propa- 

 gated from seeds, it has been recommended to sow those of some of our native 

 grapes of several successive generations, in order to produce fruit of a better and 

 a milder quality. A seedling vine of the wine-bearing species of Europe, care- 

 fully treated, will show blossoms in its fourth or fifth year ; and if it would pro- 

 duce perfect fruit the next year after flowering, a new generation might be 

 obtamed every sixth year. 



