REPRODUCTION FROM SEED. 143 



such interest to scientific men, that many gentlemen have gone 

 there on purpose to study all flic circumstances attending the 

 case, and have written some most interesting chapters in con- 

 nection with it. Among other things, we find that although 

 there is no rain there, although there is no soil there, yet grapes 

 grow there in such profusion, and of such excellence, that it is 

 famous, and has been for ages, for the choice quality of its wine 

 and the great abundance of its grapes. It is stated by one of 

 those visitors to the island, that from one stem, one growing- 

 shoot of the current season, forty-eight pounds of grapes were 

 taken, and that the bunches weigh frequently ten or twelve 

 pounds. If, then, the grape, under such circumstances, can 

 attain such luxuriance of growth and such abundant bearing, 

 and such excellent quality besides, without manure, only grow- 

 ing in the volcanic debris of that island, which always abounds 

 in sulphur and lime, the mineral substances which the grape 

 loves more than all other things, watered only by the evapora- 

 tion of the sea and the nightly fog, you can see how easy the 

 culture of the grape must be in those countries where the vicis- 

 situdes of climate do not prevail. 



Now, gentlemen, let me say a word about reproduction from 

 seed. I am sure it is only a question of time, and I wish I 

 could inspire every one who hears me with the desire to grow 

 seedling grapes, with a view to the improvement of the delicious 

 fruit, in order that, in the various circumstances of soil and 

 aspect, the chances of producing better grapes and ultimate 

 success might be multiplied ; for with the grape, as with all 

 growing things, it is true, that in the same soil and under cir- 

 cumstances of soil and climate always the same, the plants 

 continually reproduced are prone to put on the form of the 

 parent, because it is the surroundings, in part, which make the 

 thing — so much so, indeed, that in some cases a vine or other 

 plant which will thrive perfectly in one place does not succeed 

 when removed from that vicinity. 



Let the vine you take your seeds from be healthy and vigo- 

 rous and not too young. An old and well-established vine is 

 the best. Take from that vine the earliest and largest and best 

 bunch, the bunch having the qualities you desire most, and plant 

 the seeds in the autumn, in a rich bed of earth, thoroughly 

 enriched with nitrogenous manure, thoroughly decomposed 



