ORK 



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, w^hile 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 con- 

 temporary, 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 of 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 



