GRAPE REGIONS AND THEIR DETERMINANTS 17 



The Pacific slope. 



The Pacific slope takes precedence among the grape regions 

 of the continent, exceeding all others combined in the prodnc- 

 tion of grapes and grape products. California is the viticul- 

 tural center of this great region, grapes being grown within her 

 bounds from the foot of ^Nlount Shasta on the north to ]\Iexico 

 on the south and from the foothills of the Sierras on the east 

 to the forest that borders the coast on the west. So outlined, 

 California might appear to be one vast vineyard, but it is only 

 in favored valleys, plains and low hills in the territory bounded 

 that the vine is sufficiently well suited to be productive. Out- 

 liers of this main region of the Pacific slope run north into 

 Oregon, Washington, Idaho and even into British Columbia, 

 forced more and more eastward the farther north to escape 

 humidity from the ocean which northward passes farther and 

 farther inland. Other outliers of the main region are found 

 eastward in Nevada, Arizona, New ^Mexico and even Utah and 

 Colorado, though for the most part in these states grape-grow- 

 ing is still insignificant. Plate I. shows typical vineyards in 

 California. 



The grapes grown on the Pacific slope are almost exclusively 

 Vinifera varieties, though a few American grapes are planted 

 in the Pacific Northwest. This is not because American 

 varieties cannot be grown, although they succeed rather less 

 well here than on the eastern seaboard, but because the Vini"- 

 eras are liked better, and climate and soil seem exactly to suit 

 them. Viticulture on the Pacific slope is divided into three 

 interdependent industries which are almost never quite inde- 

 pendent of each other — the wine industry, raisin industry and 

 table-grape industry. Each of these industries depends on 

 grapes more or less specially adapted to the product, the special 

 characteristics being secured chiefly through somewhat distinct 

 types of grapes but depending partly on soil and climatic con- 



