136 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



REVIEWS. 



The Culture of the Grape : embracing direc- 

 tions for the treatment of the Vine in the Northern 

 States of America, iri the open air and under 

 glass structures, with and without artificial heat. 

 By J. FisK Allen. Boston. 8vo. pamphlet, 

 55 pages. Price 37g cts. 

 Here is a modest unpretending pamphlet, 

 which we look upon as a most valuable con- 

 tribution to our stock of knowledge on the 

 subject of grape culture. 



When a person writes a pampldet on a 

 subject that might have been extended to 

 a whole volume ; when he bears in mind 

 that his subject is one of purely practical 

 importance, and accordingly conveys his 

 ideas in the simplest and plainest terms ; 

 when, in short, the whole performance 

 shows that he writes solely because he feels 

 that he has something valuable to commu- 

 nicate, we are inclined to look upon his 

 pages with far more respect and attention 

 than upon those, much more common, of 

 the author ambitious of making a hook at 

 all hazards. 



The culture of the grape under glass may 

 be said to be one of the nicest points in 

 horticultural practice. Not, indeed, that it 

 is difficult or mj^sterious when once under- 

 stood. On the contrary, there is no crop 

 of fruit produced in America with so much 

 certainty, so uniformly fine, as are the ^ons 

 of delicious foreign grapes borne every year 

 in certain well known vineries about Bos- 

 ton. But the phrase, " when once under- 

 stood," means something in the culture of 

 the foreign grape ; for it is almost the only 

 fruit of the temperate zone that exacts an 

 artificial climate in the United States. Both 

 observation and experience are demanded, 

 to insure uniform success; and there are 

 many cultivators just commencing in this 

 country, who, in the absence of both, will 



gladly avail themselves of Mr. Allen's as 

 here presented. 



This gentleman's success in the produc- 

 tion of the finest fruit is almost a proverb at 

 Boston, where are our best growers of the 

 grape. He has not only carefully examin- 

 ed the vine culture abroad, but he has ex- 

 perimented perhaps more extensively than 

 any American, at his residence at Salem, 

 Mass., with all the different modes of cul- 

 ture, and with a great variety of glass 

 structures. He has collected and proved all 

 the most celebrated kinds of foreign grapes, 

 often, as we know, importing a rare kind 

 from four or five different sources before 

 getting the genuine variety. In this way, 

 Mr. Allen has introduced, proved and dis- 

 seminated with liberality, several valua- 

 ble sorts, previously unknown in our collec- 

 tions, and for which pomologists owe him 

 many thanks. 



The following prefatory remarks show 

 the aim of the essay before us : 



"The attempt has been made to give 

 plain rules, which may be easily understood, 

 and the practical operation of which can be 

 carried out with as little labor as the culti- 

 vation of the grape, under glass, will per- 

 mit. 



" The following directions are intended 

 for those who may desire to cultivate this 

 fruit for their own pleasure or convenience, 

 who do not wish to incur the expense of a 

 regularly educated gardener, and who have 

 felt the want of a concise and simple expla- 

 nation of the process, and the rules by 

 which these operations of forcing and grow- 

 ing grapes, under glass structures, can be 

 carried out. 



" The treatment recommended is such as 

 has been found to be the best, after many 



