64 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



The Post-Oak grape of northern Texas endures the winters per- 

 fectly in middle Ohio, where temperature sinks to — 25° some- 

 times. But when we come to reverse the test, the Massachu- 

 setts and Ohio grapes cannot endure the Texas summers any- 

 thing nearly so well as do the native Post-Oak and Mustang 

 grape. The Concord, that remains vigorous for fifty years in 

 Massachusetts, its native State, survives only eight to fifteen 

 vears in Texas with equally good treatment. This brings into 

 consideration another element of hardiness, the power to with- 

 stand great or only small range of climatic change. In this, 

 the general law still holds good. Those species with their varie- 

 ties native in a region subject to great and sudden ranges of 

 temperature, can endure well, while those brought into such 

 regions from where the range is small, will suffer, as is the case 

 with grapes of Florida or New England brought into northwest 

 Texas. Both suffer, while the vines of northwest Texas thrive 

 well, both in Florida and New England, so far as resistance to 

 heat and cold are concerned.- In other words, northwest Texas 

 plants have a much wider range of climatic endurance than have 

 either those of Florida or Massachusetts. 



No other section of the United States has so great a range 

 of climatic conditions as northern Texas and Oklahoma. 



This will suffice as to cold, heat, wet and drought ; but we 

 must not fail to observe, that some individuals of a species have 

 greater resistance power than others, all developed in the same 

 climate, soil, etc. This fact is seized by the plant breeder with 

 great avidity, to increase the hardiness of his varieties of same 

 blood and nativity by selection, depending on the law of in- 

 heritance to sustain his selections. 



As to soil, the law holds good so far as resisting an exces- 

 sive or injurious chemical element. For example : some varie- 

 ties of grapes, the Labrusca, Lincecumii and Rotundifolia varie- 

 ties, especially, chlorose very badly (turn a pale, sickly yellow 

 in foliage), if set in soils having above 40% of carbonate of lime, 

 while the Vinifera, Cordifolia, Cinerea, Berlandieri, Champini, 

 Candicans, Rupestris and IMonticola thrive in such soils. We 

 find those that chlorose badly are natives of very , sandy soils, 

 along the banks of streams and lakes — the Vulpina, or on sand- 



