XLII. THE VINES OF THE FARM 



"They shall sit every man under his vine and under his figtree, and none 

 shall make them afraid. 11 Micah, 4:4. 



The cultivated crops of the world have in the past grown 

 mainly in fields, gardens and vineyards. Many crops have 

 been raised in the fields, and still more in the gardens, but the 

 vineyards have been given over mainly to one crop the fruit 

 of the vine. There is but one vine that fills any very large 

 place economically: the word vine means grapevine in 

 much of our ancient literature. 



Before the dawn of history, the ancient cultivator found 

 the grape suited to his sunny hills. It was long-lived and 

 strong-rooted, and served to bind the soil of the terraced 

 slopes. It was resistant to drought and adaptable to situa- 

 tion. It was responsive to care and amenable to training. 

 It was beautiful in leafage and fragrant in flower and luscious 

 in fruit, and in every way desirable about his home. So he 

 made a vineyard for it, equipped with a watchtower and a 

 wine-press, and he fenced it in. He planted and fertilized it 

 and pruned it and trained it over arbors, and sat beneath its 

 shadow. He ate its fruit and drank its vintage and, some- 

 times, used its wine to make him drunken, even before the 

 dawn of history. It is a large and varied role that the 

 products of the vine have played in human affairs. 



Other vines besides the grape are cultivated in fields and 

 gardens, but they are mostly short-lived herbaceous things like 

 hops, pole-beans, and gourds. One wild vine with excellent 

 edible tuberous roots, the apios, we have had before us in 

 Study 7 (fig. 3 7 ) . Aside from the grape , the best known of our 

 vines are those that are raised for the singular beauty of their 

 flowers and foliage. Splendid flowers, indeed, are those of 



285 



