GRAPES GROWN BY THE HEATHENS AND ROMANS. 6 



Records of the cultivation of the Vine and of the making of wine 

 in Egypt are found in the writings on the ancient tombs, which go 

 back some five or six thousand years. The fact that Vines succeed 

 best where the roots are enabled to draw abundance of moisture 

 seems to have been well understood in olden times ; thus we read 

 in Ezekiel (xix., 10) : "Thy mother is like a Vine in thy blood, 

 planted by the waters ; she was fruitful and full of branches by 

 reason of many waters." 



The heathens likewise held the Vine in high estimation, more 

 especially, it would appear, for the wine that was made from it. 

 Bacchus was elevated to the rank of a god, for having taught men 

 the use of the Vine. He is often represented as an old man, crowned 

 with a Vine, to teach us, as some writers have put it, " that wine 

 taken immoderately will make us childish like old men." Wine was 

 used by the ancient Romans in the worship of their gods. Plato says 

 nothing more excellent or valuable was ever granted by God to man. 



In various old books we read almost fabulous accounts of the great 

 size to which the Grape Vine grew in olden times in Eastern countries. 

 Pliny says that Vines were ranked as trees, and speaks of one that 

 in his time was six hundred years old. Theophrastus speaks of a 

 Vine so large, that a statue of Jupiter, and the columns of Juno's 

 Temple were made of it. Strabo says that the Vines of Margiana 

 and other places were so great that it required two men to compass 

 them with their arms ; and he speaks of bunches of Grapes a yard 

 in length. At the Duke of Montmorency's house, at Ecoan, there is- 

 a large table, which, it is stated, is made of the wood of the Vine ; and 

 the doors of the Cathedral of Ravenna are made of Vine Tree planks. 

 It is also stated that on the coast of Barbary there are some very large 

 old Vines growing. 



The Eastern Grapes are described as being large and wonderful. 

 At Damascus the bunches are mentioned as weighing upwards of 

 twenty-five pounds ; and at Sidonijah, near Damascus, some of the 

 Grapes are stated to be as large as pigeons' eggs. In the Islands of 

 the Archipelago, the bunches are stated to be from ten to forty pounds 

 weight each, while in Persia the Grapes are described as being so large 

 that a single berry is a good mouthful. How far credence may be 

 given to these statements as to the great size of the Vines them- 

 selves, and that of the berries statements which seem almost 

 incredible we have no means of determining. It is, however, alike 

 remarkable and satisfactory to note that the size and weight ascribed 

 to the bunches have been approached if not equalled by the 

 cultivators of the present day. Grapes would appear to have been 

 at one time extensively grown in Syria, but their cultivation there 

 has been for ages neglected. This may be owing to the spread in 

 those regions of the Mahommedan religion, which forbids the use of 

 wine, although it permits the eating of the Grapes. It is to- 



