10 Cultivated Grapes 



The following grapes are indigenous to Tennessee: Vitis lab- 

 ruca, Vitis aestivalis, probably a few Vitis bicolor in the high- 

 lands bordering Kentucky, Vitis Bourquiniana, probably 

 escpaed from cultivation, wild, Vitis cinerea, Vitis Baileyana on 

 the borders of North Carolina, Vitis cordifolia, Vitis rubra, 

 Vitis vulpina, Vitis Longii, and Vitis rotundifolia. ( 9 ) 



One or more of these are found on all soils in all districts 

 of the State, while in some districts several of these varieties 

 are found together with many natural hybrids. 



Most of the wild grapes of Kentucky, Western Carolina, 

 Tennessee, and Missouri grow on clay soil. Even where the soil 

 is very poor they thrive abundantly. Farther south and south- 

 east they grow on sandy soils. Naturally the varieties that thrive 

 best on clay soils are not so well suited to the sandy districts. 



Cultivated Grapes. Seeing the wealth of wild grapes every- 

 where, the early explorers naturally concluded that grape growing 

 would be one of the most profitable pursuits in the New World. ( n ) 

 So it is not surprising that in sixteen hundred nineteen the James- 

 town colonists were each required to put out and cultivate ten 

 grape cuttings, and that for years every inducement was 

 held out for growing vineyards. () ( 14 ) None of these 

 vineyards were ever profitable and the vines soon 

 sickened and died. Many attempts to grow grapes were 

 made in all of the original colonies, but with little success. In 

 Louisiana, only, was wine made profitably in quantities, and sever- 

 al large vineyards were established there, when the French, 

 fearing their competition, forbade further wine making in the 

 colony. ( 13 ) ( 14 ) 



But all of these people made the mistake of neglecting the na- 

 tive grape and planted vinifera varieties imported from Europe. 

 All reported that the vines grew thriftily for a year or two, 

 then were taken with "a sickness" and died. The last attempt 

 to grow European grapes on an extensive scale in Eastern America 

 was on the Tombigbee river in Alabama. More than eleven hun- 

 dred acres were set, professional growers being brought from 

 France for the purpose. The success of the experiment 

 seemed likely for some time, but disease and disaster were so 

 great that the enterprise never paid expenses and the company 

 finally became bankrupt and the vineyards were abandoned. 



Gradually a few people, more wise than their fellows, turned 

 to the native grape, and began selecting, crossing, and growing 

 seedlings. The first real impetus to grape growing in America 

 came with the introduction of a native grape, the Alexander, 

 under the claim that it was from the Cape of Good Hope. ( 13 j 

 This was a native labrusca variety introduced late in the eighteen- 

 th century. Concord soon appeared, as a seedling produced in 



