THE VINE. ] 459 



tion of vineyards on suitable American stock is proceed- 

 ing satisfactorily. The vine mildew is kept thoroughly in 

 check by the use of sulphur, and vine blight is only 

 troublesome in exceptionally moist springs, so that with 

 the protection afforded by the import duties on wines 

 and spirits originally meant solely for the purposes of 

 revenue, there is every reason to expect that, notwith- 

 standing the Phylloxera, the present prosperity of 

 viticulture will be still further increased in the near 

 future. 



At present our vineyards cover an extent of 

 approximately 732 hectares, and consist exclusively of 

 European vines propagated directly by cuttings and 

 sometimes by layers, and in a few instances by grafting 

 on the local wild or half-wild forms of the European 

 vine. The only American vine which is fairly common 

 and used for covering pergolas or walls is the Isabella 

 vine (M. dielia Ananas), a variety of Vitis Labrusca 

 Lin. The Isabella vine is a vigorous and fast grower, 

 and at least in our Island is almost entirely immune from 

 attacks of vine mildew and vine blight, for which reason 

 it is preferred for pergolas in shaded localities where no 

 European vine can be expected to mature its fruit owing 

 to those diseases. It was introduced here towards 1850, 

 and is grown as a table grape, its musky or strawberry 

 taste causing it to be much appreciated by some persons 

 and positively disliked by others However it may be 

 mixed with wine grapes in the proportion of one to two 

 or three, and then it communicates to the wine a mild 

 aromatic flavour and a high colour. Other varieties of 

 V. Labrusca much grown in America and also in Europe 

 are Catawba, Concord, Ives-seedling, Martha and Tele- 

 graph, which are said to be superior to the Isabella 

 grape in every respect and are as easily propagated by 

 cuttings, but none of them has yet been introduced in 

 these Islands. The varieties of V. Labrusca are noted 



