440 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 THE GRAPE VINE. 



THE grape vine is a deciduous climber, indigenous or cultivated in a 

 considerable portion of the temperate parts of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. It is found wild in Greece, Turkey in Asia, Persia, the 

 Morea, near the Black and Caspian Seas, and in many other 

 places ; but the countries in which it is found in the highest degree of 

 perfection are Armenia and Syria. In Armenia and Syria, judging 

 from their latitudes, the mean temperature of the coldest winter 

 month in the region of vine culture is probably between 45 and 50, 

 and the mean temperature of the warmest summer month between 75 

 and 80. It is certain, however, that the vine will bear a much lower 

 winter temperature than 45 ; for on the hills in Germany, where 

 several kinds are cultivated with success, and the vines are every 

 winter buried under the snow, the temperature for two or three months 

 cannot be much above 32. It is also found in our forcing-houses that 

 the vine will bear a summer temperature of between 70 and 80. It 

 may, we think, be assumed that the vine is not calculated to sustain 

 uninjured a winter temperature much below 40 ; and this is con- 

 firmatory of the excellence of the practice of British gardeners, in 

 wintering the shoots of vines grown under glass under some kind of 

 protecting cover : such as between outer and inner front sashes, or 

 tied loosely up in mats or in thatch, so as to keep them quite dry with- 

 out excluding the air. 



What interests us most is the ground temperature of the countries 

 where it nourishes best ; and taking the country of the Muscats, the 

 kinds which require the most heat to bring them to maturity in this 

 country, we find in Sicily the ground temperature to be 66 for the 

 season of growth, 80 for the season of ripening, and 55 for the season 

 of rest ; while in Paris, which may be considered the country of the 

 more hardy varieties, such as Muscadines, Sweetwaters, Hamburgs, 

 and the like, we find the ground temperature to be for the season of 

 growth 58, for the season of ripening 66, and for the season of rest 

 41. With such incontestable facts as these before us, it seems almost 

 irreconcilable with fact that there should be gardeners in this country, 

 and clever grape-growers too, who contend that ground heat is not 

 only unnecessary for the early-forced vine in this country, but that 

 artificially applied it is positively injurious to its well-being. Before 

 any reliable opinion can be pronounced upon this subject, it is neces- 

 sary that the ground temperature of the soil and subsoil in which and 

 over which the plant is growing should be accurately ascertained, and 

 then no doubt it will be discovered that some soils are much warmer 

 than others, and hence, though artificial ground temperature may not 

 be needed in one place, it may be indispensable in another. Now, 

 the ascertained average ground temperature of London, as established 



