DIVISION AND SPECIALIZATION 161 



the alps of Switzerland. Wine and tobacco 

 represent the most refined specialization. The 

 Connecticut Valley is able to reproduce Cuban 

 tobacco by means of tents, and to the observer 

 from the hills the whole valley in the growing 

 season presents the illusion of a vast geometri- 

 cal lake reflecting dead white to the blue sky. 

 Wine is prized and valued by yearly vintages, 

 the slightest change in weather conditions af- 

 fecting flavor. California wines are distinc- 

 tive despite the efforts to reproduce the vin- 

 tages of the Rhine, Moselle and Burgundy by 

 introducing the vines themselves. The little 

 state of New York has a grape belt as narrow 

 as a ribbon along the shores of Lake Erie; 

 and an alfalfa belt confined to a limestone 

 streak in the north central part of the state. 

 The apples of the irrigated valleys of the Far 

 West are of distinctive size and color, yet they 

 cannot compete in flavor with the apples of 

 Virginia and New England. 



Once the nature of the crop best suited to 

 the land is ascertained, the next step is toward 

 the highest refinement of that particular crop. 

 The introduction of plants is one of the oldest 

 activities on the part of the government in its 



