THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



155 



Vitis vintfera, is usually credited to Linnaeus though it was used for this 

 gi-ape before Linnaeus' time by Bauhin and possibly by others. The descrip- 

 tion of Linnaeus accompanj'ing the name is very short, as follows: Leaves 

 sinuately lobed, glabrous. Many of tlie earlier botanists, Toumefort for 

 one, described numerous varieties as though they were species. As a natural 

 corollary of the uncertainty of the botanical status of Vitis vinifcra the 

 original habitat of the species is not positively known. De Candolle, as 

 noted in the first part of this work, considered the region about the Caspian 

 Sea as the probable habitat of the Old World grape. There is but little 

 doul)t that the original home of Vitis vinifcra is some place in western Asia. 

 There is strong corroborative evidence of this in the fact that the climatic 

 conditions under which the species flourishes are such as are there found. 



The first chapter in The Grapes of New York has been de\'oted to 

 this, the Old World grape, and for a discussion of the horticultural charac- 

 ters of the species and of the efforts to cultivate it in America, the reader is 

 referred to that chapter. 



Neither American nor European writers agree as to the exact climate 

 desired by Vinifcra for the reason, probably, that all of the varieties in this 

 variable species do not desire the same conditions. There are certain phases 

 of climate, however, that are well agreed upon, as follows: The species 

 requires a warm, dry climate, and is more sensitive to change of temperature 

 than our American species. Stayman, who had had considerable experience 

 in raising Vinifcra grapes in diiterent places, says: Vinifera " will not 

 endure much rain or grow on wet land. It is only in a dry climate and on 

 high rolling situations that it will succeed, wliere there is not more than 

 31 inches of an annual rainfall and for the growing and maturing season 

 15 inches." So far as soil alone is concerned, the French growers tell us 

 that it can be grown successfully in a wide variety of soils, being much less 

 particular in this respect than our American species. They state that it will 

 withstand and grow successfully in soils so strongly impregnated with lime 

 that any of the American sorts would succumb to chlorosis. 



There are certain characters connected with the fruit of this species 

 which are peculiar to it and are not found in any of our American sorts. 

 First, the skin, which is attached very closely to the flesh and which is 

 never astringent or acid, is of good flavor and can be eaten with the fruit. 



