& i. 



m J^ 



<9iV VINERIES. 



superlative quality and enormous size with the cluster of 

 grapes gathered by the ancient Jewish spies at the brook 

 of Eshcol ; and those conversant with the vine-growing 

 districts of the Continent and Palestine, know that some 

 of the finest and most delectable fruit grown in the world 

 is produced in countries where the science and chemistry 

 of vine culture are but little known, and where depend- 

 ence for a heavy crop rests almost entirely on a favour- 

 able combination of atmospheric influences. In such 

 circumstances, disappointment and loss are sure to be 

 experienced sooner or later. And hence, in most grape- 

 growing districts, when disease seizes the vine the fruit 

 is destroyed, and thousands of persons are thereby 

 thrown into a state of semi-starvation, because the 

 scientific remedial measures are not understood. 



How to overcome the difficulties arising from the 

 fickleness of our English climate, and to enable the lover 

 of the vine to cultivate it successfully, are problems 

 which have puzzled some of the wisest fruit-growers 

 of the United Kingdom. All manner of theories and 

 speculations have been propounded, and notwithstanding, 

 the result has been that, in most cases, the professional 

 gardener, or the amateur anxiously seeking for know- 

 ledge, has been thrown back upon his own resources, 

 to await the time when scientific research should reveal 

 the great truth which he was longing to understand, 



and which it is the object of this book to explain. 



10 



