190 FRUIT-GROWING 



history of this country as well. I have men- 

 tioned before that our horticulture is in reality 

 based on the liquor business and this is to be 

 emphasized in the case of grape-growing, for 

 certainly no other fruit lends (or lent) itself 

 so well to the making of alcoholic beverages as 

 did that of the vine. 



It was for this reason that grape-growing 

 was among the earliest of the arts of the hus- 

 bandman back in the dim past before the time 

 of written history. It was for this reason too 

 that grapes were among the first of the Old- 

 World fruits that were introduced to the new 

 continent. Not that they were particularly 

 needed, for the shores of eastern America were 

 a natural vineyard of native vines. So profuse 

 were the wild grapes that the Norsemen who 

 first landed on our shores gave the place the 

 name of "Wineland." These wild grapes, how- 

 ever, were not to the liking of the French and 

 English who followed, and they sent home for 

 plants of the sorts with which they had been 

 familiar, thinking that in a country filled with 

 wild grapes the European sorts would certainly 

 thrive. Unfortunately, their expectations were 

 due to receive a jolt, for the introduction of the 

 European sorts was a failure almost from the 

 start. It is true the vines grew and perhaps 

 for a time they produced some fruit, but inev- 

 itably they all died. Time after time the exper- 



