192 FRUIT-GROWING 



a commercial proposition I doubt if it would 

 ever be particularly attractive. 



The grape, in some variety, is so widely 

 adapted to soil and climate, and it withstands 

 the vicissitudes of city life and can survive in 

 cramped quarters so well that it has been called 

 "the poor man : s fruit." Many a city back 

 yard even in the closely crowded sections is 

 graced by a grape-vine and the family is en- 

 riched by the production of a lavish crop of 

 fruit year after year even under conditions of 

 almost absolute neglect. With a little care 

 these vines could be made to yield much more 

 than they do and other vines should be planted 

 by every householder. Commercial vineyard- 

 ing has it drawbacks, and it is in only certain 

 sections that it becomes profitable, but a few 

 vines about the farm-house or in the door 

 yards in towns can be made a financial success 

 with so little effort that they should never be 

 overlooked. 



I have said that some variety of grape could 

 be found for almost any soil. This is true but 

 the ideal grape soil, the sort that the commer- 

 cial grower seeks, is one that is warm and loose. 

 Like all fruits the grape does not thrive in a 

 cold, wet, refractory soil. Neither does it do 

 its best in a soil containing too much sand. A 

 happy medium is best — one that is deep and 

 well drained, not underlaid with a water hold- 



