126 Lessons in Fruit Growing. 



CHAPTER III 



THE GRAPE 



186. The grape is rapidly becoming one of the principal 

 American fruits. The varieties now chiefly grown in this 

 country are of American origin and have nearly all been 

 produced within the past half century, mainly from the 

 following species: 



(a) Vitis Labrusca, the northern fox grape, which is the 

 parent of the Catawba, Isabella, Concord, etc. 



(b) Vitis osstivaUs, the summer grape, the parent of the 

 Clinton grape and others of its class. 



(c) Vitis cordifolia, the winter or frost grape, with its 

 variety, riparia, is the more common wild grape of the 

 northern states. . -r ■£. y ■ ^ 



(d) Vitis Vulpind. the southern fox grape, the parent of 

 the Scuppernong variety. 



Formerly many experiments were made in this country 

 with the European grape {Vitis Vinifera), but this species 

 proved too subject to disease in the east. It is much grown 

 in the far southwest. 



Most species of the grape hybridize readily, and many of 

 our cultivated varieties are hybrids. The hybrids between 

 the European and American grapes have generally proved 

 unsatisfactory through their liability to disease. 



18t, Soil and exposure. A warm and prolonged sum- 

 mer temperature is essential to the development of the finer 

 qualities of the grape. In the northern states, a southern 

 exposure, in localities especially exempt from untimely 

 frosts, and a perfectly-drained, light, loamy soil are most 



