18 OPEN AIK GEAPE CULTUKE. 



Achilles represented a vine-gathering, and Herodotus 

 and Theophrastus speak of the culture of the vine in 

 Egypt ; and on the very oldest Greek tombs are 

 found pictures representing the vine harvest. Pliny 

 enters fully into the natural history of the vine, and 

 describes a variety with berries shaped like the 

 finger,* while the second book of Virgil's (oreorgics 

 forms no mean treatise on practical viticulture. 



The generic name of the vine {vitis) is derived, ac- 

 cording to some authors, from the Latin vincire to 

 bind ; according to others it comes from viere, to bend, 

 alluding to the flexibility of its branches. Both these 



* Most of the authors who have noticed this variety, suppose it to 

 have been lost, but we have received from John Kolber, Esq., of New 

 York, shps of a vine imported by him from Hungary, the fruit of 

 which is described as being an inch and a half long and half an inch 

 in diameter — a form which might easily be described by an imagina- 

 tive writer as resembling a finger. In fact the native name is Keckse^ 

 csocs or Goats teats — an idea similar to that of the old philosopher, 

 though not quite so elegant. We find also in several catalogues 

 grapes called finger-grapes — synonyms of which are Cornichon Blanc, 

 Cucumber Grape, Bee d'Oiseau (Bird's beak), Teta de Vacca (Cow's 

 teats), Doigts Donzelle, etc., etc. Mr. Kolber has made earnest and 

 praiseworthy efforts to introduce the hardier varieties of the vine from 

 the hills of Hungary, and we are happy to learn that thus far, the 

 results are exceedingly promising. It will take several years, however, 

 to decide whether or not any foreign variety can be grown with 

 success in this country, as most imported plants do well for a few 

 years. 



