INTRODUCTION 



To even attempt to write the history of the grape, 

 one would need go back to the prehistoric races of the 

 Eastern world, who have only left us silent relics of 

 their handiwork, from which we may gather a misty 

 idea of their domestic life and intelligence. The earliest 

 rays of light which have come down to us, on this sub- 

 ject, are the ancient traditions, and these only take us 

 back to the time when planting vineyards and grape cul- 

 ture had already become an important industry. But 

 since those days the vine has been a constant attendant 

 of civilization, following it from country to country, 

 and progressing with it; yet the same species of the 

 grape that thrives so well over a great portion of the 

 Eastern Hemisphere has, with few exceptions, like that 

 of California, entirely failed in this country. While we 

 may regret that the exotic grape, in its many varieties, 

 is not adapted to the climate of the Eastern States, yet 

 we may congratulate ourselves upon having indigenous 

 species, from which new varieties have been, and are 

 still being, produced, which will rival, in point of rich- 

 ness and flavor, any of the foreign ones; and we are 

 encouraged to hope for further improvements in the 

 near future. 



The cultivation of the vine in this country has had 

 many obstacles to contend with. The earlier vineyard- 

 ists, who had been accustomed to the improved grapes 

 of Europe, could see nothing in the inferior wild grapes 

 of this country to induce them to attempt their cultiva- 



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