THE GRAPE. 149 



Very much has been written also as to varieties. It is true that 

 nil varieties are not suited to all positions, climates, and soils ; nor 

 can any one sort be expected to do equally well everywhere. 



Years afro, when Horace Greeley offered a larf^e premium for the 

 grape best suited to the wants of the million, and a wise and intel- 

 ligent committee awarded the prize to the Concord, there was an 

 expression of very great dissatisfaction on tlie part of many inter- 

 ested and earnest men, and the decision was denounced in severe 

 terms. Yet, as time progressed, and the different sorts became 

 more widely known and tested, the wisdom of the decision has be- 

 come more manifest, and very generally acquiesced in. And it is 

 safe to say, that to-day the Concord stands at the head of the list as 

 a grape for the million. For its ability to withstand the rigors and 

 vicissitudes of our climate, its freedom from disease and insect 

 enemies, and its adaptability to a variety of soils and locations, few, 

 if any, grapes in the catalogue can compare with it. In the hands 

 of the unlearned and unskilled farmer and village gardener, who 

 cultivate only for their own uses, and not for wine or for market, 

 it will give perhaps better results than any other. Yet there are 

 many grapes its superior in quality ; and there are localities where 

 it will not thrive ; and we would be far from urging the planting 

 of the Concord to the exclusion of all others. 



In all we shall say of grapes and grape culture here, our remarks 

 will have reference to its use as a dessert fruit in the hands of the 

 many. To induce them to plant, and to cultivate, and to use it 

 freely, as a life-giving and health-giving food, is our chief object. 

 Those who design to grow it for purposes of wine manufacture, or to 

 engage in the production of new varieties, or of foreign sorts in hot- 

 house or vinery, will, of course, need more scientific and elaborate 



treatises. 



PROPAGA.TION. 



The grape is easily grown from cuttings — some sorts, however, 

 much more readily than others. Those that are not so easily pro- 

 duced in this way are usually grown in the hot-house or hot-beds, 

 bottom heat being required for the production of roots. This method 

 we shall leave to those who are prepared for it. 



For out-door orowth the cuttings should be made late in the fall, 

 or during the winter, or in th.' early S[)ring. They should be cut 

 from well-ripened wood of the new growth, and should be made 



