OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE. 



CHAPTER I. 



NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTOEY OF TUE VINE, 



Peofane liistoiy readies not back to the time when 

 man first planted a vineyard and made wine, and 

 when we leave the sacred records, its first culture is 

 shrouded in allegories, myths and fables. 



I7io native country of the vine cannot be Vv'ell ascer- 

 tauic-d. It occurs wild in Greece, Italy and even in 

 the south of France. In Mingrelia, Georgia and the 

 regions between Caucasus and Ararat and Taurus, it 

 flourishes in extreme vigor and great abundance. 

 And that it is indigenous to America, also, there can 

 be no doubt, the apociyphal stories about its intro- 

 duction by Sir W. Ilaleigli to the contrary notwitii- 

 standing. 



Records of its culture are found in most of the 

 poems and sculptures of antiquity. Tlie shield of 



17 



