4 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



grape of the vineyards. The Old World grape was domesti- 

 cated long before the faint traditions which have been trans- 

 mitted to our day could possibly have arisen. For knowledge 

 of how wild species of this fruit have been and may be brought 

 under cultivation, we must turn to New World records. 







AMERICAN GRAPES 



Few other plants in the New World grow wild under such 

 varied conditions and over such extended areas as the grape. 

 Wild grapes are found in the warmer parts of New Brunswick ; 

 on the shores of the Great Lakes ; everywhere in the wood- 

 lands of the North and Middle Atlantic states ; on the limestone 

 soils of Kentucky, Tennessee and the Virginias; and they 

 thrive in the sandy woods, sea plains and reef-keys of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf states. While not so common west 

 of the Mississippi, yet some kind of wild grape is found from 

 North Dakota to Texas; grapes grow on the mountains and 

 in the canons of all the Rocky Mountain states; and several 

 species thrive on the Mexican borders and in the far Southwest. 



While it is possible that all American grapes have descended 

 from an original species, the types are now as diverse as the 

 regions they inhabit. The wild grapes of the forests have 

 long slender trunks and branches, whereby their leaves are 

 better exposed to the sunlight. Two shrubby species do not 

 attain a greater height than four or five feet; these grow in 

 sandy soils, or among rocks exposed to sun and air. Another 

 runs on the ground and bears foliage almost evergreen. The 

 stem of one species attains a diameter of a foot, bearing its 

 foliage in a great canopy. From this giant form the species 

 vary to slender, graceful, climbing vines. Wild grapes are as 

 varied in climatic adaptations as in structure of vine and grow 

 luxuriantly in every condition of heat or cold, wetness or dry- 

 ness, capable of supporting fruit-culture in America. So 



