GRAPE REGIONS AND THEIR DETERMINANTS 29 



often they do not live though they may linger. The water- 

 table should be at least two feet from the surface. If by chance 

 this comes naturally, so much the better, but otherwise the 

 land must be tile-drained. Sloping land is by no means always 

 well drained, many hillsides having a subsoil so impervious or 

 so retentive of moisture that under-drainage is a necessity. 

 The texture of the land is usually improved so greatly by good 

 drainage that the grower has little need to rely on the clemency 

 of the season in carrying on vineyard cultivation in well-drained 

 land. 



Soil adaptations. 



In the refinement of viticulture, grape-growers find that 

 particular varieties grow best in a particular soil, the likes and 

 dislikes being determined only by trial, for the peculiarities 

 which adapt a soil to a variety are not analyzable. Some 

 varieties, on the other hand, the Concord being a good example, 

 grow fruitfully in a great variety of soils. Each of the several 

 species with their varieties has quite distinct adaptations to 

 soils. This is taken advantage of in planting varieties on un- 

 congenial soils after they have been grafted on a vine which 

 finds itself at home in the particular soil. Much has been ac- 

 complished in growing varieties on uncongenial soils by con- 

 sorting them with other stocks, an operation which has brought 

 forth volumes of discussion as to the adaptabilities of cions to 

 stocks and stocks to soils, subjects to receive attention on a 

 later page. 



Insects and fungi 







The profitable grape regions of the country have all been es- 

 tablished in regions comparatively free from grape insects and 

 fungi. If pests came later in considerable numbers, the indus- 

 try, in the old days, perished. Here and there in the agricul- 

 tural regions of the country may be found a sorry company of 



