CHAPTER XVII 

 GRAPE BOTANY 



THE grape-grower must know the gross structure and the 

 habits of growth of the plants properly to propagate, trans- 

 plant, prune and otherwise care for the grape. Certainly he 

 must have knowledge of the several species from which varieties 

 come if he is to know the kinds of grapes, understand their 

 adaptations to soils and climates, their relation to insects and 

 fungi, and their value for table, wine, grape-juice and other 

 purposes. Fortunately, the botany of the grape is compara- 

 tively simple. The organs of vine and fruit are distinctive 

 and easily discerned and there are no nearly related plants cul- 

 tivated for fruit with which the grape can possibly be con- 

 fused. Botanists, it is true, have dug pitfalls for those who 

 seek exact knowledge as to the names and characters of the 

 many species, but, fortunately, each of the cultivated species 

 constitutes a natural group so distinct that the grape-grower 

 can hardly mistake one for another in either fruit or vine. 



PLANT CHARACTERS AND GROWTH HABITS OF THE 

 GRAPE 



A 'grape plant is a complex organism with its many separate 

 parts especially developed to do one or a few kinds of work. 

 The part of a plant devoted to one or a group of functions is 

 called an organ. The chief organs of the plant are the root, 

 stem, bud, flower, leaf, fruit and seed. Flowers and leaves, it 

 is true, develop from buds and the seeds are parts of the fruits, 



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