100 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



exhausting the life of the vine in hot, dry weather. The 

 contrast between such arid exposure and the compara- 

 tively moist and confined heat of river hillsides is very 

 perceptible on the vine. It is found also that vines 

 greatly exposed are more liable to mildew than in posi- 

 tions where a more unif9rm humidity is preserved and 

 the changes are less violent. It is well known, that, in 

 many parts of the country, the grape does not ripen as 

 well as in former years. In Massachusetts, the Isabella, 

 for example, used to be a certain fruit, but has now be- 

 come almost a certain failure in ordinary localities. Our 

 State was formerly covered with forests, Nature's vast 

 system of sponges, which absorbed the rains, and gradu- 

 ally gave them off in the humid atmosphere, and in gently 

 flowing streams, for months afterwards : but now the 

 greater portion of the country is laid bare to the fierce 

 rays of our clear sun ; the natural mulching of leaves is 

 lost ; our rains rush in torrents down our hillsides, and 

 speedily make for the ocean whei^ce they came. By this 

 we do not imply that our climate can, with any propriety, 

 be called arid; yet it is true that there is much less 

 uniform humidity of the atmosphere during the summer 

 than in former years. An able presentation of this sub- 

 ject will be found in the volume of Hon. G. P. Marsh, 



