CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 101 



entitled "Man and Nature," to which the reader is re- 

 ferred. 



The drainage of our meadows and bogs will have an 

 influence in the same direction ; so that, by the slow but 

 constant effort of man, silent yet vast changes are effect- 

 ed in the entire system of Nature. This diminution of 

 the even humidity of the air during summer, and the 

 increase of strong sweeping winds with more sudden and 

 violent changes, we cannot doubt, is prejudicial to the 

 grape. We must resort to means to counteract this evil ; 

 and, as has been said, we must avoid arid positions ex- 

 posed to strong currents of wind; seeking protected 

 situations having, if possible, an evaporating surface of 

 water near at hand. Not that more moisture is needed, 

 but that the modifying influence of the lake or ocean 

 may give more uniformity to the humidity and the tem- 

 perature. Hence the shores of Lake Erie, the Hudson, the 

 Rhine, the Rhone, and the Bordeaux peninsula between 

 the Gironde River and the Atlantic, are all highly prized. 

 It is within the power of man greatly to modify the char- 

 acter of a situation by the judicious planting of belts of 

 evergreens, by a wise addition of elements and a proper cul- 

 ture of the soil, and by encouraging the shade of the vine- 

 yard itself wherever circumstances indicate its necessity. 



