72 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



has not yet been ascertained here. In this parallel, 39 6', 

 it is perfectly hardy, and is our great wine grape ; nineteen- 

 twentieths of all the grapes planted here, are Catawba. It 

 does well in favorable positions, as high as lat. 41 ; on the 

 southern shore of Lake Erie, and some sheltered localities in 

 western N. York, the fruit ripens well ; even in lat. 42, in 

 warm seasons. The influence of the water of Lake Erie, for 

 two or three miles from its shores, makes that a better fruit 

 region than ours here. The Cape (Alexander or Schuylkill 

 Muscadel), is a native of Pennsylvania, and was first found 

 on the banks of the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. It bears 

 well as far north as the Catawba does. Its southern limits 

 are unknown to the writer. The Isabella is said to be a native 

 of S. Carolina, and strange to say, it succeeds better in the 

 north than in the south, or even our intermediate latitude. 



Here it is not prized for vineyard culture, and the young 

 wood is often winterkilled ; but further north and north-east, 

 particularly on the shores of Lake Erie, and in the vicinity of 

 the city of New York, it bears abundantly and ripens well. 

 There, it is the favorite grape for open culture. 



The Scuppernong, is the principal wine grape south of lat. 

 35 ; but here it is not hardy. The foreign grapes do not 

 appear to succeed much better in that region than this. The 

 foregoing are the grapes most used in vineyard culture as yet. 

 Experiments have been made with other varieties, but not 

 sufficiently to ascertain the latitude that suits them best. The 

 whole valley of the Ohio, between Pittsburgh and Cairo, and 

 not north of lat. 40, is thought to be favorable to vineyard 

 culture ; provided a proper selection of soil and position is 

 made. The hills and hillsides should always be chosen, in 

 prefeience to the plains. Three-fourths of all the vineyards 

 in Europe, are on the hills or slopes of hills, and those in 

 plains are generally in the chalk formations, which we have 

 not here. In the valleys of the Mississippi, Missouri, and 

 other of our western rivers, the same rule will probably apply. 



