152 THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



a thickness of from three to six inches, and it 

 mounts to the top of the loftiest trees, festooning 

 them, and binding them to each other. 



The vine is generally a native in the 

 countries lying between the Black and Caspian 

 Seas ; from whence it would seem to have 

 found its way into Egypt, Greece, and Sicily ; 

 and from Sicily to Italy, Spain, France, and 

 England. In the native countries* of the vine 

 there is no true culture of it, and yet there is 

 such an abundance of excellent grapes, that 

 even the poor peasant does not gather all that 

 grow on his little patch of land, but leaves them 

 over the winter, and often before Easter the 

 grapes of the previous year are beaten off 

 the trees. Very probably the native country 

 of the vine extends far beyond the Caspian Sea 

 towards India, and even the north of China. 

 Humboldt estimates that it can flourish wher- 

 ever the annual mean temperature is between 

 50 and 63 Fahr. In America, the most 

 northerly limit of the vine appears to be the 

 40th parallel of latitude. In both hemi- 

 spheres, it does not seem to flourish nearer the 

 equator than 30, except in elevated situations, 

 where the altitude compensates for the latitude. 

 In Europe, its northern limit varies ; it reaches 

 further north in the interior than on the 

 western coast. In the west of France it- 

 reaches to 49 N. lat. ; in England it ripens 

 plentcously only in favourable years ; at Berlin, 

 53 N. lat.; and at Dantzic, 54 21' N. lat., it 

 is freely cultivated. It has even been carried 



