14 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



the grape. Hillsides have always been favor- 

 ite spots for the grape; cultivators concede 

 their peculiar fitness with great unanimity. 

 Declivities, gentle slopes, in short, almost any 

 elevated spot free from dampness, may be se- 

 lected as a suitable place for a vineyard. But 

 the best of all places is, undoubtedly, some ele- 

 vated spot bordered by a large body of water. 

 Hence the fewer casualties, the greater certain- 

 ty of the crop, and the superior quality of the 

 fruit grown in such localities as the Hudson 

 Eiver and the Lakes. There are several reasons 

 for this, the chief being the ameliorating influ- 

 ence exercised by the water. The temperature 

 of the surrounding air is very even ; sudden 

 changes being comparatively rare, or at least 

 shorn of most of their ill effects. Early and 

 late frosts are not of such frequent occurrence, 

 and the growing season is thus prolonged 

 These facts will account for individual cases of 

 failure or success, which seem at first to set at 

 naught all our efforts to refer them to any par- 

 ticular cause ; though it can not be denied that 

 hidden causes are often at work, the results of 

 which maybe seen, but can not well be over- 

 come. The cause of disease being unknown, 

 the application of remedies becomes altogether 



