342 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



slaked lime. This ley is heated, and a vessel, 

 full of holes, containing the grapes, is jiut into 

 it. When the bnnches are in the state desired, 

 they are generally carried to naked rocks, where 

 they are spread on beds of the field artimcsia, 

 and are turned every two or three days till they 

 are dry. In the kingdom of Granada, particu- 

 larly towards Malaga, they are simply dried in 

 the sun, without any other preparation. The 

 former have a more pleasing rind, but a less 

 mellow substance; the skins of the latter are not 

 so sugary, but their substance has a much greater 

 relish; therefore, the raisins of Malaga are pre- 

 ferred by foreigners, and are sold at a higher 

 price : to this their quality may likewise contri- 

 bute; they are naturally larger, and more deli- 

 cate, than those of the kingdom of Valencia." 



A vineyard, associated as it is with all our 

 ideas of beauty and plenty, is, in general, a dis- 

 appointing object. The hop plantations of our 

 own country are far more picturesque. In France, 

 the vines are trained upon poles, seldom more 

 than three or four feet in height; and "the pole- 

 clipt vineyard" ef poetry is not the most invit- 

 ing of real objects. In Spain, poles for support- 

 ing vines are not used; but cuttings are planted, 

 which are not permitted to grow very high, but 

 gradually form thick and stout stocks. In Swit- 

 zerland, and in the German provinces, the vine- 

 yards are as formal as those of France. But in 

 Italy is found the true vine of poetry, "sur- 

 rounding the stone cottage vnth its girdle, fling- 

 ing its pliant and luxuriant branches over the 

 rustic viranda, or twining its long garland from 

 tree to tree." It was the luxuriance and the 

 beauty of her vines and her olives that tempted 

 the rude people of the North to pour down upon 

 her fertile fields. 



In Greece, too, as well as Italy, the shoots of 

 the vines are either trained upon trees, or sup- 

 ported, so as to display all their luxuriance, upon 

 a series of props. This was the custom of the 

 ancient vine-growers; and their descendants have 

 preserved it in aU its picturesque originality. 

 The vine-dressers of Persia train their vines to 

 run up a wall, and curl over on the top. But 

 the most luxurious cultivation of the vine in hot 

 countries is where it covers the trellis- work which 

 surrounds a well, inviting the owner and his 

 family to gather beneath its shade. "The fruit- 

 ful bough by a well" is of the highest antiquity. 



Although the vine bears at three or four years 

 plentifully, it is said that vineyards improve in 

 quality till they are fifty years old. Pliny men- 

 tions a vine which had attained the age of six 

 hundred years. In France and Italy there are 

 entire vineyards stiU in existence, and in full 

 bearing, which were in the same condition at 

 least three centuries ago, and have so continued 

 ever since. The slender stems of ordinary vines, 

 when thej- have attained a considerable age, ai-e 



remarkably tough and compact; and the timber 

 of the very old ones in foreign countries, wliich 

 is occasionally of size enough for being sawn 

 into planks, and being made into furniture and 

 utensils, is almost indestructible. Strabo men- 

 tions an old vine which two men could not em- 

 brace. A single vine plant, already alluded to, 

 which was trained against a row of houses at 

 Northallerton, covered, in 1785, one hundred and 

 thirty-seven square yards. It was then about 

 a hundred years old, and it increased in size after- 

 wards; but it is now dead. In 1785, the princi- 

 pal stem of this vine was about fifteen inches in 

 diameter. 



The varieties of the grape are exceedingly 

 numerous. Tusser, in 1660, mentions only 

 white and red grapes; Parkinson, in the follow-- 

 ing century, gives a list of twenty-three sorts. 

 In modem times, a great profusion of varieties 

 have been obtained by sowing the seeds of grapes 

 ripened in this country. The varieties are thus 

 classified by Loudon : 



Red, purple, and hlaci: grapes, round-shaped, 

 including the early black. Miller's Burgundy, 

 Muscadine, Frontignan, Lombardy, &c. 



Oval, dark red, purple Ulaclc, including black 

 cluster, black museadel, claret, Alicant, &c. 



Roundwhite, including white Muscadine, sweet- 

 water, chasselas, white Frontignan. 



Oval white, white muscat of Alexandria, white 

 Hamburgh, white Tokay, Alexandrian ciblet. 



Rose-coloured, red and grizzly Frontignan, 

 Lombardy, &c. 



The vine is propagated from seeds, layers, cut- 

 tings, grafting, and inoculation; by seed, for the 

 sake of obtaining new varieties; by layers, to get 

 strong showy plants the first year; by cuttings, 

 for economy in management, and to get plants 

 with top proportioned to their roots; and by 

 grafting and inoculation, for various useful, and 

 curious purposes. 



The vine will thrive in any soil that has a dry 

 bottom : in a rich deep soil it will grow with 

 great luxuriance, and produce abundance of large 

 fruit. In dry chalky or gravelly soils, though 

 the quantity and size of the fruit be less, the 

 flavour is higher. The greater part of the vine- 

 yards of France are on an argillaceo-calcareous 

 soil, or an argillaceous gravel. The debris of 

 granite and schistose rocks produce vines both 

 of good and bad qualities. The wines produced 

 from chalky soils are weak and colourless, and 

 do not keep well, as champaigne; wines produced 

 from grapes, grown in the ashes of volcanoes, 

 are of excellent quality. Deep retentive clays 

 are least adapted for the production of grapes. 



Vines are trained on walls, which should have 

 a south exposure, as espaliers, or as standards. 

 They are liable to the attacks of various insects, 

 particularly to a species of red spider, which 

 buiTOWs in the under side of the leaves. 



