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THE GRAPE VINE. 



With two exceptions the grape vine {Vitis vinifera) 

 is the earliest fruit-bearing plant of which there is any 

 record. From earliest ages it has occupied a prominent 

 and very important position amongst the fruits of the 

 earth. There is strong presumptive evidence that it was 

 cultivated by the antediluvians ; and it is specially re- 

 ferred to as having occupied the attention of Noah as 

 soon as the waters of the flood had subsided from the 

 face of the earth. When Moses sent the heads of the 

 children of Israel to spy the land of Canaan, and to 

 bring back word whether it was " fat or lean," they 

 brought back an example of the grape to prove that it 

 was worthy of their promised possession. Through the 

 long ages that have elapsed since then, with their ever- 

 varying tastes and habits, the luscious grape has been 

 an important product of cultivation; and it has lost 

 none of its early popularity. At the present time it is 

 more extensively cultivated under glass than ever it was 

 at any period of the world's history ; and in this country 

 hothouse grapes are now an article of commerce to a 

 much greater extent than ever they were, with every 

 likelihood of their becoming increasingly important. It 



