52 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



is much to be regretted that a destructive parasite 

 {Phylloxera vastatrix) is threatening to become a formid- 

 able destroyer of the vine, both in the vineyards of the 

 Continent and in the vineries of Britain. It is to be 

 hoped it will be successfully " stamped out " where it 

 has appeared, and that the prestige of the grape vine 

 may not be tarnished. 



It must be regarded as somewhat strange that the 

 native country of the grape vine has not been definitely 

 settled by botanists. It can be safely assumed that it 

 is indigenous to a great part of Asia, the climate of 

 which is suited to its growth. From Asia it was no 

 doubt introduced into Egypt and Greece, and from these 

 parts found its way into France, Spain, and other Con- 

 tinental countries, where it has so long held a position of 

 much importance. It is supposed that its cultivation in 

 France dates as far back as the second century. Its 

 introduction into Britain has been attributed to the 

 Phoenicians, as early as the days of Solomon, when trad- 

 ing for tin to the southern coast of England; others 

 ascribe its entrance into this^country to a short time after 

 the Christian era, when the Eomans had full possession 

 of the country. 



There is no doubt that it was at one time cultivated 

 in the south of England for wine-making with very con- 

 siderable success. It is authentically recorded that at 

 Arundel Castle, in Norfolk, great quantities of wine were 

 made from the produce of a vineyard there, and that in 

 1763 there were 70 pipes of wine in the castle -cel- 

 lars, all produced from grapes grown in the Arundel 

 vineyard. The first mention of artificial heat being 

 applied to the vine is in 1718, when the Duke of Eut- 

 land, at Belvoir Castle, forced it by means of heated 



