THE VINE. 



279 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE VINE. 



Origin — Culture under Glass — The Border — Soil — 

 Planting — Protection of Borders — Forcing — 

 Temperature — Ventilation — Watering and 

 Syringing — Treatment after Planting — The 

 Long-rod System — The Extension System — The 

 Spur System— Disbudding — Stopping the Shoots 

 — Setting the Flowers — Keeping the Grapes — 

 Pot Culture— Fruiting Vines in Pots — Diseases 

 — Shanking — Rust — Scalding— Outdoor Culture 

 — Propagation— Seeds — Cuttings— Eyes — Layer- 

 ing — Grafting — Varieties. 



Vitis vinifera grows wild in the temperate 

 regions of Western Asia, Southern Europe, 

 Algeria, and Marocco. It is especially in the 

 Pontus, in Armenia, to the south of the Cau- 

 casus and of the Caspian Sea, that it grows 

 with the luxuriant wildness of a tropical 

 creeper, clinging to tall trees and producing 

 abundance of fruit without pruning or culti- 

 vation. Its vigorous growth is mentioned in 

 ancient Bactriana, Cabul, Kashmir, and even 

 in Badak-Khan to the north of the Hindu 

 Koosh. Of course it is a question whether 

 the plants found there, as elsewhere, are not 

 sprung from seeds carried from vineyards by 

 birds. 



"The dissemination by birds must have begun 

 very early, as soon as the fruit existed, before 

 cultivation, before the migration of the most 

 ancient Asiatic peoples, perhaps before the 

 existence of man in Europe or even in Asia. 

 Nevertheless, the frequency of cultivation, and 

 the multitude of forms of the cultivated Grape 

 may have extended naturalization and intro- 

 duced among wild Vines varieties which ori- 

 ginated in cultivation. 



"The records of the cultivation of the Vine 

 and of the making of wine in Egypt go back 

 five or six thousand years. In the West the 

 propagation of its culture by the Phoenicians, 

 Greeks and Eomans is pretty well known, but 

 to the east of Asia it took place at a late 

 period " ( Vilmorin, Origin of Cultivated Plants). 



At the present time there are perhaps 2000 

 described varieties of Grapes. 



The exceptionally wide range of temperature 

 the Vine will not only support but actually 

 thrive and fruit in has no parallel among 

 domesticated races of plants. "There is a 

 marked difference in the constitution of the 

 several varieties, some being hardy (in Eng- 

 land), whilst others, like the Muscat or Alex- 

 andria, require a very high temperature to 



come to perfection. According to Labat, Vines 

 taken from France to the West Indies succeed 

 with extreme difficulty, whilst those exported 

 from Madeira or the Canary Islands thrive ad- 

 mirably" (Darwin). 



The cultivation of the Vine is said to have 

 extended from Asia to Egypt, from thence to 

 the southern parts of Europe through Greece. 

 From Italy it progressed northwards into 

 France, and in all probability it had been 

 tried in Britain by the Eomans, but possibly 

 without success; for varieties suitable for the 

 warm climate of Italy would be likely to fail 

 in maturing their fruit in the moist climate of 

 our island, as indeed is stated by Tacitus to 

 have been the case. In the year 85 Domitian 

 prohibited by an edict the planting of new 

 vineyards in Italy, and ordered those existing 

 in the provinces to be destroyed. This edict 

 was rescinded by Probus in the year 280, and 

 Britain is particularly mentioned among the 

 provinces which enjoyed the privilege of being 

 allowed to cultivate the Vine. Vineyards are 

 mentioned by Bede (before A.D. 731) as exist- 

 ing in several parts of Britain. In 1140 barons 

 as well as monks possessed vineyards; by the 

 latter, wine was made in good, and verjuice 

 in bad seasons; and from the hardier sorts of 

 Burgundy Grapes, planted in the most appro- 

 priate situations — and in regard to this the 

 monks were particularly careful — a tolerably 

 good wine may have been produced, better, no 

 doubt, than some of the artificial champagnes 

 of the present day. 



The Vine lives to a great age under favour- 

 able circumstances. Pliny mentions one 600 

 years old; vines 100 years old are accounted 

 young in the vineyards of Italy; and Bosc 

 states there are some in Burgundy upwards 

 of 400 years old. 



The celebrated Vine at Hampton Court was 

 planted 1769, and is yet bearing annually a 

 large number of bunches; and though neither 

 bunches nor berries are as large as those ob- 

 tained from young plants, yet their aggregate 

 weight is still very great for one Vine to bear. 

 There are also several other instances of Vines 

 attaining a great age in this country, not- 

 able examples being a fine specimen of Black 

 Hambro at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park; 

 one of the same variety at Eastnor Castle, 

 Ledbury, Herefordshire; a Frankenthal Black 

 Hambro at Stoke Edith, Herefordshire; and 

 the famous Muscat of Alexandria at Hare- 

 wood House, Leeds — the latter being the 

 largest known Vine of this variety in the 



