148 THE FLORIST. 
the highest. It is quite clear that they were ignorant of the circulation 
of the sap; for Pliny says the middle of the Vine is the driest, and 
that it was in the summit the generative powers resided, and hence 
that from the top the grafts were selected. This was a most erroneous 
idea ; because, had they induced the sap to flow equally, by laying the 
canes on the ground, the eyes would break at the bottom of the plant, 
and at equal distances throughout the stem, ripening the fruit earlier 
and giving better berries, being nearer the soil. Propagation was 
carried out by cuttings, layering, and grafting; but the most favourite 
mode, particularly in Greece and the eastern provinces of Rome, was 
growing from layers in baskets, set upon stages of the tree which 
supported the Vine, its height protecting it from the ravages of cattle. 
The ancients believed that the best. wine was produced from the oldest 
Vine, and almost invariably mixed with the must, during fermentation, 
resin and pitch, which is still the practice in some parts of Greece. 
Pliny was of opinion that, as a general rule, a southern aspect should 
be preferred—this, however, depends on the climate. He says, in 
Africa, a northern aspect was the better one, showing that men then 
knew that a hot and glaring sun was injurious to the Grape. 
The Vine was brought into England by the Romans, and to our 
Saxon forefathers we are indebted for its extensive cultivation, for the 
production of wine, which lasted for several centuries, almost every 
castle and monastery in England, even in later years, having a vine- 
yard, producing many tuns of wine annually. William of Malmsbury 
informs us, that in his day wine was made in the Valley of Gloucester 
little inferior to that of France. Mention is made in Domesday Book of 
the vineyards, and the serfs who were attached to them, and handed 
over like so many cattle. Within the last century a wine resembling 
Burgundy was made from the vineyard of Arundel Castle, in Sussex, 
and to the present day wine is made in small quantities by families 
for domestic use, from old Vines growing against a wall. 
The wine made from Grapes formerly grown in some of the vineyards 
in the south of England is said to have resembled those of France; but 
since the days of Elizabeth, from improved tillage and the introduction 
of ale, the manufacture of wine from the Grape fell into disuse, as also 
its importation for general consumption, and the hop gardens of Kent 
superseded the vineyards. However, it is not improbable but that 
another revolution may ere long take place, and wine, under the new 
commercial convention with France, again become an article of general 
consumption—superseding the deadly distillation of sugar and of grain, 
and wiping from English life the degrading stain of the gin shop—from 
Ireland, the curse of whiskey. | 
The culture of the Grape extends from the west of Europe to the 
Indus and into China, and is also now extensively cultivated in parts 
of America ; and wine is largely made there for home consumption. 
Northern climates, from liability to late frosts in spring, and southern, 
from excessive heat in autumn, are both unsuited to the growth of the 
Vine, for wine making. In the northern countries the climate is not 
sufficiently warm to ripen the Grape, and in very warm southern 
countries, the excessive heat throws the juice into an acetous fermenta- 
