The cultivation of the vine was introduced into England by the Romans, At the time of the Norman Conquest there seem to have been vineyards in southern and southwestern Eng land, and though they afterward disappeared, successful attempts were occasionally made to re-establish them; and one at Arundel Castle itt Sussex yielded about the middle of the 18th century large quantities of wine. Of late years, the cultivation of the vine has much increased in southern England, in gardens, on the walls of suburbim villas and of cottages, but chiefly for the fresh fruit, though wine of moderately good finality is made in small quantities for domestic use.
The vine is a hardy plant, so far as en durance of severe winter frosts is concerned; but it requires for the ripening of its wood, as well as of its fruit, a considerable summer heat continued for several months. A very moist climate is unsuitable to it. It produces abundant fruit in warm climates, such as India; but the juice passes too rapidly into acetous fertnentation to be used for making wine.
In Europe the cultivation of the vine forms an important branch of rural economy as far north as Coblenz on the Rhine; but in some countries particularly Greece and the Ionian , Islands, raisins are the chief part of the produce of the vineyarcLs.
The cultsvation of the vine was early intro timed by the Spanish and Portuguese into the Azores, the Madeira and Canary Isles and Ainerica. The first vines were carried to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch in 1650; but while the vines of Madeira and those of the limited district of Constantia at the Cape af Good Hope have long had high celebrity, and those of Canary and Teneriffe have been ported in considerable quantities into Europe, it IS only of late that much attention has been given to the cultivation of the grape in the other parts of South Africa.
The early settlers of the northern portion of the United States found grapes growing wild, but for a long time little attention was given to their cultivation. From about 1620 in Vit.. ginia and 1683 in Pennsylvania, many efforts, which resulted in failure, were made to grow European varieties; but about 1771 the culti vation of these sorts was successfully estab. fished on the Pacific Coast. With two ex ceptions the Arnerkan varieties now under cultivation have been originated since 1820, and as late as 1850 there were only six or eight varieties supposed suitable for general culti, vation. The first marked success was with the Catawba, which cattle into notice about 1835, and which, though lacking in hardiness, was extensively planted. Nearly all the varieties now grown have been originated since 1860.
Besides V. vinifera, produced in California, the species of grapes grown in the United States are as foibles: V. &entice, the north ern Fox grape, native of the Alleghany Moun tain region and found from Canada to South Carolina— the source of more cultivated varie ties than any other native species; among these are the Catawba, Concord, Hartford, Prolific and other popular sorts: the foxy flavor of the original largely disappears when varieties are brought under cultivation; V. riparie (with which V. cordifolia is often confounded), the Frost grape, from which we have the Elvira, Clinton and Taylor; V. estivalis, the Sununer grape, from which have come the Cynthiana, Herbemont and Norton's Virginia; V. lobrusca, the northern Fox grape, native of the Alleghany grape and Sugar grape; V. vulpine, or rorunds
folio, the southern Fox grape, from which have come the several varieties of the Scuppernong. A large number of hybrid varieties, many of great value, have been origidatcd. Some varie ties succeed over a large area and und-- widely differing conditions of soil and climate; but many sorts valuable in certain circumscribed localities do not thrive elsewhere. There is, however, little difficulty in finding kinds of good quality and a sufficient degree of hardiness for any portion of the United States. The following are among the most popular varie ties: Black Grapes— Concord, Hartford, Pro lific, Moore's Early, Wilder and Worden; Red Grapes — Agawam, Brighton, Catawba, Dela ware, Salem and Vergennes; White Grapes — Diamond, Lady, Martha and Niagara; Foreign Grapes— Black Hamburg, Flaming Tolcay and VVhite Frontignan.
. As seedings do not reproduce the parent variety, but often differ widely from it, they are grown only to procure new sorts or to ob tain hardy stocks on which to graft the more delicate European kinds. Propagation is ef fected by cleft-grafting (see GRAFTAGE), layers or cuttings. Grafting is to be done just before cold weather sets in, and at a few inches below the surface of the ground. The soil is to be pressed around the graft to its upper bud, and a small inverted flower-pot placed over it so that the soion may not be loosened when the soil, which must be piled arotmd and upon it in sufficient quantities to prevent freezing, is removed in the spring. This method often fails, but when successful it secures vigorous growth and very early fruitage. It is valuable particularly for testing any sorts and for utiliz ing strong bearing vines which yield a poor quality of fruit. In Europe whip-grafting of varieties of V. vinifera upon roots or cuttings of American sorts—principally varieties of Vitis ripatia, which are not liable to injury by the Phylloxera— is very extensively practised. In America large quantities of vines are grown from layers. In spring the cane from which plants are to be grown is fastened to the bot tom of a trench six inches deep. A new plant soon springs from each bud. When these plants have made a growth of eight to 10 inches the trench is carefully filled with soil. In autumn the cane is cut between the shoots and the latter can be transplanted. Somewhat inferior plants can•be obtained by laying down, in July, shoots of the same season's growth and covering at once with soil. The most common method of propagation of the vine is by cuttings. These are made in the fall from well-ripened wood of one seagon's growth, cut into pieces six to eight inches long (each having two or three buds), cut off smoothly close to the lower bud and one inch above the upper one. In the spring these cuttings are planted, three Indies apart, in a trench with a sloping side, against which they are placed. The soil must be firmly packed in the lower portion of the trench, which is then to be filled more loosely as high as the upper bed of the cutting, which should be a little below the surface of the ground. After the shoots are a few inches high dte trench is to be filled completely. The Delaware and a few other varieties will not grow well in this way, but can be started from cuttings only two pr three inches long, each having but one bud. These cuttings are rooted in tand by the aid of artificial heat.