Constitutional Whig

From Loudon's Encyclopædia of Gardening.

THE GRAPE VINE—Continued.

Use.—The uses of the grape in Britain are well known: in the dessert it ranks next the pine, and is by some preferred to it. The berries when green, or not likely to ripen, may be used in tarts or pies, and the leaves form an elegant garnish to other table fruits. Wine is sometimes made in England, by expressing and fermenting the juice, either alone or with that of other fruits, and it has even been made from the decoctions of the leaves of some sorts. In warmer climates the grape is not only used in the dessert, but eaten with bread, either newly gathered or dried as raisins, and in these countries, from the fermented juice, a wine or liquor is made superior to all others for stimulating the stomach and exhilarating the spirits of man. Some of the most important consequences in the mythological history of man, are referred to its last mentioned qualities. (See the histories of Lot, Noah and Bacchus.)

The medical products of the vine are verjuice, formerly used as the juice of Lemons: tartar, a gentle cathartic: vinegar, used as a condiment, for extracting the virtues of other medicines, and for counteracting the effects of vegetable poison. Even wine itself is given as a medicine in Typhus fever—in nervous disorders—in putrid sore throats, and even in the plague.

"In almost all cases of languor and prostration of strength," Martyn observes, "wine is a more grateful and efficacious cordial, than can be furnished from the whole class of aromatics."
Varieties.—These are exceedingly numerous; partly from the antiquity of the vine, it having, as Professor Martyn remarks, been cultivated from the time of Noah; partly from the influence of soils and climates, in changing the qualities of grapes, there being hardly two vineyards in France or Italy where the sorts, though originally the same, remain long precisely alike; but chiefly, as far as respects this country at least, from the facility with which new sorts are procured from seed. Tusser, in 1560, mentions only "white and red" grapes. Parkinson, who was more of a horticulturist, gives, in 1629, a list of twenty-three sorts, including the white muscadine, "very great, sweet, and firm; some of the bunches have weighed six pounds, and some of the berries half an ounce." Ray, in 1688, enumerates 12 sorts as then most in request. Rea, in 1702, gives most of those in Ray's list, and adds five more sorts, recommending the red, white, and the d'.drhois or royal muscadine, the Frontignacs, and the blood-red, as the fittest sorts for England. The best vines, he says, were then on the walls of the Physic garden at Oxford. Switzer, in 1717, says, "It is to Lord Capel and Sir William Temple, that we are owing that collection of good grapes now so plenty in England;" "the latter," he says, "brought over the Chasselas, Parsley and Frontignac; and also the Amboryma, Burgundy, Black Muscat, and Grizzly Frontignac: all highly approved, and distributed amongst the nurserymen, as well as the nobility and gentry." "The best grapes," he tells us, "were grown at Twickenham, Isleworth, and Richmond." Speechly, from 1760 to 1790, excelled in the culture of the vine at Helbeck.

The most valuable modern additions to the varieties of grapes in this country, have been procured by sowing the seeds of sorts ripened in this country. That excellent grape, the red Hamburgh, was raised from seed, about a century ago, by Warner, of Rotherhithe, already mentioned. Miller, in the same way, produced the variety of Black Cluster, which bears his name. Speechly produced various new sorts, which have now a place in the catalogues of nurserymen. Williams of Pitmaston, Braddick of Thames Ditton, and, above all, the President of the Horticultural Society, have raised several excellent varieties of the Sweet-water, Chasselas, and Hamburgh grapes. The great attention paid to Natural History by such as go abroad, has also contributed to the number of grapes. New sorts have been sent from Spain, Italy, and the East Indies, and many from France; so that the lists of some British nurserymen exceed 250 names. In France, during the Consulship, in 1801, the celebrated chemist, Chaptal, when Minister of the interior, ordered a specimen of every known variety of the grape to be collected from the different departments where the vine is grown, and planted in the nursery of the Luxembourg garden, with a view to ascertain their respective merits. Though this assortment was never completed, the number collected amounted to upwards of three hundred distinct varieties.

A classification of the numerous varieties of the vine has not yet been made, either in France or England. Bosc, the inspector of government nurseries in France, was employed to compare and class those collected at the Luxembourg; but in 1809, he had only succeeded in describing and figuring 50 distinct sorts. The groundwork of his classification was, the color, form and size of the fruit; the surface, margin, texture, colour, and position of the leaves; and the redness, greenness or variegation of the footstalks. From these 11 characteristics combined, he forms 156 classes, in which, he says, may be placed all the possible varieties of grapes. Bosc, aware of the great variety of considerations of another order, which augment the number of characteristics, such as grapes which are in other respects alike, yet differ in time of ripening, in the time they will hang without alteration on the plant, in the quantity produced on a plant, quality of the pulp, &c. acknowledges that, after four years' labour, he could offer no useful result. In the catalogue of the Luxembourg collection, published by Hervey, in 1802, the arrangement is, 1, Vines with black oval fruits, 37 sorts; 2, black round fruits, 98 sorts; 3, white oval fruits, 44 sorts; 4, white round fruits, 37 sorts; 5, grey or violet oval fruits, 5 sorts; and 6, grey or violet round fruits, 10 sorts; in all 267 sorts. The most elaborate descriptions of the varieties of the vine, which have yet appeared, are contained in a Spanish Work, "Ensayo sobre las variedades de la vid comun, que vegetan en Andalusia, &c. by D. Simon Roxas Clemente, librarian to the Botanic garden at Madrid. This author founds his varieties on the character of the stem, shoots, leaves, flowers, bunches, and berries. He describes 120 varieties, comprising them in two sections, downy and smooth-leaved. Each section is arranged in tribes or clusters of subvarieties, bearing one common name, and distinguished by a common character in some of the parts of the fundamental characteristics above named, and into isolated varieties, which he describes singly. He enumerates 36 authors who have written on the vine, since Columella, by whose names he has distinguished many of the tribes; the others by their local appellations.
Estimate of Sorts.—As it is generally a puzzling consideration for inexperienced persons to make a selection from the ample semi-descriptive catalogues of authors and long lists of names kept by nurserymen, we shall here extract a few selections suitable to common cases.

Vines to plant against a common garden wall of south exposure or against the walls of a house—The July black, white muscadine, white and black sweet-water, small and large black and white cluster, black esperione, &c.

To plant a vinery for early forcing—Take the preceding sorts.

To plant a vinery for a full crop of good grapes of various flavors—Take a white and red or black muscadine, a white and red muscat, a white and a red Frontignac, a black or red muscadel, a white raisin grape, a white and red Hamburgh, a Sitwell's and red sweet-water, a white and red Nice.

There are here 24 grapes of 14 distinct flavors, an equal number of both colors; large showy bunches and berries, as those of the Nice: and small bright-flavored ones, as those of the Frontignacs; the whole placed in the order in which they will ripen. The foliage in autumn, will be alternately tinged with red and yellow; and supposing the muscadines to be placed next the end at which the fire enters, they will ripen nearly a month earlier than any of the others: the muscats, Frontignacs, and muscadels being hot-house grapes, will have a sufficient heat to ripen them; and the three last sorts, being somewhat more tardy, will come in succession.

To plant a vinery for a late crop—Take the black Damascus, black Frontignac, black Hamburgh, red Syracuse, black and white raisin, black and white St. Peters, black Prince, &c.

To plant a hot-house in which pines are grown: one plant under each rafter—Take the white and red muscat, black muscadel, red or black Hamburg, red Syracuse, red and white raisin, black Damascus: and for early sorts, Sitwell's sweet-water, royal muscadine, white Frontignac.

To plant vines to run up the rafters of green-houses, or plant-stoves. Choose such sorts as have small leaves and short foot stalks.

Hardy, small-leaved sorts for the rafters of a green house. White and black sweet water, black cluster, black muscadine, parsley leaved muscadine, black morillon.

Small leaved sorts, requiring more heat, and fit for the rafters of a plant stove. Black morico, blue frontignac, blue tokay, claret, white Teneriffe, white morillon, &c.

Small fruited sorts for planting in pots or boxes. Black and white corinth, black and white cluster, red and grizzly frontignac, white and red Burgundy, &c.

(Here follows in the original, a long descriptive catalogue of grape vines, which is omitted as being of little use.)

Propagation.—The vine is propagated from seed, layers, cuttings, grafting and inoculation. By seed, for the sake of obtaining new varieties; by layers to get strong showy plants the first year; by cuttings for economy in management and target plants with tops proportioned to their roots; and by grafting and inoculation for various useful and curious purposes.—By seed. The first thing is to select the seeds. If the object be to propagate an esteemed variety from which cuttings cannot be obtained, or to procure a subvariety of any esteemed sort, then select the largest and best ripened berries from the largest and best formed bunches, out of which take the seeds. But if the object be to procure an entirely new variety, then the first preparatory steps must be taken when the vines are in flower, either by bringing two or more sorts so near together as that the pollen of the anthers may effect a promiscuous impregnation as was practised by Speechly; or by cutting out with small scissors, the stamens from the flowers to be impregnated, before their anthers had burst, and introducing the pollen of the variety with which it is to be crossed or impregnated, by dusting the stigma with the ripe anthers, as was practised by Knight. This is the most certain and effectual method; the most certain, because if the blossom, destined to bear seeds be fecundated or set, it must evidently have been set through the influence of the stranger pollen; and the most effectual, because the stranger pollen operating alone must have more influence in the progeny than when operating in conjunction with that of the blossom to be crossed.

As some guide for the selection of sorts to breed from, (to borrow the phraseology of a sister art,) we may state, that the legitimate object which ought to be had in view, should not merely be to obtain a new variety, but one, either superior in the size, both of the bunch and berry, superior in flavor and delicacy of skin and flesh, superior in point of hardness and bearing, or in earliness or lateness. In connection with each of these particulars, the form of the bunch, and the length of the foot stalk of the fruit, and even the size of the leaves and the length of their foot stalks, are also objects deserving attention; close growing grapes, which always have short foot stalks, being subject to many misfortunes. "All the sorts of Frontignac grapes," Speechly observes, "are proper to add an excellency of flavor to other kinds: but there is a superior richness in the black, blue and red frontignac; and they do not partake so much of the strong muscat flavor as the white and grizzly do.—But it must be considered, that the blue frontignac grows close upon the bunch, and therefore is only proper to be coupled with the loose growing kinds, that have long foot stalks. The white muscat of Alexandria produces large loose growing bunches, and the berries being very large and well flavored, it must be a proper kind to be coupled with many sorts. There is a peculiar delicacy in the flesh of the white sweet water; it is also a remarkable thin-skinned grape with large berries, consequently, it is a proper kind to couple with various sorts, that are small and less delicate. Were the red frontignac and white sweet-water wedded together, their union would probably produce a very valuable sort, as there would be a good chance of its being both large and delicate, and well flavored. The Syrian vine is only admired for producing most astonishingly large bunches, and therefore, I would not advise the joining this coarse sort to any other except the following, as in all likelihood, the offspring would only produce bunches much less ponderous. But the white muscat of Alexandria, having larger berries and larger foot stalks, there would be a probability of producing a kind between this & the Syrian that would exceed the original parents both in size grape, & favor." The following Kinds also admit of a junction with great propriety, viz: "the black Damascus and grizzly frontignac, the flame coloured Tokay and red frontignac, the white muscat of Alexandria and white sweetwater, the black frontignac and white muscadine, the St. Peters grape and white muscat of Alexandria." Other examples might be cited, but these Speechly considers as sufficient to stimulate persons of taste and curiosity to procure an amusement that one may venture to pronounce will contribute both to their advantage and pleasure. He augurs "that the best sort of grapes hitherto known, will at some future day be esteemed only as secondary kinds." (Treatise on the vine, page 41.) Neill observes, that as several persons are now engaged in the raising of seedling vines, in all probability some excellent and hardy kinds will soon be produced, so that another generation may once more see vineyards common in this country. (Ed. En. Art. Hort.)

Grapes for seed, should be permitted to remain on the plant till the fruit is perfectly mature, and the seeds of a very dark brown color. They should be separated from the pulp, and preserved till February or the beginning of March. They should then be sown in pots filled with light fresh mould, and plunged in a moderately warm hot-bed; they will come up in four or six weeks, and when the plants are about six inches high, they should be transplanted singly into forty-eights, and afterwards into pots of larger size. Water gently as circumstances require, allow abundance of light and air, and carefully avoid injuring any of the leaves. Cut down the plants every autumn to two good buds and suffer only one of these to extend itself in the following spring. Shift into large pots as occasion requires, till they have produced fruit. This under good management, will take place in the fourth or fifth year, when the approved sorts should be selected and the rest destroyed, or used as stocks on which to graft good sorts.

Forsyth and some other authors, advise planting seedling vines the second year of their growth, against the wall in the open air, and there letting them remain till they produce fruit. Where there is abundance of walling to spare and no great haste requisite for proving the fruit, this is a very good mode, as the fruit in such a case is certain of growing larger, and therefore affording a better opportunity of judging of its merits as to size of bunch and berry. Keeping the plants in the large pots, on the other hand, though the bunches and berries may not grow quite so large, yet as both the wood and fruit may be ripened under glass, is a more eligible mode; the plants will produce fruit sooner, and that fruit will be of better flavor. Speechly says, "it would not be prudent to furnish a wall, or any part of a hot-house, with seedling vines in their untried state, or before they have produced fruit; for although the prospect of obtaining good kinds from seed saved in a hot-house, be more promising and certain than that of getting them from seed of grapes in vine countries, (because these, when the vines flower, the very air is impregnated with the farina of the grapes of the vineyard, which are, generally, of sorts of harsh, austere qualities, esteemed only for making wine, and are not at all fit for eating:) yet many of the new kinds from seed will prove to be worse sorts than the originals from which the seed was saved. A specimen, therefore, of the fruit should be obtained from each plant, be tried and tasted before it is permitted to be planted against the walls in a vinery or hot-house, or in any permanent situation. The fruit of seedlings is not even always such as to render it advisable to introduce the plants in a vineyard; for though it may not have the sweetness, flavor, bulk, or precocity desired in an eating grape, it may be of that insipid large berried kind, which is fit only for making the most inferior wines. In most vine countries, a small black berry with an austere taste, and aromatic flavor, and a close bunch like that of our black cluster, is preferred to all others." (Treat. on vine, 8vo. edit. p. 60.) It may be observed, that the vine plants raised from the seeds of black or red grapes, will generally produce red or black berries, yet they will occasionally produce white ones; and the produce of white berries will sometimes, in like manner, be berries of other colors. Thus plants, from the stones of the peach, will sometimes produce nectarines; and though a nectarine stone will, in general, produce a tree of the same kind, as Collinson experienced, (Smith's correspond. of Linn. 71,) yet it will sometimes also, as the French gardeners declare, produce trees bearing peaches.