A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine/Part 1/Chapter 2

by James Busby

CHAPTER SECOND.

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Of Varieties of Vines, and their Propagation by Seed.

THOUGH, botanically speaking, there is but one species of the wine yielding vine, (vitis vinifera) because the specific characters are such only as are always renewable by seed, yet the differences among its varieties are so great, as to make a notice of these not the least interesting, or important part of a treatise on their culture.

It is, however, a division of the work on which I enter with the greatest diffidence, not only on account of the diversity of opinions I find among the French writers^[1], but of the unsatisfactory conclusion to which they all appear to me to have come.

It seems to be now agreed among botanists, that "the only genuine reproduction of the species of plants, is by seeds, all plants propagated by cuttings, layers, or buds, having a determinate existence, in one of a shorter, in others of a longer period; but that these last methods have the advantage of perpetuating the peculiar qualities of the individual or variety."^[2]

It would be difficult to reconcile to this principle, the facts which history and observation afford us respecting the vine. In all the notices which history has left us, of its introduction into France, and its culture in that country, as well as in those which carry us back to the ages of fable, in Italy and Greece; there is, as far as I have been able to find, no mention of the propagation of the vine by seed. The materials, indeed, from which our information is derived, are scanty and obscure, but it is remarkable, that at this day, the unlettered vigneron of France, is scarcely aware that it is possible by this method to propagate the plant; and those who treat scientifically of the subject, rather mention it as a fact, which could not well be omitted, than one, from which useful results might be obtained.

The French writers have never, therefore, referred to their propagation by seed, the numerous varieties of vines which at this day cover a portion of Europe; nor, indeed, does it appear to be necessary, for daily experience shows, that to effect a change in the physical appearance of the vine, and still more, in the qualities of its fruits; it is only necessary to change the circumstances in which it is placed, as regards climate, or soil and situation.

It has been already said, that Europe is indebted to Asia for the vine. It would, perhaps, have been more correct to say, for its culture. The Phenicians brought the knowledge of this into Greece, and the Grecian Archipelago, and afterwards into Sicily and Italy, in both which countries it is reported to have previously grown wild^[3]. In the time of Romulus, it had made little progress: but, under the fostering protection of Numa, vineyards were extended, and wines produced in abundance throughout the Roman territory. In the time of Domitian, it had made considerable progress in France^[4], for it was one of the acts which marked the imbecility and ignorance of this tyrant^[5], to order the destruction of all the vineyards of Gaul, because a deficiency in the crops of grain had been attended with a superabundant vintage; as if there were any analogy between the two families of plants; or, as if the best soil for wine had not been in those days as well as now, (at least in France), improper for corn.

After being for two centuries deprived of the blessing, it was to the emperor Probus that the Gauls were indebted for liberty to replant the vine; and this era is important, because to it the French writers refer the orgin of the most marked distinctions, which, form what they call the families, races or species of their vine.–"The plants brought anew through the channels of commerce, from Sicily and Greece, from the Archipelago, and the coasts of Africa, became the types of those innumerable varieties, which, even to this day, people the vineyards of France."

Towards the close of the last century, when the light of science, which in France had so long beamed on objects less important to mankind, began to shed a few scattered rays upon that art, which is, in some degree, the basis of ail others: ant men of genius began to think, that philosophy, without compromising her dignity^[6] might cooperate with practical experience, in illustrating the business of the husbandmen, it is not suprising, that so interesting and important an article as the vine, should have attracted particular attention.

It was to the improvement of this branch of agriculture, that the attention of the Abbé Ruzier, (the Sinclair of France), was in a particular manner directed; and had not his career been cut short, there is every reason to believe, that his practical experience^[7], directed as it was, by scientific knowledge, would have left his countrymen less to enquire for on this subject.

The idea had occurred to him, of forming an establisbment, in which should be brought together all the varieties of vines existing in France. By a comparison of these, he proposed to discover how many differed in character, and how many, only in name—how many possesed properties essentially different, les essences veritablement differentes—and in how many, the slight differences which distinguished them from others of the species under which they might be ranked, would disappear when cultivated under the same circumstances with them. This knowledge, when obtained, was to be made the foundation of more extensive, and more useful experiments. He proposed to subject each species to a course of experiments, on soils of a different description; and when the soil, which each particularly affected, and the culture most suitable for it, were thus determined,—to ascertain the degree of fermentation which each species required; what description of wine would result from them separately; what combinations of them would yield a wine of superior goodness and durability; and finally, what species furnished the best brandy, and in the greatest quantity.

This was not merely a project, for its author had proceeded a certain length in forming such an establishment, but the aspect of the times was unfavourable: the revolution which was then breaking out, did not confine its ravages to the crowded city, but made its shock to be felt in the remotest village, and it numbered the Abbé Rozier among its victims.

Another attempt, on the same plan, was made by a different individual, but was carried to no greater length; and even the Society of Natural History of Bordeaux, failed in carrying into execution the same undertaking, of which they had published the prospectus. These failures were probably owing to the intricacy of the subject, pand the extensive details it involved; but, at the time, the question was agitated, it was the opinion of many, that it would have failed in affording such extensive data as Rozier anticipated. Duchesne, the professor of botany and agriculture, in the Dept. of Seine and Oise,. conceived^[8], that from the known effects of climate, results obtained at Bordeaux, would offer nothing conclusive for the vineyards of the north, and that it would be necessary to have at least four establishments, if not one in each province, before any thing satisfactory respecting the effects of climate, on the qualities of the grape could be determined. He, however, allowed that Rozièr's first object, that of forming a new nomenclature of varieties, might be obtained by the means he proposed.

The opinion of, the authors of Chaptal's first work, is in accord with that of Duchesne, as to the effects of climate on the qualities of the produce of the vine; but they think, too, that these effects are so powerful on its physiology, as to make an equal number of establishments necessary to obtain a synonymie, on which a newnomenclature might be founded.

A collection of the vines of France has, however, under the administration of Chaptal, since been made, and there are now in the nursery of the Luxenbourg, no fewer than 1400 different varieties, of which, 1000 are so distinct, as to merit a particular description.

It was thus, not without reason, that he and his colleagues, in the first work on the vine, should have considered, as chimerical, any attempt to procure in one province the wines of another, by the transplantation of the varieties which produced them. "No plant," say they, "is so subject to vary in its forms, and the quality of its products, as the vine. It is, in fact, so fickle in its characters, that a difference in the heat of the atmosphere, in the nature of the soil, or in the exposure, suffices in causing such modifications, as to make it difficult of recognition in its forms or qualities. Why, besides, seek from a distance the plants which you have so near at hand? For there exists not any wine district in France, in which are not found collected, all the varieties which you wish to obtain elsewhere. They may neither have, it is true, the same name, nor the same taste, nor the same qualities. What imports it? They are there, notwithstanding. If it is by the effect of their degeneration, or regeneration, that they cannot be recognised, you may expect the same changes on those new individuals you would introduce; you will experience, in this respect, what has been the experience of a thousand others before you. Among numerous examples, the following is cited in preference, because the place whence the proprietor drew his plants of choice, is at no great distance from that, where he judged proper to replant them; and this is a circumstance worthy of attention.

In 1774, the Count de Fontenoy, a proprietor in Lorraine, happy in being born with a taste for useful projects, and with wealth to make costly experiments, formed the design of establishing a vineyard of Champagne, on his land of Champigneul; several observers, uselessly, represented to him, that the soil not being that of Champagne, he would only obtain the wine of Lorraine. The plants were obtained from the hill of Rheims and planted on a slope, with a most happy exposure; no care, no expence was spared, either in the plantation, or culture, of this young vineyard: and the first fruits, in fact, seemed to give some promise of success. They had a different taste from those of the neighbouring vineyards, but after seven or eight years, this particular taste disappeared, and twenty years afterwards, the vines were only distinguished by bearing the name of the plant of Rheims."

Though Rozier, perhaps, expected too much from his experiments, it can hardly be doubted, that were an accurate analysis made, of the soil and subsoil of the best vineyards, the exact bearings of their exposure taken, and a meteorological journal kept in them for a few years;—together with an exact account of the course of cultivation pursued, and the management of the fermentation, France might be able to carry her choice wines, to a much larger proportion: than one thirty-fifth of her whole produce, to which they are at present confined.

But, however beneficial such experiments and establishments might prove, in a public point of view, the individual planter would probably find his, advantage in following the steps which experience has shewn, to lead to a certain degree of success, rather, than in pursuing novel and expensive measures, in the uncertain expectation of a more valuable return.

The substance of what the French writers have said on this point, amounts to this:—You have, already, extensive and excellent vineyards, and in the lapse of ages, each variety has found out the soil and situation which fits it best or has found out the soil and situation which fits it best, or has become naturalized to the climate and soil where it grows. Choose your plants from the best in your own neighbourhood, attend to their cultivation, and to the fermentation of your wine, and you will have the best your land is capable of producing.

Now, though the correctness of this reasoning may be questioned, the conclusion to which it leads, is most probably the safest; for though great improvements might, by judicious transplantation, be effected in the French vineyards, the expense and uncertainty may be so great, as to make it not the interest of a private individual to attempt them. But the situation of the planter of New South Wales is different, and it is for his assistance that this work is intended. It becomes important, then, to examine whether the wines of New South Wales may not owe much of their future excellence to the nature of the grapes introduced, and if so, how far we can establish principles to guide us in the choice.

However satisfactory, then, the reasonings of the French writers may appear, when addressed to the planter of a country where the vine has bren cultivated for two thousand years, before it can restrain us from endeavouring to obtain, by transplantation, those kinds of grapes which are celebrated for their produce in other countries, it must first be proved, that all the varieties of the vitis vinifera are the progeny of one parent stock—that the modifications which each variety has undergone, and which constitute it, are altogether the effects of circumstances;—and, that each kind, placed under such circumstances, would acquire the same qualities which that parent stock, or any other variety the progeny of it, would in the same circumstances have acquired. But the very use which these writers make of the words essences, races, varieties, &c. point out differences of greater or less importance. Now, though our information is not sufficiently exact, to ascertain what are the most fickle characters of the vine, it is evident, from the efforts which have been made, to reduce the subvarieties under certain heads, that there are certain characters peculiar to some which may be traced, where great changes in other respects have taken place; and in the description given, of the principal varieties of the vines of France, in Chaptal's first work, the words essences primitives, and caracteres constant, intimate in the strongest manner, that all the qualities of a variety are not equally affected by circumstances, if they do not point to a period, when the varieties were few, but the characters distinct. The strongest proof, however, exists, that whatever may have been the origin of the different varieties of vines, some of them have through ages retained characters which distinguished them from others. Modern physiologists still discover, in more than one kind, the characters under which they were described by Columella and Baccius; and the distinction they observed, of a species possessing a leaf covered with a downy or cottony substance, still forms the prominent characteristic of a variety of vines.

There are many facts, also, to prove, that the excellencies of one species may be transferred, not only to different provinces, but to countries immensely distant, provided there is a similarity in the climate. In 1420, the wines of Cyprus were reputed the best in the world.The Portuguese introduced the plants from which they were made, into the island of Madeira, and the Malmesey of that island is its produce. It was carried, by Pedro de Ximenes, into Spain, where it yields the Malaga, and enters largely into the composition of the best wines of that country. In imitation of these examples, Francis I. of France planted two extensive vineyards at Fontainbleau and Concy, with plants brought directly from Greece, but these are now indistinguishable among the common vines of the country.

Different kinds of the muscat are also to be found in most wine countries, where the temperature is sufficiently high, and the wines made from its produce are universally esteemed; and there are varieties of grapes, which may be traced through the finest vineyards for their excellence, while others are only found where the wines are of no reputation.

While, then, there is no certainty of obtaining the same qualities in a vine after its transplantation, there is still sufficient probability of its not degenerating, to make the trial well worth while; and, while it is of great importance to obtain valuable varieties, it is perhaps still more important, to obtain with them, a knowledge of the circumstances in which they were valuable. By assimilating to these, as much as possible, the circumstances of their new situation, the excellencies of many may be retained, while others may acquire characters for which they were not formerly distinguished; and varieties may arise, capable of producing a wine different in its character from any hitherto made, and as much distinguished for excellence as for novelty.

But these observations only apply to the propagation of the plant, by layers, cuttings, or buds, for it appears evident to me, that the extreme longevity of the vine, and the discovery of various methods of lengthening the periods of its existence, by cutting it down close to the roots, &c. had led the French cultivators altogether to overlook its propagation by seed; and, since the date of the works which have occasioned these observations, the experiments of our countryman, Mr. Knight, on the apple, have unfolded principles respecting the propagation of plants, whose application has already enriched the cider counties of England, with many new and most valuable varieties of that fruit: and for the application of which, to the vine, there is the strongest grounds founded on the general analogy between plants, to warrant an expectation of the most valuable results.

In prosecuting, the experiments, detailed in the treatise which he has published on the apple and pear^[9], this eminent physiologist seems to have kept constantly in view, the analogy between the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

"The effects of cultivation," says he, "on the animal and vegetable systems, are extremely similar. A change in form, in colour, in size, or stature, takes place in each; and in each these changes appear to arise from similar causes,—from a more abundant and regular supply of nourishment than is afforded in a state of nature, with a favourable clitmate, or protection from the bad effects of an unfavourable one. The offspring of every plant and animal, when unchanged by cultivation, bears a very close resemblance to its parents; but amongst the cultivated kind of each, it is extremely various; still, however, generally shewing some similarity to them. By taking advantage of incidental variations, and by propagating from those individuals which approach nearest to our ideas of perfection, improved varieties of fruit, as well as of animals, are obtained. Much attention has, in the present day, been paid to the improvement of the latter, whilst the former have been almost entirely neglected." * * * (p. p. 3, 4, 5th edit).

The existence of every variety of this fruit (the apple), seems to be confined to a certain period, during the earlier parts of which, only, it can be propagated with advantage to the planter. No kind of apple now cultivated, appears to have existed more than two hundred years; and this term does not at all exceed the duration of a healthy tree, or of an orchard, when grafted on crab stocks, and planted in a strong tenacious soil. * * *

In the propagation of animals, we can obtain a succession of offspring produced only according to the usual course of nature; because, an animal forms a whole, whose parts cannot retain life, when, separated from each other. The less complex, and less elaborate organization of vegetables, admits of other modes of propagation; and a detached part of each individual, is capable of forming a plant in every respect similar to that from which it was taken, and possessed of all its powers and properties. Vegetable, however, like animal life, in individuals, appears to have its limits fixed by nature, and immortality has alike been denied to the oak, and to the mushroom; to the being of a few days, and of as many centuries. The general law of nature must be obeyed, and each must yield its place to a successor. The art of the planter readily divides a single tree into almost any number that he wishes, but the character of the new trees, thus raised, is very essentially different from that of a young seedling plant; they possess a preternatural maturity, and retain the habits and diseases of the tree, of which they naturally formed a part. All efforts, which have hitherto been made to propagate healthy trees, of those varieties which have been long in cultivation, have, I believe, been entirely unsuccessful. The grafts grow well for two or three years, after which, they become cankered and mossy, and appear, what I consider them really to be, parts of the bearing branches of old diseased trees." (p.p. 6, 7, and 8).

I shall not follow Mr. Knight into the details of his experiments, which appear to have been most ingenious and minute in their application, and most satisfactory, when viewed in connection with the theory he has established upon them,

"that all plants of this species, however propagated from the same stock, partake in some degree of the same life, and will attend the progress of that life in the habits of its youth, its maturity, and its decay; though they will not be any way affected by any incidental injuries the parent tree may sustain after they are detached from it. The roots, however, and the trunk adjoining them, appear to possess, in all trees, a greater degree of durability than the bearing branches when the old have been destroyed by accident, or even by old age."

Should the affinity between the apple and the vine, not be considered sufficiently close, to warrant the application to the one species, of the principle established respecting the other, the fact may go far to obviate the objection,—that, from observations made on the fructification of a pea, Mr. Knight drew conclusions, which enabled him to obtain his, most valuable varieties of apples raised from seed. And when we come to treat of the management of the vine, as prescribed by the French writers, particularly as relates to pruning, and the diseases incident to it, the inference will, I think, appear a most reasonable one, that the French have been long struggling against the effects of age, in most of their varieties: and that to the decay, or extinction of a valuable variety of grape, may probably, with more truth, be imputed the lost, or departing fame, of many vineyards celebrated of old, while others have acquired, or preserved a merited reputation, than to what it is by the French writers generally referred,

"the practice of a blind routine, and the ignorance or forgetfulness of the laws of nature."

There are authentic records to prove the extraordinary age to which pines will attain; and in ancient, as well as modern history, instances are given of vines, which, for their stature and longevity, were the astonishment of the world: bat Lord Bacon long ago remarked, that the lives of trees are greatly prolonged, when their branches are taken off which could not be the case with those: and Mr. Knight, in the course of his experience, has had occasion to infer, that

"in the culture of the apple and the pear, the life of each original tree might be prolonged to three times its natural period, by robbing it of its branches as soon as the qualities of its fruits were known, and retaining it as a pollard, or more properly in the state of shoots in a coppice which is felled at regular periods; for these are known to possess a much greater degree of durability, than the same kind of trees, when left in the natural state, and to produce a vigorous succession of branches during many centuries."

It will be seen, in the passages of the work already alluded to, that some of the operations, recommended to renew vines, bear no very distant resemblance to what is here described; and when it becomes necessary, after 25 or 30 years (to which period only the life of vines in some districts extends), to renew a plant which, without such aid, is capable of attaining the age of 600 years, there is little presumption in supposing that they are the progeny of a parent which was produced in a very remote age; and still less, in deducing the inference already stated, that the French had been led altogether to overlook their propagation by seed.

If, then, from the fickle and fugacious characters of the vine, there is a risk that a valuable variety may lose its desirable properties, when transplanted to a new climate, the gratification afforded by success in the experiment, is still liable to be checked by the fear, that that variety is bordering on decay and dissolution, and may only survive for a few years, to reward the enterprise and industry of its introducer.

Superadded to these considerations, there is this, that out of a considerable number of varieties already introduced, only two have been found effectually to bear the climate of New South Wales.

The plants, indeed, grow luxuriantly, and produce fruit in abundance; but, before arriving at maturity it is very generally attacked by disease or blight. It would seem, that notwithstanding the astonishing facility with which the vine changes its qualities, when in transplantation, it experiences the effects of a slight change of climate or soil, there are changes so violent, that few of its varieties possess the power of altering their habits sufficiently to endure them. It is a curious fact, that in attempting to introduce into America the vines of Europe, obstacles of the same nature should have presented themselves. I have been favoured with the perusal of a memoir made to John M'Arthur, Esq. by a native of Switzerland, who had been engaged in such an undertaking, from which it appears, that his efforts were uniformly disappointed by the effects of blight on the fruit of every variety, with the exception of one, so indifferent in its quality, as almost to have escaped his notice; but from which alone, he was at length, after the repeated failures of the others, reduced to hope for any degree of success.

The varieties, to which those who have experienced the failure of the others in New South Wales, are now confining their attention, are supposed to be the Miller's Burgundy (the meunier of the French) and the claret grape, and another nearly similar to it, which some suppose to be the same, and others to be the ramonat, the grape which produces port wine. To have acquired and naturalized these to the climate of New South Wales, is an important point gained, and reflects honour upon those gentlemen to whom the colony is indebted for them; but several years of experience are still wanting, to ascertain to what extent they retain their valuable properties, and though these in their highest degree, should be preserved, it should still only act as a stimulus to add to their number, by the introduction of a greater number of varieties. It might also be worth while to ascertain how far a different treatment might avail, in preserving from blight those varieties subject to it. It is common, for instance, in Madeira, to train the vines over a horizontal trellis, and to shade the branches beneath, by the foliage which the trellis supports. That this treatment might prove effectual, may with great probability be inferred, from the complete preservation of those bunches of the blighting varieties, which are enclosed, and allowed to swell and ripen, in paper bags. It is certain that in the present state of our knowledge on the subject, no experiment is unimportant, from which there is the most distant prospect of deriving useful results. But all the facts we are acquainted with, seem to me to point out in the strongest manner, the importance of obtaining new varieties from seed, and I shall, therefore, quote at some length from Mr. Knight, a description of the methods he found most successful in obtaining new varieties of apples from seed, in the hope, that many may be led to apply the same principles to the vine, from the conviction, that at no distant day, the wine of New South Wales may be equal in importance, to the cider of England, with all the improvement it is susceptible of from the labours of this ingenious philosopher.

"When I first began to suspect," (says Mr. Knight p. 30) "that my endeavours to propagate the old fruits would not be successful, I selected the seeds of some of the best kinds, with an intention to propagate new ones; but I soon found that many of the young plants, (particularly those of the golden pippin), were nearly as much diseased as the trees which produced them. I several times raised three or four plants, from seeds taken from one apple, and when this had been produced by a diseased tree, I have had not only as many distinct varieties as there were seeds; but some were much diseased, and others apparently healthy, though the seeds were sown in the same soil, and the plants afterwards grew within two feet of each other, in the same nursery. Grafts having been inserted from each, retained the habits of the tree from which they were taken.

Few, however, if any of them, appeared to possess a sufficient degree of vigour to promise me much success in their cultivation, (except in very favourable situations), should their fruit be such as answered my wishes.

Having before observed, that all the old fruits were free from disease when trained to a south wall, I thought it not improbable that seedling plants, raised from them, would be equally healthy, and that this would not be the sole advantage attending this mode of propagation, as the trees in this situation would enjoy all the benefits of a better climate, whilst their blossoms being expanded before those of the neighbouring orchards, would escape all chance of being impregnated by the farina of inferior kinds. With a view to try the effects of this experiment, I prepared stocks of the best kind of apple I knew, which could be propagated by cutting, and after planting them against a south wall in extremely rich mould, I grafted them with the stire golden pippin, and a few other fruits, whose time of ripening suited the situation in which I wished to plant.

In the course of the ensuing winter, the young trees were dug up, and (their roots having been retrenched), were again planted in the same places. This mode of treatment had the desired effect of making some of them produce blossoms at two years old.

I suffered only one or two fruits to remain on each tree, which, in consequence, attained nearly three times their common size, with a very high degree of maturity and perfection; and the appearance of the plants I raised from their seeds, so much excelled any I had formerly obtained from the same fruits taken from the orchard, that, I think, I can confidently recommend the method I have adopted. I had chosen fruits possessing excellencies and defects of opposite kinds, with a wish to see either through the industry of the bees, or my own, the effects of a process similar to what is called, by breeders of animals, crossing the breed. This consists in propagating from males and females not related to each other, and is certainly necessary, in those animals at least, in which strength and spirit constitute excellencies, to prevent their degenerating. The experiment was easily made, and the singular effects I had seen produced by similar means on other plants, left me no reason to doubt that some effect would he produced in this. The good and the ill effects, which follow the process of crossing the breed of plants, are perfectly similar to those which have been observed among animals. If the male and female be taken from two permanent varieties of different characters, the immediate offspring will present a mixture of both characters in nearly an equal proportion, but the progeny of this offspring will be extremely various. Some will take nearly the form of their male, and others of their female ancestry, and it will be long before a new permanent character is acquired. In perennial vegetables, the progress of variation and degeneracy may be arrested, when an individual answering our wishes has been obtained; as this individual, by the art of the planter and grafter, may be divided and multiplied to almost any extent. My experience induces me to believe, that the effects of crossing, tend strongly to stimulate the growth of the offspring, both of plants and animals; but that, amongst animals, crosses should be made only between breeds bearing a good deal of resemblance to each other, or between different families of the same breed.

From the open structure of the blossoms of vegetables, and from the numerous tribes of insect which feed on their honey, or farina, a sexual intercourse must, of necessity, take place between neighbouring plants of the same species; and I am much more disposed to attribute this intercourse to the intention, than to the negligence of nature.

My wishes were, of course, to correct the defects, and to combine the excellencies of the best fruits; and I was put without hopes, that the offspring would possess a greater degree of strength and vigour, as it is known to do in cultivated animals. A few days, therefore, before the blossoms expanded, of the kinds from which I wished to propagate, I opened the petals, and destroyed the males in all the blossoms, which I suffered to remain of one kind, taking great care to leave the females uninjured; and when these blossoms were fully expanded, I impregnated half of them with farina taken from another kind of fruit, leaving the other half to the care of the bees, which were collected in great numbers, owing to the scarcity of flowers at that season, and passed busily from one blossom to another. I had soon the satisfaction to observe, that every fruit which I had impregnated, grew rapidly, whilst half of those on the other tree, which had remained in their natural state, failed, with every one of those left to the care of the bees; whence I was disposed to conclude, that these insects were not so good carriers of the farina of plants, as is, I believe, generally supposed by naturalists; but in subsequent experiments, where the blossoms of the neighbouring trees have been more numerous, I have had reason to draw a different conclusion.

The plants I have obtained from the fruits, on which this experiment has been made, are certainly much the most promising I have yet seen. Some of these possess the character of the male parent, others that of the female; in some, that of both appears to be blended, and in others, I do not distinguish that of either. Many of them appear to be perfectly free from hereditary disease and debility, and the fruit of some of them is not in any degree inferior to those from which it derived its existence. Every seed, though several were taken from the same apple, has afforded a new and distinct variety; and some of these grow with more luxuriance than others; and the fruits produced by the different plants, possess very different degrees of merit. An estimate may, in some measure, be made of their good and bad qualities, at the conclusion of the first summer, by the resemblance the leaves bear to the highly cultivated, or wild kinds, as has been remarked by the writers on this subject, of the 17th century."

It thus appears, that the state of the plant from which the seed is taken, has the strongest influence. in forming the character of the seedling plant produced from it, and that it is of the utmost importance, that, when plants are to be propagated by seed, the parent should be in the healthiest state, and the fruit in the highest degree of perfection. Another principle should also be borne in mind, viz. that "the planter must seek those qualities in the parent tree, which he wishes to find in the future seedling plants;" and on reading the following passage, it will readily occur, that the most valuable qualities of a grape, unfit to bear the climate, may, by crossing, be united with that quality, in a variety which perhaps possesses few others to recommend it.

"The most effective method," says Mr. Knight, p. 42, "I have been able to discover, of obtaining such fruits as vegetate very early in the Spring, has been by introducing the farina of the Siberian crab" (a plant which still retains, in England, the habit which it possessed in its native clime, of blossoming on the first appearance of spring), "into the blossom of a rich and early apple, and by transferring, in the same manner, the farina of the apple to the blossom of the Siberian crab. The leaf and habits of many of the plants I have thus obtained, possess much the character of the apple, whilst they vegetate as early in the spring as the crab of Siberia, and possess, at least, an equal power of bearing cold; and I possess two plants of this family, which are quite as hardy as the most austere crab of our woods; and are, I think, capable of affording ciders of much greater merit than any which have yet existed."

In the large quotations, which I have thus taken the liberty of making from Mr. Knight, the process he recommends, as well as the principles on which it is founded, are so perspicuously described, that it would be presumption in me to attempt adding any thing in explanation; but, as many may be desirous of making the experiments^[10], who are altogether ignorant of botany, it may not be amiss to observe, that each of the small flowers, or blossoms of the vine, contains five stamina, or male parts of the plant, and one pistil, or female part, These are so called, because their conjunction is, in most cases, necessary for the formation, and in all cases, for the perfection of the fruit. The male parts are small awl-shaped filaments, surrounding the female, which they rise above, and spreading a little outwards; their extremities, called antheræ, are covered with the pollen or farina. From the smallness of the flowers of the vine, the operation will, of course, be more difficult and nice than in the apple; but every thing will yield to care and perseverance.

Speechly, who has very strenuously recommended the attempt to raise new varieties of vines by seed, and who seems to have had a very clear idea of the advantage which Mr. Knight's experiments have since ascertained to be obtainable by a mixture of varieties, affirms, that by judicious management, seedling vines will bear fruit the third or fourth year. There will, therefore, be no great loss of time in ascertaining the qualities of their fruit. The management be prescribes, is exactly the same as that for a cutting.

As soon as the wood of the seedling plant is ripe, though the quality of the fruit is not ascertained, it will be advantageous to plant a few cuttings from it; that, if it should turn out a valuable variety, a greater quantity of plants may be the sooner obtained.

It is, however, one of the strongest facts which support Mr. Knight's theory, that he has found it impossible to anticipate the natural period of a seedling, apples bearing, by grafting a cutting from it on a bearing tree; and it is, therefore, most probable, that it would be equally unsuccessful with the vine.

The length at which I have treated this part of the subject, has swelled the chapter to a size disproportionate to the other divisions of the work, but not to the opinion I have of its importance. It is, in fact, the foundation on which a successful cultivation of the vine, in New South Wales, must be raised; and a point which, if attended to in time, may save the expenditure of immense sums in a nugatory manner, and determine, not only the degree of success which may attend the cultivation of the vine, but in a great measure the expense at which that success must be purchased.

The following notice of the principal varieties of vines cultivated in France, is preceded by a table of the characters by which they are described. These are drawn from the leaves and fruit, as being less liable to change than some others, such as the distance of the knots, the colour of the bark, &tc. The leaf is always understood to be perfect, and of the largest size.

Each variety has a different name, in almost every province or district where it is cultivated. The maurillon hatif; or forward maurillon. It is the earliest variety of the climate; its berries take a black colour long before their maturity; they are small, round, and not close; their skin is hard and thick, the pulp dry and fibrous; its juice is almost insipid; the bunches and leaves small; the leaves of a bright green on both surfaces, and terminated by a large and broad indentation. Excepting in Provence, it is not cultivated, having no other merit than precocity.

The meunier, or, miller, called also mealy manrillon; its leaves are covered with a white cottony matter, whence the name; it seems an improved variety of the preceding; its berries are black, large, and rather close in the bunch, which is short and thick; its leaves are three lobed, having, besides, two divisions which, if a little deeper, would form two semilobes.

The white savaguien, only differs from the preceding in the colour of the fruit, and the greater size of the bunch; the grapes are also larger, and more oblong; the two lower lobes of the leaf, have also a more decided character.

The maurillon, or pineau of Burgundy. It is more than probable that it takes it name from its black colour, or colour of the moor; because many black grapes, of a different kind, are also called maurillon; the best vineyards of Burgundy

The most characteristic Marks for distil.

(illegible text)

Leaves

lobed

entire

Semilobed

Trilobed

Quintilobed

Laciniated or Fringed

Round

Oblong

Dark green

Middling dark

Brownish

Light green

regular llops

irregular llops.

Fruit

berries white

berries black

Of two colours

Transparen

White Greenish

Amber

Black

Dun

Purple

Rose coloured

Smoke coloured

ed with ch by a rt stalk

small of which nonstalk ed to the are chiefly composed of this grape; the bunch is only of a middling size, and the grapes not large nor close on the bunch; the bark is reddish, the leaf lightly divided into five lobes, and very regularly indented round the edges; it does not announce much vigour of vegetation.

The white morillon has a longer branch than the preceding; the berries are almost round, and compose a bunch of little clusters; the leaf, without being entire, is not lobed, but is very distinctly indented round the edge; its upper surface is green, and its under whitish; it is supported by a large and red petiole.

The franc pineau, the morillon par excellence. The bunch is short and rather conic; the berry oblong, and close to the bunch—of a carnation red at the orifice; the wool is slender, long, and inclined to red; the knots distant from each other, and when the wood is cut transversely, a reddish colour is observeable in it; the petiole of the leaf is long, the leaf short, red, and semilobed on two sides—delicately indented round the edge; its colour is rather a deep green on the upper, and pale on the under surface, and both surfaces covered with down; it produces little, but the taste of its fruit is excellent, and the most delicate wines of Burgundy are made from it.

The black Burgundy, (Borguignon noir). This Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/106 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/107 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/108 The green Rochelle. The bunch of this variety is of a middling size; the berries have a soft skin, and are close; even at its highest degree of maturity, it has an acid sweetish taste which is not agreeable. It almost always produces with a kind of abundance, and is reputed very advantageous for the manufacture of brandy. The leaf, divided into two principal lobes, besides two semilobes, is very thick; its upper surface is darkish green, its under surface ash coloured, and covered with a very short down; the wood is yellow, and closely knotted; the petiole, red, short, and round, is terminated by five glands, the middle one much larger than the others.

The Rochelle blonde; or fair Rochelle, which seems to be a degeneration of the preceding, has only two lobes in the upper part of the leaf; the lower part is entire; the colour of its foliage, as well as of its fruit, is of a much lighter green.

The large muscadet. There are two kinds of the muscadet enfumé, or smoked; the large, and small; the leaf of the first has a large petiole, which parts into five glands; the upper surface is of a dark, and the under of a whitish green, but without down; all its edge is lightly indented, but there is only one deep division on the right side; the stalk of the bunch is not strong; the Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/110 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/111 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/112 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/113 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/114 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/115 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/116 Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/117

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1. I have met with none who have treated of it at a later date, than that of the first work of Chaptal, Dussieux, &c. (1801).
2. Smiths Intr. Bot.
3. See Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol, I.
4. Gibbon supposes that the vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age of the Antonines.
5. Montesquieu.
6. Notre molesse orgueilleuse, dans le sein du repos et du luxe de villes, attache malheureusement one idée basse á ces travax champêtres et au détail de ces arts utiles que les maitres et les législateurs de la terre cultivaient de leurs mains victorieuses. Voltaire "discours de réception de à l'académie."
7. During the many years in which he was engaged on his voluminous work on agriculture, he resided on his paternal estate, and is said never to have recommended any change, of which be had not practically ascertained the advantage.
8. Annales d' Agriculture, Tom ii. page 420.
9. See "A Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and Pear, and on the Manufacture of Cider and Perry, by T. A. Knight, Esq. F. R. S. and L. S. and President of the Agricultural Society of London.—London;—Longman and Company.
10. I have observed, that at the last meeting of the Agricultural Society of New South Wales, some dissatisfaction was manifested, on the part of some of the members, at the manner in which the premiums were distributed. I hope it will not be taken ill, if one who is as yet a stranger to their body, though not to all its members, should suggest the application of some of the funds, intended for premiums, to the advancement of the object here recommended.
    Such stimuli would appear to be afforded with peculiar propriety, to objects which, though most beneficial to the public, and likely, eventually, to be so in a very high degree to the individual, are yet new, and of more distant and less obvious advantage.