OCR Text |
Show 332 FRUITS. CHAP. X, CHAPTER X. PLAN'l'S conlinue£l- FRUI'l'S- ORNAMEN'l'AL 'l'REES- FLOWER,'. f<'RUJTS.- OltAPNS- VARY lN ODD AND 'l'HU'J.TNG l'AH'l'TOULAHS. --Mll LJn:JtltY. -' 1'111~ OHANOE OltOUJ' - STNQUJ,AH 1m UW'." FnOlll CHO' lNG. -- l'JMUll AND Nl•:C'I'A · HTNIC. - HUU-VAIUA'l'lON - ANAJ,OOOUS VAlUA'J'TON- Hl~ LA'l'WN 'l'O 'l'ILE AJ,A10ND. -- APH!OO'l'. -- J'J,UMS -VARIA'l'JON IN TJIF.W S'l'ONJr.S. -- OliEitl!IES- S!NOUJ, Ait VAIW!:l'IES 01". --AJ'l'LE. --l'l~ AU. -- S'l'HAWBEitltY - JNTEHBLl~NDING OF nm OltTGTNAl, FORM S. --COO 'EJIEitltY - S1'EAl)Y INUUEASE JN SIZE 01' THE F IWIT-VAHIE'l.'li~S 01!' . --WALN U~l'. --NUT.-- CUOUUlll'l'AOEOUS l'LAN'I'SWONDEI\ J<'l lJ, V AJU A'I 'J()N 01!', ORNAMJ<:NTA L 'l'REJBS- TJIEIR VARIATION JN DIWltEE AND KTND - ASU-'l'HEE - FiCOTUJI-J<'.Ilt- l!AW'J'JIOHN. FLOWEHS - 111UIJ I' fi'J,E Olt!OIN 01;' MANY l<TNDS- VAlUATION IN CONS'l'I'I'U'l'JONAL PE UJ,JAI\ITIES - J<INU Oli' VA In A'l'ION. -- HOS.ES- SJWERAL Sl'ECJIES CUL'l'lV A'mD. --l' ANSY. -- DAULlA. -- HYAClN'l'J!, lU S'l'OitY AND VAIUA'l'ION Oil'. 'J'he Vine ( Vitis vimfera ).- THE best authorities consider all our grapes as the dc:ccndants of one species which now grows wild in western Asia, which grew during the Bronze-age wild in Italy/ and which has recently been found fossil in 11 tufaccous dcpo ·it in the south of Francc.2 Some 11uthors, however, cntcrt11in much doubt about tho single parentage of our cultivated varieties, owing to tho number of semi-wild forms found in Sou thorn Europe, ospcci11lly as described by Clem onto, 3 in a forest in Spain; but as tho grape sows itself freely in Southern Europe, and as several of tho chief kinds tmn:mit their ch11raotcrs by sood,4 whilst others arc extremely vn.riablo, the existence of many different escaped forms could hardly fail to occur in countries whore this pla.nt has been cultivated from tho remotest antiquity. That tho vine varic. much when prop11gn.tcd by seed, wo may infer from tho largely incroa. ·od number of varieties since the earlier historical records. Now hot-house varieties aro produced almost ovory year; for instance," a golden-coloured va1·icty l1as been recently raised in England from a black grape without the aid of a cross. 1 H cor, 'Pflanzen dor Pfahlbaut n,' 18GG, s. 28. 2 Alpli. Do Candoll o, 'Gcograph. Bot.,' p. 872; Dr. A. Targ ioni-'fozzetti, in 'Jour. IIort. Soc-.,' vol. ix. p. 133. l~or tho fossil vine found by Dr. G. Plnnohon, see 'Nat.llisL. Ucvicw,' 18G5, April, p. 224:. a GoJron, 'De l'Espcco,' tom. ii. p. 100. 4 See an account of J\lf. Vib d.'s cxporimonLs, by Alex. Jordan, in' Mcm.dc l'Aoad. do Lyon,' tom. ii., 1852, J1. 108. " 'Gardcncr't:~ Chronicle,' 18G'l, p. 188. CHAP. X. VINES. 333 Van Monso reared a multitude of varieties from tho seed of ono vine, which was completely separated from all others, so that thoro c~uld not, at least in this generation, have boon any crossing, and th? seedlings presented "los analogues do toutos los sortos," and difl'orod ill almost every possible character both in tho fruit and foliage. Tho cultivated v11riotios arc extremely numerous; Count Odart says that ho will not deny that thoro may exist throughout tho world 700 or 800, pcrha.ps oven 1000 v11rictics, but not 11 third ~f these have any v.11lue. In tho Cat11loguo of fruit cultivated in tho IIort10ultural Gardens of Londo~, published in 1842, 99 v11rioties aro enumerated.. Whorc_vor tho grape JS grown many varieties occur: Pallas describes 24 ill th? ~rliDOa, and Burnes mentions 10 in Cabool. Tho cl11ssification of tho vanot10s has much perplexed writer.·, and Count Od11rt is reduced to a geographical sys~om; but I will not enter on this subject, nor on tho many and groat differences between tho varieties. I will merely specify a fow curious and trifling peculiarities, all taken from Odart's highly ~stcomed wo.rk,7 for tho sake of showing tho diversified vari11bility of th1s plant. SliDon has clas~od gra.pcs into two main divisions, those with downy leaves and those With smooth leaves, but ho admits that in ono variety, namely tho Rcbazo, tho loaves aro either smooth or downy; and Odart (p. 70) states that some varieties have tho nerves alone, and other varieties their young loaves, downy, whilst the old ones aro smooth. The Pedro-Ximoncs gra.po (Od.art, p. 397) presents a peculiarity by which it can bo at ~n~o I'ocogm~od amongst a host of other varieties, namely, that when tho frmt IS nearly npo tho norvos of the leaves or oven tho whole surface becomes yellow. Tho Barbera d' A.sti is well marked by several characters (p. 426), amongst others, "by some of tho loaves, and it is always the lowest on. the br.an?hos, suddenly becoming of a dark rod colour." Several a~thors ~ cla~srfy:mg grapes ltavo founded thou· main divisions on tho borr10s beillg mthor rotmd or oblong; and Odart admits the value of this character; yot thoro is one variety, tho Macc11bco (p. 71), which often produces small round, and largo oblong, berries in tho same bunch .. Certain gr~pos calle~. N ebbiolo (p. ,'!'29) present a constant character, su:ffic10nt for thmr rccogmtwn, namely, tho slight adherence of that part of tho pulp which s~rotmds th~ socds.to t~o rest of tho berry, when r.ut through transversely. A. Rhomsh v11nety IS mentioned (p. 228) which likes a dry soil; the fruit ripens well, but at tho moment of m11turity, if much rain f11lls, tho berries arc apt to rot; on the other hand, tho fruit of a Swiss variety (p. 24.3) is valued for well susta.ining prolonged humidity. This latter variety spTOuts late in tho spring,. yot matures its fruit early; other varieties (p. 362) have tho fault of being too much excited by the April sun, and in consequence suffer from frost. A. Styrian variety (p. 254) has brittle foot-stalks, so that the clusters of fruit are often blown off; this variety is said to bo particularly attractive to wasps and boos. Other varieties have tough stalks, which resist tho wind. Many other variable characters could be given, but the foregoing facts aro sufficient to show in how many small structUl'al and ti 'Arbros Fruitiers,' 183G, tom. ii. p. 290. 7 OJurt, 'Amp6lographie Universolle,' 1849. |