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VINE
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VINE . The See also:grape-vine, botanically Vitis, is a genus of about See also:thirty See also:species, widespread in the See also:north temperate See also:zone, but richest in species in North See also:America. The best known and longest cultivated species is the old-See also:world grape-vine, Vitis vinifera; a variety of this, silvestris, occurs See also:wild in the Mediterranean region, spreading eastwards towards the See also:Caucasus and northwards into See also:southern See also:Germany, and may be regarded as the See also:parent of the cultivated vine. It is of See also:interest to See also:note that grape-stones have been found with mummies in See also:Egyptian tombs of not later See also:age than 3000 years. The seeds have the characteristics of those of V. vinifera, but show some very slight See also:variations from the type of See also:seed now prevalent. Among the Greeks in the See also:time of See also:Homer See also:wine was in See also:general use. The cultivation of the vine must also have been introduced into See also:Italy at a very See also:early See also:period. In See also:Virgil's time the varieties in cultivation seem to have been exceedingly numerous; and the varied methods of training and culture now in use in Italy are in many cases identical with those described by See also:Columella and other See also:Roman writers. Grape-stones have been found among the remains of Swiss and See also:Italian See also:lake dwellings of the See also:Bronze period, and others in tufaceous volcanic deposits near See also:Montpellier, not See also:long before the historic era. The old-world species is also extensively cultivated in See also:California, but the grape See also:industry of the eastern See also:United States has been See also:developed from native species, chiefly V. Labrusca and V. aestivalis and their hybrids with V. vinifera. Some of the See also:American varieties have been introduced into See also:France and other countries infested with See also:Phylloxera, to serve as See also:stocks on which to See also:graft the better kinds of See also:European vines, because their roots, though perhaps equally subject to the attacks of the See also:insects, do not suffer so much injury from them as the European species. The vine requires a high summer temperature and a See also:pro-longed period in which to ripen its See also:fruit. Where these are forthcoming, it can be profitably cultivated, even though the See also:winter temperature be very See also:low. Tchihatchef mentions that at See also:Erivan in See also:Russian See also:Armenia the mean winter temperature is 7°•I C. and falls in See also:January to -30° C., and at See also:Bokhara the mean temperature of January is 4° C. and the minimum -22° C., and yet at both places the vine is grown with success. In the See also:Alps it is profitably cultivated up to an See also:altitude of 1870 ft., and in the north of See also:Piedmont as high as 3180 ft. At the See also:present time the limit of profitable cultivation in See also:Europe passes from See also:Brittany, See also:lat. 47° 30', to beyond the See also:Rhine by See also:Liege and through Thuringia to See also:Silesia in lat. 51° 55'. In former centuries vines were cultivated to the north of this region, as, for instance, in See also: It is a curious fact that at the present See also:day much or even most of the wine of finest quality is made at or near to the See also:northern limits of possible cultivation with profit. This circumstance' is probably explained by the greater care and See also:attention bestowed both on the cultivation of the vine and on the manufacture of the wine in northern countries than in those where the See also:climate is more propitious. The relative inferiority of the wines made at the Cape of See also:Good See also:Hope and in See also:Australia is partly due to variations of climate, the vine not yet having adapted itself to the new conditions, and partly to the deficient skill of the manufacturers. That such inferiority may be expected to disappear is suggested by the success of vine-culture in See also:Madeira and the See also:Canary Islands. The development of other species of Vitis, such as the curious succulent species of the Soudan and other parts of See also:equatorial See also:Africa, or the numerous kinds in See also:India and See also:Cochin See also:China, is of course possible under suitable conditions; but it is obvious that an extremely long period must elapse before they can successfully compete with the product of many centuries. [See also generally the See also:article WINE. For currants and raisins, both produced by varieties of the grape-vine, see the respective articles.] Apart from their economic value, vines are often cultivated for purely ornamental purposes, owing to the elegance of their foliage, the See also:rich coloration they assume, the shade they afford, and their hardihood. Vines have woody climbing stems, with alternate, entire or palmately lobed leaves, provided at the See also:base with small stipules. Opposite some of these leaves springs a tendril, by aid of which the plant climbs. There are numerous transitional states between the See also:ordinary See also:form of tendril and the inflorescence. The See also:flowers are small, See also:green and fragrant, and are arranged in dense clusters. Each has a small calyx in the form of a shallow rim, sometimes five-lobed or toothed; five petals, which cohere by their-tips and form a cap or See also:hood, which is pushed off when the stamens are ripe; and five See also:free stamens, placed opposite the petals and springing from a fleshy See also:ring or disk surrounding the ovary; each bears a two-celled anther. The anomalous position of the stamens in front of the petals is explained by the See also:abortion or non-development of an See also:outer See also:row of stamens, indications of which are sometimes seen on the hypogynous disk encircling the ovary. The ovary bears a sessile stigma and is more or less completely two-celled, with two erect ovules in each See also:cell. This ripens into the See also:berry and seed. The cultivated vine has usually hermaphrodite flowers; but as it occurs in a wild state, or as an See also:escape from cultivation, the flowers See also:manifest a tendency towards unisexuality: . that is, one plant bears flowers with stamens only, or only the rudiments of the See also:pistil, while on another plant the flowers are bisexual. Exclusively See also:female flowers without stamens do not appearto have been observed. Seedling See also:plants from the cultivated vines often produce unisexual flowers, thus reverting to the feral type. Perhaps the explanation of the fact that some of the cultivated varieties are, as gardeners say, " See also:bad setters," —i.e. do not ripen ,.See also:heir fruit owing to imperfect fertilization,—is to be sought in this natural tendency to dioecism. 3 i. Foliage, tendril and inflorescence, reduced. 2. See also:Flower after fall of petals, magnified. 3. Fruit, reduced. The conformation of the vine See also:stem has elicited a vast amount of explanatory comment. The most generally accepted explanation is the " sympodial " one. According to this, the shoot of the vine is a " sympodium," consisting of a number of " podia " placed one over the other in See also:longitudinal See also:series. Each See also:podium consists of a portion of the stem bearing one or more leaves, each with an axillary bud or buds, and terminating in a tendril or an inflorescence. In V. Labrusca there is a tendril opposite to each See also:leaf, so that the podium bears only a single leaf. In other species there is a definite arrangement of the leaves, some with and others without tendrils opposite to them, the numerical See also:order remaining See also:constant or nearly so. These arrangements have doubtless some reference to See also:climatic phenomena, continuity of growth being arrested by See also:cold and promoted by warmth. In any See also:case, it is obvious that these facts might be turned to See also:practical ends in cultivation. A vine, for instance, that produces bunches of grapes at each See also:joint is preferable to one in which there are several barren See also:joints, as a larger quantity can be grown within a smaller See also:area. The practice of pruning or " stopping " is, consciously or unconsciously, regulated by the mode of growth. The tendril or inflorescence, according to the views above explained, though in reality terminal, is See also:bent to one See also:side; hence it appears to be lateral and opposite to the leaf. While the tendril is thus diverted from its See also:original See also:direct course, the axillary bud of the leaf opposite the tendril begins a new podium, by lengthening into a shoot which assumes the direction the tendril had See also:prior to its deflexion. This new podium, now in a direct See also:line with its predecessor, produces leaves and ends in its turn in a tendril or inflorescence. A third podium succeeds the second, and so on. Other authorities explain the formation of the tendril and its anomalous position opposite to a leaf by supposing that the end of the stem bifurcates during growth, one See also:division forming the shoot, the other the tendril or inflorescence. It is not possible within the limits at our command to specify the facts and arguments by which these theories are respectively supported. Practically the tendrils assist the plant in its native state to scramble over rocks or trees. As in the case of similar formations generally, they are endowed with a sensitiveness to See also:touch which enables them to grasp and coil themselves See also:round any suitable See also:object which comes in their way, and thus to support the plant. The seeds or grape-stones are somewhat See also:club-shaped, with a narrow See also:neck-like portion beneath, which expands into a rounded and thickened portion above. On the inner or central side of the seed is a See also:ridge bounded on either side by a shallow groove. This ridge indicates the point of See also:union of the raphe " or seed-stalk with the seed; it serves to distinguish the varieties of V. vinifera from those of other species. In endeavouring to trace the filiation and See also:affinities of the vine. the characters afforded by the seed are specially valuable, because they have not been wittingly interfered with by human agency. Characters derived from the See also:size, See also:colour or flavour of the berry are of less value foe
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See also:historical or genealogical purposes than those which are the outcome of purely natural conditions.
The vine is See also:hardy in See also:Britain so far as regards its vegetation, but not hardy enough to bring its fruit to satisfactory maturity, so that for all practical purposes the vine must be regarded as a See also:tender fruit. Planted against a See also:wall or a See also:building having a south aspect, or trained over a sunny roof, such sorts as the See also:Black Cluster, Black See also:Prince, Pitmaston See also: A mulch of half-decayed See also:stable See also:litter is useful to prevent loss of moisture in summer. See also:Young vines raised from eyes, i.e. buds having about s in. wood above and I in. below, are generally preferred for planting. The eyes being selected from well-ripened shoots of the previous See also:year are planted about the end cf January, singly, in small pots of See also:light loamy compost, and after See also:standing in a warm See also:place for a few days should be plunged in a propagating See also:bed, having a bottom See also:heat of 75° which should be increased to 85° when they have produced several leaves, the See also:atmosphere being kept at about the same temperature or higher by sun heat during the day, and at about 7r at See also:night. As soon as roots are freely formed the plants must be shifted into 6-inch pots, and later on into 12-inch ones. The shoots are trained up near the glass, and, with plenty of heat (top and bottom) and of See also:water, with See also:air and light, and manure water occasionally, will form firm, strong, well-ripened canes in the course of the See also:season. To pre-See also:pare the vine for planting, it should be cut back to within 2 ft. of the pot early in the season, and only three or four of the eyes at the base should be allowed to grow on. The best time for planting is in See also:spring, when the young shoots have just started. The vines should be planted inside the house, from i to 2 ft. from the front wall, and from 6 ft. to 8 ft. apart, the roots being placed an inch deeper in the soil than before, carefully disentangled and spread outwards from the stem, and covered carefully and firmly with friable loam, without manure. When the shoots are fairly developed, the two strongest are to be selected and trained in. When forcing is commenced, the vinery is shut up for two or three See also:weeks without See also:fire heat, the mean temperature ranging about 50°. Fire heat must be at first applied very gently, and may range about 55° at night, and from 6 to 70° by day, but a few degrees more may be given them as the buds break and the new shoots appear. When they are in flower, and onwards during the swelling of the berries, 85° may be taken as a maximum, See also:running up to 90° with sun heat and the temperature may be lowered somewhat when the fruit is ripe. The temperature must, however, be regulated according to the variety, Muscats requiring a higher temperature from the time their bunches show than Hamburghs: As much See also:ventilation as the state of the See also:weather will permit should be given. A moist growing atmosphere is necessary both for the swelling fruit and for maintaining the See also:health of the foliage. A due amount of moisture may be kept up by the use of evaporating troughs and by syringing the walls and pathways two or three times a day, but the leaves should not be syringed. When the vines are in flower, and when the fruit is colouring, the evaporating troughs should be kept dry, but the aridity must not be excessive, lest the red spider and other pests should attack the leaves. In the course of the season the borders (inside) will require several thorough soakings of warm water—the first when the house is shut up, this being repeated when the vines have made young shoots a few inches long, again when the vines are in flower, and still again when the berries are taking the second swelling after stoning. Outside borders require watering in very dry.summer weather only. There are three See also:principal systems of pruning vines, termed thelong-rod, the See also:short-sod and the See also:spur systems, and good crops have been obtained by each of them. It is admitted that larger bunches are generally obtained by the long-rod than by the spur system. The principle of this mode of pruning is to See also:train in at considerable length, according to their strength, shoots of the last year's growth for producing shoots to See also:bear fruit in the present; these rods are afterwards cut away and replaced by young shoots trained up during the preceding summer; and these are in their turn cut out in the following autumn after bearing, and replaced by shoots of that summer's growth. By the short-rod system, short instead of long rods are retained; they are dealt with in a similar manner. The spur system has, however, become the most general. In this case the vines are usually planted so that one can be trained up under each See also:rafter, or up the middle of the See also:sash, the latter method being preferable. The shoots are cut back to buds close to the stem, which should be encouraged to form alternately at equal distances right and See also:left, by removing those buds from the original shoot which are not conveniently placed. The young shoots from these buds are to be gently brought to a See also:horizontal position, by bending them a little at 'a time, and tied in, and usually opposite about the See also:fourth leaf the rudiments of a bunch will be developed. The leaf directly opposite the bunch must in all cases he preserved, and the young shoot is to be topped at one or two joints beyond the incipient fruit, the latter distance being preferable if. there is plenty of See also:room for the foliage to expand; the lateral shoots, which will push out after the topping, must be again topped above their first or second joints. If the bunches are too numerous they must be thinned before the flowers expand, and the berries also must be properly thinned out and regulated as soon as they are well set, care being taken, in avoiding overcrowding, that the bunches be not made too thin and loose. The cultivation of vines in pots is very commonly practised with good results, and pot-vines are very useful to force for the earliest See also:crop. The plants should be raised from eyes, and grown as strong as possible in the way already noted, in rich turfy loam mixed with about one-third of See also:horse dung and a little bone dust. The temperature should be gradually increased from 60° to 80°, or 90° by sun heat, and a bottom heat a few degrees higher must be maintained during their growth. As the roots require more room, the plants should be shifted from 3-inch pots into those of 6, 12 or 15 in. in See also:diameter, in any of which larger sizes they may be fruited in the following season, but, to be successful in this, the young rod produced must he thoroughly matured after it has reached its limit of growth. The periodical thorough cleansing of the vine stems and every part of the houses is of the utmost importance. The number of varieties of grapes possessing some merit is considerable, but a very few of them will be found sufficient to See also:supply all the wants, of the See also:cultivator. For general purposes nothing approaches the Black Hamburgh (including See also:Frankenthal) in merit. Fungoid Diseases.—The most destructive corm of fungoid disease i. Vine leaf attacked by See also:mildew, Uncinula necator (Erysiphe Tuck-See also:eel), which forms white patches on the upper See also:face, reduced. 2. Grapes similarly attacked. 3. Portion of the mycelium of the fungus bearing spores (conidia). s, on erect branches, 4. Perithecium or " fruit " of the fungus with its curled append. ages. 5. See also:Ascus from perithecium containing six spores. which attacks the vine is caused by a mildew, Uncinula necator (Erysiphe Tuckeri) (fig. 2). The disease was first noticed in England in 1845; in 1848 it appeared at See also:Versailles; by 1851 it had spread through all the wine-producing countries of Europe, being specially virulent in the lands bordering on the Mediterranean; and in the following year it made its See also:appearance in Madeira. Like the Phylloxera (q.v.; also WINE), the mildew is in its origin probably American. The disease is characterized by the appearance of a mycelium forming white or greyish-white patches on the young leaves; this spreads quickly and attacks the older leaves and branches, and ultimately reaches the grapes. At first these are marked only by small See also: A and B, mycelium (m), of sulphur, and to sprinkle with haustoria (h). (After de Bary.) the mixture over the affected In A several cells of the epidermis Plants. are indicated. Another fungus which at- tacks vines, especially those of America, is Plasmopara viticola, which has also been Introduced from America to Europe. The mycelium spreads through the green parts of the plant, attacking the leaves, twigs and unripe grapes. On the upper side of the leaf, where it is first visible, it forms See also:pale green irregular spots, which become darker in colour. On the under side of the leaf these patches are white and are composed of the spore-bearing hyphae. The leaf ultimately becomes dried up and brittle. The grapes which are attacked cease to grow, turn brown or white, and ultimately dry up and fall off. This disease has been successfully treated with a spray of See also:copper sulphate and lime, or sulphate of See also:iron; solutions of these salts prevent the conidia from germinating. Anthracnose is the name usually given to a disease which was formerly known as " charbon," " pech " or " See also:brenner." This disease is caused by the See also:parasitism of Sphaceloma ampelinum, one of the Pyrenomycetous See also:fungi (fig. 4). The fungus assails all the green parts of the vine, and injures the leaves and young shoots as much as it does the grape itself. The first sign of its presence is the appearance of a See also:minute spot, which is greyish in the centre, with a brown border. This spot increases in size; in the stalks it assumes an See also:oval shape, with its long See also:axis parallel to the stalk, whilst in the leaves and grapes it is more or less circular in outline. The centre of the spots on the grapes becomes darker as the disease advances, and a red line appears dividing the dark brown border into an outer and an inner rim and giving a very characteristic appearance to the diseased plant. The surrounding See also:tissue enlarges, so that the spots appear as if sunk in depressions, at-al hear a considerable resemblance to hailstone wounds. Laterthe spots on the leaves often drop out. The berries do not shrivel up as those do that are affected by the black rot. The mycelium of Sphace-Loma grows just beneath the cuticle of the vine, through which it soon bursts, giving rise to a number of minute hyphae, which bear conidia. These are minute, oval, colourless spores, which serve to spread the disease over the.vineyard and from place to place. The See also:complete life-history of this form is at present unknown; and See also:information as to where the fungus passes the winter, and in what form, would probably afford some useful indications as to the method that should be adopted to combat the disease. Anthracnose has been known in Europe for many years, but has only been observed in America since 1881, whither it was probably imported from the old world. As a preventive to its attacks the copper sulphate sprays and a See also:solution (50%) of iron sulphate have been found very useful, as well as care in planting on well-drained soil that does not he.95 too low, the disease seldom appearing in dry, well-exposed vine-yards. A See also:great See also:deal of confusion still exists with regard to this disease. A similar disease which of See also:late has frequently been found in England, and which is ascribed to the fungus Gloeosporium ampelophagum, is very similar to it. In their mode of attack, in the symptoms they produce, and in the result upon the grapes and the vine the two fungi are so much alike that for practical purposes they may be regarded as identical. Massee recommends that the shoots should be dredged with flowers of sulphur at intervals of ten days, while the disease continues to spread, a small quantity of quicklime in a finely powdered See also:con- I. Portion of twig with discoloured patches, caused by the fungus. 2. Fruit attacked by the fungus(reduced). dition being added and the quantity of lime being increased at every application, not so as to exceed the sulphur, however. The iron sulphate solution should be used while the vines are in a dormant See also:condition, and diseased parts should be cleared away and burned. The black rot, like the Uncinula and Plasmopara, is also American in its origin. It has been known and observed there since 1848, but appeared for the first time in France in 1885. The disease is caused by a fungus, Guignardia Bidwellii (fig. 5) (Phoma uvicola), one of the Pyrenomycetes, and by some authorities it has been considered to be a further stage in the life-history of Sphaceloma ampelinum. The fungus is most conspicuous on the grapes, but the leaves and stems From See also:Hartig's Lehrbuck der Pfansenkrenkheiten, by permission of See also:Julius See also:Springer. A. Mycelium of the fungus attacking See also:root of vine (reduced). B. Portion of vine root, showing masses of fructification (perithecia) of the fungus (reduced). are also affected. The grapes are not assailed until nearly full-grown, when a brownish spot appears, which spreads over the Guignardia Bidweilii. 1. Grapes attacked by the fungus; the fruit becomes black, hard and shrivelled. 2. Fructification of the fungus, entire and in See also:section ; the latter shows the See also:asci containing ascospores, much enlarged. 3. Single ascus, more enlarged, showing the eight contained spores. whole grape. The latter for a time retains its plumpness, but on the appearance of little black pustules, which first occur on the part primarily affected, the grape begins to shrivel. This continues until the grape is reduced to a black hard See also:mass, with the folds of skin pressed closely against the seed. The disease spreads from grape to grape, so that as a See also:rule many of the grapes in a bunch are destroyed. The hyphae of the mycelium of this fungus are septate, with numerous short branches. The pustules on the surface are due to fructifications, pycnidia and spermagonia. The fungus passes the winter in the withered grapes which fall to the ground, and on these the mature form of the fungus (fig. 5, 2 and 3) is produced; hence every care should be taken to collect these and See also:burn them. The use of the copper solutions mentioned above may also be recommended as a preventive. Among the other fungi which infest the vine may be mentioned Phyllosticla viticola and Ph. Labruscae, which, when theattackis severe, cause the destruction of the leaves, the only part they assail. These, like the foregoing, are members of the Pyrenomycetes, while many other allied fungi have been described as causing spots on the leaves. Cercospora Vitis (Cladosporium vilicolum), which has club-shaped spores of a green-brq}vn colour, also attacks the leaves; but, unless the season is extremely unfavourable, it does little harm. A A. very disastrous root-disease of the vine is due to the ravages of another pyrenomycetous fungus, Rosellinia (Dematophora) eecalrix (fig. 6), which forms subterranean strings of mycelium—so-called rhizomorphs. The diseased roots have been confounded with those attacked by Phylloxera. The only mode of combating the malady seems to be to uproot the plants and burn them. See also:Isolation of the diseased areas by means of trenches has also been practised. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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