The purpose of _The Grapes of New York_ is to record the state of
development of American grapes. The title implies that the work is being
done for a locality but in this matter New York is representative of the
whole country. The contents are: Brief historical narratives of Old
World and New World grapes; an account of the grape regions and of
grape-growing in New York, with statistics relating to the grape, wine
and grape juice industries in this State; a discussion of the species of
American grapes; and the synonymy, bibliography, economic status, and
full descriptions of all of the important varieties of American grapes.
In the footnotes will be found brief biographical sketches of those
persons who have contributed most to the evolution of the grape and to
grape-growing in America and some historical and descriptive notices of
certain things pertaining to the grape which do not belong in the text
and yet serve to give a better understanding of it or otherwise add to
the completeness of the book. Color-plates are shown of varieties which
from various standpoints are considered most important.
In the brief account of the Old World grape there is little that is new.
Its history is on record from the earliest times in the literature of
nearly all civilized peoples. A few facts, selected here and there, have
been taken to serve as an introduction to the accounts of the New World
grapes. So, too, the history of the American grape has been written by
others and, here, only the main facts have been set down as recorded in
the score or more books dealing with this fruit. A few excursions have
been made in hitherto unexplored fields. The purpose of these historical
sketches is to give the reader a proper perspective of the work in hand.
The grape is probably influenced to a greater degree by soil, climate,
and culture than any other fruit, and a discussion of its status cannot
be complete without due consideration of the environment in which it is
growing. Hence there is included as full an account of grape-growing and
of the grape regions in New York as space permits. This part of the work
may serve the prospective planter somewhat in selecting soils and
locations but as it is not written with this as a chief end, it falls
far short of some of the standard treatises on grape culture in this
respect.
Comparatively few statistics are given, only those which are necessary
to show the volume of grape products and the extent of the vineyards in
the State and country at the present time. The figures for the whole
country are surpassed by those of no other native fruit, and only by
corn and tobacco among all the domesticated native plants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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