The Niagara region is the newest of the grape districts of the State. There were few plantings along the shore of Ontario until 1886 when the Niagara grape was introduced and vineyards were put out in considerable numbers throughout the whole extent of the district followed by still heavier plantings during the succeeding several years. It was soon demonstrated that the region was well adapted to grape-growing and especially for the Niagara grape but that there were many soils and locations wholly unsuitable for vineyards. Consequently during the years that followed the bearing of the first grapes, many vineyards have been abandoned so that there are now scarcely as many acres as at the close of the first period of expansion about 1900. The insect and fungus pests are much the same as in the Chautauqua district though the dreaded grape-vine fidia is not yet nearly so common, but, on the other hand, the black-rot is far more destructive, probably because the Niagara grape is very susceptible to this fungus. CHAPTER IV SPECIES OF AMERICAN GRAPES. THE GENUS VITIS. The genus Vitis was formed and named by Tournefort,[113] a French botanist, more than two hundred years ago. In his work, _Institutiones Rei Herbariae_, published in Paris in 1700, he gives the following description of this genus: "The Vitis is a genus of plant with a (A) flower shaped like a rose, with many petals placed uniformly in a circle, out of the middle of which arises the pistil (B), with stamens pressed together (C), the flower (D,E,F) folds upward; the pistil develops into an edible berry (E), fleshy, full of juice, and usually with four seeds (H,I), the seeds are pear-shaped (K)." The capital letters in the parentheses refer to illustrations. These indicate that Tournefort had a very clear conception of the flowering parts of a grape. He gives twenty-one species under this genus of which nine are American, one, however, being our Virginia creeper. Tournefort's work is all very indefinite; others of the species than those credited to America may be American, and it is quite possible that of the nine some would not be classed among the grapes to-day. Each species is credited to some previous botanist and it is evident that Tournefort was a compiler rather than an original worker with grapes. The next botanist who contributed to our knowledge of this genus was Linnaeus, the great Swedish systematist, who, in his _Genera Plantarum_, 1754, gives the following description of the flower (Like Tournefort's, Linnaeus' book is written in Latin and the extracts here given are free translations): "Calyx. Five-toothed, small. "Corolla. Petals five, rudimentary, small, caducous. "Stamens. Filaments five, subulate, erect, spreading, caducous, anthers simple. "Pistil. Ovary egg-shaped, style none, stigma obtuse headed. "Pericarp. Berry nearly round, large, one cell. "Seeds. Five, plump, terminate cordate, base contracted, partially divided into two cells."