Читать книгу Manual of American Grape-Growing - U. P. Hedrick - Страница 43

We associate the grape with rugged land; as the vines on the banks of the Rhine, the rolling lands of Burgundy, the slopes of Vesuvius and Olympus, the high hills of Madeira, the cloud-capped mountains of Teneriffe, mountain slopes in California and the escarpments of grape regions in eastern America. These examples prove how well adapted rolling lands, inclined plains and even steep and rocky hillsides are to the culture of the vine. Virgil long ago wrote, "Bacchus is partial to broad, sunny hills." Yet rolling lands are not essential to the culture of the grape, for in Europe and America very good grapes are grown on unsheltered plains, provided the land has an elevation on one or more boundaries above the surrounding country. If the conditions of soil and climate which the grape requires can be found on level land or moderate slopes, such situations are much better than steep declivities, since on these the cost of all vineyard operations is greater and heavy rains erode the soil. The soil on hills, too, is often scant and niggardly. Level land, however, must not be shut in on all sides by higher land as untimely frost will often lay waste vines in such a situation.