the French in the Carolinas or Georgia in the eighteenth
century.

The other subspecies of _Vitis aestivalis_ is _Vitis aestivalis
Lincecumii_, the post-oak grape of Texas and of the southern part of
the Mississippi Valley. Recently this wild grape has been brought
under domestication, and from it has been bred a number of most
promising varieties for hot and dry regions.

_The Vulpina or river-bank grapes._

The North, too, has a wine-grape from which wines nearly equaling
those of the southern AEstivalis are made. This is _Vitis vulpina_ (_V.
riparia_), the river-bank grape, a shoot of which is shown in Fig. 5,
the most widely distributed of any of the native species. It grows as
far north as Quebec, south to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic
to the Rocky Mountains. Fully a century ago, a wine-grape of this
species was cultivated under the name Worthington, but the attention
of vineyardists was not turned to the Vulpinas until after the middle
of the last century, when the qualities of its vines attracted the
attention of French viticulturists. Phylloxera had been introduced
from America into France and threatened the existence of French
vineyards. After trying all possible remedies for the scourge, it was
discovered that the insect could be overcome by grafting European
grapes on American vines resistant to phylloxera. A trial of the
promising species of New World grapes showed that vines of this
species were best suited for the reconstruction of French vineyards,
the vines being not only resistant to the phylloxera but also vigorous
and hardy. At present, a large proportion of the vines of Europe,
California and other grape-growing regions are grafted on the roots of
this or of other American species, and the viticulture of the world
is thus largely dependent on these grapes.

[Illustration: FIG. 5. A shoot of _Vitis vulpina_.]

The French found that a number of the Vulpina (Riparia) grapes
introduced for their roots were valuable as direct producers for
wines. The fruits of this species are too small and too sour for
dessert, but they are free from the disagreeable tastes and aromas of
some of our native grapes and, therefore, make very good wines. The
best known of the varieties of this species is the Clinton, which is
generally thought to have originated in the yard of Dr. Noyes, of
Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, about 1820. It is, however,
probably the Worthington, of which the origin is unkno