egion in
which grape-growing was once of prime importance but now lags has its
center at Hermann, Missouri. The newest grape-producing area worthy of
note is in southwestern Michigan about the towns of Lawton and Paw
Paw. A small but very prosperous grape-growing region has its center
at Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Ives is the mainstay among varieties in
this region. In the southern states, Muscadine grapes are grown in a
small way in every part of the cotton-belt and varieties of other
native species are to be found in home vineyards in the upland
regions, but nowhere in the South can it be said that grape-growing is
a commercial industry.

THE DETERMINANTS OF GRAPE REGIONS

Climate, soil, site, the surface features of the land, insects, fungi
and commercial geography are the chief factors that determine regions
for money-making in grape-growing. This has been made plain in the
foregoing discussion of grape regions, but the several factors must be
taken up in greater detail. To bound the regions is of less importance
than to understand why they exist--less needful to remember, more
needful to understand. From what has been said, the reader has no
doubt already concluded that successful grape-growing is in largest
measure due to kindliness in climate.

_Climate_

Under the assumption, then, that climate, of all factors, is chief in
playing providence to the grape, let us examine somewhat critically
the relations of climate to grape-growing. When analyzed, the
essentials of climate, as it governs grape-growing, are found to be
six: first, length of season; second, seasonal sum of heat; third,
amount of humidity in summer weather; fourth, dates of spring and
autumn frosts; fifth, winter temperature; sixth, air currents.

_Length of season._

To reach true perfection, each grape variety has a length of season of
its own. With each, if it is grown in too low a latitude, the vine is
uninterrupted in growth; its leaves tend to become evergreen; and not
infrequently it produces at the same time blossoms, green fruits and
ripe fruits. This is, of course, the extreme to which grapes pass in
the far South. Again, many northern varieties fail where southern
grapes succeed because the fruits pass too rapidly from maturity to
decay. On the other hand, very often southern grapes are hardy in vine
in the North, but the season is not sufficiently long for the fruit to
mature and to acquire sufficient sugar to give them good kee