The Domestication Of The Grape

The domestication of an animal or a plant is a milestone in the

advance of agriculture and so becomes of interest to every human

being. But, more particularly, the materials, the events and the men

who direct the work of domestication are of interest to those who

breed and care for animals and plants; the grape-grower should find

much profit in the story of the domestication of the grape. What was

the raw material of a fruit known since the beginning of agriculture

and wherever temperate fruits are grown? How has this material been

fashioned into use? Who were the originative and who the directive

agents? These are fundamental questions in the improvement of the

grape, answers to which will also throw much light on the culture of

it.



Botanists number from forty to sixty species of grapes in the world.

These are widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, all but a few

being found in temperate countries. Thus, more than half of the named

species come from the United States and Canada, while nearly all of

the others are from China and Japan, with but one species certainly

growing wild in southwestern Asia and bordering parts of Europe. All

true grapes have more or less edible fruits, and of the twenty or more

species grown in the New World more than half have been or are being

domesticated. Of the Old World grapes, only one species is cultivated

for fruit, but this, of all grapes, is of greatest economic importance

and, therefore, deserves first consideration.