The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

682 EXCCRSUS II,—VARIETIES OP ANCJI2NT VINES.
griape of the Rhone is found to degenerate in a few years when removed
to the soil of Burgundy, and if the ttiaurillon of the latter province acqaires
a new designation, and perhaps, also, new characters, when brought
to Anvergne or Orleans, it would be absurd to imagine that, after a lapse
of two thousand years, we should be able to assign the exact place, in a
modem botanical arrangement, to the varieties that adorned the Massic
or Surrentine hills. Nevertheless, it ia generally agreed to consider the
Vitis preeeox of Columella as corresponding to the last-mentioned modem
while the Vitis Nomentana is supposed to be the tramin^Vi or
formentin rouge ; and the Corinthian grape appears to be identified with
the Gracula, which, we are told, was so small as not to be worth the
pains pf cultivation, except in a very rich soil. But we can hardly be
mistaken with respect to the characters of the Vitis apiana, which was
, variety,
so called from its liability to be attacked by bees, and which has now received
the analogous appellation of muscat or moscadellaJ^ It was in
high repute, as producing the most luscious and durable wine, ^he bumastif
dact^li, duradntB, &c., may be easily distinguished among our
modern growths. In the. recent classification of the Andalusian wines,
their names have been successfully appropriated to designate certain orders
or genera.
Among these varieties of the vine, a strong predilection existed in favor
of the ATninean^ which is described as surpassing all others in the richness
and flavor of the grape, and of^wblch there were five sorts, distinguished
by their botanical characters, and their greater or less hardiness and fmit-
fulness. Next to them in excellence was ranked the Nomentan or rubel-
lia, which was still more prolific than the Aminean, but of which the irait
seems to have contained an excess of mucilaginous matter, as this variety
was also known by the name offecinia. The Eugenian, Helveolan, Spionian,
and Biturican, and several others, were, in like manner, esteemed
for their abundant produce, and the choice qualities of the wine which
they yielded. ' That the ancients spared no pains or expense to procure
all the best kinds for their vineyards, is proved by the account which they
giveof the efiects of their transplantation ; and that they confined their attention
to such as were found to answer best with particular soils, may
be inferred from the manner in which they describe certain spots as planted
with a single species ; as, for example, the hills of Sorrento and Vesu-
vius, which were covered with the small Aminean grape. There is, in
fact, no part of the writings of the ancient agriculturists which is more
deserving of being recalled to notice than those passages in which they
declaim against the bad efiects of the pi'omiscuous culture of many varie-
ties of the vine, and recommend the husbandman to plant only such as are
of good and approved quality. But as all are not equally hardy. Columella
thinks it may be well, in order to guard against a failure of the crop from
unfavorable seasons, to keep three or four, or, at most, five sorts, which
will be amply sufficient for the purpose. These he would dispose in
separate divisions of the vineyard, so that the irait of each may be kept
apart, and gathered by itself when it ripens. In this way, he observes.
the labor and expense of the vintage will be lessened, the mixture of
ripe and unripe grapes will be in a great measure avoided the genuine
1 The " Vocabulario della Cnisea" givefl the etymon moscado, "muak."