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Q: Unipotent and flag subgroups I want to find the Block form matrix of the unipotent and flag subgroups $N_K$ and $G/P_K^-$ of type $B$ if we take a subset $K$ of the Dynkin diagram set $I$. For example let's take $SO_7$, which is of type $B_3$, and $K=\{1,2\}$ and, of course, $I=\{1,2,3\}$. How do I formulate these two matrices?
I know how to do it if we deal with type $A$. But other than that I do not know a method that gives the explicit matrices.
Is it just (for the unipotent)
\begin{pmatrix}
    1 & 0 & \ast & \ast  & \ast & \ast & \ast \\
    0 & 1 & \ast & \ast  & \ast & \ast & \ast \\
    0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0\\
    0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0 & 0\\
    0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 0\\
    0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 0\\
    0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1\\
\end{pmatrix}
I am not sure..

A: The first thing to notice in this case is the flags that we are seeing are not just any old flags as they are in the case of $G = SL_n$. Parabolic subgroups of $SO_n$ stabilise flags of isotopic subspaces. That is to say those which are null for the bilinear form.
Now if $P$ stabilises $V$ it also stabilises $V^\perp$. So we are looking at flags of the form $$V_1 \leq V_2 \leq \cdots \leq V_k \leq V_k^\perp \leq \cdots \leq V_2^\perp \leq V_1^\perp. $$
This gives us a basic block structure similar to the $SL_n$ case. Note that for even $n$ it is possible for the largest subspace in the flag to be its own orthogonal subspace if it is of dimension $n/2$, but this won't happen for $n$ odd since the maximum dimension will be $(n-1)/2$.
Now not all matrices of this block structure will be in in $SO_n$ but I will leave the rest up to you to work out. Note that our usual definition of orthogonal matrix no longer applies since we have changed our basis. So either we should compute what the new condition is or experiment to see what conditions we must have on the blocks.
I don't recall the exact nature of the answer but I believe we have some sort of symmetry across the off-diagonal (this may depend on choosing the basis adapted to some maximal flag containing our partial flag).
Edit: let's calculate your example.
If I understand your root ordering correctly, we are looking at flag generated by an null line inside a null plane.
Thus the naive block structure will be $$\begin{pmatrix}
* & * &*&*&*&*&* \\
0& * &*&*&*&*&* \\
0& 0 &*&*&*&*&* \\
0& 0 &*&*&*&*&* \\
0& 0 &*&*&*&*&* \\
0& 0&0&0&0&*&* \\
0 & 0 &0& 0 &0&0&* \\
\end{pmatrix}$$
Here we have chosen a basis $v_1, v_2, v_3, v_0,v_{-3}, v_{-2},v_{-1}$ which are null vectors (except for $v_0$) and moreover $(v_i,v_j) =0$ unless $j=-i$. This is exactly the kind of basis we need to diagonalise a Cartan subalgebra, by the way (for $n$ even we don't need a non-null vector $v_0$).
For ease we can assume $(v_i,v_{-i}) =1$ for $i = 1,2,3$.
From here it's probably easiest to look at the Lie algebra: $$\mathfrak{so}(7) \cong \bigwedge^2\mathbb{C}^7$$
via $$ a\wedge b \mapsto (a,\cdot)b - (b,\cdot)a.$$
So for example $v_1\wedge v_2$ sends $v_{-1}$ to $v_2$, $v_{-2}$ to $-v_1$ and is zero on the rest of our basis. In particular the matrix for $v_1\wedge v_2$ looks like:
$$\begin{pmatrix}
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & -1 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
\end{pmatrix}$$
Indeed we should see that we have an anti-symmetry along the off-diagonal for any element so those off-diagonal elements will be $0$. We can also by quick calculation show that our parabolic subalgebra here is of the form $ L\wedge {C}^n + V\wedge L^\perp + \bigwedge^2V^\perp$ (note these sums are not direct and there are many different ways to write this). More importantly the nilradical is $L\wedge L^\perp + V\wedge V^\perp + \bigwedge^2V$ or as a matrix:
$$\begin{pmatrix}
0 & a & b & c & d & e & 0 \\
0 & 0 & f & g & h & 0 & -e \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & -h & -d \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & -g & -c \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & -f & -b \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & -a \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
\end{pmatrix}$$
We just need to take the exponential to this to find the general form of the unipotent matrices. I tried to get WolframAlpha to compute what that would look like but it wasn't a fan. The exponential series will terminate after 4 terms however so it should be possible to compute on Matlab or similar.
Note we definitely can't change our basis to write it in the form you specified since the dimension of the nilradical (and thus of the unipotent radical of the parabolic subgroup) appears to be $8$ not $10$.


Ants are a persistent problem in Houston, and many of these ants will invade your home. But there are many types of ants that live in the city, and these ant species are all very different from one another. This means that knowing how to get rid of ants means knowing what kind of ants you're dealing with.
Different kinds of ants will have different behaviors, different places they build their nests, and a pest control method that works on one species may not work on another.
Here you'll find information on all the most common types of home-invading ants found in Houston, with information on how to identify them by their appearance and habits, and some tips on getting rid of them.
Acrobat ants get their name from a unique way of running they have when they're disturbed or threatened, when they hold their abdomens above their thoraxes, making them resemble an contorted acrobat walking on his hands. Easily identified by their brownish color and heart-shaped abdomen, these ants like to nest in sheltered places and particularly like rotting wood and dead tree limbs. When they infest houses, they prefer to nest around door and window frames. These ants will feed on most nay kind of sugar or protein found inside the home. They are found all over Houston.
Acrobat ants usually don't respond to ant bait or traps, and their colonies are very large. For outside infestations, eliminating the rotting wood they are nesting in can be very effective at getting rid of the ants. For indoor infestations, professional spraying is generally required.
Argentine ants are one of the most successful invasive species on the planet. These small, dark brown ants originated in South America and now inhabit warm climates across the globe. Unlike most other ants, Argentine ants won't attack other members of their own species. This means that multiple colonies of these ants can exist close to each other, effectively forming cooperative supercolonies that can grown to incredible proportions. One super colony of Argentine Ants in Southern Europe was found to stretch over 3,000 miles, another in California covered over 500 miles. Closer to home here in Houston, this ability to spread can mean that Argentine ants can be especially hard to get rid of. Also unlike other ant species, Argentine ant colonies have multiple queens. Each queen can lay as many as 60 eggs a day, so with multiple queens in multiple colonies Argentine ants spread very rapidly.
Argentine ants are household pests. They feed on sugary foods and will invade kitchens, cabinets, and pantries in massive numbers when foraging. These ants can also be a pest animal for gardeners and for lawns. They force out helpful insect species and have a symbiotic relationship with destructive species of aphids. Argentine ants will essentially farm aphids by providing waste for the aphids to feed on. The aphids in turn produce honeydew which feeds the ants.
Eliminating Argentine ants usually involves multiple treatments over multiple days, and thoroughly surveying the infected property to make sure that all of the colonies are eliminated.
As you might suspect, bigheaded ants are identifiable by their heads which appear to be proportionally large for their bodies. These ants are a dark brown to black in color. These ants nest underground in large, underground colonies that can have multiple queens. Each of these these queens can lay nearly 300 eggs in a month. In summer months, some of these queens will take flight and start a new colony.
How Do I Get Rid of Bigheaded Ants?
Bigheaded ants will infest a home in search of food. Their natural diet consists mostly of dead insects, so they'll seek out high-protein foods such as cheese or peanut butter when foraging indoors. Bigheaded ants are relatively easy to control by spraying. Locating and destroying the nests can usually contain an infestation in a single treatment.
How Do I Tell If I Have Carpenter Ants?
Carpenter ants leave behind sawdust-like particles similar to those left by termites, but their damage can be easily distinguished from termite damage by the nature of the holes they leave behind. When termites attack wood, their damage looks rough and gnawed, while carpenter ants will leave smooth round holes that look like as if they were made by a drill or bore.
Carpenter ants are particularly attracted to homes with water leaks or damaged or rotting wood. They will usually gain access to a home by crawling along pipes. In an infested home, a main colony will usually be found nearby outdoors and smaller sub-colonies within the home itself near the damaged wood. Repairing and replacing rotting wood and securely sealing the gaps around pipes will help keep carpenter ants out of your home. Infestations can usually be destroyed by locating and destroying the outdoor main colony and eliminating any sub-colonies inside the home.
Crazy ants are one of the newest and most problematic invasive species of ants in Houston. These ants were first identified in Houston in the early 2000s, where they seem to have been introduced from South America. They can be identified by their light tawny-brown color and habit of swarming in large numbers. Since their discovery, crazy ants have begun spreading across Texas and across the entire southern US. These ants are rapidly becoming one of the most significant pests in the Southern United States.
Is It True That Crazy Ants Are Attracted to Electricity?
This seems to be the case, though no one is quite sure why. Crazy ants seem to be drawn to electrical wiring and will often build their nests in electrical junction boxes. The sheer size of their colonies means that they can often cause short circuits and present a genuine fire hazard. An infestation of crazy ants destroying electrical equipment managed to shut down NASA operations in 2008.
How Do I Get Rid of Crazy Ants?
Crazy ants are immune to many conventional pesticides, and over-the-counter pesticides are completely ineffective against them. Getting rid of them requires professional treatment. The US Department of Agriculture has labeled stopping the spread of these invasive pests as a high priority.
Ghost ants easily recognized from their transparent-looking bodies capped with dark heads. They are are a tropical species that was introduced to America and they need warm, humid climates to survive, so Houston is unfortunately an ideal breeding ground for them.
Ghost ants will build colonies inside human homes if they can find an available source of sugary foods. Ghost ants can reproduce by budding into separate colonies an an infestation can consist of several colonies, each with multiple queens.
How Do I et Rid of Ghost Ants?
Ghosts ants can be a nuisance pest and can be difficult to control with baits or traps. Professional pest control treatment is usually required to rid a home of a ghost and infestation.
As their name suggests, little black ants are little and black. They're also species that is native to Texas, and they're voracious scavengers, eating pretty much anything and everything. Little black ants can also nest most anywhere, inside or outside.
How Do I Get Rid of Little Black Ants?
Eliminate the nest. Little black ants can find their way into a home through even the smallest crack. They usually forage in long, straight trails and homeowners will usually become aware of an infestation when they see a large number of ants at once. These foraging trails helpfully lead straight back to the nest, but because they often build their nests in concealed places, getting access to the net itself can still be difficult. Little black ants will often respond to baits, but a professional exterminator should be called for major infestations.
Odorous house ants are small, resilient, brownish-black ants that get their name from the turpentine-like smell they emit when they are crushed. They are also called stink ants and coconut ants. These ants are extremely durable and extremely difficult o get rid of. Even severely injured workers can continue to function, the queens can go without food for months, and they are highly resistant to extremes of heat and cold.
Odorous house ants are omnivorous scavengers inside the home, eating almost any kind of food they can get access to. They also have the nasty habit of nesting inside insulation in the walls, making their nests particularly hard to locate and eliminate. These ants will typically come inside the home during cooler weather and after rainstorms.
Fortunately, odorous house ants are susceptible to many insecticides, but they breed quickly and can build large colonies in a very small amount of time. Treating for these ants when they're first spotted and before they can get established is highly recommended.
Pharaoh ants, or sugar ants, are one of the most common ant pests in Houston. The name describes several closely-related species of ants that commonly come indoors. All of these ants are very small and have a body color that ranges from a light, tawny yellow to a dark reddish brown. Pharaoh ants will often build their nests inside buildings or homes, occupying space in the walls or under floors. They like to build their nests near readily available food supplies, and because they will feed on grease or sugary foods are often found near kitchens.
Pharaoh ants also reproduce by a process called budding, where several times a year the colony produces a new queen who will leave the nest and set up a new colony nearby. These colonies will then bud themselves, meaning that pharaoh ants can reproduce exponentially, and within the course of a year a healthy colony can produce enough ants and offspring colonies to fill an entire city block. This method of reproduction makes them a particularly hard pest to get rid of, because a single household can contain multiple colonies of ants.
One common home pest control remedy for pharaoh ants is to lay traps. However, traps can be ineffective because the ants will vary their food supply and rarely change that source until they are satisfied. They may feast on a bag of sugar one week and move on to a box of cereal the next, all the while ignoring the traps. And because of the way these ants reproduce by budding, even if the traps are effective against one colony there may be multiple other colonies inside the house that are unaffected by the traps. Professional pest control is the most effective way to thoroughly eliminate an infestation of pharaoh ants.
Pyramid ants are native to the Americas, their range stretches from the Southern US all the way down into Central and South America. These small, dark brown ants prefer to build their nests in sandy soil, with the entrance to the underground colony forming a small, pyramid-shaped mound on the surface. Pyramid ants will eat sugary foods and will often be seen foraging in kitchen cabinets or pantries.
How Do I Get Rid of Pyramid Ants?
These ants can become a pest with major infestations. Getting rid of pyramid ants requires identifying and eliminating the colony and sealing any entry points into the home. Baits can occasionally be effective, but a thorough solution usually requires spraying insecticides deep into the nest.
Rover ants are small ants that can range in color light brown to black. These ants are native to America and have become more of a pest in recent years as they've adapted to move their nests indoors. Rover ants will seek out areas where there is damp wood and fungus growth. While they don't sting, rover ants can be a nuisance because their colonies can contain several thousand members and when established in a home can overwhelm the property.
Rover ants are also very difficult to get rid of. Their colonies contain a single queen who must be eliminated to destroy the entire colony, but rover ants are resistant to many insecticides. They also generally aren't attracted to ant baits. Having a professional locate and destroy the nest, repairing any damp wood, and sealing entrance areas is the best way to rid your home of rover ants.
Small honey ants are smallish ants golden-yellow in door with smooth shiny bodies. They are native to Texas and can thrive in colder temperatures than many other ants in the region. They can pose a significant problem when they move indoors. Honey ants will eat sugar and starchy foods, and they also contaminate the foods they consume with their droppings.
Small honey ants are also extremely damaging to gardens. They cultivate aphids to feed on their honeydew, and these aphids can be very damaging to plants. Honey ants will also damage roses, fruits trees, and other flowering plants by chewing away at the buds to obtain nectar. They have been known to establish indoor colonies in potted plants.
How Do I Get Rid of Small Honey Ants?
Small honey ant colonies are usually limited in size, but they can be difficult to control. Small honey ants like to build their nests in tight cracks or crevices, and reaching the nest to apply spray can be difficult. If they have infested a home, they will often be found nesting underneath carpeting or floor panels. Professional least control may be needed to locate hidden sources of infestation.
Texas leaf cutting ants are one of the more common native ants species in Houston. These ants are a tawny brown color and are easily identified by the small spines on their thorax and the bumps running down their backs, giving them a slightly fuzzy appearance. They're also easily identified by their habit of marching along in long, straight lines carrying the small pieces of leaves they've cut off, a habit which also gives them their name. Texas leaf cutting ants carry these small pieces of leaf back to their nest, where they use them to form a compost pile that grows the fungus they use as food.
Gardeners may find Texas leaf cutting ants to be pests. Texas leaf cutting ants can do significant amounts of damage to plants and ornamental gardens. They are particularly attracted to young pine trees, and can do significant damage to pine saplings.
Texas leaf cutting ants build large colonies which can contain millions of ants and can stretch as far as 80 feet across underground. Because of the sheer size, the presence of one of these colonies can undermine the support for walkways, patios, driveways, even roads, and cause significant subsidence.
How Do I Get Rid of Texas Leaf Cutting Ants?
Texas leaf cutting ants usually do not come indoors and can coexists peacefully with humans, but they become pests when they begin to do significant damage to plants or to cause damage through building their colonies. For any insect infestation of this size, professional treatment is usually needed.
Thief ants can be very difficult to eliminate. Their small size and ability to evade detection makes them difficult to find, and nests are often well established by the time they are discovered. Their nests are often concealed in very small crevices or cracks and can be very hard to find. Colonies can also contain multiple queens, making baits less effective. Thief ants are also resistant to many over-the-counter insecticides, so professional treatment is usually required for serious infestations.
Tramp ants are large ants with a reddish-brown head and black abdomen. These ants were introduced into Houston from West Africa and have become very common pests, preferring to nest outside around driveways, foundations, sidewalks and pavement. Although usually content to stay outside, tramp ants will come indoors and when they do they will eat pretty much any kind of food found within the home.
How Do I Get Rid of Tramp Ants?
Because they nest outside and only come indoors to seek food, controlling a tramp ant infestation requires tracking down the and destroying the nest. Tramp ants can forage over a considerable range, and so the nest may be some distance from the home. Once the next is eliminated, the soil should also be treated to prevent re-infestation.
White-footed ants are large ants with black bodies and distinctive pale yellow or white markings on their legs. Whit footed ants are relative newcomers to Houston, having arrived in America from Indonesia via South Florida in the 1980s. They have begun to spread into other hot, humid areas in the United States and are rapidly becoming established as significant nuisance pest in Houston.
How Do I Get Rid of White-Footed Ants?
White-footed ants usually make their nests inside of walls, locating and destroying these nests can be difficult, and may require professional treatment. They most often find their way inside a building by crawling along tree limbs that touch the house. Eliminating holes in the walls and cutting bak any tree branches that are touching the house are both essential to keeping these ants out of the home and preventing re-infestation once the colonies are eliminated.


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Tag: abolition
The Underground Railroad at Slavery's Banks: An Unlikely Alliance
Wilson Armistead, "The friends of humanity laying the axe to the upas tree of slavery, which is ever loaded with the sum of all villanies," (1853), courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, accessed via The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
In 1833, an enslaved African American man named Samuel Barkshire received his freedom in Boone County, Kentucky, manumitted (or legally freed) by slaveholder Joseph Hawkins for the cost of one dollar. He would go on to become the patriarch of a group of Underground Railroad (UGRR) activists who helped freedom seekers along the Ohio River for over thirty years. What makes his story distinctive, is that he was joined in this cause by his family and their own former slaveholder.
The Ohio River acted as a boundary between slavery and freedom. For nearly 40 miles, it forms the northern border of Boone County, separating it from neighbors in Indiana and Ohio. This proximity to freedom caused local slaveholders to become hyper-vigilant for signs of pending escapes. The county's riverfront was under near-constant scrutiny of patrollers and slave hunters. In the event of an escape, the first to come under suspicion were any free African Americans living in the area. With the exception of the elderly and infirm, most formerly enslaved people left for friendlier communities immediately after manumission.
Deed of Manumission for Samuel Barkshire, Boone County Deeds, Book I, p. 28.
Samuel Barkshire chose to stay in Boone County, perhaps because his family was still enslaved there. He bought a 100-acre farm bordering the land of his former slaveholder, Joseph Hawkins. The land once owned by Samuel's first slaveholder, Dickey Barkshire, was also nearby. Part of the land Samuel once owned runs along a ridgeline overlooking the Ohio River. The ridges near the river were often used by freedom seekers as safe routes leading to several crossing points from Boone County to free states. In addition to the heirs of slaveholders Joseph Hawkins and Dickey Barkshire, Samuel's neighbors also included the Universalist Church and some of its anti-slavery members. This placement put Samuel in a position to help freedom seekers while still living in a slave state. This was a dangerous endeavor, but a strong possibility, considering his level of involvement in the UGRR in Rising Sun.
R.G. Williams for the American Anti-Slavery Society, "Cruelties of Slavery," (1835), courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, accessed via The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
When Joseph Hawkins died in 1836, his widow Nancy was his only heir. Little is known about Nancy's early life, but she appeared in Joseph's life sometime around 1817, and they had no children. Hawkins' will is a simple document; he left all of his land and property to Nancy. There was no inventory taken of the estate, but tax lists of the year of his death show he was the owner of ten enslaved people and about two hundred acres of land.
Before her marriage to Joseph, Nancy was the consort of Dickey Barkshire for a period of years following his first wife's death. Though this relationship is referenced in her probate, no marriage document has surfaced; she may have been Dickey's wife in name only. This connection to the Barkshires indicates she knew Samuel Barkshire for years before marrying Joseph. Nancy's relationship with Samuel and his family was very close, so it's likely she asked her new husband to acquire ownership of the man, in order to free him. This also may have been the case with Violet, a woman once listed as a slave of Hawkins, who was later freed. Violet and Nancy were baptized together upon joining Middle Creek Baptist Church, and lived either in the same home or nearby one another until Nancy's death in 1854.
Nancy Hawkins's Rising Sun house, which was owned by Barkshire's sons after her death. Photo courtesy of the author, taken January 2017.
Two days after the probate of Joseph Hawkins' estate, Nancy purchased a home in Rising Sun. The Barkshire family, Violet and several other bondsmen moved across the river at the same time. Nancy, now living in a free state, began to manumit the enslaved people she had brought from Kentucky. Nancy seemed cognizant of the dangers faced by African Americans, even those legally manumitted and living on free soil. They could be kidnapped and sold back into slavery, or bound as an indentured servant, if debt or need came into play. If the former slave was not yet of age, and had no guardian, one would be assigned by the courts, without consent of the minor. In order to avoid these pitfalls, Nancy Hawkins filed manumissions only after there was some sort of protection in place, should something happen either to her or to Samuel and his wife.
This fall marks the 180th and 170th anniversaries of two rounds of manumissions filed by Nancy Hawkins in Indiana. In August, 1838, the first group: Harriet Frances Barkshire (Samuel's wife), a man named Sandy and Mariah Hawkins (listed together), and a woman named Catherine were manumitted by deed. All were adults, but the manumission did not get filed until after Catherine was married in Dearborn County. This is important, a single woman would have been more vulnerable than the married women in the group. The second round of manumissions was filed in September of 1848, and included the Barkshire children: Arthur, Garrett, Matilda, Emily, Woodford and Minerva. One curious detail of their manumission papers was that each person's exact birthdate was given. At the time of their manumissions, the two eldest boys, Arthur and Garrett, were both over 21 years old, and could therefore act as guardians for the younger children if something were to happen to their parents or to Nancy Hawkins. This was no light concern, considering the involvement of the family in UGRR activity in the area.
Levi Coffin, courtesy of the National Park Service.
Samuel Barkshire acted as a coordinator and point of contact for Rising Sun's UGRR network. He was well-known to local anti-slavery activists, and was acquainted with Levi Coffin, the "President of the Underground Railroad." His participation is also mentioned in the memoirs of abolitionist Laura Smith Haviland, who sought his help in freeing a Boone County family who were enslaved in Rabbit Hash.
The three Barkshire sons acted as conductors, both on the river and over land. Their reach stretched from New Orleans all the way to Ontario, with Rising Sun serving as their base of operations. The three daughters' involvement is not clear, but their parents and Nancy Hawkins, (with whom they sometimes lived), ran "stations" or temporary hiding places. The clandestine nature of this work would require both the help and complicity of the three girls.
The Journal-Courier (Louisville, Kentucky), March 18, 1837, 3, accessed Newspapers.com.
Though Nancy's involvement was not discovered during her lifetime, it was later revealed in a remembrance printed in the newspaper. As a well-heeled widow and former slaveholder herself, it was likely she wasn't suspected by slave hunters. The author of the newspaper piece written in the 1880s, describes in great detail an episode in which five freedom seekers were kept hidden in Nancy's home for days on end, unbeknownst to their Boone County slaveholders just across the river. It's probable that this event was not an anomaly; she may have helped many times over.
Violet's participation may have been comparable to that of the Barkshire daughters. She lived either with or next door to Nancy in Rising Sun over the years. Sandy Hawkins, who was freed along with Mariah, moved to New Orleans after his manumission. In 1851, he was accused of harboring a fugitive slave in his New Orleans home. Like many UGRR conductors, he also worked on riverboats, traveling from slave territory to free states regularly. Joseph Edrington, the man Catherine married in Rising Sun shortly before her manumission, was also named in Laura Smith Haviland's memoir, as an agent of the UGRR.
The relationship between Nancy Hawkins, her friend Violet and the Barkshire family is clear in the will she left in 1854. The entirety of her household possessions were divided between the three Barkshire girls, and Violet received personal items and money. The three Barkshire sons were to share in the profit from the sale of her house, which they promptly bought back at auction. Though an unusual group, these Rising Sun activists did much to further the cause of freedom from bondage.
Author Hillary DelaneyPosted on October 4, 2018 Categories UncategorizedTags abolition, African American, Black history, Boone County, Canada, Dearborn County, Dickey Barkshire, enslaved, escape, freedom, Indiana, Joseph Edrington, Joseph Hawkins, Kentucky, Laura Smith Haviland, Levi Coffin, manumission, manumitted, Mariah, Middle Creek Baptist Church, Nancy Hawkins, New Orleans, Ohio River, peculiar institution, Rabbit Hash, Rising Sun, Samuel Barkshire, slavery, UGRR, Underground Railroad
The "Symbolic Rape," Arrest, and Defense of Sojourner Truth in Indiana
Sojourner Truth, courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/Photographs and Prints Division/The New York Public Library, accessed Mapping the African American Past.
In May of 1861, as men throughout the state answered Governor Oliver P. Morton's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion, well-known abolitionist and evangelical speaker Sojourner Truth visited Indiana to speak in support of the war. This would ultimately lead to her arrest. The reformer was born a slave in Ulster County, New York, sometime in the late 1790s, and named Isabella. She became free in 1827 under New York's gradual emancipation law, and took the name Isabella Van Wagenen, after her last master. That year, she had a religious conversion experience and became a Methodist. In June, Isabella Van Wagenen was inspired to change her name to Sojourner Truth and became an itinerant preacher. She settled among the Northampton Association and for the remainder of her life spoke widely on behalf of spiritual, anti-slavery, feminist, and temperance causes.
Sojourner Truth first visited northeastern Indiana in 1858, probably because it was not far from her new home in the Harmonia community near Battle Creek, Michigan. By setting foot in Indiana she broke the law, as Article 13 of Indiana's 1851 Constitution provided that "No negro or mulatto shall come into or settle in the State, after the adoption of this Constitution." This was of no concern for a woman of her ideals and determination. It was at the small town of Silver Lake in Kosciusko County that a hostile crowd insisted that she was really a man in disguise. Challenged to reveal her breasts to women of the audience, she uncovered her breasts for the entire audience, saying that she "had suckled many a white babe." Accounts of this "symbolic rape," as modern scholars describe it, were published both locally and in the nation's leading abolitionist newspaper, William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator.
Her 1861 appearance at the Steuben County courthouse in Angola was, according to abolitionist accounts, disrupted by a drunken mob, which pushed and cursed her, threatening tar and feathers or even worse. Reports noted that she made a dramatic figure: unusually tall (some said nearly six feet), thin, very dark complexioned, and dressed for this occasion in red, white, and blue. According to the Steuben Republican, "Sojourn Truth" did speak, although her words were not recorded. Local residents were divided on her right to speak, but the Republican said nothing about a mob or threats of violence. Its seven headlines tell a story of confusion in five distinct typefaces:
A BLOODLESS VICTORY.
Free Speech Tolerated in Angola.
GRAND MILITARY DISPLAY!
NEGROES NOT TOLERATED IN INDIANA.
Arrest for Harboring Negroes.
Arrest and Trial of Sojourn Truth.
ANGOLA BECOMING HERSELF AGAIN.
Apparently many local Republicans were reluctant to allow Sojourner Truth to speak, although they were equally opposed to allowing anti-abolitionist Democrats to prevent her from speaking. The Republican seemed to be more concerned with the community's reputation for law and order than for printing a clear account of what actually happened:
Although the freedom of speech had not been questioned here, yet the free speech of colored persons was not thought advisable at this time and under the excited state of the country, which met with opposition by some and encouragement by others, which resulted in favor of free speech, although but of short duration.
Sojourner Truth was arrested "by her would be friends on a charge of being in the State contrary to the laws of the State," tried before a friendly justice of the peace, and set free. Other local residents, dissatisfied by this "mock trial," had her arrested again and taken before a less-friendly justice, whereupon her friends won a change of venue to a court ten miles to the north in Jamestown, very near the state line. As she told the story afterward, she and her white companion Josephine Griffing were called before the courts on six occasions, but she was never convicted. A local abolitionist named Horatio Roby was arrested and bound over to the circuit court "for harboring a negro." He was released on bail set at $500, but there is no record that he was ever brought to trial.
Sojourner Truth lecturing, January 2, 1860, Illustration from the Film, 'The Emerging Woman', Produced by the Women's Film Project, 1974, accessed gettyimages.com.
Sojourner Truth remained for about a month during her 1861 visit, and she certainly spoke at a number of places in northeastern Indiana, not only in favor of the war itself, which was not a matter of great controversy in that part of the state, but also on the evils of slavery and the necessity for its destruction. Abolition did not become government policy until President Abraham Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation of September 22, 1862.
Sojourner Truth's visit emphasizes how divided was public opinion in Indiana in the late spring of 1861. Most Hoosiers were enthusiastically in favor of preserving the Union, far fewer favored the abolition of slavery, and few of those would have welcomed freed slaves to live in Indiana. Although it was unenforceable during and after the Civil War, Article 13 was not formally repealed until 1881. Nevertheless, despite accusations of intimidation by a drunken mob published by the abolitionist press, Sojourner Truth did speak publicly in Steuben County. She was threatened but not injured, she was protected by armed members of the Scott Township Home Guard, and she was never convicted for the crime of entering the state although obviously guilty of the charge. The Steuben Republican believed that "Negro excitement has run very high in Angola for the last ten days, very much to the discredit of the town." Those who invited, sheltered and defended Sojourner Truth on her visits to Indiana held a much different opinion.
The author wishes to acknowledge the generous assistance of Peg Dilbone of Angola, independent researcher and Steuben County Historian.
Painter, Nell Irvin, editor, Narrative of Sojourner Truth. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.
Painter, Nell Irvin, Sojourner Truth: A Life, a Symbol. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.
Steuben Republican [Angola, Indiana].
Thornbrough, Emma Lou. Indiana in the Civil War Era, 1850-1880. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana Historical Society, 1965.
Thornbrough, Emma Lou, The Negro in Indiana: A Study of a Minority. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1957.
Washington, Margaret, Sojourner Truth's America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.
Author Patrick J. FurlongPosted on June 5, 2018 June 1, 2018 Categories UncategorizedTags abolition, Angola, Anti-slavery, arrest, Article 13, Civil War, Governor Oliver P. Morton, History, Indiana, Indiana Constitution, Isabella Van Wagenen, Jamestown, Josephine Griffing, Kosciusko County, Silver Lake, Sojourner Truth, Steuben County courthouse, symbolic rape

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
El Dimetilaminoetanol, dimetiletanolamina, deanol, o DMAE (también conocido por sus fórmulas químicas como N, N-dimetil-2-aminoetanol, alcohol del beta-dimetilaminoetilo, beta-hidroxietildimetilamina), es un compuesto orgánico líquido y transparente de color amarillo pálido claro. En estado natural se encuentra en peces como las anchoas y las sardinas. En España se comercializa bajo el nombre de Denubil. En septiembre de 2012 dejó de ser subvencionado por la seguridad social, después de muchos años de ser recetado de forma off-label como medicamento con presunto efecto orexígeno y estimulante.. Anteriormente se comercializó como Deaner en muchos países.

Precursor bioquímico
El Dimetilaminoetanol se relaciona con la colina y puede ser un precursor bioquímico para el neurotransmisor acetilcolina, aunque no hay datos concluyentes. Otros estudios lo relacionan con mejoras en la atención y el aprendizaje, mejoras en la coordinación motriz  y la resistencia a la fatiga muscular. Está oficialmente indicado para astenia psíquica y psicogénica, trastornos de la memoria, atención y vigilancia, apatía y depresión consecutiva al uso de tranquilizantes y sedantes.

Se cree que el dimetilaminoetanol se metila para producir colina en el cerebro. Se sabe que el dimetilaminoetanol se transforma en el hígado en colina, sin embargo la molécula de colina está cargada y no puede traspasar la barrera hematoencefálica.

Investigaciones
Algunos estudios muestran un incremento a corto plazo en la vigilancia y la alerta con efectos positivos en el ánimo tras la administración de DMAE, vitaminas y minerales en personas con trastornos emocionales propios del trastorno límite de la personalidad. Su uso para el trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad ha sido prometedor pero inconcluyente.

Referencias

Nootrópicos
Aminas
Alcoholes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
"""Module for bilinear sampling.
"""

from __future__ import absolute_import
from __future__ import division
from __future__ import print_function

import tensorflow as tf

def bilinear_wrapper(imgs, coords):
  """Wrapper around bilinear sampling function, handles arbitrary input sizes.

  Args:
    imgs: [..., H_s, W_s, C] images to resample
    coords: [..., H_t, W_t, 2], source pixel locations from which to copy
  Returns:
    [..., H_t, W_t, C] images after bilinear sampling from input.
  """
  # The bilinear sampling code only handles 4D input, so we'll need to reshape.
  init_dims = imgs.get_shape().as_list()[:-3:]
  end_dims_img = imgs.get_shape().as_list()[-3::]
  end_dims_coords = coords.get_shape().as_list()[-3::]
  prod_init_dims = init_dims[0]
  for ix in range(1, len(init_dims)):
    prod_init_dims *= init_dims[ix]

  imgs = tf.reshape(imgs, [prod_init_dims] + end_dims_img)
  coords = tf.reshape(
      coords, [prod_init_dims] + end_dims_coords)
  imgs_sampled = tf.contrib.resampler.resampler(imgs, coords)
  imgs_sampled = tf.reshape(
      imgs_sampled, init_dims + imgs_sampled.get_shape().as_list()[-3::])
  return imgs_sampled

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Once again, I get to promote a race for my job! The Turkey Trek 5K is coming up this Thursday — Thanksgiving.
The race, at Pemberton Historical Park (5561 Plantation Lane, Salisbury) is hosted by Wicomico Recreation, Parks & Tourism, and I am the assistant director of marketing and public relations for the department.
I have volunteered at the Turkey Trek for at least the past two years and will be volunteering again with the Eastern Shore Running Club this year. I'd love to see you cross the finish line.
Today, Monday, Nov. 21, is the last day to register at the discounted rate of $25, but race-day registration is also available for $30.
The race begins at 9 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24. If you want to register that day, do so between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and if you've already registered, you can check in between 8 and 8:30 a.m.
There will be overall and age group awards, and you could even win a trophy for having the best Thanksgiving costume.
Oh, and there's pie. YUM!
Have I convinced you to register? You can do that here. Or, visit the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office today before 6 p.m.
For more information, visit the event page on Pemberton Park's website.


Speed Cart is one of the most revolutionary products in golf. Prior to Speed Cart's introduction in 1999, three-wheeled, ergonomically efficient, folding push carts did not exist in the marketplace. Through the years, we updated Speed Cart numerous times. Speed Cart GX is our latest generation in a rich history.


text:
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace PTS\Validator\Validators;

class RequiredValidator
{
    public function __invoke($value): bool
    {
        if ($value === null || $this->validateString($value)) {
            return false;
        }

        return !$this->validateCountable($value);
    }

    protected function validateString($value): bool
    {
        return is_string($value) && trim($value) === '';
    }

    protected function validateCountable($value): bool
    {
        return (is_array($value) || $value instanceof \Countable) && count($value) < 1;
    }
}


text:
Geology and Wine 10: Use of Geographic Information System Technology to Assess Viticulture Performance in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, British Columbia
P. A. Bowen
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, BC, V0H 1Z0
bowenp@agr.gc.ca
C. P. Bogdanoff
B. F. Estergaard
S. G. Marsh
K. B. Usher
C. A.S. Smith
G. Frank
The complex geological history of the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys in British Columbia has created a wine growing region by way of diverse bedrock, soils, terrain and climate. Although wine grapes have been grown in the area for many decades, a recent conversion of vineyards to predominately Vitis vinifera varieties, and the subsequent world recognition of wine quality, suggests that there is further potential to improve wine quality through fine-tuning of grape varietal choices and vineyard management techniques. A geographic information system (GIS) application has been developed to study the relationships among site conditions, management practices and vineyard performance including fruit and wine quality. The production area was divided into six regions based on landform and climate: 1. Kelowna, 2. Penticton, 3. Vaseaux - Oliver, 4. Golden Mile, 5. Black Sage - Osoyoos, and 6. Similkameen. The complement of grape varieties planted varies among the regions. Comparisons of regional patterns of varieties planted, and medals received, have revealed significant regional differences in varietal suitability. Although most of the vineyards are sited on coarse-textured soils, comparisons of the distributions of all and medal-winning vineyard blocks among soil textural classes have revealed that quality wine grapes are grown on a broad range of soil types within, and among, the six regions studied. Loamy soils appear to be especially suitable for producing quality wine grapes in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys.
SUMMAIRE
L'histoire géologique complexe des vallées d'Okanagan et de Similkameen en Colombie-Britannique a créé une région vinicole en réunissant divers socles rocheux, sols, terrains et climats. Bien que le raisin de cuve ait été cultivé dans la région depuis plusieurs décennies, une conversion récente aux variétés de Vitis vinifera, et la reconnaissance mondiale de la qualité de ses vins qui s'en est suivie, permet de penser que la qualité des vins pourrait encore être améliorer par le choix de variétés de vignes et l'amélioration des techniques de production. Une application d'un système d'information géographique (SIG) a été mise au point pour étudier les relations entre les caractéristiques des sites, les pratiques de gestion, et les performances du vignoble, dont la qualité des fruits et du vin. La zone de production a été subdivisée en six régions selon la forme du relief et le climat, soit : 1. Kelowna, 2. Penticton, 3. Vaseaux-Oliver, 4. Golden Mile, 5. Black Sage, et 6. Similkameen. Le complément des variétés de raisin plantées varie selon les régions. Les comparaisons d'arrangement des variétés plantées et des médailles reçues ont mis au jour d'importantes différences régionales quant aux variétés les mieux adaptées. Bien que la plupart des vignobles croissent dans des sols légers, les comparaisons des distributions des parcelles en fonction des types de texture des sols et des médailles reçues ont montré que des vignes de qualité sont cultivées sur une grande variété de types de sol à travers les six régions étudiées. Les sols loameux semblent particulièrement convenir pour la production de raisin de cuve dans les vallées d'Okanagan et de Similkameen.
1 The Okanagan and neighbouring Similkameen valleys in south-central British Columbia (Fig. 1) are home to a young, expanding premium-wine industry. Premium-wine production in the two valleys has risen from 0.8 to 4.7 million litres in the last 12 years (British Columbia Wine Institute, 2004). Although Vitis vinifera varieties have been cultivated in the area for decades, prior to 1990, most of the vineyards were of French hybrid and V. labrusca varieties, which were found to be more productive, hardy and disease resistant than the enologically superior V. vinifera (Association of British Columbia Grape Growers, 1984). In the late 1980s, it became clear that development of an internationally competitive wine industry in the region must be based on premiumV. vinifera wines. This spurred a government-supported vine pullout and replant program that resulted in the conversion of nearly all plantings to V. vinifera. In addition, the higher profit potential compared to some tree fruit production, and the opening of previously uncultivated vineyard-suitable lands, have resulted in further expansion of the vineyard area to its highest ever, totalling more than 2,000 ha. However, sites suitable for V. vinifera production are greatly limited by climate, terrain and the scarcity of arable soil. Thus individual vineyards are small, averaging ca. 10 ha.
2 The bedrock, soils and terrain in the two valleys are highly diverse owing to the complex geological history of the region. East of Okanagan Valley, the Okanagan Highlands are composed of the Monashee Gneiss, representing the ancient western margin of North America, which was uplifted during the Cretaceous (Roed and Greenough, 2004). West of the Okanagan Valley, the bedrock geology is dominated by Jurassic granites and Eocene volcanic sedimentary rocks, which slid downward and westward off the rising crustal massif of the Highlands during the Eocene. The separation plane between these two bedrock terrains crops out as a complex network of faults in and around the margins of the lake, collectively referred to as the Okanagan Fault (Templeman-Kluit and Parkinson, 1986). Eocene volcanics of the Marron Group are of andesitic composition and were extruded in association with large calderas, the remnants of which are still present at Vernon, Kelowna, Summerland and Penticton (Roed and Greenough, 2004). Eocene sedimentary rocks of the White Lake Formation, including conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and minor coal, were deposited as fluvial sediments in the landscape surrounding the volcanic edifices; these bedrock units underlie vineyards in the Okanagan Valley.
3 The valleys have endured many glacial advances, the last occurring in the late Pleistocene (Nasmith, 1962). River valleys were clogged with large volumes of sand and gravel during glacial advances. Although glacial processes eroded bedrock locally, they mainly redistributed pre-existing unconsolidated materials. Thus the materials lining the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys are heterogeneous mixtures derived from many different bedrock sources (see detailed maps in Nasmith, 1962, and simplified map in Roed and Greenough, 2004)
Figure 1. Distribution of vineyards (shown in purple) in the Canadian portions of the Similkameen and Okanagan valleys. The Okanagan Valley is occupied by Okanagan, Skaha, Vaseaux and Osoyoos lakes.
Display large image of Figure 1
4 The late glacial history of the Okanagan Valley has been described by Nasmith (1962). Most valley bottom landforms were created during deglaciation. The most influential activities were the melting of stagnant ice lobes in the valley, the periodic creation and breaching of ice dams south of Skaha Lake that created glacial Lake Penticton, and the deposition of thick glaciolacustrine silts which filled the valley. The draining of this lake and the erosional cutting led to benches and bluffs consisting of glacial lake sediments along the shores of Okanagan and Skaha lakes (Fig. 2), and fluvioglacial materials that gave rise to silty, sandy, gravelly and stony soils throughout the area but particularly south of Skaha Lake and to the east of Osoyoos Lake. The presence of ice lobes that filled the valley bottoms also allowed for the formation of alluvial fans that sit above the current valley floor.
5 Vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys (Fig. 1) are established mostly on glaciofluvial and fluvial terraces (benches) and fans, glacial lake deposits, and slope deposit complexes that are reworked glacial deposits (Fulton, 2003). Soil parent materials are composed primarily of unconsolidated glacial deposits having a lithology reflecting regional geological inputs and producing a largely uniform, mixed mineralogy in most soils. What is variable is soil texture and thickness, characteristics that influence rooting depth and the water and nutrient holding capacities. Bedrock is rarely prominent in vineyards developed to date.
6 The geological events and processes, which led to the diverse bedrock, landforms and soils in the region, and the Okanagan Valley's wide latitude span (49° N to 50°30' N) create a wide range of vineyard edaphic and climatic conditions. Recognizing the challenge grape-growers face in selecting vineyard sites and varieties to cultivate in the valleys, government specialists in the early 1980s put significant effort into identifying and rating the viticultural suitability of agricultural lands. Lands were rated according to the suitability of their soil, climate and sun exposure, and maps showing these ratings were published in the widely used "Atlas of Suitable Grape Growing Locations" (Association of B.C. Grape Growers, 1984). At the time the atlas was published, French hybrid varieties were recommended, and dominated in plantings. Winter survival and high yields, rather than premium winemaking quality, were the main goals of viticulture in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Since that publication, the conversion to V. vinifera and emphasis on quality for winemaking have created needs for more detailed ratings of vineyard site characteristics, and a better understanding of how these characteristics interact with management practices to affect the performance of V. vinifera varieties. While much has been learned from other areas about the response of V. vinifera varieties to climate, soils and management practices, information derived from local experience can be more relevant in developing strategies to improve crop performance while minimizing risk and cost. Indeed, within the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys the combinations of soils, landforms and climates - those characteristics that define terroir (Haynes, 1999; Wilson, 2001) - are unique.
7 Our approach in constructing our viticultural GIS application for the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys has been to focus on site-specific vineyard attributes. The GIS contains information on the conditions and activities that have resulted in the range of success growers have attained in producing high quality wine grapes from their sites and varieties planted. Its purpose is to provide a data model that growers and researchers can use to study relationships among the site characteristics, including physical, soil and climatic attributes, varieties grown, and viticultural practices that determine grape and wine quality. A similar model for France was described by Morlat (2001) in which a chain of factors contribute to the quality of the wine produced, beginning with site conditions, then influenced by planting material, annual climate, and human practices, including viticultural and wine-making methods.
8 Any grower or researcher who keeps and accesses records of field conditions, management practices and crop performance by block or site has, in effect, already created and is using a GIS. For large sets of location-based records, modern GIS software (i.e., ArcGIS, ESRI, Canada) facilitates data handling and analysis, and can be used to create maps displaying spatial relationships. In recent years the adoption of GIS analysis has become widespread in agriculture, both by single-farm operators and by regional commodity associations. For viticulture, GIS has been used successfully in the precision management of nutrients and irrigation (e.g., Bramley and Williams, 2001; Lamb et al., 2004) and for modelling vineyard site suitability (e.g., Tesic et al., 2002a, b; Tesic, 2004; Wolf and Boyer, 2003). Application of GIS tools may be particularly useful in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys where growers are challenged in managing vineyards sited on a limited land base characterized by variable bedrock, soils, climate and terrain.
Figure 2. A west-facing vineyard (foreground) on the benchlands north of Penticton, east of Okanagan Lake. The range of soil textures found on the benchlands results from the complex of medium to fine-textured glacial lacustrine materials that are overlain by a discontinuous sandy loam eolian veneer.
9 Although V. vinifera culture in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys is relatively recent, the potential for world-class wine production has already been verified by the increasing number of press commendations and gold medals received (British Columbia Wine Institute, 2004). Obviously some growers and wineries are already making good management choices and others may be able to learn from them. While France took centuries to develop its viti-culture for each appellation, Okanagan and Similkameen growers have quickly adopted and modified techniques developed elsewhere (including France), and may be able to further fine-tune their varietal choices and management techniques for the specific conditions of their site. Since no two wine regions have the same growing conditions, the GIS should be able to provide growers with the most relevant information on what leads to the finest wines under the unique conditions in British Columbia's interior.
STRUCTURE OF THE GIS DATABASES
10 There are currently ca. 250 commercial vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Vineyards operated by wineries average ca. 29 ha, whereas those operated by independent growers average ca. 4 ha. The average area of individual grape variety blocks is ca. 1 ha. As most vineyard managers keep records for cultural practices and performance on a variety block basis, information in our GIS is collected on the same basis and is organized in three modules: Site Conditions, Management Practices, and Vineyard Performance (Table 1). The Site Conditions module has information on soils, terrain and climate. The Management Practices module includes varieties planted, planting systems designs and management practices. The Vineyard Performance module contains phenological dates, crop yield, basic juice composition, winemaking quality ratings and the vineyard sources of medal-winning wines. An outline of the procedures used for collecting data for each module follows.
Table 1: An example of data collected for an individual variety block for a single year. The list is incomplete, as the GIS database contains more detailed information on soil characteristics and cultural practices for this block.
Display large image of Table 1
Site Conditions
Block Locations
11 Perimeter coordinates for each grape-variety block were collected using a global positioning system (GPS); from these, the block area was calculated. Vineyard maps constructed by overlaying the block polygons onto base maps with elevation contours, roadways, and waterways using GIS software, were provided to growers. There are currently more than 240 mapped vineyards and more than 2,500 variety blocks in the GIS.
12 Average slope and aspect of each grape-variety block were measured onsite, and terrain variation (roughness) was rated. More detailed terrain characterization, for determination of insolation (exposure to sunlight) and for mesoclimate modelling, is accomplished through analysis of elevation contours using GIS software (ArcGIS, Spatial Analyst extension, ESRI, Canada). Fruit ripening patterns can be affected by topography and terrain, which influence cold air drainage (Bowen et al., 2004) and insolation (Fialla et al., 2004).
13 Locations of vineyard areas frequently damaged by frost (frost pockets) were identified by the vineyard managers.
14 The classification of soils within each variety block was determined by first overlaying the block boundaries onto soil maps (Fig. 3) developed from a detailed (1:20,000) soil survey completed in 1981 (Wittneben, 1986). The soil series revealed for each block were verified by a specialist (Joe Fitzpatrick) who visited each vineyard and examined the soils and landforms. When necessary, he dug pits to observe the soil profile to confirm the series and the taxonomic classification. Subgroup names follow the Canadian system of soil classification (Soil Classification Working Group, 1998). For each soil series identified in vineyards, the physical and chemical properties as described in the soil survey report and observed by the specialist were entered into the relational database supporting the GIS application. Properties included are: depth to bedrock; surface stoniness; texture (resulting from the size distribution of mineral particles); perviousness class; drainage class; depth to root restriction; shear strength; permeability; pH; salinity class and cation exchange capacity. Soil maps, such as the one shown in Figure 3, are provided to growers and show the soil series and textural class in each variety block.
15 Climatic variation is known to be a major contributor to variation in fruit quality (i.e., Giomo et al., 1996). Climatic information is included in the GIS in two scales. Regional climate, representing areas spanning 50-60 km, is characterized using data gathered from grower-and government-owned weather stations. From these, indices such as growing degree days (base 10°C) (GDD), dates of last-spring and first-fall frosts and frost-free days are calculated. Annual variation in climate may be wide ranging (Fig. 4) and contributes to vintage differences in wines.
16 Mesoclimate, representing areas of ≤2 ha (i.e., on the scale of individual variety blocks), is characterized using data collected with fine-grained networks of climate monitoring devices such as radio-transmitting motes (Crossbow, USA); small sensor-loggers (Watchdog, Spectrum, USA; Smartbutton, ACR, Canada); or with a mobile weather station with attached GPS unit, which is moved through vineyards in a grid pattern. Owing to the irregular topography found in many vineyards, the range in ambient air temperature within an area as small as 1 ha can be as high as 8ºC (Bowen et al., 2004). This spatial variation in temperature can also be dynamic, especially during the daytime, and can result in substantial spatial variation in the diurnal temperature range. Maps of such mesoclimate characteristics (Fig. 5) are produced using data from the fine-grained measurements.
Management Practices
Planting Systems
17 Vineyard planting systems and irrigation equipment types were determined onsite during the GPS survey. The planting system characteristics include training and trellis design, vine spacing within, and between, rows, and row direction. Irrigation equipment types include sprinkler, microjet and drip systems, and design features such as the spacing of emitters or risers.
Cultural Management
18 All management practices, including irrigation, pruning, thinning of shoots, leaves and clusters, crop protection (sprays and organic methods), nutrient applications and vineyard floor management (tillage methods and use of cover crops), are determined through an annual survey completed by vineyard managers.
Crop Performance
Crop Phenology
19 Phenological records including dates of budbreak, bloom, veraison (onset of berry ripening) and harvest are provided by growers in the annual survey.
Fruit Yield and Quality
20 Yield, and measures of basic fruit quality characteristics such as juice pH, titratable acidity (TA) and soluble solids (ºBrix) are provided by growers in the annual survey. For selected vineyards and grape varieties, more detailed compositional information, e.g., levels of colour pigments, yeast assimilable nitrogen and aromatic volatiles, has been obtained from associated research (i.e., Usher et al., 2004). For grape-variety blocks, from which wine was made separately, winemakers provide a fruit quality rating that represents their experienced perception of winemaking quality. The ratings, 1 to 5, respectively, indicate quality levels of unacceptable, poor, fair (average), good and excellent or outstanding. A rating is provided for the block overall (over all years of winemaking experience) and for the current year. When the quality ratings are analyzed for relationships with cultural practices and crop characteristics such as yield or ºBrix at harvest, the appropriateness of using current cultural practices for each variety or growing region can be assessed. For example, the effect of yield level on fruit quality was analyzed to determine whether over-cropping (excess yield) has been a major quality-limiting factor. Results for Chardonnay, for example, indicate that although the overall relationship between yield and quality is not significant, excellent quality has been produced only in blocks yielding less than five tons of fruit per acre (Fig. 6); however, blocks producing low yields did not necessarily achieve high quality.
Figure 3. Grape variety block boundaries overlaid onto a soil map for Inkameep vineyard in Vaseaux – Oliver (Region 3). Type of soil (textural class) for each series is shown in the inset at top centre.
21 Wine quality from grape-variety blocks or vineyards is assessed by identifying the vineyard sources of fruit used in making wines that received medals in judged competitions. Both the fruit and wine quality assessment methods differentiate only levels of quality, and do not differentiate qualitative differences in fruit or wine sensory attributes or style which have already been shown to be influenced by site conditions in the Okanagan Valley (Reynolds et al., 1995, 1996). Such information is available, however, in data collected by the quality assurance program for wine in British Columbia, the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA). Candidate wines for VQA status are evaluated by trained judges to ensure that these wines are free of defects and have varietal character. The judges also note wine quality characteristics including flavour and aroma notes, body, balance and other sensory attributes. With the winemakers' provision of the identity of the vineyard of origin, these data are being added to the GIS for studies of terroir effects on wine character and quality. Similar evaluations of the aging potential of medal-winning wines are being conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Wine Research Centre of the University of British Columbia.
VITICULTURAL REGIONS
22 To help evaluate the effects of differences in regional conditions on viticultural performance, we have divided the Okanagan and Similkameen grape-growing area into six viticultural regions based primarily on landform and climate (Fig. 7). Differences in the complement of grape varieties planted among regions (Fig. 8) likely reflect general knowledge of the suitability of V. vinifera to climatic conditions, and to published climatic suitability ratings for grape-growing (Association of B.C. Grape Growers, 1984) available to growers when a high number of vineyards were planted in the early 1990s. White varieties dominated plantings in the northern regions and red varieties were planted more in the south. Experience from these V. vinifera plantings, and the value of varietal wines on the market, has likely affected varietal choices in more recent plantings as these contain relatively fewer varieties and are dominated by high-value noble varieties, including Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. A general description of the site conditions and varieties grown in each region follow.
Kelowna: Region 1
23 The Kelowna region includes vineyards north of the bend in Okanagan Lake near Peachland (Fig. 7) which marks a major bedrock cross-fault. Many of the vineyards are located on terrain of Eocene sedimentary and volcanic bedrock. Kelowna is the coolest region, and is distinguished mainly by its relatively low total GDD accumulation of ca. 950 to 1,360 (x̄ ± SD, for 1998 to 2003). This cool climate reflects both the region's northern latitude and its proximity to Okanagan Lake, which leads to relatively low daily maximum and mean temperatures during the growing season. Most vineyards in the region are sited near Okanagan Lake on sloped benches or hillsides. These vineyards have excellent air drainage which, combined with the lake's moderating effect on nighttime temperatures, results in lower incidences of late-spring and early-fall frost episodes than in some regions to the south. Grape production occurs on a wide range of soils including very coarse glaciofluvial soils that have gravelly-sandy surface textures classified as Eluviated Eutric Brunisols (Gammil soils), and fine-textured soils formed on glaciolacustrine parent materials. These soils have silty clay loam surface textures and are classified as Orthic Grey Luvisols (Boucherie soils). Vineyard area is 12% (Fig. 9a) of the total in the two valleys, and the average age of plantings is 12 years.
24 The Kelowna region contains some of the oldest V. vinifera vineyards in the area, with blocks dating to the early 1960s. Varieties planted are predominantly whites, including a range of Germanic and French varieties suited to cool-climate viticulture, including Riesling, Chardonnay, Gerwurztraminer, and Ehrenfelser (Fig. 8). Most of the red varieties grown are also suited to cool climates and include substantial plantings of the Burgundian variety Pinot noir and the Beaujolais variety Gamay, as well as small amounts of Merlot and Marechal Foch.
Figure 4. Cumulative growing degree days and frost free periods in Summerland, B.C. (Penticton, Region 2) from 1998 to 2004.
Figure 5. The dynamic spatial variation in ambient air temperature within Hawthorne Mountain Vineyard (Vaseaux – Oliver, Region 3) in the Okanagan Valley. Air temperature measurements were taken on August 9, 2004, using a 24-site sensor network installed in the ca. 40 ha vineyard. Maps show snapshots of air temperature at (a) 0600, (b) 1200, (c) 1800 and (d) 2400 hrs.; (e) the diurnal air temperature range and (f) mean air temperature. Vineyard blocks are shown in grey. Contour interval is 20 m.
Penticton: Region 2
25 Vineyards in the Penticton region are located along the southern-most part of Okanagan Lake and along Skaha Lake (Fig. 7). The region's total GDD range is ca. 1,140 to 1,500, which averages higher than that of the Kelowna region but significantly lower than in regions to the south. Vineyards in this region are concentrated along the glaciolacustrine benchlands on both the east and west sides of the southernmost reach of Okanagan Lake (Fig. 2) and along the benchlands above Skaha Lake. Those on the east sides of the lakes are underlain by Monashee Gneiss, whereas those on the west are underlain by Eocene volcanic and sedimentary substrates. The predominant vineyard soil of this region is composed of a sandy eolian veneer overlying clay loam to silty clay loam glaciolacustrine parent materials. The subsoils may be weakly saline. These soils are classified as Orthic Brown Chernozems (Olhausen soils). Where the sandy eolian veneer is missing and the fine-textured glaciolacustrine material is found at the surface, Orthic Brown Chernozems belonging to the Penticton series occur. In the Summerland area (Fig. 7), a sandy surface veneer overlies glacial till. These soils are also classified as Orthic Brown Chernozems, but are placed within the Giants Head soil series. In some cases, land levelling prior to vineyard planting has eradicated the native soil profile, and vines are growing in a mixture of unweathered parent materials. Most vineyards, particularly those on the east side of the lakes, slope gently to the west and have excellent air drainage which provides a relatively high number of frost free days. The region has 12% of the total vineyard area in the two valleys (Fig. 9a). The average age of plantings is 10 years.
26 Region 2 is planted predominantly with white varieties with less area in Germanic varieties than in Region 1, and more than a third of the total area planted with the whites Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris (Fig. 8). Bordeaux varieties dominate the red varieties, especially Merlot, but there is also significant area planted with Pinot noir.
Vaseaux - Oliver: Region 3
27 Vineyards in the Vaseaux-Oliver Region (Fig. 7) are sited on deep, sandy, glaciofluvial parent materials including kettled outwash deposits. Bedrock is dominated by gneisses and granite. The soils at higher elevations that were partially forested before clearing are classified as Eluviated Eutric Brunisols (Parkhill soils) while at lower elevations the soils formed under grassland conditions and are classified as Orthic Brown Chernozems (Osoyoos soils).
28 The rough topography of the region requires that vineyards are sited on a broad range of slopes at a variety of aspects. The total GDD range is ca. 1,320 to 1,490, with the lowest totals at the highest elevations and on north-facing slopes. Vineyard area in the region is 15% of the total in the two valleys (Fig. 9a), and the average age of plantings is 11 years.
29 Grape varieties planted are similar to those in the Kelowna region (Fig.8) in that they include Germanic and French white varieties suited to cool climate viticulture, and the red varieties Pinot noir and Gamay. However, Vaseaux-Oliver has substantially more of the Bordeaux red varieties, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, which better suit its warmer climate.
Golden Mile: Region 4
30 The viticultural region, which has been known locally for some time as the Golden Mile, is located on the west side of the Okanagan Valley south of the town of Oliver (Fig. 7). Vineyards are mostly sited on fluvial fan soils that were deposited against an ice lobe that filled the bottom of the valley during the last glacial episode, and overlie metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks. The soils are mostly dark brown, stony, gravelly sandy loams or gravelly loamy sands. These are soils that developed under grasslands and are classified as Orthic Dark Brown Chernozems belonging to the Ratnip soil series. The total GDD range of Golden Mile is ca. 1,340 to 1,630. Vineyard area in the region totals 6% of the total vineyard area in the two valleys (Fig. 9a). The average age of plantings is 10 years.
31 Although Golden Mile is one of the warmest regions in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys growing area, a significant portion of its vineyard area is planted with white varieties, mainly Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay (Fig.8). Other whites grown are Pinot gris, Riesling, Pinot blanc, and Chenin blanc, a Loire variety that is uncommon in the other regions. Bordeaux varieties dominate the red varieties grown and include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, but Pinot noir plantings are also significant.
Figure 6. The relationship of Chardonnay fruit quality, as rated by winemakers, to yield (tons/acre). Quality ratings correspond to: 1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=fair (average), 4=good and 5=excellent or outstanding. Locations for Regions 1 to 6 are shown in Figure 7. A linear regression fit through the data was not significant (P>0.05, R2=0.02, n=166).
Black Sage - Osoyoos: Region 5
32 The Black Sage - Osoyoos region includes a large vineyard-dominated area south of Oliver on the east side of the Okanagan Valley and in areas around Osoyoos Lake to the US border (Fig. 7). Vineyards in this region are nearly all sited on deep, stone-free, sandy glaciofluvial parent materials that dominate the benchlands to the east and north of Osoyoos Lake, and overlie granite bedrock. These soils formed under grassland conditions and are classified as Orthic Brown Chernozems belonging to the Osoyoos soil series. The soils are rapidly drained and have very low moisture holding capacity, but are well suited to grape production. The total GDD range is ca. 1,360 to 1,630. The region contains some of the largest vineyards in the area and the average age of plantings is 7 years.
33 Although Black Sage - Osoyoos is a relatively young growing region, it has more than half of the planted area in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys (Fig. 9a). About 60% of the area is planted with red varieties, mainly the Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, but there is also significant Pinot noir and a small amount of the Rhone variety Syrah (Fig.8). The major whites grown are Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris.
Similkameen: Region 6
34 The Similkameen region includes the viticultural area in the southern part of the Similkameen Valley to the US border (Fig. 7) Vineyards are underlain primarily by metamorphosed bedrock of Paleozoic age. Narrower than the Okanagan Valley, the Similkameen Valley is flanked by steep-sided mountains which significantly reduce sun exposure at some vineyard sites. However, most vineyards have very favourable west-facing aspects and the total GDD range is ca. 1,180 to 1,540.
Figure 7. Viticultural Regions 1-6 in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Regions are: Kelowna (Region 1), Penticton (2), Vaseaux – Oliver (3), Golden Mile(4), Black Sage – Osoyoos (5), and Similkameen (6). Vineyards are shown in purple.
Figure 8. Division of planted area among grape varieties in each viticultural region in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. W and R, respectively, refer to total area planted to white and red varieties that individually total less than 2%, but collectively may total 15% (e.g. white varieties in Kelowna and Penticton regions).
35 Vineyards are scattered throughout the region on gently to moderately sloping, gravelly, fluvial fan parent materials and in some locations, these soils have considerable surface stoniness. The soils formed under grassland conditions, and are classified as Orthic Dark Brown Chernozems belonging to the Stemwinder series.
36 Currently, Similkameen has 5% of the total vineyard area (Fig. 9a) and the age of plantings averages 5 years. More than half of the vineyard area is planted with red varieties including the Bordeaux varieties Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, as well as Gamay and Pinot noir (Fig. 8). The major white varieties are Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer.
Figure 9. Total vineyard area in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. (9a) division among the six regions: note that Black Sage - Osoyoos (Region 5) has 50% of the total vineyard area; and (9b) division among grape varieties. "Other red" and "other white" varieties include the total areas of red and white grape varieties, respectively, that individually total less than 3%, but collectively total 9% (other red) and 8% (other white) as seen in 9b.
VARIETAL PERFORMANCE
37 Gauging the suitability of grape varieties to growing regions can be difficult, as differences in viticultural practices and winemaking styles may confound the effects of site conditions on fruit and wine quality. Unfortunately, chemical analyses used routinely to evaluate the composition of grapes do not give clear indications of quality, particularly those for aroma and flavour components, and it is rare to find sites that have had rigorous fruit analyses conducted routinely. A further complication in a young industry is the evolution of grape and wine quality resulting from adjustments made in grape-growing and winemaking methods while the industry gains experience. During that time sufficient evaluation of wines across vintages by experienced judges can be difficult to accomplish and may take several years. Although it may not be feasible to conduct a rigorous analysis of varietal suitability in a small and evolving industry, studies that provide early indications of success in grape varietal choices can be valuable to the industry. Thus we have developed a method for evaluating varietal suitability to regions in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys based on outcomes of an annual contest for medal awards, the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival, in which wines from all regions are entered and judged blindly by well-recognized and internationally experienced judges. The analysis reported here includes judging outcomes from four years (2000 through 2003), but future results from additional years and a more mature industry may be different and more reliable. Thus our present findings on varietal performance should be considered as a preliminary evaluation.
Best-Performing Grape Varieties in Each Region
38 An analysis to determine best-performing varieties in a region needs to take into account differences in production from the different varieties in the region. By comparing, for each region, the proportions among grape varieties of total area or numbers of blocks planted with the proportions of area or blocks that produce medal-winning wine, the relative success of the varieties grown can be evaluated. If the performance of all varieties planted in a region is similar, the proportions planted and medal-winning are expected to be the same. If some varieties perform better than others, their portion of the medal-winning area or blocks will be larger than their portion of the total area or blocks planted. Such differences can be detected using a chi-square goodness-of-fit test in which the observed results (i.e., medal-winning planted area division among varieties) are compared with the results expected if there were no differences in performance (i.e., the total planted area division). The analysis determines the probability that the expected and observed proportions are the same and there are no differences in the performance of varieties in the region. We applied chi-squared goodness-of-fit tests, with a significance level of 5% (P=0.05), to detect performance differences among varieties in each of the six regions using results from the Fall Okanagan Wine Festival judging in 2000 to 2003. A summary of the results for each region on a vineyard area basis follows (Figs. 8 to 10).
Figure 10. Division of medal-winning vineyard area among varieties in each viticultural region in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. P values are for the significance of chi-square goodness-of-fit tests comparing total and medal-winning area division among varieties.
Display large image of Figure 10
Kelowna - Region 1:
39 The analysis detected differences in varietal performance. White varieties predominate in the total and medal-winning vineyard area, and Chardonnay is the strongest performer. Pinot noir is the most planted red variety and the strongest performing red.
Penticton - Region 2:
40 No differences in varietal performance were detected. White varieties predominate in the total and medal-winning vineyard areas. Merlot predominates in red plantings and medals.
Vaseaux-Oliver – Region 3:
41 Substantial differences in varietal performance were detected in the analysis. Riesling accounts for only ca. 10% of the total vineyard area, but about half of the medal-winning vineyard area. Gewurztraminer is another strong-performing white. Merlot is the strongest performing red variety.
Golden Mile – Region 4:
42 Substantial differences in varietal performance were detected. White varieties are planted in more than half of the total and medal-winning vineyard area, with Gewurztraminer and Chenin blanc showing the strongest performance. Bordeaux reds account for most of the total and medal-winning vineyard area in red varieties.
Black Sage - Osoyoos – Region 5:
43 No differences in varietal performance were detected. Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc account for most of the medal-winning area in white varieties. Bordeaux reds account for most of the medal-winning area in red varieties.
Similkameen – Region 6:
44 Substantial differences in varietal performance were detected. Pinot gris is planted in only 7% of the vineyard area, but accounts for more than half of the medal-winning area. Merlot is favoured in the medals for red varieties.
Best-performing Regions for Grape Varieties
45 The regions in which specific grape varieties have performed well can be identified using an approach similar to that used to identify best varieties in each region. For each variety, this is accomplished on a vineyard area basis by comparing the proportions among regions of total planted area and medal-winning area. If a variety performs similarly in all regions, the proportions are expected to be the same as the planted proportions: i.e., no region is favoured. Conversely, if a grape variety performs better in some regions than in others, its portion of the medal-winning planted area will be greater than its portion of the total planted area. Application of a chi-squared goodness-of-fit test determines the probability that the medal-winning proportions are not different from the planted proportions, indicating that no regions are favoured for the variety. We applied such chi-square tests to results from Fall Okanagan Wine Festival judging, from 2000 to 2003, for the eight most widely planted varieties in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. These included five white varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling; and three red varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot noir (Fig. 9b). A summary of the results (Fig. 11) follows.
Figure 11. Total and medal-winning vineyard area divided among viticultural regions for each of the top eight varieties grown in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. P values are for the significance of chi-square goodness of fit tests comparing total and medal-winning area division among regions.
46 Although Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Pinot gris are planted in similar proportions of the total vineyard area in all regions, analysis results indicate that the medals have favoured:
Chardonnay from Kelowna and Penticton (Regions 1 and 2).
Pinot blanc from Black Sage -Osoyoos (Region 5).
Pinot gris from Penticton and Similkameen (Regions 2 and 6)
47 Gewurztraminer and Riesling are planted heavily in Vaseaux - Oliver (Region 3) which is favoured in the medals for both varieties, especially Riesling.
48 Most of the total and medal-winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vineyard area is in Black Sage – Osoyoos (Region 5). The analysis results indicate that Merlot from Black Sage – Osoyoos is favoured. Pinot noir from Kelowna (Region 1) is strongly favoured.
Summary of Varietal Suitability
49 Based on the analysis of medals awarded to wines by variety and region, regional suitability for the eight most widely planted varieties was assessed (Table 2). While the influence of climate in determining high quality is apparent for red varieties (Bordeaux reds, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, perform best in the southernmost regions where total growing degree days are highest, and Pinot noir, a Burgundian variety, performs best in Kelowna which has the coolest climate), climate does not appear to be a major quality-determining factor for white varieties. The influences on white wine quality of management practices and site conditions other than regional climate, such as soils or landforms, needs further study. It is notable that nearly all varieties, white and red, have performed well in Penticton (Region 2).
RESPONSE TO SOIL TEXTURE
50 One of the most variable characteristics of soils in the Okanagan and Similkameen vineyards is texture. Soil texture is determined by the size distribution of component mineral particles (Wittneben, 1986). Coarse-textured soils have sand-sized particles as their main component, whereas fine-textured soils consist mostly of silt- and clay-sized particles. Soil texture affects permeability for drainage, water holding capacity, and the tension with which water is held to soil particles. It can thus have substantial impact on vine growth and development including vegetative vigour and berry composition, which determines wine-making quality. To examine whether soil texture has a major effect on the quality of wines produced in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, the distribution among soil textural classes of all grape-variety blocks was compared with that of blocks from which medal-winning wines were produced (Fig. 12). If soil texture has no effect on wine quality the distributions are expected to be similar. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were used to detect differences in the distributions.
51 Although most of the vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys are sited on coarse (i.e., loamy sand) or moderately coarse (i.e., sandy loam) soils, we found that medal-winning wines have been made from grapes originating from a range of soil textures, from loamy sands and sandy loams to finer textured clay loams and silty clay loams (Fig. 12). Nonetheless, based on the chi-square analyses, the distributions of all blocks and medal winning blocks among textural classes were different in Kelowna, Penticton, Golden Mile and Similkameen. Kelowna is the only region with significant grape production on moderately fine-textured soils (i.e., silty clay loams; Fig. 12), and these soils have produced a disproportionately high number of medal-winning wines. In Penticton (2) where a discontinuous eolian veneer overlies the glacial lacustrine deposits, medals have favoured grape production from the sandy loam soils associated with this veneer. In Golden Mile (4), where the soils originated from fluvial fan deposits, vineyards located on sandy loam soils have also performed exceptionally well. In Similkameen (6), medals also favour grapes produced on sandy loams. This suggests that loamy soils, which are neither extremely coarse nor fine, are especially suitable for producing quality wine grapes, perhaps because they are adequately drained yet hold sufficient water and nutrients to meet the requirements of vines for optimum performance.
Table 2: The regional suitability of the eight most commonly grown wine grape varieties in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, determined by comparing the proportions of total and medal-winning areas among regions.
Figure 12. The division of all grape variety blocks and medal-winning grape variety blocks among soil textural classes in each viticultural region. Textural classes, ranging from coarse (1) to fine (5) texture, are: 1 = sand and loamy sand; 2 = sandy loam; 3 = loam, silt loam and silt; 4 = sandy clay loam, clay loam and silty clay loam; 5 = clay, heavy clay, silty clay and sandy clay. P values are for the significance of chi-square goodness-of-fit tests comparing the division of all and medal-winning blocks among soil textural classes.
52 Further study is needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which soil textural properties, as well as the mineralogical and chemical composition of soils, affect wine quality. As noted by Wilson (2001) and others, such affects may constitute an important aspect of terroir. The question of whether wine quality characteristics, such as aroma and flavour, are correlated with specific chemical or physical properties of the soils in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys is being explored in our current work.
Viticulture GIS research at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre is funded by the Matching Investment Initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the British Columbia Wine Institute, and BC/Canada Crop Insurance. Substantial collaborative support has also been provided by the cooperating wineries and vineyards in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. We are particularly grateful to Vincor International for their excellent collaboration on the mesoclimate research, and to Inkameep Vineyard and Vincor International for permission to include maps of their vineyards in the publication. We gratefully acknowledge the thoughtful comments and valuable suggestions of the critical reviewers of the manuscript, A.P Hamblin and R.W. Macqueen, as well as helpful comments from J.D. Greenough.
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