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LIBRARY

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MASSACHUSETTS

AGRICULTURAL

COLLEGE

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SOURCE.., 388

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DATE DUE

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Manual op the Vine.

BY

C. W. GRANT.

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::!?aoC!^:5C!^s

ILLUSTRATED

EIC3-I3:TIi EIDITZOIsr.

CONTENTS.

(i

9
'J

V

Account of our Native Grapes in contrast with the European
Kinds — Joy manifested in the Vine-Growing Refrions at the
Approacli of tlie Grape Season — Account of Southern
Grapes — Origin of the Isabella — Introductinn of the Ca-
tawba by Major Adlum — Diana nameci from Mrs. Diana
Crehore, by whom it was produced from Seed of Catawba —
Interesting History of the Introduction of the Delaware,
by Mr. A. Thomsoii, of Delaware, Ohio — Origin and Intro-
duction of tlie Rebecca, ....... 3

Importance of the Grape from the Facility with which it may
be kept in AVinter — Account of the Grapes grown near
Paris — E.\cessive Propagation one of the great Evils to
which New Kinds are subjected — The Grape in its best
kinds the most estimable of Fruits— The most easil.y ob-
tainable in abundance, and with the greatest certainty
also — All the Wants of the Vine easily supplied, . . 4

Proper Locality and Soil — Preparation of the "Border" —
Various Methods — Method of Mr. Mottier immediately after
Deep Working of the Ground — As Good Results and as
much Enjoyment promised from a Trellis of lona and Del-
aware Vines as from a Cold Grapery, at one tenth of the

cost, 5

Description of Varieties : Catawba, Isabella, Anna, Concord,
Delaware, Diana, Allen's Hybrid, Elsinburg, Lenoir, Lin-
coln, Herbemont, Pauline, Rebecca, Union Village, To Ka-
lon, Hyde's Eliza, Logan, Marion — Remarkable Hardiness,
Beauty, and Excellence of the Delaware, . . . f-il

When are Grapes Ripe ? .~ 12

The Comlitions of Ripeness — Those that Ripen, and those

that do not 13

Time of purchasing Vines, and Method of keeping through
Wintei' — Time of Planting — Age and Choice of Plants, . 14

Planting — Pruning, 15

Progress of Taste and Perception of Flavor — Examples of

Apples, Pears, and Grapes, foreign and native, . .16

Training and Pruning, .... ... 19

Plates Nos. ',2, 3, 4, 5, showing different plans of train-
ing 20

Description of Plates, 21

Thomery Plan, 22

Description of Plate, '.3

To grow opposite Arms, Plates '8, ;9, 41, 42, . . . .24
Plate 43, with Description — Upright Cordons, with Canes

alternate for wall, six feet high — Plate and Description, . 25
General and Special Methods of Planting the Vine — Planting

Layers, with Plates 7, S, 26

Shelter and Provision against Drouth, Plates 9, 10, . . 27
To have the Border fully occupied with roots from the plant,
Plates Nos. 11, 12, 13 — Special Treatment for small Vines —
Different Grades of Vines, Plates 14, 15, 16, 17, IS, 19, . 28
Excellent Plan for Vine.var.t or Garden, Plate 20, . . 29
Planting in Vineyard— To Plant Box Layers, Plates 22, 23, . 30

To Plant for Covering a High Wall, " 31

Planting at Thomery, ;2

Repeated Beddings as conducted at Thomery, Plates 24,

'^5, 33

Row of Vines for Thomery Plan, showing appearance at dif-
ferent stages, some as just planted, otliers having made a
slioot of one foot, others at the end of the season, . . 34
Plate 27, showing Method of Shelter ; Plate 28, showing Vine
brought to the Wall by one Bedding; Plate 29, showing
INIanner of Planting— Box Layers to be brought to the Wall
by one bedding, 35

* j

PAO. \f

Plate 30, Defective Appearance of Vine three years old, A

showing need of Root-Pruning, and disadvantage of age. .35 ' |'

Detail and Explanation of Principal Section of full Thomery ^,

Plan, Plate 33 • *"' 'J

Prevalent Idea of Thomery Plan, erroneous, . . . 37 A

Full Thomery Plan explained. Plates 31, : 2— Box Layer and ( •

Transplanted Vine, ^"^ A

Method of Shelter without AVall, with Plates showing tlie f J

Execution in detail, 38 V.

Manner of bringing Vines into some system, that have been li

suffered to grow for years without any, ... 89 6?

Plate 36, an excellent Plan for Garden or Vineyard, with » J

Vine in Full Crop— Plate 37, good Plan for High Trellis in ■U

Narrow Yard ^^ ( 9

Preparation of the Soil, and why Depth is very important— /

Border of proper depth never dry, 41 ^"j

Simplicity of Preparation — Different Methods of Prepara- %J

tion, 2 ^^g

Manner of Performance, -13 4^^

Preparation by Addition of Soil from another field— Prepara- ^^

tion by Aid 'of Team 44 :^

Different Requirements for Wine and for Table — Training (^
thoroughly treated, exhibiting many plans, from the most &S

simple to the most complicated— Winter Pruning— Summer ^^

Pruning, ■ 'io ^^-

Introduction to Training— Training the Vine — No obscurity %

belonging to the subject ^^ is

The most simple forms, Plates 44, 45— Laterals, Secondary £

or Anticipativc Shoots — Removal of, ^''' I J

Every thing depends upon Training— Objects, General and Vj

Special — Particular Ends to be gained by different Plans — f J

Systcim with two Arms, Plate 47, 48 ^

Early Stage of one of the best Vineyard Systems— Method of f\

Pruning, Plates 46, 47, 49 'J

Plans 4' and 49 have been, with a little modification, exten- I %

sively adopted in all Countries — Plan 49 a Constituent of \1

the Thomery System — Importance of proceeding by sue- _ f\

cessive Stages in the Formation of Long Arms, . . . 50 ^

Renewal, Advantages and Disadvantages — Combinations of n

Stakes and Wires simple and economical— Plate 34 repre- [a

sents a System for the Application of Shelter — Plates 5 ', M

51, and 5' represent the so-called Ohio Bow Plan — Plate |J

53, Double Bow, ^^ A

Descri])tion of Plates— Plate 54 represents a good Vineyard fl

Plan in full Bearing, ^^ A

Plate 5\ Plan for High Walls of Speechley and Clement e J

Hoare- Fan Method, Plate 56 — Medoc Vineyard Plan, ^

Plate 57, ^' f I

Full Development of the Plan of Clement Hoare, with large ^

Plate representing the Vine in half Bearing, . . . 54 fj

The Method of Bronner, a celebrated German Plan, . . 56 V/

Training Vines on Dwellings and other Buildings, represent- A

ing them as affording the most advantageous Positions for ^J

the Vine ; the Vines also adding very greatly to their Com- A

fort and very attractive in Appearance— Three fine Plates, 57 \j

Mildew of the Vine— Preventive and Cure, . . . . 58 /^

Insects injurious to the Vine, and Remedies, . . . 59 ( *

Cultivation of Vineyards and Implements for doing at dif- ^

ferent seasons by Hand and by Horse Power, with en- \j

gravings, "•' y'^-.

Propagation or Multiplication of Stocks, .... 67 /jf^

How to estimate the quality of Plants— How to keep over ^ (J^

Winter, two engravings, 6S „^©

lONA, (near Peekskill,) Westchester Co., N. Y

E.itered accordin : t-

Act o' Congress, in the yenr l"" 4, by C. W. Grant, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
St:tes for the .'outhern District of New-York.

^U^l ^

OUR NATIVE GRAPES.

Until recently, from our own hardy native production, we have not been able tc
realize the aptness and force of those living illustrations in the word of light and life,
where the vine is used to give a notion of something more joyous and good than lan-
giiasje has yet been rich enough to symbolize. Vines of spontaneous growth are
abundant throughout the whole Indian-corn growing region of oui country. We have
varieties innumerable, many of them so characteristically different, that by botanists they
have been considered distinct species, producing fruit which ripens at all periods, from
the middle of August to the first of November, and of every hue from amber green (or
" white'") to intense black. But north of Mason & Dixon's line none of them have
given fruit of such excellence as to excite any sympathy with those outbursts of glad-
ness which Pagans and Christians in the vine-growing regions of Europe have always
manifested at the approach of the grape season.

At the South, especially in Carolina and G-eorgia, some very excellent varieties are
grown to considerable extent, of which the Herbemont may be taken as a type. This
variety had received but little notice until more fully introduced by Mr. N. Herbemont,
I believe about the year 1825, who was a zealous pioneer in wine-making. The " Ori-
ginal Herbemont's Madeira," is still growing at Columbus, South-Carolina.

The origin of the Isabella is also claimed for South-Carolina, although no trace of it
is now found growing wild. Its introduction marks a long stride in American grape-
growing. Wherever it has become established, northern seedlings have, per force of
great inferiority, at once disappeared from cultivation, and multitudes, whose taste.'
were not too nice, have found enjoyment in well-ripened Isabella grapes — some even
consider the pungency and aroma of its skin an excellence, while others characterize it
as offensive foxiness.

About twenty years later the introduction of the Catawba by Major Adlum famished
a grape of much higher character than Isabella, but not able to ripen so far north by
nearly a degree of latitude. Both for table and wine, it was a decided step onward.
Still something better was desired and earnestly looked for ; and twenty years later the
announcement of a " hardy early grape, better than Isabella and Gataivba,'' was received
with expectant pleasure, and placed the name of Mrs. Diana Crehore among those who
will be gratefully remembered.

At about the same time, a " small grape of surpassing beauty and most excellent
flavor," attracted the attention of Mr. A.Thomson of Delaware, Ohio, and was exhibited
by him at the County Fairs, under the name of the " Heath Grape ;" a few years later,
after becoming fully assured of its great value, he introduced it to the public under the
name of Delaware.' But its great excellence proved a hindrance to its dissemination,
for it was claimed that no grape of such high excellence could be of American origin.

Mr. Thomson had become intimately acquainted with the characteristics of foreign
vines, from those growing in his own house as well as from extensive observation, and
never doubted as to the native origin of the Delaware, but was too modest to make
strenuous efforts to vindicate his opinions, although he never failed positively to assert
his convictions. In consequence of various hindrances and discouragements, he did not
vigorously undertake its propagation, and therefore it had little opportunity to make
itself generally known as the American grape, but in the mean while, its character for
beauty and excellence has not deteriorated, and in size of bunch and berry, it has greatly
Increased as opportunity for development has been afforded.

Two years since, the Rebecca originated by Mrs. E. M. Peake, and introduced by
Mr. Brocksbank, of Hudson, New-York, added another to our list of valuable varieties
of exceediuL^ beauty and excellence; some even preferring its luscious sweetness to

tbe ricTi wine of tlic Delaware. To Mrs. Pcakc as well as to Mr. Brocksbank we are
specially indebted for preserving and introducing a fruit that is destined to perform so
distinguished a part in American pomology.

Of the Anna, I liave spoken all that I would say clse-wliere, except that I consider it
worthy to stand among the six indispensable varieties ; and I would further remark
that our six best are not inferior to the six best table grapes of Fi'ance, when we shall
grow them with the same skill and care as is there bestowed upon them. We have yet,
as a pco})le, much to learn of the importance of the grape, and of the facility with which
they may be kept quite through tlic winter, so that they may, without extraordinary
means, be had in good condition f:n' the table from the ripening of the Delaware, which
takes place as early as the first of September, to the first of March ; so that here as in
France it must become the fruit of first consideration, as it is already first in excellence
of flavor, and easily first in promotion of healthfulness.

In the vicinity of Paris grapes for the table are so extensively grown, and so highly
prized, that their cultivation is, par eminence^ styled "The Grand Culture ;" and that
estimation is held in the country in which pears are the most abundantly produced and
of the best quality known. The ancient Celtic name, which means " best of trees,"
expresses the estimation in which it was held by that people ; and the name in Greek,
Latin, and Spanish, is not less expressive of worth. Of its character with them we
know almost nothing, until, after having undergone the improvement of ages, it had
reached perfection, so far as varieties are concerned ; but the " stock" or constitution of
each variety consequent upon the care and skill which it has long received, is regarded
as of the utmost importance when a new vineyard is to be planted ; for the immediate
produce from plants well propagated from vines in the best condition is greatly superior
to that from vines that have, from deficiency of skill or care, not acquired so great a
degree of excellence either in vigor of habit or quality of fruit. Careful observation
has shown the great advantage of following this course, and laws analogous to those
observed by successful breeders of cattle are not less operative in the vegetable
kingdom. •

Among the evils to which new and desirable varieties of plants of all kinds are sub-
jected is excessive propagation, either by taking as many layers as the vine can be
made to produce, or by using all of the wood that can be made to grow ; in which cases
the vines will always be imperfect or worthless, and consequently the reputation of the
variety damaged or destroyed. Of this, the Diana has been a marked example, and
those who have experienced its feeble growth, unproductiveness, and small bunches
from the dwarfed specimens first sent out, behold with incredulous surprise the exceed-
ingly vigorous growth, which is but its normal development, and such magnificent
bunches of fruit as have, this season, been eagerly taken by purchasers from the side of
Black Hamburgs at the same price, but with a decided preference for the Diana.

One of our best new varieties is now languishing in reputation in consequence of
subjection to this very evil ; and the Delaware has suffered from it most of all. But
the inherent vital energy peculiar to that variety enables it best of all to overcome the
injury when again placed in favorable circumstances, if the damage has not been so severe
as utterly to destroy its constitution.

It is worthy of consideration, that while the fruit of the vine is the most estimable
of all fruits, it is at the same time the most abundant in its yield to cultivation, and
our two best varieties (Delaware and Diana) are the least liable of all our vegetative
productions to fail of giving a full crop — Ci partial failure even of the Delaware never
having occurred, and it appears to succeed in every variety of soil, climate, and locality
Ln which the grape will thrive.

All of the wants of the vine are very easily supplied, and no intricate complication
of " specials" is required or advantageous ; and the care of it is not irksome to those
who lovingly regard it, and make of it a companion through the season. Its rewards
are most generous. The place of reception should be fully exposed to the sun at least
half of the day, and better if all — not overshadowed by trees, or subjected to the drip of

water from them, and ricTi pervious soil — sucli as would yield one liundred bushels of
corn to the acre, but made three times as deep, (that is to say, two feet and a half oi
three feet deep,) with no place for water to lodge at the bottom. About half the depth
named will answer very well for a few years, but the vine before it is able to give its
best mature results will begin to fail. After shallow planting, profuse manuring ii
injurious, and there should be no joint occupancy of the ground by weeds or vege-
tables. Both cause unfruitfiillness and unhealthiness of the vines.

Although the wants of the vine are few, simple, and easily supplied, yet they are
imperative, and, as with all the other fruits of our climate, it is only to judicious care
that it can yield its richest delight.

Before planting, we mnst suppose there is a " border," that is to say, a portion of
ground, at least three feet in length and breadth, and not less than two, and better if
three, feet in depth, of thoroughly mingled fertile soil.

But according to the common acceptation, the word border means length greatly ex-
ceeding breadth ; for example, twelve feet of width and fifty feet or any indefinite
length ; for a trellis of vines, more than twelve feet of width is unnecessary, and one
third less will answer very well ; and it is desirable, but not indispensable, that half
of the twelve feet should be prepared before plantmg. If only a width of three feet
is prepared, three feet more should be added the next season. To prepare the border
immediately, the unfertile soil that lies beneath must be removed, and fertile soil put
in its place. To do this, a trench two feet wide is ma>de to the depth of the mould or
fertile soil, which we will suppose to be one foot ; if more than that, so much the better.
Now, to make the border two feet deep, which is the least admissible, one foot of the
subsoil must be removed." If grounds are of considerable size, this may be spread
over the surface of a portion, so that it shall not be more than two inches in depth,
and plowed or worked in without any immediate damage, but with ultimate benefit,
particularly if manure is used at the same time. Into the bottom of this trench the
fertile soil of the adjoining two feet is put, and, if it can readily be had, a compost
of leafmould, or muck, or any vegetable decay, and well-rotten stable manure,
thoroughly mixing the mass as it goes in. If sods from a rich pasture can be had, they
may be thrown in with the compost to the depth of fourteen or sixteen inches for
every foot of subsoil removed, and then the fertile soil from the next two feet put
upon the top. Repeat this process until the border of required dimensions is made,
and finish by putting into the last trench the soil tlmt was taken from the first. If
Rods and compost are not used, other fertile soil must be obtained from adjoining ground
or '^nme ^ther quarter, to replace the subsoil that has been removed. At the comple-
tion oi the operation, the ground of the border will be found to be some inches higher
than the adjoining ground, but in two years it will settle nearly even. This is the
operation called trenching, and without it no garden is in condition for giving best re-
sults. For growing strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, it is equally advan-
tageous, but with this diiference, that the fruits last named are expected to continue
perhaps only from six to twice six 3'^ears on the same ground, while vines properly
planted and managed have no limit to their duration, and the fruit for many years
will constantly improve in quality and earliness of maturity.

Note. Vines ma}^ be planted according to the method of Mr. Mottier, with equal suc-
cess, immediately after the deep working of the ground, by using half a bushel of
fibrous soil from beaten sods for the reception of the roots, leaving the subsoil to be
reduced by the first se^ison's cultivation of the vines.

For vineyard planting the use of half the quantity named may be considered good
treatment, the largest portion being put in the bottom of the excavation, but enough
above for covering the roots the proper depth.

To those who think the above thorough preparation too troublesome or expensive, I
would say, that in soil from fifteen to eighteen inches in depth, having no lodgment
of water about the roots, vines will do well for a number of 3'ears, and that the Dela-
ware will bear more hardship from ill-treatment than any with which I am acquainted.
Concord not excepted. But the system proposed, if fully carried out, promises from a
trellis of Delaware and lona vines as much enjoyment as can be had from the besv
managed house, without artificial heat and at a trifling proportion of the cost.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES.

In reading the following descriptions, many will be disappointed at not finding any
notice of a great number of kinds that have been highly praised in different quarters.
In answer to all on these grounds, it may be said that, in my belief, there- is not af^iy
grape of even tolerable quality before the pubh'c with which I am not acquainted, and
that all which are worthy of any attention are herein noticed and described according
to their merits. The Isabella and Catawba have heretofore been omitted, under the
idea of their being universally known, and descriptions of them, except incidentally in
the account of flavor, such as have been given, would be more than superfluous. As
the description, however, has been frequently called for, it is here given.

Catawba has large, sufficiently compact bunches, branched or shouldered, with
large, globular berries. In color there is great variation, which is not always indicative
of quality. The fruit is often pretty sweet and tender while no darker than copper,
but when in best condition is dark claret, with some degree of translucency, and when
as ripe as possible has but a moderate amount of tough unripeness at the center, with
some astringency and pungency of skin, and something of the fox or offensive muski-
ness. It is spicy, very sugary, vinous, and refreshing. In the latitude of New-York,
under ordinary circumstances, it does not attain its best degree of ripeness, or such as
will enable it to make wine, although it is distinctively a wine grape, rich, spirited, and
refreshing. It rots badly when subjected to a chilling atmosphere or long successions of
foggy weather. As a table grape it is generally associated with the Isabella, but is
greatly superior to it in richness and vinous refreshment.

Isabella has large shouldered bunches, with large, somewhat oval berries, whicli
begin to blacken early, but advance to ripeness rather slowly. It is less adhesive in
its texture than the Catawba, and often nearly loses its toughness almost to the center,
but is always without sweetness there. It is at all times greatly deficient in the
refreshing property, and is rather feebly flavored, lacking the spirited, vinous property
which constitutes the great degree of excellence possessed hj good grapes. It is always
foxy and pungent, its skin making tender mouths sore, and its flavor offending sensi-
tive stomachs. Its peduncles and pedicles are herbaceous, and when subjected to cold
become very fragile, and the berries drop with a slight touch. Effervescing wine is
made of it/by the addition of sugar, as is done with Catawba also, when sparkling
wine is made of that, but it lacks the ability to make good still wine under any circum-
stances, and is not a wine grape, being deficient in richness.

ANNA.

It is an early and profuse bearer, and the produce of young vines _is_ of very high
flavor, but not without a considerable degree of toughness, which diminishes as the
vines acquire age and maturity.

It begins to ripen about as early as Diana and considerably before Catawba, but mi-
proves by hanging long upon the vines, and is not injured in texture or flavor by severe
frost. For late keeping it is remarkable, and its raisins are of unequaled quality.

The bunches are large and loose, or moderately compact on young vines, but on
those that are mature, compact, shouldered, and symmetric. Berries large, globular,
tran.slucent, and firmly adhering to the pedicels. The color varies from light amber m
the sun to pearly white or green in the shade. The bloom is white and abundant,
through which may be seen a few brown dots. It is surpassingly sweet, rich, vmous,
and somewhat spicy in its flavor, and has a decided but pure and agreeable aroma.

Notwithstanding its exceedingly concentrated flavor, it leaves the mouth cool and

healthy. n x. a

In habit it is much like Catawba, very healthy and vigorous ; leaves very fleshy and

firm, remarkably exempt from- disposition to mildew, and ripens its wood earlier and

more perfectly than any variety with which I am acquainted, and does not lose its

leaves until it has matured its fruit.

When tasted by the side of Catawba the latter ceases to be a high-flavored grape.

CONCOED.

This is a very vigorous and healthy grower, and generally bears abundantly, h
ripens ten days before the Isabella, and its leaves are much less disposed to mildew
and sun-scald than those of that variety. It always retains a large, fibrous, unripened
acid center, between which and the skin it is very sweet, but never pure or pleasant,-
or refreshing in its flavor, and always has a rank odor that is very offensive to most
lovers of good grapes. It will have some value as a market fruit from its size, but it
hacks that attractive beauty which is indicative of goodness to persons who are ac-
quainted with grapes, and falls badly from the bunch soon after picking, unless it is
taken long before ripe. It is only surpassed in hardiness by the Delawxire, and ripens
at the same time as Diana, but is very far below it in quality, and is unfit for wine,

DELAWAHE.

The Delaware Grape has so much more than redeemed its early promises of excellence,
and taken its place so far in advance of all others, as our leading variety, suprising even
its warmest friends by its vigorous habit as well as by the quality and beauty of its fruit,
that remarks concerning it would be quite superfluous, if wrong notions had not gone
forth, winged with authority to carry them wherever the character of the vine would be
expected to find its reputation. It has been said to be unproductive. This the vine
itself has every where disproved. Even the most dwarfed specimens that excessive
tenuity of propagation has ever sent out, have not failed to give early and abundant
specimens of fruit, but, like the vines, dwarfed and imperfect. It has also been called a
feeble grower, and the apparent evidence of it is too frequently met with, sometimes
caused by want of care in the purchaser, and oftener by the bad quality of the plant
chargeable justly to the propagator, and sometimes perhaps a small plant has been pur-
chased because it was preferable to none, which has been frequently the alternative, in
consequence of scarcity of vines.

I state a foct that is easily demonstrable in the grounds of my neighbors, as well as in
my own, that with this variety feeble growth is but an accident, and a uniform, vigorous,
healthy growth under favorable circumstances the universal laio. Vines one year old al
planting (of my own growing) have, the second year, when only three shoots have been
suffered to grow, given an average of sixteen feet, and when from twelve to twenty
shoots are grown, the range is from six to twelve feet of strong, short-jointed wood
This is but the ordinary healthy growth of the vine — shoots of twenty-three feet and
upwards, and measuring two inches in circumference, are in sight from my table as I am
now writing. They are grown in rather pervious soil, of only fair fertility, and worked
three feet deep. I would here remark for those not fully indoctrinated, that the deep
working is not for the purpose of obtaining a rampant growth. That can be more easily
obtained by watering with liquid manure on ground that has been worked to the depth
of only one foot, and profusely enriched. But this produces a forced and unhealthy
growth, and thereby forces upon the plant, or renders it obnoxious to, all those ills that
work so disastrously, but which are not the proper inheritance of the vine. The evenly
sustained growth on which full development depends, and, through it, the best results in
fruit, can only be obtained, where each day's work throughout the season is fully and
symmetrically done up. On ground thus deeply worked, vines know nothing of excess-
ive moisture or drouth, and at the end of the season are ready to enjoy rather than sufter
from the winter's rest, without which there can be no fruitfulness.

The Delaware grape, as first seen by Mr. Thomson, had been long suffering
from entire neglect, and the transforming influence of judicious attention has wrought a
much greater change apparently in the frm'i than in the habit of the vine. It has gTeatly
improved in flavor, (rather, its normal characteristics are more fully developed."^ ripens
much earlier, and has at least three-folded in size, so that instead of "smnll," it must
now be described as medium in size of bunch and berry, and ripening /w??^ three weeks
before the Isabella.

Ixs compact, symmetric bunches, of convenient size, fine mne color, and translucencv
constitute a grape of exceeding beauty, which as an ornament for the table is unequalled.

8

It is very juicy, and 'its juice is wine — ricli, sugary, and spicy, with a fine delicate
aroma, suggestive of tlic Red Frontignac, and surpassing that excellent variety in its
brisk, pure, vinous flavor.

Professor Waring has well characterized it: "Those Delaware grapes, which I received
from you gave a thrill of exquisite delight, such as I never before experienced from any
fruit. Its juice has all of the generous exhilaration of wine — is perfectly satisfying to
the palate, and not in the least cloying. We are impatient to be able to gather the fruit
abundantly, and were exceedingly disappointed at not being able to get the vines as
soon as we had expected."

Mr. Charles Downing, speaking of it, says : "Although the Delaware was highly
prized and warmly commended by me from my first acquaintance with it, I have until
recently maintained preference for my old favorite, the sweet, luscious Black Hamburg
But to the pure, rich, sugary wine of the Delaware, as it now grows with us, I must
concede my preference. It constantly grows upon my liking, and when I consider all
its excellences, regarding its fine, healthy, vigorous habit, as well as quality of fruit, I
can scarcely speak of it in measured terms of praise."

DIANA.

This was grown from seed, by Mrs. Diana Crehore, of Milton Hill, near Boston, and
brought to general notice by Ilovei/s Magazine in 1844.

In consequence of the excellence of its fruit, and the earliness of ripening, the vines
immediately brought extremely high prices ; but from bad propagation the plants be-
came enfeebled, and it soon acquired the damaging reputation of being very feeble in
growth, which is directly the reverse of its true character. It is more vigorous, and
especially while young, than its parent the Catawba, and requires the same care to have
no more canes grow in any given space than will find full accommodation, which should
be provided for by pruning and disbudding early in the season.

On well-prepared ground it will make shoots of 15 to 20 feet in length the second sea-
son afler planting. All of its leaves should have full exposure to the sun. This is
indispensable for its jpresent and future health ; and towards the last of August its shoots
should be stopped, to induce early ripening of the wood. It should also be remembered
that it is greatly disposed to over-bear while young, and heroic firmness exercised in
thinning. It is able richly to repay all the cost that its proper treatment requires. In
the pure high character of its flavor it is only second to the Delaware, and will be most
satisfictorily enjoyed by those who delight in the vinous sweetness of the red Constantia.
To those who find enjoyment in the pungency of the skins of the Isabella, it lacks an
element of pleasure. Although it is in excellent eating condition very early, it hangs
very late on the vines, even enduring severe frost without damage, and for late keepmg
It is scarcely equalled. It readily dries, and become a rich winey raisin.

The Diana is constantly and surely gaining in reputation as its merits, habits, and
requirements become known.

It bears so early and so profusely while it is young and immature, that its first pro-
duce does not mature early, and exhibits but little of the excellence that belongs to
more mature vines at the age of four or five years. At this age, if under favorable
conditions of cultivation, the vines may be suffered to bear pretty heavy crops, which
will ripen early, with flavor pure, exceedingly sugary, vinous, spicy, and refreshing.

But the full degree of excellence in flavor and earliness in ripening must not be
expected in less than eight years from the time of planting, which is not more than is
required by Catawba and Isabella. At that age, under equal cultivation, the Diana is
8Q greatly superior even to Catawba as to scarcely admit of comparison for the table,
and is greatly superior to it for wine also.

Shallow preparation of the ground and excessive enrichment cause a soft, unsubstan-
tial growth of wood, and render the crops small and inferior, and the ripening imperfect
or uncertain.

Its habit of growth is very vigorous while young, Init with pretty short joints and
abundant foliage. When established in bearing, its joints become exceedingly close

ALLEN'S HYBRID.

This remarkable seedling was raised bj Mr. J. Fiske Allen, of Salem, Mass., and
first demonstrated the possibility of crossing our native vine with foreign varieties.
The seed was grown on Isabella and fertilized by the Chasselas probably, as that was
one of the three used by Mr. Allen. The leaf is very peculiar, and strongly confirm- •
ative of the reality of Mr. Allen's operation, exhibiting the characteristics of both
parents, but with a hardiness that greatly excels either. It is a vigorous grower, and
appears to be an early and prolific bearer — a vine of two years' age giving speci-
mens. It ripens early or considerably before the Isabella. Its color is light amber-
green or nearly white, translucent and very beautiful — bunches and berries of good
size. It has a very rich, sugary, vinous flavor, with a delicate Muscat aroma. In qual-
ity it is best, and will satisfy those who delight in the Chasselas or the Frontignans.
North of New- York it will be advantageous to lay it down in winter.

ELSINGBURG.

But little is known as to the origin of this excellent variety more than that it is said
to have come from Salem County, New-Jersey. It has not been extensively dissemi-
nated, although known and highly esteemed by lovers of fine fruit in Newburgh and
vicinity for about twenty years. It has been uniformly hardy, healthy, and suffi-
ciently, but not excessively productive. Like Lenoir, which it most nearly resembles
it can always be relied upon for a good crop, but does not exhibit the full measure
of its excellence in quality, productiveness, or size, until the vines have become well
established. Size of bunches large, long — often very long— irregularly shouldered.
Berries in color black, or very dark, small — skin extremely thin, closely adhering to
the flesh, and like the best foreign varieties, it has no acidity or toughness in its
center, and in pure, rich, sugary, vinous, spicy flavor, it is not surpassed, being without
a trace of the "fox." For the garden, it is one of the best. Eipening one week earlier
than Isabella, and having foliage in abundance, that is much more substantial and en
during, it is more constant in its character. A standard variety, not to be displaced.

LENOIR.

This excellent variety has been well known and highly esteemed at the South for
many years, but little known at the North ; the Herbemont having been constantly
sent from Cincinnati for this variety for several years, induced the general belief that
the two were identical.

But the investigations of the past four years have not only shown that they are
two distinct varieties, but, also, that the Lenoir differs from the Herbemont in very
important characteristics.

The Lenoir is fully three weeks earlier in ripening, is much more sugary in flavor,
and able to endure much greater severity of cold in winter. It has not the excessive
productiveness of the Herbemont, but never fails of giving good crops of most excel-
lent and perfect fruit. It has no acidity or imperfect ripeness at its center, and both
for table and wine is second only to the Delaware. It has shown itself hardy and
early in New-England, where it was received many years since, but not disseminated.

LINCOLN.

This variety for a time lost its identity in confusion among a great many names,
but was at length by the Pomologists of Georgia declared to be no other than the Le-
noir, changed in consequence of location and culture; but more accurate observation
has shown them to be quHe distinct. As we have them at the North, they are easily
distinguished by their leaves, those of the Lincoln being nearly round and those of
the Lenoir deeply lobed. Both have nearly the same rich, spicy, vinous flavor, much
more sugary than the Herbemont, which is of the same excellent family. Lincoln is a
little earlier as well as more productive than the Lenoir, and equally certain in its
crops.

10

HERBEMONT.

This as an ornamental vine has no equal, and in vigor of growth it greatly surpasses
all others, and the young vines do not mature their wood early, consequently they
must be laid down in winter, until the vine has attained the age of three or four years.
Before the first of September the shoots should be " stopped," to hasten the ripening ol
the wood. It starts and flowers very late in the spring, and never fails to set its fruit
perfectly, or loses it by late frosts.

In open vineyard on wire-trellis, it does admirably with me, (forty-six miles north of
New-York,) and at Newburgh, fourteen miles further north, on the south side of a
house, but never receiving any protection in winter ; it always ripens most profuse crops
of its most delicious luiney fruit. Its berries are well represented as hags of wine, having
no fibre and scarcely any flesh in them. It is very sweet, vinous, sprightly, aromatic,
(s|)icy,) but almost without perfume.

It leaves the mouth and lips pure, cool, and healthy, and satisfies the palate with its
richness. Its only demerit is in the moderate size of its berries, which are generally
about half an inch in diameter. Bunches very large and handsome, being doubly
shouldered, color very dark blue, and sometimes violet. (See Revised Edition of Doicn-
infs Fruits.)

PAULINE.

Formerly received from Georgia under the name of Burgundy, and known as
Georgia Burgundy. The following is its description by A. De Caradeuc, of South
Carolina :

"Berries reddish-brown, transparent, juicy, very sweet, with very thin skin, abont
the size of Warren, (Herberaont.) Bunches mostly loose, sometimes compact, shoul-
dered, and large. A most delicious table grape — never rots. In dry weather, if suf-
fered to remain on the vine will wither and dry into raisins. Leaves large, round,
' dented, curved at the edges, yellowish-green, the ends of the young branches haying
a peculiar brownish appearance. Bads very prominent. Evidently of American
origin, and not European, as its former name would imply. This grape is able to rank
as JSTo. 1 for the table, being equal in'flavor and delicacy to any European variety.
The wine made from it is delicious, and will keep sound for a long time after the bottle
is opened and half- used. A moderate bearer."

It is earlier than Horbemont, but its liardiness is not fully tested, and may need to
be laid down in winter north of New- York.

REBECCA.

This new variety, by its beauty and excellence, has gained a place among our beo*
grapes, and is by some even placed first in rank as a garden variety.

" Bunches nearly cyiindric, about four inches long by two in diameter ; very com
pact and heavy ; often shouldered. Berries of full medium size, oval and generally
much compressed ; strongly adhering to the peduncle ; color, light green in the shade,
auburn or golden in the sun, and covered with a light bloom. The fruit is considerably
transculent. Flesh of some consistence, sweet, juicy, and delicious, with a perceptible
native perfume, but pure and very agreeable. It has no toughness or acidity in its
pulp or flesh, and ripens eight or ten days earlier than Isabella. Hangs well on the
vines, and keeps long after being gathered. This superior hardy white grape is un-
doubtedlv a native, and grew from seed in the garden of E. M. Peake, at Hudson,
New- York ; where it has been growing about ten years, and there proves quite hardy
a.s well as productive. It is not so vigorous in its habit as Isabella and Catawba, but is
healthy and not disposed to mildew, and being exceedingly beautiful, as well as excel-
lent, must be considered a very great acquisition." — Downing^ s Fruits. Revised Editior^

1]

UNION VILLAGE.

This variety, by the excellent quality of its fruit, early bearing, and remarkable
productiveness, as well as by its size and beauty, has more than established its first
reputation. It is gigantic in all its proportions, giving shoots of greater diameter and
little less length than the Herbemont, and leaves larger than any other variety. Its
bunches and berries are both very large, equaling in size well-grown Black Ham-
burghs, In quality if considerably resembles the Isabella, but is thought superior to
it, and ripens nearty a week earlier. With age, and when well established, the vine
becomes very hardy, but while young it has sometimes suffered from the severity of
northern winters, so that safety has required it to be laid down. With me, unprotected,
it has never suffered from freezing. While young, it is disposed to grow very late —
it should have all of its shoots stopped the last of August, or first of tSeptember.

TO KALON.

This grape presents a most beautiful appearance, and in favorable seasons is of rare
excellence, bearing heavy crops, and ripening early, or one week before Isabella. In
unfavorable seasons it often fails to set well, and its peduncles are sometimes affected
by mildew, and drop the fruit.

It is a very vigorous grower, with very large and abundant foliage, for which suffi-
cient room should be provided to prevent their early falling.

Bunches large and shouldered. Berries very large, varying greatly in form,
(jolor dark purplish-blue, profusely covered with bloom. It is exceedingly sweet and
luscious, with delicate aroma, and when well ripened is nearly or quite without tough-
ness or acidity in its center.

YORK MADEIRA.

This is early, hardy, and when fully ripe very sweet and somewhat vinous. There
are two or three sub varieties of larger size, but greatly inferior quality to that which ,
I have somewhat extensively disseminated under that name, and of which Canby's
August appears to be a synonym. From an investigation made by Mr. C. Downing,
which appears to be reliable, Hyde's Eliza is distinct, but no data are furnished for
description, and within my knowledge no plants of it have been disseminated.

The Logan is a black grape of medium size, and bears a strong resemblance, in gen-
eral character and appearance, to the Marion, which also was found in that part of
Ohio. It has a brisk vinous flavor, and ripens early, but in quality, by most tastes,
would be placed below Isabella. The Marion also deserves notice for its earliness, in
which it is not surpassed by any variety of tolerable quality, and has also been used
with some success in wine-making. I have discontinued propagating any plants of it
for sale, because, by the side of Diana and Delaware, it appeared scarcely worthy of
attention, and wherever those are known it will not be desired unless to complete an
extensive collection.

WHEN ARE GRAPES RIPE ?

Or rather, what are the conditions that constitute ripeness ?

In'all fruits that become excellent and refreshing when ripe, there is found, before
ripening, a large proportion of malic acid, accompanied by certain conditions that ren -
der immature fruit both unpleasant and unwholesome.

All grapes, native and foreign, follow this rule ; but in native grapes, with a few-
remarkable exceptions that will be noted, there are other conditions attending their
unripe or partially ripened state, of very marked and peculiar character.

The obviously distinctive characteristics of our native grapes, with the exceptions
noted, are of two classes ; the first existing in the skin, and the second in the body of
the berry. Before the commencement of the ripening process, the skin is acid to the
taste, with a pungent acridity, and the mass contained in it is also sharply acid, with a
peculiar astringency. ,

The dark kinds become so deeply colored as to be called ripe long before any

12

part of the berry becomes eatable, and the change toward the eatable condition, or rip-
ening, begins b}^ the softening of the portion near the skin, toward which the process
tends outwardly, involving the skin, as well as inwardlj toward the center. The skin
is as much in need of thorough change by ripening as the mass that it incloses, and
contributes essentially to the excellence of the frnit.

If we were now able to say, " When the portion which the skin is to yield has be-
come elaborated to pure, spicy, animating flavor, and the interior, quite to the center,
has become juicy, rich, sugary, and vinous, the conditions of ripeness arc fulfilled,"
the question would be simply and fully answered.

In the best foreign kinds this is precisely what takes place. The skin is very thin,
and, as ripening is perfected, it becomes scarcely more than a transparent epidermis,
almost without odor and flavor, or pleasantly fragrant and aromatic, as in the Musca-
telle class, but entirely void of pungency or ability to give a sensation to the lips. The
flesh becomes uniformly tender and of equal flavor throughout at the same time, with,
just enough consistence to remain a mass together, ready, after the skin is opened, to
yield to the slightest pressure of the tongue until all melts to juice. These kinds, al-
though full}^ ripe, do not lose their hold, but remain firmly attached to their pedicels,
and the berries tear in the act of separation from the stalk. • •'

The state of ripeness is indicated by the ^'■clearing'''' of the berries, that is, becom-
ing transparent. Yery soon after becoming transparent, the fruit will^be found to have
become tender, with a sufficiency of sugar and the full measure of refreshing spright-
liness, when it is in most agreeable condition for the table. For the production of
spirituous wines, it is suffered to hang^longer, by which it acquires more sugar, but
witli some loss of sprightliness if the wood ripens and the leaves begin to fall while
the fruit hangs.

But in regard to our native kinds, the case is, very different, especially the wild
grapes of the woods, and such cultivated kinds as'^Br^ford Prolific, Concord, Isabella,
and G dawlja. As already stated, the process with these begins near the circumfer-
ence, tending each way, toward the skin and toward the center, but never reaching
either so as to bring the fruit to an unobjectionable condition. The degree of ripeness
which they are able ro reach varies greatl}^, according to the character of the kinds,
and as circumstances wiay be favorable or otherwise.

If we take the Delaware, it may be said to arrive so near perfection, on mature
vines, that the deficiency is practically of no moment. The flesh can not strictly bo
said to become iencMr and melting quite to the center, but it becomes sweet to the
center, and so little fiber remains, that few even of the most critical make any objection
on this ]:»oint. The same may be said of the Diana, but with a difference in regard to the
skin. That of the "Delaware is thin on young or imperfect vines, and extremely thin
when in best condition ; while on young vines the skin of the Diana is very thick.
On mature vines, under good treatment, the skin of the Diana becomes elaborated into
fine, rich, spicy flavor, pure and most excellent. It becomes perfected as near to the
colter as the Delaware, but has more of the meaty structure that adapts it specially
for late keeping.

The Isi'aella begins near the circumference and reaches the center perfectly, but
not always with uniformity of structure, the flesh being melting as well as sweet, but
on young vines slightly more meaty at the center. This is the only one that ripens
from the circumference quite to the center, and still maintains a firm hold upon the
peduncle, and also preserves its interior structure unbroken. There is an important
distinction between ripening to the center and merely becoming tender to the center.
Some of the early kinds attain through a portion of the berry a considerable store of
sugar and some degree of vinous animation, and this so early in the season as to appeal*
to give promise of perfect ripening. But after having reached a certain point, no more
sugar is formed, and the vital communication between the berries and the vine is lost,
and at tlie same time the adhering strength of the berries to the stalks becomes greatly
weakened or fails altogether. Up to this time a considerable portion has remained
fibrous, tough, and acid. After this, the toughness and acidity become less, but at the

13

same time the fndt'j or ripe portion loses something of its spirit and proportion of
sugar. The center has become tender, not from the healthful process of ripening, but
from the breaking down of decay, by which it becomes mingled with the better por-
tion, greatly to its detriment in spirit and flavor.

The Northern Muscadine may serve for an example. As the ripening begins, a
small portion acquires some degree of sweetness ; but as it progresses, the attachment of
the ripened portion flxils, until the berries of the upper portion of the bunch drop from
their own weight. The interior soon becomes sufficiently tender, but loses the little
animating spirit that it possessed in its best condition. The destructive process in the
berries begins soon after the commencement of ripening, and overtakes and arrests it.
And the ripening of the bunches also begins with the destructive process close at hand,
loosening the berries from the stalks as both proceed. In such cases the term "per-
fectly ripe" can not be applied. The Hartford Prolific and Concord are examples,
somewhat less marked in this particular, and the Union Village, Isabella, and York
Madeira, still less.

The Union Village becomes often sufficiently tender quite to the center, but never
spirited and rich, and the large mass at the center that becomes "buttery" by the
breaking down of the coherence by incipient decay, soon diffuses itself through the
portion that before was somewhat spirited and sweet, rendering the whole flavorless
and unrefreshing. The same conditions take place in regard to all of the others named,
and the same may be said of the Hybrids (so called) of Messrs, Eogers. iSTone of them
are ever spirited and refreshing, or restorative and animating; but in order to obtain
the most refreshment from them, the opportunity must be sought to find the sugary
portion at its greatest degree of development, while the central portion remains so firm
that it may be quickly swallowed in a coherent mass of acidity without mixing with
or diluting the better portion. Those may, therefore, be said to have a point of
maturity or best eating condition, but no point of ripeness.

In direct contrast to these, we may instance the Elsingburg, which is a grape of
the richest and purest flavor, ripening perfectly and uniformly from circumference to
center, and when ripe it does not lose iis spirit by decay, having but a small propor-
tion of cellulose or the destroying principle in its structure.

At the first period of ripening we find it sugary, but not spicy or animating, and
impure ; but at its last or mature stage it becomes pure, rich, animating, and spicy, and
the skin, having lost all of its oft'ensiveness, becomes very pleasant to eat. The Diana
can not be said strictly to reach the point of perfect ripeness ; for the seeds, which are
generally few and small, are always surrounded by a little portion of flesh that is co-
herent, though sweet and good.

Allen's Hybrid reaches the point of perfect ripeness, both at the skin and center,
without a grain of allowance. The skin has no unpleasant flavor, and the seeds, not
being surrounded with any toughness or acidity, are easily disposed of in eating.

The lona also fulfills the conditions of perfect ripeness, becoming as sweet, spir-
ited and melting at the center as at any other part, and ripening there so early, that it
may be said to begin at the center, although the process goes on so uniformly through
the berry, that it is difficult to say which portion is in advance.

This subject has hitherto received very little attention, but it must hereafter be
one of the principal points to be considered in the quality of grapes ; for upon perfect
ripening, conjoined with purity, richness, and animation of flavor, their value as a
fruit will depend. When possessed of these qualities in a high degree, the grape
deservedly ranks as the best of fruits, and tastes are rapidly being cultivated to a just
appreciation of its excellence. The great defects which were formerly tolerated,
because they were thought to be inseparable from the native grape, have no place in
the new kinds ; and the work of demonstrating this to our people, when once well
undertaken, will be so near accomplishment, that it may be regarded as done, and
grapes which, in addition to other great defects, have that of inability to ripen per-
fectly, will not long hold rank among fruits.

14

PROGRESS OF TASTE OR OF THE PERCEPTION OF FLAVOR.

Thk power to discriminate accurately in regard to flavor, is not altogether a native gift,
but is progressive under proper culture, and if we know upon what a person has exercised
liis taste, we can, Avithout trial, say with a considerable degree of certainty what will be
liis opinion in regard to certain flavors.

A person who has only eaten the tough acerb kinds of cidei* apjjles, on being presented
witli the Duchess of Oldenburg Gravenstein and Red Astrachan, would pronounce them
very tender and agreeable — delightful, and such they are truly in comparison with tl)e
others, and able to aftbrd some measure of the enjoyment that belongs to good dessert
apples. The same person on being presented with the Dominie would pronounce that de-
lightful and excellent for its juicy tenderness.

Now introduce him to the \ andervere, and on critical examination he would say : " This is
by far the best of all apples ; tender, juicy, rich, and most delightfully flavored."

After becoming thoroughly acquainted with all of these, by habitual use, for two or
three seasons, he would still rank them in the order named, and would find the measure of
his enjoyment increasing by their use, but the cultivation would have increased his gusta-
tory perceptions, so that he would be sensible of new Avants not fully satisfied by any of
these. The Oldenburg, Astrachan and Gravenstein by the side of Vandervere, Avould be
greatly deficient in richness, as well as in tenderness of flesh, and Dominie too feeble-
flavored to use wlien the others were to be had. The Vandervere would be to him still
very rich and tender, but he would recur to it more for the sensuous delight of its exquis-
ite flavor, than for its vinous refreshment. His perceptions would be awakened, ready to
perceive the true excellence of the best apples, if presented, and to analyze the flavor.

The Early Joe would be to him now most exquisite in its tenderness, purity of juice, and
fine, refreshing flavor, and he would not hesitate to proclaim it the best and most delight-
ful of apples. Only the Vandervere would be retained from all the others, as really ex-
cellent and very valuable for occasional use, but not for constant use, and not more than once
daily, as would be the case Avith Early Joe.

XoAV let him make the acquaintance of Northern Spy, in the full spirited excellence of
its best condition, and he Avill say it is almost as tender and delicate as Early Joe, but sur-
passing it in its Avine-like refreshing poAver. "This is the perfection of apple and the best
of fruits for daily use." He can not noAV go back for enjoyment to inferior kinds.

The person Avho eats the Windsor Pear Avill occasionally recur to it again, if he is not
conversant Avith better fruits, and Avill obtain some enjoyment from it. The Madeleine,
although acid and austere, has more spirit, and he Avill say it is better, but it will not
make any impression to be remembered by its decided excellence. The Summer Doyenne
will strike at once by its beauty and corresponding SAveetness of flaA'or, but having only a
moderate share of vinous life, Avith a tolerable share of pear flaA'or, a fcAA^, and at not A'ery
frequent intervals, will satisfy the appetite for it, and he Avill call it good, but feeble-flavored,
and Avanting in Avine, for he Avill have learned to call the refreshing and restorative princi-
ple of the apple by that expressive name for Avhich he can find no other, and he will also
apply it to the same principle in pears.

He Avill find the Bartlett better, but if his perceptions are acute, its defects Avill also be
apparent, and he Avill not chai-acterize it as excellent Avithout reservation, although he will
say it is rich in sugar and Avine in comparison Avith the otliers.

If the Rostiezcr noAv is oftercd, he Avill perceive in its rich mingling of sugar, Avine, and
spice only an assemblage of goodness, leaving nothing to be desired that may be looked
for in a pear. He Avill be very sensible of the defects of the Bartlett.

The Seckel, richest, most spirited and spicy of all sugary pears, he Avill not find more
satisfactory and refresliing for daily use than the Rosticzer, and he will probably character-
ize the Rostiezer as the best for abundant family use.

Above these, there is one more rich, Aviney, and refreshing, but it is so rarely obtained
in perfection, that fcAV haA'e an accurate knowledge of its character. That is the Eeurre
d'Aremberg, and in its Acinous spirit it makes a nearer approach to spirited grapes than
any other fruit. He now appreciates the good and ceases to value the inferior kinds.

If a person has eaten none but common wild grapes, or ultra natives of the rudest kind ;
on trying the best Concords he Avill pronounce them good, and if he has eaten only Isa-
bellas that have groAvn so far north that they become black, but not ripe, and then make
trial of Concords as mentioned, he Avill express the same opinion. But if he has eaten the
Isabella in its best condition, and so freely that the idea of its flavor becomes distinctly
impressed, he will say the Concord is poor — not so good as Isabella. If, after these hava

15

been entcn for some days, or weeks, he eats plentifully of -well-ripened Catawbas, he will
not only pronoun.ee them greatly superior, but will experience new delight, and begin te
say he did not before know there was such excellence in grapes, and he will begin to be
able to sympathize with those who esteem the grape the best of fruits. He will at length
discern the elements, or sub-flavors, of which the Catawba flavor is composed. He will
now become conscious of particular defects and objectionable qualities in the others, and
in time he Avill not be able to lind anj^ enjoyment in the others, unless after long abstinence
from the Catawba, and at length absolutely no enjoyment from them, but an increased en-
joyment of the Catav,'ba, if he is so situated that he can obtain it plentifully from the vines,
or taken from the vines and kept under proper circumstances until eaten. Grapes recently
taken from the vines have a briskness and spirit that is soon lost if they are not kept
closely confined in boxes or a close room. Although he will find much enjoyment in the
Catawba he will be conscious of defects, and earnestly desire something without them —
his appetite for good grapes is by this time developed.

To a person who has been accustomed to the best European kinds, such as Rose Chas-
seals, the difterent Frontignans, Riessling and Traminer, those mentioned will be so objec-
tionable that he will pronounce them all bad, and the Catawba only least so. The taste
that has been formed to the refined purity and delicacy of these kinds, will not be likely
BO fiir to lose its habitude, if in a mature person, as to ever find employment in suclx
American kinds as have been named — but will find so much more enjoyment in the kinds
of his own country, and will put so high an estimate upon the grape as a fruit, that an
American who has known only the kinds named, of which CataAvba is best, will not
be able to concur with him in his reckoning of value. And if Ave present to him the
fruits of the vinery, and especially such kinds as the Sweetwaters, Royal Muscadine, White
Nice, and Chasselas of Fontainbleaxi, which is the best of this class, he will still be able
only to approach toward the Frenchman's " platform," not to stand upon it ; for while he
finds in these no positive faults, he will feel a lack of soul — a want of that vital refresh-
ment in which the Catawba greatly exceeds these foreign kinds, even when grcnvn in open
air and in best condition ; and still more so when they are subjected to the confinement oi
air in the house, (restriction of brisk movement,) which is necessary in order to obtaui
great size. He will now find the faults of the natives render them offensive, and the excel-
lence of the foreigners not great enough to make them altogether satisfactory substitutes —
better, but not good enough. The B. Hamburg, if grown under the system of free venti-
lation, will be found far better, especially if, in addition to the freest ventilation, that con-
sists with the maintenance of the perfection of its leaves, the season should be uni-
formly dry, Avarm, and long, without extremes, which it is not able to endure Avithout injury,
even under the protection of a house. Under these conditions, fruit will be produced of
the Black Hamburg varieties that Avill be suggestive of wine, but not distinctively vinous
or eminently refreshing. Much more vinous (winey) and refreshing, under like conditions,
will be the Frontignans, and the exquisite Schiraz, extreme in its aromatic SAveetness, and
of the richest vinous class, Riesslings, etc. The palate and constitution that become accus-
tomed to these, has been incapacitated from any considerable degree of enjoyment of such
natives as Isabella and CataAvba, and can fully sympathize Avith the foreign characterization
of them " bad." It must be noted, in regard to the foreign kinds, that the skin is generally
inseparable from the flesh, and Americans find in that something to offset against the tough
acid center of our natives. The person AAdiose taste has been thus trained is ready to build
a house, that he may obtain these refined, excellent fruits ; and the more so, since by the
addition of artificial heat he can have grapes CA^ery month in the year, and he can ahvays
command a high degree of excellence, circumstances considered, but at an enormous price,
not averaging less than ^1.50 per pound.

We Avill now introduce the European from the A'ine countries to our neAV kinds, and
first, to our best, the DelaAvare. He is an adA^ocatc of the excellence of Golden Chasselas.
He first says it is not more than tAVO thirds as large as a medium Chasselas ; and on first
lasting, says it is not so SAveet as his favorite. We say to him it has twice as much sugar,
and appeal to the sacharometer, Avhich shoAvs that DehiAvare contains more sugar than any
other grapes. On tasting again, he says it has Avine Avhich Chasselas has not, but does not
at once admit the superiority that I claim for it. . He asks to take some home, feeling that
he shall Avant to recur to it. At the end of a month he says it is very good — excellent,
much more refreshing than Chasselas, or even than the Frontignans; and he has learned to
eat it Avithout its skin, although its skin is as thin as any of the foreign kinds. He uoat
pronounces it fully satisfactory; and in consideration of its exceedingly high flaA'or, the
bmiches and berries are large enough for the full enjoyment of his faA'orite fruit. Havinj*

16

learned to reject tlie skins, lie is ready to appreciate Diana, and calls that exoollent, " and
abundantly large ; like great Uoussanne, good for wine and for table. Allen's Hybrid
he also pronounces most excellent, and growing in estimation with use; as good as White
Frontignan, which it resembles. Elsingburg, very rich, spicy, and like foreign kinds, its
only objection is its size. Its skin is inseparable from its flesh, but so thin, that it is no
more annoying than that of the largest whortleberries. To be fully enjoyed, two or three
must be taken at once. Lincoln is excellent — good as Pineau of Burgundy — Lenoir the
same, Pauline excellent. Ilerbemont very good, brisk, and ' wiuey.' " Now, if we ask
him to make trial of the Prolific, he is repelled by its offensive odor ; and the same of
Concord, but less so. On trial, he finds the skin pungent, and flavor partaking largely of
its odor ; and the large, fibrous, unripe center not to be swallowed. Isabella, like Black
Currants and Catawba, not at all fit for enjoyment. After an experience of years, the
judgment remains the same ; and so it must continue, for it has made the acquaintance of
the highest excellence in its kind.

A person Avho has known only the thoroughly wild grapes, of which the Hartford Pro-
lific and Northern Muscadine are favorable representatives, will generally be unable at first
to perceive and enjoy the excellence of the best; he will miss the thrilling pungency and
the strong odor, which are not only not offensive, but even pleasurable to him, as are many
other gross things to which the taste has been educated from childhood. But one who
has become fomiliar witli the Isabella in its best condition, and calls it good, will, on eat-
ing Catawba grapes in their best condition, pronounce them " better " — as much better as
Ills tasting power enables him, more or less discriminatingly, to appreciate the pleasure-
giving qualities of each. If he now immediately again makes trial of the Isabella, he will
find much less pleasure in it, and may even find difHculty in believing that he is tasting
from the same bunch that a few moments before gave him so much pleasure. The more
he eats of the CataAvba, the more fully he is able to detect and appreciate the excellencies
of the Catawba, in which it surpasses the Isabella. He finds a large amount of the re-
freshing princi])le, which is small in the Isabella. He is not without the perception of the
fiiults of both, but will find great and increasing enjoyment in the Catawba. If he now
makes trial of the Diana in perfection, he will not only declare it fiir better than Catawba,
but be able to point out discriminatingly the excellencies and defects of the Catawba, and
also see that the assemblage of good qualities in the Diana constitute it an nnexception-
able grape ; and he will now begin to be astonished at the large measure of delight that
grapes can furnish. Now, on returning to the Isabella, he will scarcely be able to call it
good — and all that fall below it he will find decidedly had ; and he will fully compro-
hend the feelings of those whose tastes have been educated in the use of the best
foreign kinds. So rapidly will the discriminating power, and the increased capacity for
enjoyment be developed, that often, at one fiiir trial of the different kinds, in which they
are brought in direct comparison with each other, a person is enabled to form a true opin-
ion of their general merits as to flavor. But a more extended use, and in quantity, is re-
quired to complete the knowledge of them, on which an abiding judgment may i-est ; for
the great value of grapes does not consist in the momentary pleasure afforded while par-
waking of them, but in the spirit and generous refreshment afforded, which can not be fully
understood except by those who have made free use of the wine-giving kinds. Some of
the best kinds of peaches ^Jossess a large measure of this quality ; but to manifest it in the
fullest degree they must, at just the right stage of ripeness, be taken from the tree early
in the morning, before the sun has liad much power upon them. By the afternoon the
spirit will be gone, the. taste remaining ; but not that full excellence that goes to the mak-
ing up of " flavor." After a few days of culture, a person of fine perception Avill be so far
advanced in the knowledge of "flavor," that he may sit by the side of a foreign taste of
the nicest discrimination, for a critical examination and enjoyment of the Delaware, which
both will admit has no superior among the foreign kinds, and none equal among the na-
tive Americans, for the full satisfaction of every educated taste. So rapid is the develop-
ment of this faculty of enjoyment, under favorable circumstances, that as soon as the means
are afforded, the great majority of tastes will become so well informed, that only the best will
be sought for by the mass of purchasers, who buy freely for themselves and families. The
idea of growing fruit for market that is not good enough for "family use," is a purpose to
deceive the uninformed, which is not born of benevolence, and can not be measured by the
golden rule; and we may with safety hold the faith that it will not continue to be acted
upon, when the true stale of the case becomes known, which is, that the best kinds can be
the most cheaply produced.

TIME OF PURCHASING VINES, AND METHOD OF KEEPING

THROUGH WINTER.

Grape vines, for various considerations, are most advantageously purchased and
transplanted in the fall, and as early as the ripening of the wood and consequent ripen-
ing of the roots will permit. To keep them through the winter, without fear of damage,
lay the vines in by the heels in sand or mellow, porous soil so deep that there will be
no alternation of freezing and thawing, and where no water may lodge about the roots.
To secure from M^ater, an inclined surface or gravelly subsoil affords convenient safety
if sand is not at hand. If none of these conditions are present, a little mound must be
raised for the purpose. Frost affects sand that is compacted only by its own weight
to but little depth ; it should be laid on lightly, and the surface be left rough as it falls
from the shovel ; and if the vines are pruned of proper length for planting, the top
should be covered to the depth of a few inches, but the buds should be uncovered early
in spring.

Vines should always be planted in very fertile soil, and such as is perfectli/ suited to
their wants is rarely found without special preparation by deepening and enrichment

Vines that are in course of transportation in very severe weather, and frozen when
received, should be very gradually thawed, without exposure to open air, in a temper-
ature that is but little above freezing. The sand before spoken of affords a safe and
convenient medium in which to thaw them ; and, if proper care is observed, hardy
vines will receive no damage from any severity of freezing, provided they have been
well packed in dry moss.

TIME OF PLANTING.

Vines planted in the fall, if the operation is properly performed, are in no respect
less safe or less advantageously situated than those planted in spring, while on the
other hand, the advantages ftf fall planting are often important.

These advantages, to a great extent, may be had by having the vines on hand laid
in for the winter, as directed on page 47. Early fall purchasers have generally a
great advantage in the quality of the plants, and the time thus afforded for transplant-
ing and packing in the best manner, as well as for transportation and planting, is
very favorable, both to producer and purchaser.

AGE AND CHOICE OF PLANTS.

Well-grown layers of vigorous growth that are abundantly furnished with thorough
ly ripened roots, as well as wood, are best, and for the garden especially when early
bearino- is desirable. They will give fine fruit the first season, and also good wood
for propagation which, in some of the new varieties, is worth more than the price oi
a vine.

Plants well grown in large pots from single eyes rank next to layers, and may be
expected to give specimens of fruit the second season, but not a considerable crop un-
til the third. Plants from single eyes may in very large pots gain sufficient size
and maturity to bear the first season, and bo but little inferior to best layers. The
prevalent opinion that older vines will bear earlier is erroneous, and the fact is well as-
certained that they are not so healthy or productive. All vines that have made a good
growth the first season should have their roots shortened before growing a second, to
induce them to send out plenty of fibres near the centre or stock, and the aptitude
for doing it is in a great measure lost if deferred to the second season. Vines which
do not rnake a good growth the first season for general purposes, may be rejected as
worthless ; but of what may be called good growth there are different degrees, the
lowest beginning at that which gives some strong, ripe wood, with a considerable
amount of well-ripened root, and a healthy centre where root joins wood. But the
difference between a tolerably good plant, and one of surpassing quality, can not well
be represented by money to those who wish the early and full enjoyment of the vine,
or for its long continuance in vigorous health and exemption from casualties.

18

PLANTING.

In plantinc^ the vines, if llie border has been so recently prepared that the soil U
not apparently one homogeneous mass of dark mould, a sufficiency of fine rich garden
soil should be placed around the roots to receive their first growth, and it will be ad-
vantageous to have it sufficient for their entertainment during the first season.

The plan is drawn to a scale of half an inch to the foot, and the vines are planted
two feet apart.

They may be planted at once on a line with tlie trellis, but in that way it will be
impossible to fill the border uniformly with the roots, which is a very important con-
sideration.

If the border is twelve feet wide and has a southern aspect, the trellis may be placed
within two or three feet of its northern side ; about the middle of the border, or five
feet from its southern edge, plant the row of vines two feet apart, placing a stake by
the side of each vine at the time of planting. To begin to prepare for the recepti(>n
of the vines, dig a broad basin six inches deep — probably about two feet in diameter,
and make a nice conic heap of the soil, for it is to remain thus placed all of the sea-
son. Kow, at the bottom of this basin dig the " hole" for the reception of the vine,
as if commencing at the surface of the ground, for the bottom of the basin is to be
tlie surface of the ground for the vine during the first season ; place the pruned stem
of the vine a few inches south of the stake, and inclining towards it at an angle of
forty-five degrees. If the vine is a very vigorous one, and makes a good growth the
first season, it will be strong enough to cut back to two feet, which at time of pruning
maybe done. Next dig a trench one foot wide and seven inches deep, in a line
towards the trellis and at right angles to it ; remove the stake that was set at the plant-
ing of the vine, about eighteen inches along the trench, in the direction towards the
trellis ; fasten the shoot down to the bottom of the trench, inclining the end of tlie
pruned shoot up at an angle of forty-five degrees, so that it may touch the stake a lit-
tle below the surface of the ground. Towards the end of June fill up the basin that
was made at the time of planting the vine with the soil that was taken from it, and
cover the shoot in the bottom of the trench to the depth of about two inches. The
second season a much stronger shoot will be made, and it may be cut back so as to
enable it to make half of the remaining distance to the trellis, and so proceed until
the trellis is reached. This does not prevent taking fruit every year according to the
strength of the vine, and the ground will become uniformly filled with roots which
will, under good treatment, continue indefinitely in health, and the vine will never,
in the latitude of New-york, fail of giving ripe grapes as early as the fifteenth or
twentieth of August, according to character of season. The crop thus to be ob-
tained may be easily calculated by counting the bunches on vine marked 4 on plate,
which are twelve less than I last season gathered from a vine but four years old,
trained in that manner.

The subject is resumed at page 26, and very thoroughly treated, with many illustra-
tive engravings.

PRUNING,

The need of pruning the vine comes from its native habit of climbing, by which it
gains the top and extremities of the branches of trees, on which it finds support, to
give its leaves to the influence of the sun whose light is to it the foimtain of' life. Af-
ter the roots have been cared for so that their wants may be supplied within a small
compass, the branches must also b}'' pruning be brought to keep within prescribed
limits, and the number of its shoots regulated so that just as many large leaves shall
be formed as can be fully exposed to the sun, and only as much fruit carried as can be
brought to perfection. The shoots and fruit must also be equally distributed over the
allotted space. This is a process of such simplicity, and the reasons and mode of doing
it so obvious to common-sense, that no one need be in error or darkness in the matter
who will give tlie subject a little consideration. To give full directiona for this is not

19

practicable witbin tbe proposed limit of my catalogue, but I shall give such brief direo'
tions, aided by engravings, as will make the manner of proceeding clear for the first
two vears from planting, and also show the completion of the system of training.

After one strong shoot has been obtained, (see plate 1, A,) the next season com-
mences by starting two, and the height at which these should be taken depends upon
the kind of arbor or trellis to which the vine is to be trained, (see a, b, c, d,
Qg. A.) The system represented on the plate, and called " Thomery," (see plate 2,)
has its name from a village near Paris, where it has been in operation more than one
hundred and lifty years, with results that have given it a world-wide celebrity. A
distinguished French writer, in a recent work on the subject, remarks that the "un-
equalled prosperity of this vineyard depends upon neither soil nor exposure, for both are
rather unfavorable, but upon the excellence of the system, and the care with which it
is managed." The statement of its productiveness appears incredible, but the most
important consideration is the surpassing quality of the fruit, for which three times the
price of ordinary well-grown grapes of the same variety is uniformly obtained. The
system was originally devised for a trellis in front of a wall which was built for af-
fording shelter and a warm exposure. The vines are not trained on the wall, but on
trellises placed from nine inches to two feet in advance, to afford a healthful circulation
of air between.

Although it is Nell adapted for the open ground, and for a trellis running in any di-
rection, its best itssults, except in very warm latitudes, will be obtained under the shel-
ter of a high garden fence or wall, or on the south side of a house, for our native vines
can scarcely have too warm an exposure. To grow them on the southerly side of a
house, the trellis should be from eighteen inches to two feet from the building, and
may be at any height desired. A single system requires from eight to ten feet of
height, measuring from height at which first arms and fruit are taken, and any width
convenient greater than eight feet. A double system may as readih^ be applied by
which an elevation of from sixteen to twenty feet nniy be covered, measuring,
as above, from elevation at which lower or first arms are taken. This may be at
any elevation desired. According to such an arrangement, I have, during the past
twelve years, on the south side of my dwelling, trained vines that have borne profuse-
ly, and ripened their fruit nearly or quite two weeks earlier than those in the garden,
not more than one hundred feet distant. The house is on the line of the street, and
the border occupies tbe entire walk, twelve feet in width. Before planting, the ground
was trenched three feet deep, and abundantly enriched with stable manure and wood-
ashes thoroughly mingled with the soil or rather gravel. Flagging was laid, and it
has received no enrichment since, nor has any apparently been needed. The lower
fruit-bearing courses are about twelve feet above the walk to avoid depredation.
Aside from the great quantity of superior fruit yielded, we have been indebted to our
vines for a most beautiful and delightfully cooling shade, for which, I think, no vine
can excel the grape. I have described particularly because the best situation for the
vine is often overlooked.

It may be noted that vines in particularly sheltered and warm exposures, although
ripening their fruit sooner, will hold it in perfection later than those not so situated,
and that it will not be damaged by any freezing that occurs before December.

The first season only one shoot should be suffered to grow, and that should be
trained to an upright stake set into the ground at the time of planting. The tying
should be so frequently done as to keep the shoot always upright. If sutfered to bend
over, the strength will go to the formation of secondary shoots that spring out in the
axils of the leaves, (at the junction of the footstalk of the leaf with the main shoot,)
and are called laterals. (See plate No. 1, Fig. A at s s'.) These laterals should be all
taken off at one leaf (see s) as soon as they have made a length of three leaves, as the
strength that goes into them is taken from the leaves of the main shoot while they
give back but little to the formation of root or to the general strength of the plant.

At the time for pruning, which we will suppose the month of February for the pres-

21

eat, this shoot should be cut back to the lowest well-developed bud, which will be nea?
the grouud, aud the same course of tying and removing laterals pursued as directed
the previous year. If the vine is a very strong one, it will show bloom for three
bunches of fruit, which may be suppressed or suffered to go on to maturity according
to the strength of the vine. If the vine is of the strongest character, and of prolific
habit, fruit may had the first season and two shoots grown the second season, as will
be hereafter shown ; but a strong one must be grown before attempting to grow two.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.

PLATE No. 1.

A is a vine of one upright shoot, as a strong vine should be at the end of the second
season ; s s' is a lateral springing from the axil of a leaf that has been twice pinched
at one leiif each time, first at s, and second at s'. Every bud on the shoot had a
" lateral" that received similar treatment, or perhaps that required pinching a third time.

a, b, c, d, e, are the points at which it may be cut to fit it for the Thomery system, as
shown in plate 2 ; x and x are two shoots at the end of the third season, whose
treatment has been the same as was that of A during the second season, x x repre-
sent the same shoots laid down for arms, four feet long each way from the standard; on
the left but a portion of the arm is shown from deficiency of size of plate. On the
left below, two shoots, one double and one single, of the lower coarse are shown, by
dotted lines at E, growing out of arm x x. (See complete sj^stem in plats called
Thomery, plate 2.) In like manner, arms might have been taken at b, c, d, or e, as
indicated by the faint lines showing where shoots might have been, instead of at a.

For a single system only one pair of arms are taken from one vine ; at the height of
b, another pair are taken from another vine, and so on, as at c, and d, and e. The
shoots spring from one bud on each side, and all of the other buds are rubbed off. If
a double system is required, so that the standards may not be inconveniently near to
each other, two sets of arms are taken ; we may suppose one set at d, and another at e,
or if desirable at a much greater height ; but if at a greater elevation than at e, another
year will be required for the preparation of the cane for a standard. It may be re
marked that the long growth of one year is called a shoot. If it is for the next sea-
son, cut short — that is, the length to one or two buds — it is called a spur ; if the length
of a foot or more, it is called a cane. After the second year the cane becomes a stand-
ard. (See plate 11, where the standards support the arms at different elevations, and
the arms support the " cordons," or courses, on which the fruit is borne.) See 4.

B and D are elegant methods of growing vines on stakes, and suitable for the gar-
den. C is the German method of making bows, and is suitable for vineyard or garden,
and E is a short spur and renewal plan, well adapted for gardens.

At the stage shown in the plate, it is supposed to be fourteen years old. H below
marks the third or perhaps the fourth year ; and at H above each succeeding year
is marked, adding a spur and two shoots on each side yearly, or rather each year add-
ing a shoot on each side, and at the same time converting the previous year's shoots
into spurs, each bearing two ahoots. Every shoot is supposed to bear three bunches
of grapes, and every shoot alternately by pruning becomes a spur, bearing two shoots,
and every spur is alternately renewed, so that it may be called a biennial short spur
renewal system. For the garden this is quite ornamental, and in skillful hands will
work admirably ; but is far less simple than that shown in plate 2, and if for want of
care or skill the lower spurs be lost, the loss may be considered final.

All systems suppose one upright shoot to be provided, as at A, to start from at the
begmnng of the third season, except in case of layers of remarkable vigor, when the
course of training may be commenced at the beginning of second season.

23

PLATE No. 2, OR THOMEEY.

Tlie disposition of vines is strongly upward, and also to leave the things that are be-
hind or below; and vines, under ordinary circumstances, will not continue to make
beitring-wood for a succession of seasons through a greater perpendicular height than
four feet, and even in this little scale the upper portions will show the most vigor (A
growth, and the lower the best flavor of fruit, but not the largest or most beautiful
bunches. In view of these facts, a plan waa devised by which a trellis of any desirable
dimensions might be uniformly covered with wood and fruit under the circumstances
that would enable the vine to bear the greatest amount and of the best quality, and
continue in perfect health indefinitely. This can be done only by balancing nicely all
of the tendencies of the vine. Due accommodation must be provided for the roots, and
they must be made comfortable and patient under a very unnatural restriction. The
bi-anches also must not only be restricted within certain limits, but the natural dispo-
tlon to leave their boundary restrained.

This can only be accomplished by beginning in reference to the end while the vine
is very young, or rather with its beginning. The direct end to 'be aimed at we will
suppose to be the covering a trellis, like that represented in the plate, with bearing-
wood that will produce a crop of fruit like that shown at 4, (see plate.) This plan
was devised more than one hundred and fifty years since, and its operation has been
unexceptionable. Various modifications to suit particular circumstances have been
adopted, but no improvement has been made upon the general plan. Instead of allow-
ing a difference of four feet of elevation for the bearing district of each vine, the bear-
ing-wood is all taken from the same elevation.

At one end of the trellis is seen a strong post, around which wires are fastened.
To keep the post upright it must be braced, but the bracing is not shown. At the other
end little portions of wire are shown, designated by figs. 1 and 2. The portions of the
vine lying along (2"^ and sustained in place by it are called arms. Those shoots fjistencd
towards the to})s to the wires (1) are called the courses, (coursons;) and on 4 are seen
properly loaded with fruit, but represented without the leaves, for when the leaves are
in place, very little of the fruit is visible. The figure 3 indicates the standards from
which th e arms are taken. The one nearest to the post and the fifth furnish arms for
the lower courses. The second and the sixth furnish arms for the upper courses. The
third and the seventh for second courses from the top. The fourth -and eighth for the
remaining courses, which completes the system, which, when loaded with fruit, will all
be like the one designated by 4.

It will be observed that the shoots upon the arma which constitute the courses are
alternately in pairs and single. In pruning, to make single ones grow pairs or two
shoots from one spur, cut above the first good bud, and that will give two shoots, one,
and the bearing-one, from, the well-developed bud, and the other from a bud scarcely
visible on the vine, and too small to be shown in the engraving. The shoot from the
latter will not be certain to bear fruit ; at its base will be formed a bud that will fruit,
and then the shoots will be established.

To prune the double shoots, cut the upper one off by cutting the spur just above
the origin of the lower shoot, and then cut the lower shoot at two buds, by these means
the spurs will always remain short. This plan is perfectly adapted to renewal yearly
biennially, or triennially, as may be found expedient or to suit the views of the pro-
prietor. To renew yearly, double shoots should be always grown, and the one from the
upper bud only suffered to produce the fruit. To renew biennially or triennially, grow
alternately as shown in plate, and the method of proceeding is too obvious to require
explanation.

By recurring to plate 1, fig. E, the manner of cutting will be apparent, but by erroi
of artist, the fruit on the left will be seen upon the wrong shoot — that is, the one tha»
springs from the spur nearest to its origin from the main stem. This is also equally
adapted to renewal or constant bearing, and is called the " cylindric" method.

Both systems are calculated to produce a quantity of fruit beyond the belief of thoso ■
ff-ho are not acquainted with systematic training.

24

TO GROW ASMS OR SHOOTS DIRECTLY OPPOSITE.

On page 20, Plate No. 1, Fig. A, may be seen a plan for taking arms to furnish a
riiomery plan ; but it is defective, inasmucli as it docs not have them directly oppo-
site each other, except when the base buds are taken to produce the shoots shown by
Jhe dotted lines X and X. If they are to be taken from the same cane at b or c ov d
or e, as shown in the engraving, one arm will be three or four inches above the
other. We will suppose we are to operate at e, and instead of taking the dotted arms
X X and X X, we take them directly opposite each other. To do this, we will em-
ploy one year more of time, and instead of cutting off the upright cane at e, as
shown by the cut-off mark above the upper. arm, XX, we will cut it off between the
dotted arms, throwing away the upper one and training the one at the right in an
upright position, to the end of the season. At the time for pruning, cut this upright
shoot of the last season (which is called a cane now) immediately above the second
well-developed bud. At the base, close to its origin from the main upright, will be
seen two much smaller buds, called "base" and " contra-base" buds, which are so nearly
opposite that they may be called so, as they will not vary from that more than the
small fraction of the tenth of an inch. These buds are to form the opposite arms
and to enable them to do it, the two buds above, which were reserved at pruninf^,
must be rubbed off' as soon as they have pushed forth to the length of an inch, or
less. This will cause the two base buds to push forth, which are to be trained in an
upward direction, and these will form arms directly oiDposite, to be laid down the
nest season, and pruned to such length as their strength will warrant. See Fio-. 2
page 88, letters b and c, for manner of forming the arms, and the length to be taken
each year.

But there is a better way to do it, by which no time will be lost, for the two base
buds may be farmed on the main upright cane without aay material loss of time or
01 strength to the vine.

Here we have three fine upright vines, in
proper condition to be operated upon at about
the middle or last of June.

To form arms for Thomery plan, one may be
taken off' at the eye nearest below the point
three feet from the ground, and the next five
and the remaining one seven feet from the
ground. These vines, as shown by the engrav-
ing, have had their laterals properly pinched,
and have been well secured to the stakes. The
laterals are to be taken away entirely at the
point where the main shoot is taken off, just
; above a leaf in whose axil will be left only the
; dormant bud. By taking
joff the main shoot, and re-
jmoval of the lateral, this
: dormant bud will be push-
1 ed forth, and in a few days
will form the shoot, A.
: This is to be treated in all
respects as if it were the
principal shoot, until the
end of the season, and the
next season its base buds are to form the two opposite arms.
The pruning to two well-developed buds, and the rubbing off,
^e to be managed as before directed.

There are other methods of forming the arms by making use of the lateral for onis
of them, but it is difficult if not impossible to have the two arms similar in character
and strength, except by the process of taking from the two base-buds, according to
one of the methods described-

Plate No. 38.

Plate No. :j9.

Plate No. 40.

To form the arms, only the shoots that
Bpring from the base buds are retained ; but
to grow vines with shoots opposite, the one
that springs from the first well-developed
bud must also be retained to continue the
vine, as shown in the engraving A B. At
A the same operation is performed in June
as before described, pinching off main shoot
and suppression of lateral. In engraving A,
B, C, D, may be seen the manner of pruning
at the end of the season, and in the next
engraving the manner of proceeding for any
length of stock. It will be observed that
the shoots c, c, are pruned so as to take
shoots only from the base buds. In the next
engraving the double shoots may be seen form-
ed, as they are in full bearing, and the pruning
of these shoots should be noted, the upper
one being cut away by cutting through the
spur, and the lower one being cut so as to
form a new spur with two buds. Above
may be seen the two shoots marked for prun-
ing, as the lower ones were the year before,
and the shoot above prepared as before also

There is a very good mode
of training from one single
upright stem upon a trellis
in front of a sheltering wall
whose hight may be from
four to six feet. After one
upright cane has been pro-
duced, shoots may be taken
from buds at each side that
are found at about the right
distances apart. That will
be about two feet apart on
each side, or a little less, so
that shoots being taken al-
ternately will be distant
from nine to twelve inches.
These shoots will " show "
three bunches of fruit each,
but two will be quite enough
for them to carry. At the time of pruning, they may be cut to the third bud.

26

GENERAL AND SPECIAL METHODS OF PLANTING THE VINE.

After tlie border has been prepared, according to directions, it is a very simple
matter to plant a vine so that all of its requirements, which are few and obvious, shall
be supplied ; and yet very few arc so planted, while very many are either enfeebled or
destroyed by the improper performance of the operation.

A well-rooted layer offers the most convenient form for the exemplification of the
general principles that are to be observed in all cases.

The length of the portion of preceding season's wood, from which the roots spring
in the best vines, is from twelve to sixteen inches, and may be called the vertebra!
The long, fibrous roots, which spring from each side of the vertebra, should all be cut
back to about eight inches, so that when spread out on a plane, the space covered will
be about sixteen inches square.

The excavation for its reception should be made seven inches deep, in ordinary soils,
but one inch less in very clayey ground, and eighteen inches square at the bottom,'
which should be made level at first, oare being taken to avoid a depression at the center,
or any elevation at the sides. A little ridge is then to be raised two inches high, run-
ning through the center, in the direction which the axis or vertebra is to take, and upon
which it is to lie, raising it two inches above the general level of the bottom of the
excavation.

Before putting the vine into its place, have the stake that is to support it set, and a
quantity of such soil as has been directed for putting among and near the roots made
fine and ready in a little heap. After taking a survey of the plant as it is placed upon
the ridge, and determining how nriany of the roots are to lie upon the bottom of the
excavation, raise up carefully all of the others, and adjust those that lie upon the bot-
tom to_ equal spaces from each other, when they are ready to receive a layer of soil.
which is to be poured gently from a spade, and made sufficiently compact with the
hands of the operator, when it will be ready to recdve the next row of roots, placing
them, as was done with the lower ones, at equal distances, and so that all of them mav
be included in the depth of the two inches, with the thickness of the vertebra added.
The other side is to be managed in the same manner, care being taken to make the soil
uniformly compact around the axis at all points, which, at this stage, will have its upper
side level with, or slightly below, the sur&ce of the filling. When some of the roots
spring from the upper side of the axis or vertebra, they require to be raised a little
above the depth of the two inches named.

The remaining four or five inches of depth is to be filled by letting the fine soil fall
as if poured or sifted from the spade, making it evenly compact, by layers of about one
inch in thickness at a time, until the hole is filled.

<^v. w .^^\ \\ \\ X\Vv^

Plate No. T.

Plate N*. &

27

Plate ISTo. 7 represents n, layer in side-view, as seen from tlie east, having its roots
pruned, placed in an excavation seven inches deep and eighteen inches square, with its
axis or vertebra from which the roots spring lying upon a ridge two inches high, run-
ning north and south.

Plate No. 8 represents the same as seen from the south, ready to be covered with soil.

In planting, let the axis be kept immovable by gentle pressure, the operator facing
the east, andlaying the back of his hand lightly upon it about the middle. ■

On the right or east side twelve roots will be seen, five of which are to be gathered
up into the left hand lying with its back upon the axis. In taking up the roots, count
from the south or the end farthest from the stake, taking the second, third, fifth, seventh,
and eleventh, holding them away from those that are left lying, which are to be equally
spaced, and covered with about an inch of soil, or perhaps a little more, having the
fibers also of each root carefully distributed and separated in the soil. This being done,
place the five that have been held in the left hand in the same manner.

On the left or west side, take up the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh, with which
proceed as before, covering the last, as before directed, working the soil carefully to its
place with the hands.

When the purchaser receives the vine, it will be cut at the upper mark. After the
planting it is to be cut at the lower mark ; and when the shoots have become strong
enough to permit one to be tied, the other is to be rubbed off, retaining only one for
the benefit of the vine, or three if for immediate bearing. _ _

Dano-er from drought is to be guarded against, or some injury will be sustained, often
to the loss of nearly a season's growth, and not unfrequently to the destruction of vines
that have been planted in the best manner, but afterward neglected in this respect.

The severity of drought is caused more by the effect of drying winds than by the
absence of rain, and does not occur to a great extent in grounds that are sheltered from
their influence.

A moderately moving atmosphere does not take, during the day, more moisture than
it returns to a well-prepared soil at night ; consequently, protection from the strong
action of the wind will in a great measure secure from the severe effects of drought, as
shown in blight and shriveling of the foliage.

Thorough shelter from at least two of the four quarters is very desirable for all hor-
ticultural subjects, but a very simple arrangement will protect newly-planted vines
from all danger of injury.

Two boards, each one foot wide and eighteen inches or two feet long, nailed together
so as to form a right-anglea triangle, with one outer side facing north and the other
west, placed so as to contain the plant within the angle, as shown in Plate No. 9,
forms a very cheap and pretty good shelter.

Plate No. 9.

Plate No. 10.

One better may be made of three boards, forming a square, to be placed with the open
side facing the south-east, as shown in Plate No. 10.

A box without a bottom, or made to receive a sliding-pane of glass, forms a still
more effective shelter, and one that will enable the plant to make an important start in
advance of the season, by which it will regain all that has been lost by transplanting.

Vines with very small roots, although perfect in health, can not be covered with

28

mucli deptli of soil without being destroyed, and tlicy can not endure the absence of
moisture, which they must often incur when near the surface, without being destroyed.
To have the border become completely and uniformly occupied with roots, liber, and
rootlets, from its surflice to its depth, the beginning of growth, after transplanting,
must be at some distance from the surface, so that the center, from which all the roots
spring, may be toward the middle of the perpendicular measurement of the border-, or
below it when worked only of moderate depth.

Instead of placing the axis of the vine, which we have just planted, at four or six
inches from the surface, a temporary surface is made, from six to ten inches below the
level of the border, to which the vine bears the same relation in planting, as it has been
made to sustain, by the operation jusi described, to the actual level of the border.

The excavation being made to whatever depth may be fixed upon, which will depend
upon the size of the plant in some degree, as well as upon the circumstances of the
border, and from eighteen inches to two feet in diameter in each direction, the planting
is to be done precisely as before directed, leaving from six to ten inches of the excava-
tion unfilled, and keeping it clear to that depth during the growing-season.

This little pit furnishes the shelter which is so important in the vineyard, especially
where it would be rarely given otherwise ; and the temporary surface being below the
action of the drjang winds, is easily kept from an injurious degree of drought.

If watering becomes necessary, there will not be need of frequent rqoetition, and the
'quantity required to be effective will be very small, and it must be noted that water-
ing while the sun shines, except when it is low, is not safe.

At the time of planting, if the weather is very warm and the soil rather dry, one
quart of water to each vine, from the fine rose of a watering-pot, will often secure a
good season's growth that would otherwise be very small.

The weather is never too hot or too dry for our best hardy vines, if the proper con-
ditions are furnished for their roots, and the leaves are protected from exhausting
winds.

When vines are gi'own in different forms from the layers, as from single eyes, a little
modification is required in forming the bottom of the excavation.

The roots which radiate from a center should have that center placed upon a cone
instead of a ridge. The same attention is required in placing the roots which are also
to be pruned.

I '^^<^^\i^^^H#^^

riate No. 11.

Plate No 12.

Plate No. 13.

The excavation shown in Plate No. 11 is for a very strong vine, like the one repre-
Bcnted in Plate No. 7, or in No. 8, but the plan is upon a very small scale; and is
sixteen inches deep, four inches of which is to be filled with fine soil, and the little
conic elevation of two inches, ujjon which the center is to rest, is also to be made of
the same. The covering of the roots will be four inches above the top of the cone,
which Avill leave a cavity of six inches, as seen in Plate No, 12, where the planting is
represented as completed. At D is seen a mound of soil, which is to remain during the
season of growing, after which, late in the fall, it is to be put into the excavation to
remain, if the vine has made a strong growth ; but if only a feeble cane has been pro-

29

duced, it should be tuken oat again in the spring, to remain out another season. The
deep covering does not affect strong vines injuriously, but small ones can not endure it.

Plate No. 19.

Plate No. 18.

Plate No. IT.

Plate No. 16.

Plate No. 15. Plate No. 14.

A very small vine is represented in Plate Ko. 14, drawn to the same scale as those
represented in Nos. 7 and 19, and rates as No. 4 or 5, having a cane from one to two
feet long or a little less. The same is represented after root-pruning in Plate No. 15,
having the roots cut back and about six or seven inches in length.

For such plants a much smaller excavation is to be made, and the covering of the
roots, measuring from the top of the cone, must not be more than an inch and a half
or two inches in depth, which will leave their ends covered four or five inches deep, so
that, with sufficient attention, they can be kept in constantly healthful moisture.

In Plate No. 13, A represents the cone with the roots spread upon it ; B, the depth
of covering; K, the temporary surface; D, the place for cutting, and F, the surface
or level of tL.o border. Such plants will never die under proper treatment ; but proper
treatment fo^" these is very different from th.at which stronger plants require

Plate No. 20

30

It will be apparent that sucli plants should not fall into the hands of any but good
cultivators, who are willing to employ one year of assiduous attention to bring them to
a size that will endure the ordinary trials of the seasons without extra care.

A plant of best character may easily be so treated as to lose all of the excellences of
its beginning.

The course of treatment which I am now about to recommend is calculated to com-
plete the development and maintain the excellence of the best, by affording the most
flivorable conditions for the roots and canes at every stage of their progress.

The method of occupying only a moderate space of ground with each vine, after full
establishment for vineyard culture, and of training it accordingly when the vine is of
^.ompact habit, has been found by long and extended experience to be the most advan-
tageous in consequence of the facilities which it affords for controlling both roots and
canes, upon which successful management depends.

After setting the vines at a certain depth, with an excavation to remain open during
the season, and filling it in the fixll, there remains for the vineyard one operation to be
performed, at the beginning of the next season, to complete the planting.

The operation is called layering, but more properly bedding, as I shall hereafter
designate it, and is needed to perfect the plan of planting the vine so that it will com-
pletely and uniformly occupy the space allotted to it with fibrous roots, which will have
their center or axis at any desirable depth that may be fixed upon.

A trench is dug one foot wide and to about the depth of the principal roots, which
will be to the top of the cone or mound in the case of single-eye plants, and to the top
of the ridge if a layer.

The length of the bedding distance may be sixteen inches, and the stake by which
the cane was supported last season may be moved that distance, which will place it
toward the end of the trench. The cane is to be cut so that it will be long enough to
lie along the trench a distance of sixteen inches, and turning up against the stake, place
one bud at the surface of the ground from which the cane of the next season is to
spring.

The bottom and sides of the trench must be made inviting to the formation of roots
from the portion of cane laid in it, and may be half-filled at the time of laying down,
making it compact as at planting, the remainder to be put in at mid-summer. At the
bend, where the vine turns to ascend by the stake, a stone the size of a fist, or a little
larger, may be used to keep the vine in place, holding the stone with one hand ■while
the soil is made firm upon it with the other, so that the bend may be as nearly angular
as the vine will permit without breaking, which will favor the early formation of roots.
When the vines do not make strong canes the first season, the operation must be defer-
red until the next, in which ease the cane must be cut down to the bud nearest the sur-
face of the ground ; and if the past season's growth has been very feeble, the cavity of
the first season must be again opened to give its feeble roots the most tender treatment.
11 Vines planted in this manner will not be damaged by judicious

I plowing, at proper seasons, which is indispensable for the economi-

I cal performance of the tillage that is requisite for the prosperity of

If vineyards. Plate No. 21 illustrates the description of the opera-

ili; tion. The dotted lines. A, represent the stake and cane of last sea-

son in their place ; B shows the trench, with the cane pruned to the
proper length lying in it, and the stake in its new position.

The oblong .figure of three by four feet occupied by one vine

may be divided by imaginary lines into three portions, each sixteen

by thirty-six inches, and the roots of the vine, with few exceptions,

_ _ will traverse nearly equal distances, and consequently be of nearly

^' _ " equal length in occupying all of its parts in the manner here

' "-^ " directed.

Plate No. 21. rp^ pkut viucs for the plan shown on page 31, if the fence is six

feet high or upward, and plants of ordinarily good quality are used, they should be set

31

three feet in advance of the wall, to be brought sufficiently near to it by two stages,
w-liich will require three years. If better vines are used, it may be done in two seasons,
and, with the best, in one ; while with inferior plants four seasons wall be required.

The plan shown on page 29, Plate No. 20, is more generally adopted than any other,
and raay be regarded as the best. The space occupied is three feet, in the direction of
the rows, with the rows four or five feet apart, which for the Delaware may be taken as
the best distances, in consideration of both tillage and production, in connection with
the general management-

To plant box-layers for occupying the border and the wall the first season, make the
excavation as directed for the large layers, page 28, Plates Nos, 11 and 12, so that the
cane W'ill stand, when upright, two feet and a half from the wall, the farthest j^ortion of
the roots being nearly four feet from the wall, if the vines are destined to occupy a
border five feet or more in width. K less, place the box by so much nearer to the
wall. Set a ^take six inches from the wall, that is, two feet from the cane, and make an
inclined plane from the box to the stake, so that the vine may rise to the surface as it
reaches the stake. Only one bud should be permitted to make a shoot, the other one
being rubbed off when the one that is to be retained has become strong enough to be
safely tied to the stake. About the middle of June, when the new shoot will have be-
come a cane two feet long, unfasten it from the stake, turn it to one side with the cane
from which it springs, and secure it to a stake set temporarily for the purpose, and then
deepen the place occupied by the inclined plane, making it a trench one foot wide and
nearly as deep as the position of the vertebra of the box-layer, which will be about
three inches above the bottom of the box. Make the soil as inviting as possible, and
cover the last season's cane in it three inches, or, if the weather is hot and dry, four
inches deep. An inch of well-rotted manure may be spread over the top of the cover-
ing, and if there is a deficiency of rain, the trench may be watered once a week for four
weeks, when two inches more of soil may be added, leaving the remainder of the trench
open until the end of the season.

K fruit has been left upon the cane, it will not be in the least disturbed by the opera-
tion, and the vine at the end of the season will be as far advanced as a simply good one
would be at the end of two years.

When this process is executed, it may be advisable to omit taking any fruit the first
season, in order to obtain a fine crop the second, and enable the vine to fully occupy
with its ornamentation the place for which it is destined at the same time.

Such as would be called good layers are represented in the engraving, Plate No. 22,
and the process, as may be seen, is represented occupying three years.

To plant for the plans shown on page 56, Plates jSTo, 60 and No, 61, different meth-
ods from the preceding must be adopted. The standards being only about fourteen
inches apart, will not affoixl sufiicient room for the root of each abreast.

Two differen): plans will meet the requirements of these cases. One is to plant a row
as just described, bringing the standards to the wall in the same manner, but training
them for bearing at the upper half of the wall.

32

At the same time plant auotlier row in a border of equal dimensions, lying Immedi-
ately in advance of the first : proceed with the standards as with tliosc of the other
border, by bedding, which will bring them to the edge of the first border at the time
the others reacli the wall. Instead of pruning as if at the foot of the wall, cut the canes
of sufficient length to reach the wall by bedding with the portion to turn up at the end.
Keep these upright, and grow next season's canes from the upper buds of these, which
will require tall stakes, as the vines will be two stories high at the end of the season.
The hight may be much lessened by laying the last season's canes nearly horizontally,
and only so far from the ground as will prevent their disposition to send down roots
into it. The next season these may be laid down in little conductors made of tiles,
bricks, or boards, placing them so low that they will bo out of the way in cultivation, and
treating them as if they had reached the wall in the ordinary course. After the wood
has acquired one additional year of age, the disposition to root will be lessened, and the
ground- through which they pass being occupied, will be so little inviting that very lit-
tle difficulty need be apprehended from that source. If roots should form, it will be
only during the first and second seasons, and they may be easily removed.

The other plan is rather more simple in execution, but not quite so satisfactory in its
results. It will be understood by a glance at Plate No. 23.

Half as many vines are planted as the number of stocks recjuired, and, by bedding,
brought half the distance from the place of planting to the wall, when, instead of taking
one cane directly to the wall, two canes are grown, which are taken obliquely to the wall
at the places where they are wanted, at B B. By this course one year more is required
than for bringing the first set to the foot of the wall, and one year more will be required
to bring the plan to full bearing.

For cases like this, box-layers with two canes are grown, by which the time required
is lessened by two years or more, and a good crop of fruit obtained the second season,
or three years sooner than by the use of ordinary vines by the last method.

One more plan, the Thomery, remains to be more fully discussed, and this is much
the most important of any, and for garden planting it may be said to comprise the ad-
vantages of every other plan wrought into a harmonious system, v/"hich gives the most
l^erfect control of roots and canes upon an extended scale.

It comprehends much more than is generally understood to belong to it ; not only
affording the best means of making all natural advantages available, but constituting
the base to which may be superadded the use of all horticultural appliances in the most
effective manner for the production of grapes at any season.

Although we have now to consider chiefly the entertainment and management of the
roots, that can not be entirely disconnected at any point from the plan of training.

The idea of the principal object to be considered in planting may be gathered from
a careful inspection of the representation of the roots in the border, by Phite No. 2-1.

For this system, the vines should be of excellent qualitj^, and those for the wall trellis
of the very best, such as are' called box layers being the most advantageous, and the
best layers without soil rank next.

The vine represented in the ])late was a good layer, but not nearly equal to that rep-
resented in Plates Nos. 7 and 8. It was taken to the wall by three beddings, as
represented by Plate 25.

At planting it was placed with its vertebra fourteen inches below the surface of tlie
border, according to directions given on page 26, see Plate No. 25. After making a good
cane the first season, as seen at A, which was cut at the mark and bedded to corre-
spond with the vertebra of the original plant, producing at the end of the second season
the two canes as seen at H. The cane A and stake disappear from their position, it
must be understood, before the beginning of the second season, leaving no mark upon
the bordei' of having been there, the cane being pruned as marked, and bedded to pro-
duce the two canes at H, which are also to disappear, one of the canes to be removed
by cutting through the old wood as mai-ked below the ground, and the other to be cut
where marked, to produce a third portion of the extending vertebra, and the three

33

canes C. All vestiges of H having disappeared, as A did the year before, C is noir
about to disappear in the same manner, two of the canes. being removed by cutting
through the old wood below ground at the mark, and the other being pruned also as
marked, and bedded to produce the three canes D, the vine now having arrived at the
wall, with a train of roots springing in all directions from the vertebra which traverses
the border at fourteen or sixteen inches below the surface.

Plate No. 24.

Plate No. 25.

By this means the parallelogram two feet wide, extending the breadth and depth of
the border, becomes accessible to all of the roots, at nearly equal distances, each portion
offering some peculiar attraction, so that no part small as the fraction of an inch remains
unoccupied ; all of them during the whole season, with slight exceptions, being in the
most favorable conditions for performing their office.

As represented in the engraving, they radiate in all directions, no large ones being
formed to destroy the balance among the vines or among the members of the same plant.

Plate No. 26 represents a row for the wall-trellis of a Thomery plan, with the trench
open, so that the vines may not be buried too deeply during their first summer.

The direction of the row is north-east and south-west, facing the south-east, which is
the most favorable aspect. It is not necessary for the success of the plan that it should
always bear a south-easterly aspec^^ but it should be somewhat southerly. An eastern
aspect is but little inferior to a southern, and greatly preferable to western. At C is
shown the ridge of soil that is to remain during the summer and be put into the trench
in the fall to remain. At D, D, D, are represented vines that have made a fine season's
growth under good management. At F one is represented early in the season with a
shoot that is just ready to be tied to the stake, the other two shoots having been jua*"
rubbed off. At B the stocks are seen as they appear immediately after planting, before
the buds have begun to push forth. The vines of this row are intended to be treated
by bedding, as shown b}^ Plates Nos. 24 and 25. It is not indispensable that the num-
ber of beddings shall bn three, nor absolutely that there shall be any ; but under ordinary
circumstances that is the best number, and one is at least always to be advised when
permanence is a consideration,

"Whether the beddings are one or more the manner of proceeding is the same, filling
the long trench in the fall and opening another in the spring, by the measure of its
width nearer the wall, of the same depth and width, but which is to remain open during
the summer and be filled as before at the end of the season. In the bottom of this
trench, and crossing it at right angles, trenches one foot wide are to be made, as deep

34

as the vertebra or axis of the roots, for the reception of the canes to be bedded. The
small trenches arc to be filled early in June, and the large trench may be filled in July,
if the season should be very warm and dry.

H HOLTON ENGR NY

Plate No. 2C.

An inspection of Plates 27 and 33 will give a general idea of the principal section
of the Thomery system and its capabilities.

y'/'

3/.

y^'

"5

Plate No. 2T. Plate No. 28.

Plate No. 27 is an end view, showing how glass may be used for the two principal
rows. Plate ]S*o. 28 represents a large layer trained upon the trellis the second season.

The principal section of a full Thomery plan consists of five rows of vines, as it is
managed in France, at the place from which it takes its name, and the principal of these
rows, which is trained upon a trellis but a few inches in advance of the sheltering wall,
consists of five courses, the first being placed from twelve to sixteen inches from the
the ground, and the others about eighteen inches apart, above each other, thus occupy-
ing a wall about nine feet in hight, allowing for a little waste room under the cap, that

35

is lost by shade. The stocks are set less than two feet apart, and sometimes less than
twenty inches, so that the arms are from three feet and a half to nearly four feet long.
When the box-layers are used, the progress toward establishment may be so hastened,
that strong canes may be growing on the principal trellis ready for making arms, the
second season from planting, the border being well filled with roots, and the vines iu

bearing condition.

Plate No. 29.

PJate No. 80.

Let a trench two feet wide and twenty inches deep be made in the border, parallel
with the wall, and having its nearest side four feet from it.

Into the bottom of the trench put three or four inches of the soil from rich sods, and
upon this place the boxes at the regular distances from each other, and so that the point
Vv^here the canes rise from them will be four feet and six inches from the wall, as repre-
sented in Plate No. 29.

Fill in around the box and two inches above it, with the same material that was di-
rected for the bottom of the trench. Set a stake F two feet from the box in the direc-
tion of the wall, with the cane pruned and directed toward it obliquely ascending, to be
fastened as at E. About the middle of June a cane will be grown from the upper bud,
three or four feet long. The last season's cane is now to be turned from its place and
a trench to be made, one foot wide, in the direction between the box and the stake, and
in depth to within four inches of the bottom of the box.

By the same proceeding, only placing the box one foot nearer the wall, the vine may
be placed upon the trellis, the first season bearing three bunches of fruit. Eemoval of
the fruit will hasten the maturity of the vine. «

Plate 30 represents an ordinary vine three years old that has not been transplanted
or root-pruned. All of the portion of it that can be used in planting is destitute of
fibers, and they can never be reproduced except from the ends where the root-pruning
is performed at planting, the marks for which are shown. The disadvantage of such
vines is obvious. See Box-Layer, Plate No. 31, which is the best possible kind of
plant that can be produced. Plate No. 32 represents the best quality of vine of more
than one year old produced by transplanting and root-pruning.

00 j: o «« rt -5
at '^ -s <u ? _

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« be I- £ "S o '^

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•^ S* 'S -^ b

■^ E:-ii '=^ o 2

'^ O ^ »• =i =5

2:2; gS ^ S «

2 ^ r ^ ^
^■S <u S ^ cc;

CO _c2 .2 *J •-• ^^ •'i

,a cs t« o 0 2 ^

o ^ If ^ ^

_ t! e. "

1 - - g

The trellis on the main wall which should be about nine inches in advance of it, has four stages of vines
planted two feet apart in the row. The second has three stages three feet apart, and seven feet in advance
of the first. The third coiisi.sts of two stages, four feet apart. The two other rows may be about three feet
apart as seen in the engraving. For the trellises, laths or wires may be used, but the wire is greatly to be
preferred. A small section of glass h shown here that may be used for shelter, to be applied Fall and Spring,
and figure 27 shows how glass may be used still more efliciently for protection in the beginning and end of the
season for the advantages of which sec Landmarks.

37

The idea generally prevails, that tlie system of vines placed above each other in the
manner shown on page 22, constitutes the entire Thomcry jjlan of training, whereas, it
jnly constitutes one of the most important members of the princij)al section. The
entire Thomery plan is a vine garden in the form of a parallelogram, the dimensions
of which, for illustration, may be stated at two hundred feet in length by fifty in
breadth, having its length in an easterly and westerly direction, so that the principal
sheltering wall may have a southerly aspect. The most favorable exposure for a cold
or temperate latitude is south-east, being that afforded by the wall running nearly north-
east and south-west.

The hight of the wall, on the north or northerly side, is generally about nine feet,
and in exposed situations, one or two feet more or about two feet higher than that of
the ends, while in all cases the wall of the southerly side does not exceed six feet, un-
less to protect from intrusion.

The principal or northerly wall, and about twenty feet in front of it, are occupied by
five rows of vines, as shown in the engraving, Plate No. S3, page 36. The principal
row is trained upon a trellis that is fastened to the wall, but from six to nine inches in
advance of it ; the last distance is not too great.

The remaining thirty feet is occupied by a system of walls less elevated, on which
vines are trained, some running parallel and some at right angles to the northerly wall,
for a full account of which see Landmaeks.

The outer walls are called walls of inclosure, and the others walls of shelter,
although the walls of inclosure, and especially that on the north, are even more walla
of shelter than those which perform no other office.

Plate No. SI.

Plate No 83.

38

A more extensive and thorough plan would be two liundred feet wide, and any
greater length desirable, with a northerl}^ wall twelve or fifteen feet high, which would
be the proper dimensions for an extensive fruit-garden, the northern wall of which,
with its border, would be occupied with vines, and the remaining ground with espaliers
and rows of dwarf trees chiefly. Shelter from the north is ahvays advantageous for
every horticultural operation, and should be provided for the kitchen-garden not less
than for the fruit-garden or for both combined, numerous plans for which will be given
in Landmarks.

Such a border and trellis as is represented on page 36, well furnished with Delaware
and lona vines, is capable of affording results fully equal to those of a well-managed
cold vinery of the same dimensions, for the advantage and enjoyment of a family, and
at one tenth the care and expense required by the vinery.

The border is twenty or twenty-one feet wide, and of any desirable length, not les:^
than twenty -five feet, which is the proper width of a span-roofed house.

But for a cold house the border should be at least eight feet wider than the structure
on each side, for the most convenient and advantageous management.

This collective trellis will afford many feet more of bearing area than can be had
from a house of the same dimensions of ground measurement, and the' same time nearly
will be required to bring each into full bearing.

But by the use of suitable plants, the trellis will yield a valuable amout of fruit im-
mediate! v, and will be greatly in general advance of the ordinary progress of a house
in productiveness.

When the greatest degree of permanence is required, the vines on the principal trellis
require from four to six years to place them in full bearing, although they will give a
large amount of fruit after the second year. The other trellises require respectively one
and two years less time, and as little as any mode that can be adopted. For immediate
and permanent results, there is no method that can surpass or equal this in the fruit-
garden.

Shelter in spring and fall, with protection from tempests and tearing winds, which
sometimes cause damage in summer, is one of the provisions that are required to make
the greatest degree of certainty in the perfection of ripening wherever the grape is
growD, but especially toward the northern limit of its cultivation.

Instead of taking the vines to the wall, and making full protection for them there, as
shown in Plates 27 and 33, I devised a simple plan for placing the shelter by the vines
as they might stand in the garden, and at the same time arranged the planting and
training so that they might be easily laid down and covered in winter, which is advan-
tageous to vines where it is not absolutely required, increasing the earliness, quantity,
and quality of the produce.

Plate 34 shows the detail of the plan by which the whole is to be accomplished.

The planting, bedding, and training are the same as for ordinary vineyard manage-
ment, except that the arms, for convenience in covering, may be made a little lower
than consistent with entire avoidance of spattering of the fruit without a little protec-
tion. At Fig. 1 the vine is seen from the south, with the shelter in place, immediately
after uncovering the vines in the spring, the farther side of the shelter resting on the
ridge of soil that covered the vine during the winter. A section of the ridge is shown
at Fig. 4, where the shelter is seen from the northerly side. The shelter may be most
cheaply made of thin boards, but will be much better made of glass.

At Fig. 2 is seen a vino representing two canes in bearing, which will be referred to
when treating of training!' When the shelters are made of glass or boards they may
be set upright on the northerly side of the vines, and afford the jDrotection of a wall
during the season, greatly to the advantage of the vines and fruit. At Fig. 5 is seen a
ridge covering the vines in winter, the end being a section discovering the stock of one
of the vines.

The shelters are placed under cover during the winter. The construction and man-
ncr of using will be fully given in Landm^arks. The drawings were made for illustrat-

g§

ing a. course of Horticultural Lectures in New-Haven, in Februarj^, 1860. In the
month of June following I received from France the excellent work of Dr. Guvot, in
which something of the same plan is wrought out in full detail under the elaborating
care of many years.

He does not restrict the use to the north merely, but recommends it for any locality
■where grapes may be cultivated, saying, " that in the most favorable climate it not only
adds greatly to the value of any crop beyond the cost of application, but renders the
production of a full crop of grapes as sure as anything can be that is in the least degree
short of absolute certainty."

Flff.I. ■•' ri'j.e^. HOLTOhl ENG.NY.

W*te No. 84.

"When vines have been planted six or eigbt feet apart, and have become confused
without system, and are yet thought to be too valuable to throw away, the question is
often asked : " What is to be done ? " Plate No. 35 sbows one of the best methods
of bringing such vines into such some degree of order.

HOLTON ENCR.n.r.

Plate No. 36.

Fig. 3«.

In the last plan, Plate No. 35,
the rule, to take all of the bear.
ing canes of every vine from the
same level, is violated, but not so
damagingly as in the ordinary
fan method, and is suited to dis-
tances of eight or ten feet each
way.

The next example, Plate No.
36, is well adapted for distances
of from four to six feet in the
rows, with the rows four feet
apart ; three feet being the length
of the bearing canes.

The plan shown in Plate No.
87 is very valuable for covering
a wall ten or twelve feet high,
and about twelve feet wide ; such
as are often found in city yards.
The distances are two feet, and
the width of border requires from
eight to ten feet. Vines special-
ly grown for the plan with long
canes, will clothe the wall with
beauty and considerable fruit the
second season, and with an abun-
dant crop the fourth from plant-
-incr.

Fig. ST.

41

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL.

x\fter tlie situation is chosen, which should be such as will give the vine full ex-
posure to the sun for the greatest part of the day, always preferring an easterly to a
westerly variation from a southerly aspect, the accommodation for roots demands con-
sideration. The ground in which it is planted must be prepared to give safe and con-
venient lodgment, both summer and winter, as well as to furnish a due supply of food.

The greatest evil to be feared in summer is the lodgment of water in the soil occu-
pied by the roots, or excessive wetness ; excessive dryness must also be avoided.

The evil to be dreaded in winter, is severe freezing of the ground, but chiefly alter-
nation of freezing and thawing, and all freezing of roots that are not well protected
from the direct action of the atmosphere. Roots that are six inches beneath the sur-
face will bear uninjured the freezing of a severe winter, but the vine that has its roots
exposed to the atmosphere at freezing temperature will be greatly damaged, if not
ruined. In spring, as the surface of the ground becomes warmed, the roots of the
vine shoot out with great vigor. The surface-roots seem disposed to take all of the
labor of supplying and sustaining the vine in its growth and fruit-bearing. While
the heat is moderate and the surface continues moist, the early vigor continues or
even becomes accelerated if, with increasing temperature, sufficient moisture is unin-
terruptedly supplied. But before the end of June the surface must become less moist
and more rapidly so, than the roots can be prepared for. The vine ceases to make
new leaves of large size, and fails to give the substance to those already formed, that
will make them effective and enduring in bringing forward the young fruit and fur-
nishing fine-grained, hard, short-jointed wood, which is necessary for the building up
and continuation of a healthy and productive " stock."

The surface-roots cease to act, the vine languishes, and various marks of illness
appear. In cases of extreme severity the fruit fails and the leaves shrivel. In the
Isabella, both shoots and fruit show numerous dark purple specks, the leaves turn
brown with "sun-scald." The more enduring leaves of the Catawba show less disor-
der, but it drops its fruit, so that a large part of the crop, with all of its beauty, is
often lost by " the rot."

In mild cases the vine comes to an apparent stand-still, but only apparent. No
new leaves are formed, but those already formed increase their substance. As the
surface-roots cease to act the lower ones take increased action, and if circumstances
are favorable, the fruit again begins to enlarge and goes on to ripening.

These surface-roots will be destroyed by the winter, and when they have grown so
Inrge as to become an important part of the vine, its health is destroj^ed with them.
Often no marked effect follows, while all circumstances continue favorable ; but it is
only the vine whose health is at all points guarded and whose strength is ever hus-
banded that is able to withstand all trials of the seasons.

IS'early the same train of symptoms follows the loss of the roots or the hindrance
of their formation during the growing season by the excess of water.

We have glanced at a few of the evils to which the vine is very often subjected, in
order that we may see the need of obviating them at the beginning, or in preparing
the ground, so that it may easily and successfully be done. But if not done before
plantinjr, it can never be more than imperfectly accomplished by after efforts.

Our indications then, are a deep pervious border, with open subsoil that needs no
draining; or if subsoil is retentive, it must have sufficient inclination to admit of
drainage. If drainage is not practicable, the border must be raised.

To obviate the evils that result from drouth, the border must be made deep, and of
material that is attractive of moisture. This indication will always be perfectly ful-
filled in making the home for the roots of the plant so stored with food and that of
suitable quality and quantity as shall be always at hand,

A border of proper depth, well enriched with a suitable compost, can never he dry.

42

Its attractive power increases with increase of temperature, so that in hottest weather
it will best supply the food that the plants need. We are not to suppose the material
of the border is food ready prepared for the plants, but rather that it is the unwasting
material from which such a daily supply is cooked, as the little stomata may need, and
not in wastful proportions, but that the want and supply are greatly increased by in-
crease of temperature, as also ability to appropriate, or, in other words, to effect growth
and fruitfulness.

To make a border that will give results most abundaiitly satisfactory, no learned
compound is needed, but just such a soil as will give the best crop of corn or wheat,
but deeper by two or three fold, will be all that is desired for a grape border or vine-
yard. How best to effect this, depends upon a great variety of circumstances, at
which we can scarcely glance for the present. Where stable manure is cheap and
abundant, the grand specific is revealed. But generally where grapes in the garden
especially are most desired, it is scarce and dear. Of the compost-heap we sliall speak
soon ; for in all gardening operations it may be looked upon as a convenience so great
that it may be considered indispensable.

We shall, for the present, assume the position as undisputed, that the border must
be deep and well enriched, and also that its component parts must be thoroughly
worked together into one homogeneous mass. But the terms " deep" and " rich" con-
vey no very definite idea, and with propriety, vary according to circumstances. A
depth of eighteen inches of well-prepared soil may, under one state of things, be
quite sufficient, while another set of circumstances may require at least three feet.
We will consider these the maximum and minimum, remarking that the depth may
be almost as damagingly too great as too little. Towards the northern limit of the
vine-growing region, success depends upon making the most of a season rather too
short and temperature inconveniently low, and the full measure of success there ob-
tainable, under every appliance and care, will not generally quite equal the ordinary
good results which are easily obtainable in the most favorable latitude. To make the
most of the spring the roots must be kept as near the surface as practicable, and con-
sistent with their maintenance in healthful productiveness, and the ripening of both
wood and fruit in early autumn is considerably hastened by having the fertility of its
border of moderate depth and the drainage most thorough and effective.

With what appliances and under what circumstances these co-workers with nature,
under difficulties, may best succeed, we shall soon attempt to show ; and with no small
degree of pleasure, for to these her most earnest and devoted lovers, we are indebted
for much of the knowledge of our art. Eminent success in horticulture, and more
especially in viticulture, depends upon such a degree of knowledge as can be attaineci
only in a " rather unfavorable climate and tolerably barren soil," and the way to suc-
cess has been marked with such clear lines of light, that it is not difficult to follow ; and
although the fruits of the soil will generously reward the labor, a far more valuable
compensation will result in the development and cultivation of the man whose powers
will be called into healthful and invigorating exercise in the way of charity and be-
nevolence.

The preparation of the border may be effected in a variety of ways, according to
circumstances, and the end to be accomplished.

1st. To preplire one of eighteen inches in depth. This may be done by " trenching"
with a spade ; and to commence it, a trench of about eighteen inches in depth, and the
same width is made ; if the subsoil is gravelly, and not retentive of water, the top soil
of the adjoining eighteen inches may be thrown into the bottom of the trench, constant-
ly mingling a little manure with it as it is pulverized and thrown in, omitting what ia
technically called drainage. If the subsoil is retentive, but the ground has some de-
gree of inclination, loosening the subsoil with a pick will generally afford sufficient
drainage unless there is an extraordinary supply of water which must be disposed of.
We will suppose the fertile soil has a depth of one foot. There will then be half a
foot 7-1 unfertile subsoil to be put upon the top and made fertile by manure, or be

taken away and fertile soil substituted. To make the border ready immediately, the
latter is the course to pursue. The addition may be made of rich, partially decom-
posed sods from pasture, roadside, or meadow. A good way to prepare these in
quantity is to turn ov^er with a plow and leave for a few weeks to decompose. A bet-
ter way is, after they have been turned over until the grass is killed, to break up
coarsely and form into heaps of about two feet in thickness, with the addition of some
stable manure at least considerably rotted if the soil is for immediate use. While
lying in this condition a thorough wetting, either by rain or otherwise, will be very
advantageous. This may be used to fill up the remaining six inches of the trench,
but better to place it at the bottom and the garden soil upon the top. The sods, if
only wanted in small quantities, may be cut with a spade, and may also be used im-
mediately by placing grass side down in the trench, using manure or compost as may be
required. Which is the better course for the vines is obvious. If the sods are taken
with the spade, it will be well to loosen the ground first with a pick that t-hey may be
partially broken, which will favor rapid decomposition.

A good border may be most simply made by the addition of half a foot of rich,
well-pulverized soil — the first foot being previously well worked over with plow or
spade — manure being spread upon it before the working according to need. In pass-
ing, it may be remarked, that the best soil for all additions and amendments, is that
made from broken and decomposed sods, or into which they largely enter.
""In a well-prepared border of the above depth, if the soil is pretty fine and rather
compact by nature, vines will do well for a great number of years. After they
begin to give fruit, an autumnal dressing of manure very lightly worked in before
winter, and again worked to the depth of four or five inches in early spring, will keep
the ground in constant fertility.

By the same process a border of two feet in depth may be made, or even two feet
and a half. The addition of the foot will more than double the expense, but in this
latitude, and under favorable circumstances, will be judicious and profitable. And
if made to the depth of three feet, where permanence and best results are a leading
consideration, the additional cost will never be regretted.

A grave error often occurs in the preparation of borders where deep working with
its object is not well understood. The fertile soil, with or without manure, is some-
times put to a great depth below the surface, with a great thickness of unfertile
soil above. This is much worse than useless expenditure of care and means. Soil
should never be made deeper than can be well " aerated," and its fertility should com-
mence at least from near the surface, unless the surface consists of very open sand or
gravel, of which a covering for a border is sometimes advantageously made.

When very deep working is proposed, that is to say, deeper than three feet, a pre
paratory step is required. Soil, or rather a mixture of earth and manures to serve as
soil, or a receptacle for the root of plants, can not undergo the necessary changes to
fit it for entertaining them at a great depth below a compact surface. This prepara-
tion must be previously made by repeated workings and aerations before it is put
below. We often hear of ground being worked to the depth of five feet. To do this
well is no doubt possible, but not easily practicable. We will consider a depth of four
feet only : As a preparatory step, at least two feet thickness of good *)il must be so
well prepared as to be fitted to go below two other feet of soil, and to give food and
entertainment to the roots of plants with no other atmospheric and upper-region
influence than can be, we suppose, very sparingly communicated through the super-
incumbent mass. We think the question may, with propriety, arise, whether this
depth of soil may even remain in a wholesome condition, except in extremely coarse
and open formations, or for the entertainment of very insensitive growers, like some
of the gigantic forest trees. The upper two feet, or that which by reversement has
become so, must be treated as so much barren soil, and will require at least a period
of two years to bring it into perfect condition. In case of a very coarse and open soil,
even for the vine, we can suppose such preparation may be called /or and judicious*

44

but not under ordinary circumstances, or such as we are at present called upon to
(jonsider.

For ordinary garden culture, the depth of eighteen inches, that we have chiefli?
spoken of as the least that will enable a border to give good results, may be safely
relied upon for at least twelve years, and without much deterioration for twice that
period. This supposes the ground from the first to be given entirely to the vines ; grass,
weeds, or other plants having no occupancy there. But for the Thomery plan, which
combines the excellence of all systems, the most thorough preparation of the border
should be made, and the depth should be from two to three feet ; its width from ten
to twelve. This width may be divided into belts of four feet each, and be prepared
at intervals of one year or more. As it is supposed in all cases to have a southerly
aspect, (varying southerly or westerly as may be required,) the most southerly belt
should be first prepared, and in the center of this we plant the vines as we shall here-
after see, adding each belt as may be needed, which we shall hereafter more fully
explain when considering the planting of the vine. (See page 37, Plate 7.)

In the preparation of this border no new principles obtain, but the particular im-
portance of thorough preparation of the border for this plan of training arises from
the 2^ermanence of the "institution" which we aim to build, as well as from the excel-
lence in quality and quantity of its produce. We begin to gather enjoyment from it
in the shape of delicious fruit as soon as from any other plan, but can not expect to
realize the full measure of its bounty in less than six years from the time of planting.
We wish it to be clearly understood that the Thomery plan is not to be urged for all
planting, and irrespective of circumstances, but under proper circumstances, as the
best method of employing extraordinary means for the accomplishment of great
results. We dwell particularly upon this plan, with a profusion of illustrations,
because the person who masters its details with a clear knowledge of the wherefore of
the performance of all of the operations, from the planting to full establishment in
bearing, has not only become acquainted with the principles of all grape culture, but
has a general knowledge of the object of all training, as practiced in every depart-
ment of fruit culture.

When we come to look at training more in detail, we shall see that our general
principles are to be carried out under a great variety of modifications, according to
circumstances, of room, exposure, climate, etc.

We have now treated of the preparation of the ground for the garden, or in such
confined space as only admits of the employment of man-power. In the field a very
great saving of labor may be made by the employment of teams ; and for this purpose
very strong ox-teams are the best. These, to do the work perfectly, must be largel}/
assisted by the shovel.

We will suppose we are to operate upon a field whose soil presents no insuperable
obstructions to working a depth of two feet. If it is in sod, this must first be turned
over and rotted. Manuring will probably be required, and this should be spread upon
the furrows before the next operation. Our next operation will be simple trench-
plowing, by which we aim to get a soil of eighteen inches in depth, but will be likely
to achieve not more than sixteen inches. It is done by going a second time in every
furrow; and if it is plowed in "lands," so that ridges and dead furrows result, it
must be turned back by a simple plowing before the next operation, which will be
" compound trench-plowing." This is done by plowing through and going back
empty, or taking a furrow one way and going back with the plow on the surface, turn-
ing th.e furrows all one way. This time the plow is to go at least three times in every
furrow, followed by men with long-handled shovels to throw up the ground that is
loosened by the plow, for loosening is all that the plow can do at that depth. If by
the first operation of trench-plowing a depth of eighteen inches was gained, it will
not be too difficult by this operation to make the whole depth twenty-four inches,
which, so fur as deepening is concerned, in a soil of medium tenacity, may be con-
sidered first-rate preparation. We shall here have six inches 'of.imfertile sub-soiJ

45

atop. Into this should be worked at least twenty-five cords per acre of compost, con
sistinc' of at least fifty per cent stable manure. The most complete preparation would
be seventy-five or eighty cords per acre of good surface soil from an adjoining field/
with half or all of tlie compost before named. If this addition of soil is made, the
previous working may have a proportionate diminution of depth.

When ground receives such addition, it is advantageous often to have the added
soil of a different character. If the original field is too compact, add such as is more
sandy and open, or the contrary, or a large amount of leaf-mold, vegetable decay,
or muck. The practical cultivator needs no direction to bear in mind our inten-
tion of getting a good corn soil of at least double the ordinary depth, that is to say,
at least eighteen inches, which may be considered very good. In all of this, we have
had in mind growing grapes for the table, for which large bunches as well as large
3rops, and beautiful in appearance, are such a desideratum as to be regarded indis-
pensable to. profit. Luscious grapes of best quality for table use are not necessarily
best for wine. High flavor is always required for making good wine, but not neces-
sarily the delicacy that constitutes a great element of excellence for the dessert.
Among foreign varieties, the Chasselas may be considered excellent for eating, but
ijuite worthless for wine ; the Frontignans, most excellent for wine, and far letter
for dessert than the Chasselas ; but the Frontignans may be so grown by excessive
enrichment, as to give only poor wine, yet still the highest satisfaction for the table.

Tastes, whose powers of discrimination have been well trained, and subjected to
comparison by good standards, can speak confidently of the ability of a grape to
make good wine, but the ability to make excellent, or most excellent, can be learned only
by actual experiment. And it must be borne in mind that the perception to take
cognizance of the best wine, or the ability to take particular enjoyment from it, are
neither of rapid growth nor the result of little practical knowledge. The palate per-
forms only the porter's or janitor's ofiice, which is merely to judge of and admit such
applicants as the lord of the mansion shall find fit guests, and should be, of course,
always acting in subjection to his lordship's commands. If the mean and trivial are
allowed to get possession, the mansion will be debased. If such as bring strength,
elevation, and inspiration, it will be ennobled.

The subject of wines is one that can not be profitably engaged upon with a little
preparatory knowledge, and we will not proceed with it at present.

The preparation of a vineyard for the production of the best of wine should be as
carefully and as thoroughly done as for the production of fruit for the table ; but for
this purpose so large crops are not supposed to be obtainable with due regard to qual-
ity. The ground must be at least as deeply worked, and a suflicient degree of enrich-
ment evenly diffused through the soil, which the roots are to occupy to maintain a
good degree of vigor and productiveness. Superficial working of the ground as a
preparation, and mulching with weeds, we may admit in a general way to be both new
and strange in theory, but every one who is at all conversant with vine-growing,
knows that it is not only very old, but that it has always proved very disastrous in
practice. That those who are ill-naturedly called nostrum-venders, are able with
much certainty to pour health directly into a diseased man, we may not be quite
ready to allow ; but we can not, on the first view of the matter, positively deny it,
for his conformation does not much violence to the idea, particularly when his head
is thrown back, and his mouth wide open with wonder; but that plants M'hich have
never by any lapse acquired a false appetite, should take with avidity and advantage
that whose touch destroys their tender mouths, we are not ready to believe on any
evidence that has yet been offered. Nor does a pretty extended observation in con-
nection with numerous experiments, afford any ground for faith in " specifics," except
such as may go into this compost-heap for its reduction, and lose their specific charao
ter before corning in contact with the roots of plants.

46

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON TRAINING.

In order to make the subject easily intelligible it is necessary to have some know-
ledg-c of the purposes to be accomplished b}^ it at the beginning. All good systems
or methods have the same objects in view, and endeavor to attain them through the
application of the same principles. But there is a great variety of methods of appli-
cation to accomplish the same general plan, and these are varied by different circum-
stances and conditions.

The vine is a savage, and however long time it may have been subjected to civil-
ization, like humanity, it never learns to become all that is desirable without educa-
tion and training under favorable conditions, which it is the object of the garden to
furnish for all of its inhabitants.

The sportiveness of the savage, that tends to little but luxurious enjoyment and
the propagation of its kind, in the warm latitudes for which it is specially adapted, must
not only be led in the daily walks of duty and sobriety, but must be induced to per-
form these duties in a somewhat, at least, imcongenial climate. Its nature must be
humored and led, but can not be crossed or very greatly constrained ; and we have
acquired such knowledge of its character that we know the conditions under which
some of its varieties will thrive and yield their delights perpetually.

At the time of planting, as we have already seen, the system of education and
training by which it is brought to mature productiveness is already contemplated and
decided upon.

A space of certain dimensions in breadth and hight is to be occupied by a mother-
stock of given size and proportions, to be furnished with a precisely defined number
of canes, each one of which is to be garnished with a certain definite number of
buds, leaves, and bunches of fruit, all of them disposed in predetermined order. To
bring the vine through its infancy and youth to full maturity is very easy, but to
maintain it in full vigorous manhood of productiveness perpetual Ij^, requires more at-
tentive consideration. " The child is father of the man," and if every step upward
is well taken, the conditions of its manhood are favorable to perpetual health and
existence.

The ordinary difficulties that occur in training are from the disposition of the vine
continually to extend itself, and particularly upward, which must be restrained within
the prescribed limits. The upward tendency is easily controlled by taking all of the
bearing canes of the same vine from the same level ; and when a great elevation is
to be covered, like a high trellis or wall, or the side of a building, the different stages
of elevation are to be covered with different vines, as we have seen already in the
Thomery plan, pages 22 and 24, and also 25. Those will be more fully understood
after reading the chapter on training wliich follows, in which the principles of train-
ing will be fully developed. The same may be said of the chapter on pages 39 and
40. A number of plans will be found for taking fruit at different points of elevation
on the same vine, as in Plates 2, 3, 4, 5, 35, 43, 50, etc. ; but these are all imperfect
and wanting in permanence, but may still be advisable under some circumstances.

TRAINING THE VINE.

On the subject of planting I have given such full and particular directions, that all
who have read the remarks with attention can not fail to have acquired correct gene-
ral ideas of the true theory and practice of training.

The subject has been so fully illustrated with engravings, which exhibit the meth-
ods of training also, for which each plan of planting is peculiarly adapted, that the
student must, at the same time, have acquired a pretty good idea of training, so that
the matter will be easily understood if treated in the plain and simple manner that
belongs to operations the most simple and naturally concurrent with common-sense of
any that fall under the cognizance of horticulture.

All that is required of the student is to begin at the beginning and look clearly at
the manner of performing each operation, and the wherefoi-e of it, as it will be stated,
In one hour the difficulties which have been attributed to the subject will all be dissi-
pated forever.

47

But let the student who wishes to learn, first lay aside all preconceived ideas, and
at the same time avoid substituting any theories of his own until mine are fairly un-
derstood from the beginning to the end of the chapter. There is not any doubt or
r^bscurity belonging to the subject, and any man or woman, who will follow me with
undivided attention, will be able to manage vines according to any good system suc-
cessfully and pleasantly.

Here are engravings drawn from two living
plants, by which I shall be able to point out
and explain, as clearly as from the actual vine,
all of the operations required in pruning and
training during the two or three first years of
their growing in garden or vineyard. The vines
appear to stand on the south side of a trench
about two feet wide, and eight or twelve inches
deep. Of the object of that I will not now
speak, as it has nothing directly to do with my
present purpose, but its object will clearly ap-
pear when I. come to treat of layering, both for
the production of plants and for strengthening
those already planted.

At Plate 44 is seen a vine that has made its
first strong bearing cane, or perhaps that has
borne its first two or three bunches under prop-
er management. This has actually borne two
bunches, and the vestiges of the stems from
which they were taken may be seen opposite
the two laterals which are represented. The
stock from which it grew was pruned to two
buds, both of which shot forth in the spring,
but as soon as the lower one had made sufficient
length and firmness to admit of its being tied
to the stake which was set for its support, (but
not represented in the plate,) the upper shoot
was rubbed ofi", and soon after the last season's
wood was cut, just above the lower cane, so that
the season's growth has partially covered the
scar, and next year it will be nearly obliterated.
As it grew, leaves were formed at every joint,
and at the base of every leaf (in its axil or arm-
pit) were formed two buds ; one (called the an-
ticipative) immediately pushed forth into a shoot,
(called a lateral^) and the other remaining dor-
mant waits for the spring to send forth a shoot that will form a cane to be garnished
Vv'ith fruit if the vine is of fruit-bearing age.

The "laterals" are sometimes called "secondary shoots," as well as "anticipative."
These, on any vigorous vine, will sometimes put forth a secondary crop, if they are
not "stopped," which will rarely ripen, and is never valuable.

When the laterals have made three or four leaves, they should be pinched off so
as to leave only the lower or first leaf, as seen in the engraving. The bud at "the
base of this leaf will soon push forth and need stopping, as before, at one leaf
above or beyond the former stopping. Thus, in addition to the primary leaf we
have two secondary leaves, and before the end of July there will be on young vines
pi-obably four secondary leaves resulting from as man}'' stoppings. After the last of
July, in the vineyard, the laterals may be suffered to grow on undisturbed to the eud
of the season. If the plants are growing in nursery, and especially layers, they
should have the laterals stopped until the first of September. At that time the main
cane should be stopped, as at e, and when it shoots out again, after making four or
five leaves it should be again stopped, as at/ This stopping- of the main cane not

Plate No. 44.

Plate No. 46.

48

only hastens tlic maturity of the wood, but enlarges the leaves and wood of the
shoot below, without taking perceptibly from its general vigor. If the stopping of
the main cane is done too early, or is made too short, the shoots for next season will
immediately put forth, and an autumnal crop will be produced. For instance, if.
after the vine had grown to e, or be3'ond it, it were pinched off at half its hight.
its dormant buds (those for next season) would immediately sboot, and if the vine is
of bearing size, flowers and fruit will soon follow. And in stop])ing the laterals, if
one leaf and the bud which it embraces are not left to shoot again, the primary or
dormant bud will shoot. On the other hand, if the laterals are suffered to grow on
at will without any suppression, they will not only take the sap that should go to the
nourishment and development of the primary buds for next season's operations, but
would divide the strength of the main cane among themselves, so that no good strong
cane or bearing wood could be formed. Only two laterals are shown in the engrav-
ing, and those only twice stopped, but one must be supposed at every bud with its
primary leaf, and all of them stopped as many times as required, according to the
rules above given.

In training and developing this cane or stock we have been equally cultivating and
fostering the root, and without a well-developed and well-ripened cane of hard, close
wood, we can not have good roots ; hence the erroneous assertions that we often hear
made — ignorantly, I will charitably believe — that " although the top is feeble or un-
ripe, its roots are fine." Every good cultivator knows that they must, from their
mutual dependence, keep equal step, and that unripe root is no more useful than
unripe wood. Those who affirm that young vines that are suffered to trail on the
ground for want of tying up to stakes are not damaged by the injuries which the
leaves sustain in consequence, either speak ignorantly or dishonestly. The proof of
this has been furnished by innumerable trials, all showing the vast superiority of
the staked vines.

After the planter has got a symmetric and well-developed cane, he can easily draw
the horoscope of his vine ; and if he has secured this from a young vine the first
season after planting, he has passed the point of danger with it in perfect health, and
with proper care, his onward course with it will be safe and prosperous — if he does
not yield to the temptation to overcrop. If he were to cut this at four buds or at
six buds, he might the next season have four or six canes, and twelve or eighteen
bunches of grapes. Or if his plant were a strong layer, the first season, instead of
the two bunches which we have taken with safety, it might have been pruned to
three eyes, and (all of them being suffered to grow) nine bunches might have been
taken. Under the best of treatment and with the best of vines, this has been often
done, the vines continuing to thrive, and three fold their crops each year. It must
be borne in mind in the first place, that extreme productiveness and extreme excel-
lence of quality are at all times opposed, in every kind of fi'uit, and this is more
especially noticeable in the grape than in any other. It is also opposed to size of
bunch and berry alternately, but often when only moderate in degree, not immedi-
ately. Often the bunches of excessive crops, for even two years, attain a great size,
but fail of acquiring full ripenees and flavor. But excessive productiveness is always
opposed to the health and durability of the vines ; and on this consideration, the
course of prudence is of the utmost importance, as will be clearly taught in the
course of the chapter.

If it is desired to keep the vine as low as possible, cut the last season's cane (or
stock, for such it has now become) in pruning, if it is done in February, so that
two buds shall be left above at a, where the mark for cutting later is seen. The second
or third bud above will start earlier and more strongly, and the cane produced from
either of these will be, perhaps, a little stronger at the end of the season than from
one of the lower and smaller eyes. If "opposite canes" are to be taken, as shown
in Plate No. 45, it must be done from the eyes that are seen below a. The object to
be gained by cutting at two buds above the place from which the shoots are to be
taken at the February pruning, is to secure the safety of those buds. By cutting
immediately above them at this season, their life might be endangered, and at least
their strength would be impaired, in consequence of the wood drying back after

49

the operation, nearlv or quite to the buds, or so as to involve the buds. At the time
of starting, or shortly after, the upper buds are rubbed off and the excess of wood is
cut off in June. It is safe to retain one of the upper buds until the lower ones or
those to be retained have made shoots long enough to be secured to a stake.

We must now look a little backward, and see what the state of the vine really is.
If the plant was feeble, or its entertainment has been unsuitable or neslif^ent, we may
be three years m getting such a shoot as the engravmg represents. To get the shoots
of suthcient strength, we must, in such a case, cut at a, and take only one shoot, and
under ordinary circumstances, where the ordinary want of care has obtained, the
third* season often finds the vine only just large enough for our next proceeding.
Such being the case, we can not promise to ourselves nearly so good or safe results
as when gained at the end of the first season, or not later than the second.

I will suppose the two shoots to have grown prosperously through the season
under the same management as has been detailed for the single cane of Fig. 44, and
that the time of pruning is at hand — middle of February. We may now cut off the
last year's canes at c c, (Plate 45,) and have two cane.?, of about two feet each,
which we may lay down horizontally, and call them arms. The buds from the lower
side may be rubbed off, and those from the upper side, or nearest the upper side,
suffered to shoot. These shoots, four on each arm, should be trained upright by
means of a trellis or stakes, and may be suffered to bear three bunches each, or
twenty-four in all.

Besides the eight shoots spoken of, at the end of each arm, and perhaps from the
under side, will spring two other shoots, (the buds may be seen near c c,) which also
may be suffered to bear three bunches each. These are to lay down horizontally at
the end of the season — or rather, at the beginning of the next, to continue these
arms until they shall become four feet long, or of the desired length. If the canes
for the arms should be of only moderate strength, the cutting may be at A A, and
then only three shoots for new bearing canes or coursons will be taken from each
arm, and a corresponding quantity of fruit. To improve the quality, only two
bunches may be taken from each cane, and this is applicable to all cases.

To prune Plate No. 45 for one of the best vineyard systems, cut at a and h. At a
will be formed the spur from which two shoots will spring that are to be trained up to
the hight of the canes, as now seen in Fig. 50. The next season the spur is to have
three canes. The arm will be formed by the cane, which the first season may carry
four canes, and the next season two or three more may be added, when the vine
will be established in full bearing. The shoots from the arm are to be stopped at
four or five leaves beyond the upper bunch. This is the oldest system of which we
have any knowledge, and is, under some circumstances, the best yet known, particu-
larly where fine, strong plants are used, and the ground is well prepared.

When plants of inferior quality are used, a system of layering must be employed
which has been already referred to.

Plate No. 46.

Plate No. 47.

If the vine is very strong and well grown — and for simplicity we will assume it to
be so — the cut may be made at c instead of at li for the cane which is to form the arm

50

from which four bearing canes will spring from four buds which arc to be retained
for the purpose. At a, on a short spur, may be seen two buds, only the upj^er one
of which will be retained to form a shoot. The lower bud will be rubbed olf, or
rather the shoot which it will produce, as soon as the upper one sliall be secured to a
stake, and free from danger of being blown off b}^ the wind. The same also may be
said of all but four of the buds on tlie cane that is to form the arm, Plate 40 shows
the appearance which it will present, with the cane laid down for the first season's
arm, the butls being entire. The four small lines standing above the buds represent
the canes which will be produced from them at the end of the season.

To prune for the next season, (see Plate No. 46,) cut all of these canes, except the
ones at the extreme left and right, so as to leave but one well-developed bud. The
one at the right is to bear two buds, (a spur with two buds,) and the one at the left
is to be laid down to complete the arm of the desired length, which may be about
three feet or a little more, according to the distance of the vines in the rows, and this
will be in a measure governed by the size and habit of the vines which are planted,
or they may be short-jointed or otherwise. From the short end or spur with, two
buds, two shoots will this year be taken. All of these shoots are supposed to have
borne two or three bunches each, according to the judgment of the vineyardist — two
bunches perhaps being the safer number, although no apprehension need be had from
the greatest number that can be taken, according to this plan, from strong, well-man-
aged vines; and this nray be regarded as one of the excellencies of the system, that
while a good crop may be always confidently expected, a ruinous one can scarcely
be taken. It has other great advantages, which we will not now consider.

We will suppose the vines are trained in a single row before a fence or wall not
more than four feet in hight, where it is desirable to make the most of shelter or
early ripening of the fruit. See Plate ISTo. 55.

Both canes of Plate No. 46 will be cut at c c, and at the end of the season will pro-
duce the appearance shown in Plate No. 47. These arms arc supposed to be a little
less than two feet in length, and if the vines arc planted four feet apart, which for
Delaware is a good distance, the system may be considered fully established, but the
vines will not be in full bearing until all or a part of the spurs are furnished with two
shoots each.

To grow two canes or double canes, at pruning make two-bud spurs, and of conrse
for one shoot cut to one bud. If the vines are planted more than four feet apart, a
longer time will be required to establish the system and bring them into full bearing;
for not more than two feet of arm can be produced in one season ami remain perma-
nently productive. The arms are lengthened by laying down the end canes, c c, in a
horizontal position, and cutting to the desired length always, not to exceed two feet
at each end, in one season.

If this plan of two arms is adopted, no long canes need be taken, but while the
vines are young and very vigorous, more than three or four leaves must be made
above the upper bunch before "stopping," or the next season's fruit will appear in
autumn of the current year. It must be borne in mind also that the fruit will not set
well on young vines if the stopping is too early or too severe ; for too much energy
of growth tends so strongly to wood that the blossoms become abortive.

Plate No. 4S.

Plate No. 48 represents the plan which has just been described, before any shoots
have pushed forth. By cutting at a, the system of spur and arm, or, if it is desired,
the spur and bow, may be formed by bending the cane or arm. We shall herenfter
describe this more fully with appropriate cuts, but not to recommend it as nearly
equal to that which we liave just described, for the vineyard for wine, and for the
vineyard only is it admissible.

We may here remark that many systems which vary but little in principle, although

51

considerably in form, have been adopted by different countries or sections of the same
country, generally in consequence of peculiar circumstances, the consideration of
which would at present only tend to embarrassment, which we strive to avoid.

Plate No. 49.

In Plate No. 49 we have the arms completed, and the vine pruned ready to produce
two shoots to each spur. While the vines are young, it is well when only one shoot
is desired to prune as if for two, for the bud next to the cut is not unfrequently dam-
aged by the drying of the wood too near it, and sometimes destroyed. In older vines
the wood becomes so compact that this does not take place.

These are supposed to be about three feet each in length. For the Thomery plan
they are generally about four feet in length, and one year more of time will be
required to produce them. They may, it is true, be produced at once from a vine
tlaat has made canes of eight feet or upwards each, by cutting each cane at four feet
or a little less, but in that case the bearing canes near the center will soon become
unhealthy and fail. The tendency of growth is from the center toward the ends of
the arms, and the consequent damage can only be avoided when making long arms
by successive stages, as recommended.

We have more particularly described the formation of long arms and the import-
ance of the successive stages, because they perform an important office in several sys-
tems of garden training, and especially in training upon houses in cities and villages,
which in this country has received but little attention, because few know with what
facility the southern and eastern sides of their houses and buildings may be covered
with the most beautiful of all vines while its foliage lasts, and that under such circum-
stances not only is the frnit unfailingly produced in surprising quantity, but its time
of maturity is also so greatly hastened that few will be willing to make their residence
in a climate so severe as not to permit the perfect ripening of eai'ly kinds of grapes on
the south side of their houses. The improvement in quality, too, is worthy of con-
sideration as well as their safety from depredation, which is sometimes a discourage-
ment that prevents planting.

Plate No, 20 is a very good representation of the living vine fully established in
bearing, and may rank as one of the best for vineyard or open garden. Two prime
requisites are simplicity and efficienc}^, by which both ground and open sky may be
fully occupied, and all the parts easily kept in just balance of proportion. It is
equally applicable to permanence and renewal, but for the latter it is unequaled both
for the crops that may be afforded in consequence of the little loss incurred by grow-
ing the preparatory cane for replacement, and for the facility with which any loss of
parts may be supplied without deprivation of crop. The ordinary plans of renewal
not only require more knowledge of the management of the vine than ordinary cul-
tivators can very readily acquire ; but under the best of management require that a
large portion of its bearing ability of the current season shall be given up in prepar-
ation for the coming season, at the same time causing derangement in the balance of
the different parts. The permanent method is represented in the plan before us as
may be understood from bearing the canes, some of which are double, and all spring
from spurs, while from the renewal plan all must spring directly from the arm by the
shooting of its buds which is renewed every season.

The combinations of stake and wire trellis for the vineyard, in simplicity, economy,
and efficiency, leave little for improvement to expect. A sj^stem of shelter for un-
favorable climates, (and in fact for all climates,) lias been recommended, (for account
of which see Plate ISTo. 84.) To avoid confusion, only the upper and lower portion
of the stakes are shown, and a small portion of the upper wire. Another wire should
be drawn along, about eight inches above the arms, to save the young shoots from be-
ing blown off by fierce spring winds. At the right may be seen a vine in full bear-

ing, carrying a iiioderate crop, Lut such as a woll-trcatcd vine will always finisli out
ill perll'ctiou of quality witliout overtasking its own powers for the protection of its
wood and general health. If a constant system is pursued, a stout stake or small
[)ost will be required, as shown in the plate. If a renewal or half renewal plan is
adopted, the arm may be fastened to the stake of the adjoining vine, as shown by
the middle one.

On this the different operations performed in different years may be brought to
mind b}'- the scars, as seen at a, when it was but a single shoot at b b, when it was of
two canes, and then the first formation of the spurs on the arm, and also of the spur
from which the three canes sprung, which are supported by the stake. The cut, to
make the spur of three eyes is indicated, by which the long canes are provided for
the coming season. The same may also be seen on the vine at the left and at c, the
manner of pruning the double canes, the upper one always being taken away by
cutting through the spurs or old wood — two buds being left on the lower cane which
forms its spur from which next season's canes are to spring. To make two canes
spring from those that last season were single, cut, leaving two buds, from each of
which a shoot will push. The fruit is supposed to have been removed from the vines
which are carrying none, all being of the same age.

Should any of our readers visit the vineyard of J. B. Mottier, Cincinnati, Ohio,
next season, they may see fruit and vines as regularly disposed as in the engraving.

The stopping of the caues is clearly shown at the tops of both the long and the
short ones, but the scale is too small to represent the stopping of the laterals, none of
which are represented.

Plate No. 51 represents a vine in full crop with all of the leaves removed except
from one cane, according to the renewal method. It may be remarked in passing,
that possibly for a time heavier crops may be grown in this way by renewal, but the
best and highest flavored fruit, and consequently the best wine will be produced by
the permanent plan. Which is the best has not yet been demonstrated.

Plates No. 52, 53, 54 represent the single bow plan as practiced in Ohio, and also
pretty extensively in Germany and some other parts of Europe. The prepartitory step
in this, as in all other plans, is first to obtain one strong cane like that shown by Plate
No. 44. One of the objects very desirable in the management of the vineyard be-
yond those of the regulation of the crop and systematic adjustment of the lengtli of
canes and quantity of foliage to the amount of fruit, is cheapness of support or trellis.
This is one of the great recommendations of the bow method, only one stake being
employed for each stock. It is very fjir from being a perfect plan, but large crops
are produced by it, and the vinos are without difficulty maintained in their established
condition. Each cane as it springs from the bow is disposed in a different direction,
but by the weight of the fruit all before- the end of the season are inclined to a pen-
dent direction. The size of the bunches and berries does not vary greatly in those
which spring from different parts of the bow, but the fruit bome on the canes least
turned from the horizontal direction ajid nearest the stock is best.

The bow plan is from nccessitj^ one of renewal, for both the bow and the bearing
canes are too unfavorably circumstanced for maintaining their health and vigor, to
be continued for the production of fruit the next season. At pruning, the bow is
cut away, and the upper one of the three tall canes ; one of the remaining canes is
cut of sufficient length to make the bow, and the lowest is pruned to a spur of
three eyes to reproduce the three long canes. A serious objection to this plan be-
sides the inequality of the fruit, is the want of support to the bearing canes by
which both leaves and fruit are damaged and sometimes lost by swinging loose in
the wind. The plates scarcely need any explanation. No. 60 represents the two
strong canes, ready for pruning, with the places for cutting, marked. No. 51 repre-
sents the same pruned, with the • spur and long cane, the latter also bent into the
bow ; the three lines from Z, pointing, to the three buds of the spur from which the
long canes are to spring, as seen in Plate No. 53, wdiich represents the vine in full
bearing. Plate No. 54 represents the same plan doubled, with a partial support to
the bearing canes. At F F, the mai'k for cutting away the bows after fruiting, the
pruning being the same as for the single plan. Plate No. 54 is essentially the same

53

as Plate No. 20, only managed by renewal of the arm, and consequently it can have
no spurs or double canes on the arm. This is a modification of the bow plan,
straightening the bow to an arm, and providing -a trellis for the support of the bear-
ing canes. These are renewal plans, but there is one known distinctively as " the re-
newal plan," or the renewal of Specchley and Clement Hoare. This plan, although
not original with Speechley, received a strong impulse to currency by him, being
sketched in his quarto volume on the cultivation of vines under glass. It was am-
plified later hj C. Hoare, who wrote chiefly to instruct in the management of vines
in open ground, trained on walls. It has been much talked of in this country, and
but little understood. Plate No. 48 represents the plan advanced to the time of
taking the first system of long canes ; the four buds on each arm being ready for
that purpose. These should be grown to whatever hight they may attain by the
end of September, when they are stopped as we have seen at e, and again at /,
Plates 44, 45. To moderate the tendency of the action, so that the lower buds may
become well developed, the canes are made to take a serpentine direction, as shown
in Plate No. 55. Two canes on each arm are used for bearing and tw^o for renewal.
The four for renewal are represented at B, B, B, B, now pruned, ready for bearing
the next season, like the one shown in fruit at A. At A, on the extreme left is
seen a spur, and two like it on the other arm ; these have also borne fruit like A,
and the branches have been cut away as that at A is ready to be cut, to complete
the pruning for the next season. At B B, may be seen marks where these branches
will be cut at next season's pruning, after having borne their crop as now seen at A.
The dotted line S, shows a modification of the same renewal plan designed to obvi-
ate the loss of space, the dotted line having borne such a crop as is seen at A.
This plan, in all of its modifications, is complicated and difficult of execution for a

beginner, or one who does not expect to give it constant attention, requiring the
skill of a practician who has a good knowledge of the habits and requirements of the

54

vine, to continue it succcssfally in operation after having established it in full bearing.
Plate No. 58 represents the plan brought to within one year of full establishment ; and
Plate No. 41, of Descriptive Catalogue, represents a section of a vine in full bearing, at
its eiglith year.

For the base of this plan we come back to one most simple, that is equally adapted
for garden or vineyard, and generally known as the Medoc vineyard plan, for which
Plate 57 was designed as an illustration. This will only cover a wall four feet high
at most, and can never get beyond its single system of upright bearing canes, each bear-
ing its three bunches. It is often desirable to cover high walls and buildings, and to
have the vines perpetually productive. It was an effort of much practical knowledge
that produced tlie plan for doing it represented in Plates 55 and 58 ; but the utmost
limit to which this could singly be made to reach may be stated at ten feet, and not
more than half of that without difficulty in maintenance. We often wish to cover an
elevation more than twice as great or even three times. The most obvious means
apparently would be by the plan represented in Plate 56, or that in Plate No. 59 ;
both of which would soon result in such a failure as is represented in Plate No. 45 of
Descriptive Catalogue, To do it speedily, and with some degree of permanence,
the plan represented in Plate No. 60 might be adopted, which is that of No. 43, D. C,
doubled ; one being placed above the other. By this means a hight of twelve feet
is pretty easily reached, and for a time uniformly covered with fruit; but the upward
tendency of the action would soon begin to leave the lower bearing portion of each set
of stocks without fruit or living branches. One of the advantages of the plan shown
in Plate No. 60 is, that when the lower bearing portions fail, they can very easily and
speedily be restored by cutting down about two thirds of the bearing portion of each
stock. New bearing canes will immediately spring out from the portion below", and the
next season the restoration of the portion above may be begun, and completed the
second or third season from the cutting. The fruit on the few canes represents all
of them, as all are supposed to be carrying about the same amount.

The student will be surprised, in examining most of the good systems, to find
how nearly the same amount of fruit is borne by them all, when in full bearing. The
merit of one above another consists in facility of execution or permanence o^ full pro-
duction, and in the quality of the fruit. The object of renewal is to compensate for
over- cropping, and although by this means the largest crops may be produced, the best
fruit can not.

TRAINING ON BUILDINGS.

Plate No. 45, Descriptive Catalogue, represents the most common method, but
the distribution soon becomes very uneven and unsightly, and the vines bear but little,
and that at the highest points. Plate 46, D. C.', shows how the same house may be
covered with foliage and fruit in their season perpetually. When a building so high
is to be covered, a wide border and two rows of vines will be required. The first row
to be planted as if for the ordinary Thomery method, and the second in the same man-
ner, eight or ten feet from it. If the house is thirty feet high, the width of the border
should not be less than twenty. The latter row is to be trained to stakes at least two
seasons, and when led to the house the horizontal portions are to be kept from taking
root in the part given to the first row, by laying them on strips of boards, bricks, or
stones.- Afterward they may be covered.

It will not be difficult to take each vine where it is marked by a letter or figure,
and trace it to its distribution for bearing.

If we take the letter a at the left of the central house, (omitting a, b, c, b, of
the house at the left,) we shall find it dividing under the window of the second story,
and a branch rising on each side of the window midway, where each takes a horizontal
direction along a slat; the bearing canes only springing from the horizontal portions.
If we take the next letter, b, we see it divides for the lower course. That marked by
c rises for the upper course ; the little upright bearing canes of which are represented.
Fig, 5 of the first row, designates the vine that gives the next to the upper courses.

Plate No. 67.

Plate No. 5SL

oQ

The tendency of the vine to cease bearing bolovv
when permitted to bear above, except under certain
conditions, in conseqnencc of the upward tendonc-y of
the action, has boon already so fully treated, that Plate
No. ri9 requires little explanation. " The canes on the
standards I) and K, if pruned as marked at f f, vill
soon take all of the action and life from h h, as has al-
ready been done from the parts below. B is already
nearly dead, but may be reproduced by C, if cut quite
away, and 0 be pruned at about two feet.

Plato No. 59.

Plate No. 60.

57

It divides under the upper windo-w, and has its bearing canes (coursons) also repre-
sented. All of the vines have their bearing canes (coursons) on their horizontal por-
tions; to avoid confusion, they are not shown in the engravings, except as mentioned.

Plate 49, D. C, has its vines planted in three rows, the first at the foot of the
principal building, the second at the foot of the arbor, and the third as represented by
the dotted lines. These may be more readily followed to their distribution. One vine
only of these has the courses represented, and the wires also, both being understood
throughout. Those on the end of the house are carried above the veranda, to avoid
darkening the windows, and those on the roof of the veranda have their courses
trained perpendicularly ; the iron supports of the trellises being seen at each end.

Plate Xo. 51, D. C, needs no particular description.

Plate No. 52, D. C, shows the method of planting for covering the side and roof
of the stable shown by Plate No. 63. In this, the comfort gained by the shade is worth
the cost. The eaves project more than two feet, and the trellis is made outside of the
eaves, and on the roof it is raised at least eighteen inches above the shingles.

Plate No. 61.

Plate No. 61 represents a house with vines on its south-easterly side, as they appear
in June. The stocks are brought together and concealed by the ornamental arrange-
ment shown in the engraving. The trellis is placed two feet from the house, and a
little gallery runs along back of the vines at about two feet above the top of the first-
story windows. The wires used to sustain the courses are not represented.

On the south-west, which is the garden front, an iron trellis is shown, for covering
this side also with vines. It is equally adapted for a street front, but in that case
fruit should not be taken below the top of the first-story windows.

Plate 62 represents a house with its garden-front covered with vines on a wooden
trellis, but wires are used in addition, as in Plate No. 49, D. C. Four of the vines
were grown as represented at A, A, A, A, two seasons before being led to the house.
After the vines become established in bearing, the whole surfiice of the border may be
made a parterre by flowers in pots, placed as shown by a few specimens. Bearing
canes like those at >i are supposed throughout.

Plate No. 63 represents a stable with south side and roof covered. The manner
of planting the vines is more clearly seen in Plate No. 52, D. C.

58

n

inn:

rm7nr)iTninrf,rmnr

^^m^gOMglM.^

\d cb

i a h

a i) c a d ic

^

Plate No. 63.

Plate No. 64.

As the Medoc Vineyard method of training has been exliibited, a short descrip
tion of what is called the Jura plan may also be given. The former has the vines
supported by a trellis ; the latter by stakes, as shown by Plates No. 6i and 65. By
this plan, from four thousand to six thousand vines are planted onsan acre, and it is
preferred for some very poor light soils.

* Plate No. 56 represents the Fan mode in its early stage. This plan is very diffi-
cult of management, and inefficient at the best ; and requires a long explanation to be
intelligible, notwithstanding it is more frequently aimed at than any other.

Winter Pruning.

This has been so fully discussed in the chapters on planting and training that no
separate chapter is required. The operation may be performed in November or
February.

Summer Pruning.

This consists in shortening the bearing canes to the proper length by stopping,
wliich should be commenced in June, before the setting of the fruit, and continued
to the end of the season, as shown in Plates 35, 20, etc. The stopping of laterals,
and of the long canes toward the end of the season are parts of this operation, all
of which have been so clearly shown in our course that no special remarks are need-
ed. All good systems suppose the removal of the laterals, and the stopping of the
bearing canes at the proper distance from the branches, and vines can not be suc-
cessfullv manag^ed if these are neglected.

69

MILDEW OF THE VINE. (OIDIUM TUCKESI.)

In all ages there have been prevalent parasitic cryptogams, or fangi under this
general name, that have drawn their sustenance from the foliage or herbaceous portions
of plants and trees, and also from their branches, when in their tender, growing state,
and covered with an epidermis.

The parts of these plants that perform the seminal functions are extremely light,
and, under circumstances favorable to their dissemination, are carried in the air, and
lodge upon vegetation during growth, and under certain conditions generate and grow,
to the detriment, and sometimes destruction of the plants which afford their hahiiat.

The circumstances and conditions most favorable to the growth of these para-
sites, are not such as are most favorable to healthy vegetation, and they take root
chiefly, if not entirely, in structures that have been enfeebled by some cause first, and
then subjected to the circumstances that are at the same time favorable to the growth
of the fungi, and unflivorable to the prosperity of the plants, A course of extremely
active vegetation, followed by a cold period, and especially when attended by dark
fogs, is always to be regarded with apprehension for the safety of certain plants.
Yines are sometimes slightly attacked in early summer, but generally suffer the most
serious damage after the fruit is more than half grown.

From time immemorial European vines have suff^n^ed from the Erineum^ though
not to such an extent that much destruction or loss was feared from it ; but in the
year 1845 a new Oidium appeared in a vinery near Margate, England, of which a
gardener by the name of Tucker had charge, and by whom it was first brought
to notice.

It spread rapidly through the houses of Europe, and from them to the vineyards,
until most of the vine districts were overspread with the desolation. It was uni-
versally accepted as a public calamity, and the need of a remedy was felt to be of the
utmost importance. Yery large prizes were offered for the discovery of one that
would be easy of application and efficacious.

The most important premiums were awarded to Mr. Mares, who showed, by an
extended series of experiments, the efficacy of sulphur, and invented convenient appa-
ratus for its application.

For obtaining the full benefits of its action, it was found that three applications
were required during the season, at periods diffi'ring according to locality and earli-
ness, but ranging from the tenth to the last of May for the first, the same in June for
the second, and the same in July for the third.

The application in July is generally found to be unnecessarj' if the others have
b3en thoroughly made at the proper time, and under the right conditions.

It is not called for in spring, until some well-developed leaves have been formed ;
but the first appearance of the mildew should be carefully looked for, and the remedy
applied at the slightest indication of its coming, and better if before any manifestation of
it takes place, if the leaves are sufficiently developed.

The subject has deeply interested many of the most careful and scientific obser-
vers for nearly twenty years, and is too extensive for discussion here, but the practical
results, so far as utility is concerned, can be stated in a brief space.

This mildew (Oidium Tuckeri) is confined in its attacks to the vine chiefly, if not
solely, and it only germinates on the vine when predisposed to it by some enfeebling
cause, which acts superficial!}'' upon the leaves, affecting chiefly the epidermis, soften^
ing and impairing its structure.

The predisposing causes are every thing in the management of the vine, by which
it falls short of its most perfectly healthful and enduring development.

This statement is very comprehensive, and for its full detail, courses over the
whole subject of viticulture, but a few of the principal points may be mentioned to
make the case more intelligible. General want of drainage, soil so unfertile as to afford
scanty nourishment, or so highly enriched as to give distended but not enduring

00

growth, so sliallow as to suffer from drouth, or so impermeable a little distance from
tlie surface, that the rootlets will remain immersed in wetness in consequence of the
falling water not passing off freely, are among the most common terrestrial predi^pos-
ing causes that operate after the vines have become Avell established in bearing as well
as during their preparatory growth. That of covering the vines too deeply in plantinfj-
must not be unnoticed, for it is one of the most frequent occurrence, and disastrous in
its effects. Covering too lightly may be equally injurious.

Among the most common aerial predisposing causes, are the crowded state of the
leaves, by which one overshadows another, and prevents full exposure to the action
of the sun. This comes from suffering the canes to grow too near together, or too
long, or from permitting the laterals to become too long before being removed.

The same is produced by' training the vines too closely to a sheltering wall or
building — by proximity of trees or hedges, and by placing the lines of trellis too near
each other. A confined place deprived of moving atmosphere, and a bleak place
greatly exposed without shelter on any side, are about equally objectionable. A rad-
ical defect at the beginning has always existed to a very great extent from using
defective plants, that bring the inevitable predisposition with them. This was a lead-
ing cause of failure less prompt than at present before the oidium of Tucker appeared.

The exciting causes, besides general low temperature and excessive rain, are
changes of the atmosphere from favorable to unfavorable conditions, often sudden,
severe, and long-continued, by which, as before stated, the texture of the epidermis is
softened and covered with the adhesive exudation that favors the lodgment and germi-
nation of the spores ; but the weather also favors the deposit of moisture, and brings the
scarcity of light that favors the parasitic germination. It is believed that the sporules
of some of the parasitic fungi are taken up by the stomata of the roots with the plant
food ; and from that it has been argued that the same occurs, also, with the OYdium
Tuckeri in the grape; but careful and extensive microscopic examinations have shown
that this does not take place.

It should be stated that in Europe, while the oidium was involving all of the
vines in great damage or destruction, the American vines, Isabella and Catawba, by
their side, were not affected, showing their greater abilit}'- to resist the predisposing or ex-
citing causes, or perhaps both. The European vinej-ards for many years were rendered
so unproductive, that wine advanced several fold in price, and a little progress was made
in introducing American grapes for its production. The Isabella was chosen for that
purpose, but from the " badness of the quality," in consequence particularly of its
offensive. odor and flavor, it was not planted to much extent. The use of sulphur and
improved management have happily restored the European vineyards to health and
productiveness.

THE THEORY OF THE SULPHUS, EEMEDY.

The oidium, at the commencement of germination, is not only extremely minute,
but very sensitive to caustic influences, and easily destroyed, while the leaf of the vine
is not easily offended. The sulphur, when minutely divided, so as to form an' impal-
pable powder, as is the case when it is finely sublimed, and when it is thoroughly dry,
is easily brought into slow combustion by the action of the sun, and thus produces a
very small quantity of sulphuric acid in the form of vapor. It is the product of this
combustion that gives the peculiar odor of the fumes of sulphur, and to this is owing
its action upon the oidium or mildew. Until this combustion takes place, and the sul-
phuric acid is formed, the sulphur remains as inactive as if it were only quartz sand.

While the sulphur remains moist it has no action, and but very little, compara-
tively, when in coarse division ; nor does it act efficiently in cool, moist weather. The
sulphur, if applied in a state of dryness, on a dry day, with an active sulphurator, finds
lodgment for its fine microscopic particles on every part of the vine ; but it will remain
longest in the velvety reticulations of the under side of the leaves, where it is most

61

wanted, not only because tliat is the place most favorable to tlie performance and con-
stancy of its action, but also because the oidium chiefly attacks the under side.

It is a number of years since I have used it on our hardy vines, not finding any
occasion for it under proper management. Although useful, and perhaps indispensa-
ble under some circumstances, it must not be expected to go very far in compensation
for wrong treatment or neglect. The cost of the material, and labor of applying it,
will amount to but a small per centage on the value of a good croj) ; and it is not
unlikely that it will come into general use on a twofold consideration, for it will pro-
bably be found to be as effective against the thrips, which are an enemy much more to
be feared, in connection with our best new kinds, than the mildew, and can not, like
the latter, be done away with by the development of the strength of the vine and atten-
tion to its wants in cultivation.

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING SULPHUR.

A great number of appliances have been invented for the application of sulphur ;
two of the best are represented in the engravings. Plate No. 67 represents one by
M. de la Vergne, and plates Nos. 68 and 69 are by M. Grontier. The latter is, perhaps,
to be preferred for general use, although the advantages of the former are important
for the vineyard.

That of M. de la "Vergne is the most simple. The curved tube is more than one
inch in diameter, and is covered at its outer end with fine wire gauze. The implement
has no valve, the air being admitted through the tube, and at going out, passes through
it by forcible expulsion, charged with the fine sulphur dust, by passing over the quan-
tity of it with which the instrument is to be kept supplied.

Plate No. 83.

Plate No3. 63 and 69.

Plate No. 75.

Plate No. 67.

That of M. Gontier is more complicated in its structure. The sulphur is not
placed within the bellows, but in a little case with an upper and lower chamber. Into
the upper chamber the sulphur is put through an opening in the top that must be
firmly closed after the sulphur is put in. Some little bars are seen in the upper

62

chamber that are to break the sulphur, or keep it from forming a coherent mass,
before falling upon the floor, which is pierced with fine holes. The sulphur sifts
through these holes in the floor of the upper chamber into the one below, when it is
acted upon by the wind from the bellows, and driven in fine dust through the tube,
forming an almost invisible cloud that rests upon all parts of the vine, and lodging
most permanently in the fine gauze like web of the under side of the leaves, which
also form the principal lodgment for the sporules of the mildew. The vapor of sul-
phuric acid is so slowly formed that it exercises no appreciably injurious influence
upon the vine, but is sufficiently active to destroy the fungi and drive away the thrips.
The section of the magazine (Plate No. 69) gives a clear idea of the interior arrange-
ment, which will enable mechanics to construct them without much difficulty. The
valve of the bellows must be different from tlie ordinary construction, to enable it
to act when held in any position. A few of these apparatuses have been imported
by Mr. P. B. Mead, for patterns from which others can be very cheaply made by any
skillful tinman. They can be obtained from him at the cost of importation. A more
particular description of these and some others, will be given in Landmarks.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE VINE.

Of these, there are very few that have caused much damage, ai)d the vine may
claim a degree of exemption from destructive enemies beyond any other fruit.

The first that makes its appearance in the spring is the ■pyraleoftlie vine, and
without attention it will sometimes become very destructive. It winds the young
shoots with silk just as they begin to put forth, and eats the leaves, and often the
rudimentary bunch before inflorescence. The only eftectual remedy is to unroll each
shoot by hand, and take out the little worm. The moth and its larva at leaving the
egg, and of full size, are represented in the engraving. (Plates Nos. 70 and 71)

The rose-bug in some districts has been very troublesome. The Delaware vine
has shown a remarkable exemption from attack in numerous instances, when all the
other kinds have been greatly injured. Yines in gardens are sometimes attacked by
these little beetles in such numbers that the crops would be entirely destroyed if
neglected ; but large vineyards, where the vines are well trained, and kept free from
weeds, are rarely attacked so as to cause much damage. (Plate No. 72.)

The only remedy, after tliey appear, is to pick them off by hand, or knock them
into a convenient vessel of water, which is speedily done.

This, although somewhat troublesome, has been found much less so than would be
supposed before trial.

Both the tent and spinner caterpillar sometimes feed upon the J'oung vines. The
former are easily suppressed by destroying the nests before the commencement of their
migratory course. The latter, comprising the large green naked caterpillars, are never
sufficiently numerous to be much feared, except in case of single young vines. They
are very gluttonous, and from their green color, not easily discovered, unless carefully
looked for, until their ravages have destroyed a large portion of a shoot. The name
Philampelus (Vine-lover) comes from its habit of feeding on the leaves of the Ampe-
lides generally, including the grape especially. The representation of it (Plate No. 73)
is taken from the excellent work of the late Mr. Harris.

The brown aphis is another enemy also of little importance. It is an exceedingly
minute insect that sucks the juice of plants, and occasionally collects in such numbers
on a young shoot as to conceal a portion from sight. If the eiise occurs on a vine
with only one shoot, and that of special importance, the aphids may all be washed off
in one moment with a rag or sponge and soap-suds. Vineyardists remove tliem with
their hands at sight, and do not consider them of sufficient importance to be named.
Their destruction is ordinarily effected by pinching off a few inches of the tender shoot
and stamping it under foot, doing no injury to the vine. (Plate No. 7-1.)

63

There are other beetles that sometimes infest vineyards and gardens, but they so
rarelj' do any important injury that they are very little known. The drab-colored
Quaker-bug '(Palidnota Panctala) is formidable in appearance from its large size, but
is pever so numerous that it can not be suppressed at trifling cost by picking them
from the leaves wbile performing the other operations. A row of dark spots (puncta)
on each side give its distinctive name. (Plate No. 75.)

The steel-blue flea-beetle {Haltica Chalyhea or Oleracea) is one of a class, differing
in color, sometimes met with, causing damage by burrowing in the buds and girdling
the extremities of tender shoots. No more satisfactory remedy has yet been proposed
than that for the rose-bugs, but it is not often that these call for any attention. Plate
No. 76 is a magnified representation- of the Haltica Chalybea.

A very minute insect called Eed Spider (Acarus Tellarius) is one of the most
troublesome insect-enemies of plants under glass, and especially of the grape and peach.
If taken at the beginning, thorough drenching with water so that the leaves, on both
their upper and lower surfaces, may be kept ivet for a considerable time, will destroy
them ; but after they have gained an established lodgment, it is difficult to get rid of
them, even by washing both sides of every leaf with a sponge and soapy water repeat-
edly. In very dry weather these insects spread from the houses to the trees in the
garden or nursery, and especially to the pears, and at length to the vines, if they are
close to the infe.4ted trees and have become enfeebled in their action. The vines with
leaves in fall, vigorous, healthy action, remain free from their attacks. Syringing
thoroughly, as soon as attacked, v/ith whale-oil soap-suds is a certain remedy ; half a
pound to six to ten gallons of water is sufficient, the object of the soap being chiefly to
make the water adhere to the leaves for sufficient time to accomplish its object.

The mealy bug {Coccus Adonidum) is another enemy that is common to houses and
gardens, but less frequent in open culture. These are little troublesome in the open
air, except when lodged in the branches of unripe fruit, where they present the appear-
ance of small flocks of cotton. A dilution of soap or a solution of potash will dislodge
and destroy them, if applied early with a syringe, and without injury ; but later, both
leave unpleasant marks upon the fruit. It is only in the garden that annoyance is
likely to occur from these insects, and a very little attention at the beginning will
entirely destroy them. At first, the mother is seen like a small mound of white meal
or mold, and remains fixed with her eggs or young under her, when a touch with the
end of a stick of the size of a pencil will destroy them all. The Pyrethrum is an effect-
ual unobjectionable remedy, and the same may be said of sulphur when properly
applied, as it should be, in invisible quantity from an efficient sidphurator.

The most important of all the insect enemies of the vine is the Thrips, or " leaf-
hopper," {Tettigonia Vitis,) and more to be dreaded in the vineyard than all of the
others together. It is a very small insect, light green in color at first and during its
feeding {suclcinrj) stage, but becoming beautifully marked and variegated when its
transformations are passed and its wings are grown ; it flies and leaps with great
agility, and is not easily caught or driven away. It makes its appearance sometimes
before the end of May, and continues to multiply until the end of the season, feeding
upon the under side of the leaves, often until their action is greatly impaired or quite
lost.

The crop is never destroyed by these insects, but it is not unfrequently greatly
injured in quality, and the ability of the vine for the next season lessened.

A remedy by fumigation with tobacco smoke is easily applied, and effi?ctive for
a few vines in the garden or on the side of a house, making a tent by joining sheets
together to confine the smoke, but in the vineyard this is impracticable.

Syringing with a strong decoction of tobacco, and also with a dilution of whale-oil
soap, has been tried, also the two mixed, increasing the strength until the leaves were
destroyed, without making much impression upon the Thrips.

Five years ago they were very troublesome with me, but disappeared under the
use of sulphur, as applied for mildew, and gave no farther trouble until the past season.

64

I have known them also disappear under the use of a preparation made from coal t;ir
sprinkled upon the under sides of the leaves ; but this rcmerly is seareely admissible.

The trials with these remedies have not been very numerous, but appear to war-
rant confident statements concerning their efficiency.

The insect is about one tenth of an inch long, and is represented in Plate No. 77,
magnified three linear times.

When the cultivation of the Pyreihrum Duchartre becomes extended, we may
expect to find a valuable insect-destroyer in that. Meanwliilc, clean culture and free
open training will go so far to secure exemption from damage by insects and miklew
that the best vineyardists entertain but little apprehension from them.

<6i>-'

Plate No. 73.

Plate No. TO.

Plate No. TO.

PUte No. 71.

Plate No. 72.

Plate No. 74.

Plate No. 77.

Note. — There are other leaf-folders (Tortrices) besides that mentioned at the
beginning of the chapter, that have done much damage in some of the south-western
vineyards, but I have too little personal knowledge of them to speak intelligently of
the remedy, which does not appear to me difficult or expensive, and that is, their entire
destruction.

Plate No. 78 represents a Fa)i, with gearing for increase of rotary velocity, that was
invented for a sulphurator, but may also be used for a fumigatrr v;ith a slight change
and a little addition for the reception of the burning tobacco.

Plate No. T&

CULTIVATION OF VINEYARDS.

This is very simple, but has some important pecaliarities that would not be likely
to occur to beginners. It has been already stated that i\iQ feeding -roots of the vine, like
its leaves, are annual, and that at the end of the season their work proper is forever
done, and they perish and are renewed, like the -leaves.

In a well-prepared vineyard, during the growing and productive season, the soil
is filled with these from very near the surface to the depth at which good entertain-
ment for them ceases.

It is important that these should meet with no interruption to their action from
the beginning to the end of the season.

These rootlets put forth by nearly equal step with the springing of the leaves, and
the co-work assigned to both is simultaneously accomplished at about the time of their
fall. The nearness of the rootlets to the surface is measured by the point at which the
constant degree of moisture necessary to their health has existed during the season ;
and under favorable circumstances, this is so near as to not permit the working of the
ground by its movement in masses beyond the depth of two or three inches, after the
early part of June, without injury. But the frequent stirring of the surface to a little
depth, is advantageous up to the first of August or later.

Plate No. 79.

Plate No. 81.

5 ^\5^^

Plate No. 80.

* The season of cuUivation begins in November, after the action
of rootlets and leaves has ceased. The ground may now be worked
with a plow, moving it en masse, or reversing and thoroughly disinte-
grating it to the depth of four or five inches, or even more, varymg
according to circumstances of open or compact soil, and position of
roots in regard to surface.

The first operation is averse plowing— turning the furrows froyn
the stocks, turning round to the right if an ordinary plow is used ; a
line of soil will remain along the direction of each row in which the
vines stood, which can not be touched by the plow, and which to complete the opera-
tion, must be moved by hand with hoes, either of the ordinary kind or the Indens

Plate No. 82.

66

represented Plate No. 81. After the ground has remained in this position a few days,
the next operation — adverse plowing — is performed, by which the furrows ai'e turned
back toward the vines. To finish the ground for winter a cultivator is used, with the
two hinder teeth made so as to avoid tearing the vines. The handles are also made
with guards to protect the hands from injury by coming in contact with the wire trel-
lis on each side.

Plate No. 79 represents an implement of French invention, that may be used
instead of a plow with great advantage, doing the work more expeditiously and ftiuch
better in regard to tillage. It is fitted with two sets of shares, one for the averse, and
the other for the advej'se turning of the furrows. The standard and wheel, C, are indis-
pensable for gauging the depth. At D is shown an arrangement by which the near-
ness of approach to the vines in working may be accurately and safely adjusted. It is
called the P/oiv of M. Loyere, from the name of the inventor.

If a dressing of manure is to be applied, it may be done before any of the opera-
tions above named in the fall, but it will best before the last, when it will take most
advantageously the action of the water falling upon the surface, whether from snow
or rain.

As the growing season advances, the depth of working is lessened, so that the last
is but a skimming of the surface. Except for the working in the fall, the draft is very
light, and a small animal is greatly to be preferred. A skillful operator, with a gentle
and tractable horse well trained, will never damage the vines.

Plate No. 80 shows an implement better calculated for working in the vineyard
after the first time in the spring. It is so clearly represented that little explanation is
required. From the shape and setting of the shares, it will be seen that, if well-man-
aged, there will be no danger to the roots or stocks. It is called the Horse-hoe of M.
Loyere.

With either implement, three acres in a day may be carefully done with ease, but
necessarily leaving a narrow strip along each row to finish by hand-labor. In this way
the tillage of a vineyard will cost but little more than that of a field of Indian corn ;
and not half so much as a field of corn, including the planting, if the work of the latter
is done by hand-hoeing.

When hand-labor only is employed in vineyards, different implements are used,
according to the character of the soil. In light, mellow soil a square hoe, with a blade
much longer than that of the ordinary farm hoe, is used. In more stony or tenacious
formation, a piece is taken out of the middle, as shown in Plate No. 81, leaving it two-
toothed or "bidens." If the soil is very tenacious or stony, a triangular, pointed im-
plement is used. (See Plate No. 82.)

Among our farm implements in ordinary use may be found some as well adapted
for the cultivation of vines as those specially made for the purpose — the hoe and the
many-pronged potato-digger. The latter, made of fine cast steel, with six teeth, each
tooth as smooth as the tine of a hay-fork, is preferred by Mr. Mottier to any other
im.plement for his heavy clay soil. The first season after planting, all of the work
must be done by hand, and very carefully, and frequent and thorough working is of
the greatest importance at this period. Neglect often causes the loss of more than one
season's crop. The ground should not merely be kept clear of weeds, but should be
frequently stirred if no weeds appear, and especially if the soil is somewhat compact,
and during drouth. Tiie representations of foreign implements (Plates Nos. 78 and
80) are introduced to illustrate the principles of peculiar construction for vine-culture.
American implements are already in use that need but little change to adapt them to
this purpose. To guard against the damage by severe drouth, mulching may some-
times be applied ; but it should be spread very thin, and no green material should
ever be used. Coarse hay, or straw carefully deprived of its grain, is the best mate-
rial. Green grass, just mowed from a lawn, and weeds, are very injurious, and often
destructive.

67

PROPAGATION, OE MULTIPLICATION OF STOCKS.

There are two ways in which infant vines are produced by the mother vine,
intended for the multiplication or continuation of the race. The first is that in which
immediate, separate, and independent existence is provided for, and the provision
carefullv laid up in a flint}'- casket which contains not only the dormant infant, but
also a supply of food to sustain it during its early infancy, and until the apparatus
for talving up its food from the soil shall be produced, which apparatus is not directly
provided by the mother. This little package is called the seed. The other infant is
not prepared for immediate, independent existence, and scarcely appears to be directly
designed for separate existence, but rather for increase, in perpetual dependence upon
the mother. These infants are not only without roots, as are the other, but also with-
out SLny special store that is calculated to supply food while roots are in course of
formation, being particularly fitted to receive their subsistence through the mother.
These larger, but moi-e dependent children, are the buds. To separate and establish
these in an independent existence requires the assistance of art ; and there are a
diversity of methods for doing it, all of them proper and suited to different circum-
stances.

Where there is a vigorous mother-plant of fruit-bearing age well established, in
good accommodations, this separation is more readily and expeditiously effected by
layering than by any other process. The conditions of perfect success are, that the
layer shall be properly put into the ground at a sufficient distance from the mother-
plant to not find the ground previously occupied by her roots, and that too many
plants shall not be taken from the same mother, nor from the same shoot, and that all
of the leaves shall be well exposed to the action of the sun during the season.

One season only, suffices to bring the new plant to the best possible condition for
transplanting, and also to sufficient maturity of function for immediate fruit-bearing,
anticipating the time required for any other ordinary process by at least one or two
years, and avoiding liability to all intervening casualties. Tnis, considering the em-
ployment of the mother-plant, is the most expensive, but the best method.

See page 38, Plate No, 25, where, instead of cutting off the two branches C, at a,
they may be employed to make two or three layers each, and one fine layer each, (if
bearing is not permitted,) with but little injury to the mother. But in operations so
important as this, (of Pla 24 ) it is not well to risk any thing ; for the worth of well-
established vines of this kind, it is difficult to estimate. I have referred to it chiefly
for illustration, layers being more advantageously taken in number, from vines planted
for the purpose.

Good vines may be grown from cuttings, two or three eyes in length, the last sea-
son's wood furnishing nourishment to the shoots while roots are forming. The con-
ditions of success are, hard, well-developed, and well-ripened wood, taken not far
from its origin, from the parent stock, and set in moderately compact soil, carefully
prepared, that shall neither be wet nor dry, until the cutting shall become well-rooted.
The danger is, that the tender leaves, while but little or not at all sustained by roots,
shall become daiftaged, thus impairing the health of the plant at the beginning. To
make good plants, they must be forwarded early and rapidly, that considerable wood
may be made and ripened before fall, for with much green wood at the end of the
season, there will be corresponding immature' roots; and if little ripe wood, few or
no ripe roots that will be able to withstand the winter. Although life may not be
destroyed, health is often permanently impaired.

A bed in which cuttings can be grown with a great degree of certainty, may be
prepared by setting four boards on edge, and covering with glass set in hot-bed sashes,
or better still a hot-bed with its frame and sash, waiting until the severity of the he«t
has passed, and shading from the sun until the plants have become well rooted. For
regulating temperature, a thermometer will be required, and care taken not to have
it rise above 90 degrees. The bed should be provided with a shading of cheap cloth,

fS

so that the glass may be partially removed for ventilation and reduction of tempera
ture without exposure to the sun. In this process there is no difficulty but such aa
arises from the constant watchfulness that is required to regulate temperature and
moisture, A person who is determined to become a good cultivator, will succeed in
this, and find both his habit of attention and his knowledge greatly improved by the
practice of one season. This is a miniature " propagating-house," and requires all of
the attention of a large one; and in this many of the best of plants may be grown.
[f it is desired to strike many cuttings, pots may be filled with very sandy soil of
little fertility or retentiveness; the cuttings being set about one inch apart around the
edge. These, when rooted, which may be in from four to six weeks, may be care-
fully taken out and set singly into pots, or set into the ground. If the operation is
done with care, and the plants shaded from the sun for a week or two, gradually
lessening the shade by continuing it only in the middle of the day, few or no plants
need be lost. Protection from tearing winds is needed or desirable, for a great part
of the season, to secure the best growth of the young vines, so that both wood and
roots may be well matured the first season.

With care and suitable appliances, vines better than from cuttings may be grown
from single " eyes," or buds, each one making a strong, well-rooted plant. We have
said that each bud, or "eye," as professionally called, is an infont plant without root,
not designed in regular process of nature to be detached and form an independent
vine; but by art this may be effected, and the process is called " propagation from or
by single eyes." To do this, the eye must be encouraged at the proper time to shoot,
and be sustained until roots are formed, and the young shoot has made its first
growth. Roots can not be formed to much extent without the action of the leaves,
and the small piece of wood which is attached to the eye affords but little sustenance
to the leaves — so little that a dry, moving atmosphere, particularly if aided by the direct
rays of the sun, will soon dry them up, causing death. Leaves will exist for a
length of time in an atmosphere so moist that they take nearly as much moisture
from it as they yield to it, if their operations are not excited to great activity by too
strong light. Thus our indications are, shade and uniform moisture. To these con-
ditions must be addled another, that is, heat, to the medium in which the eyes are
placed for rooting, (technically, "striking,") a little above that of the atmosphere pro-
vided for the leaves. This is called bottom heat, as it is applied below the plants ;
and to command success it must be nearly uniform. The eyes are not put into fertile
soil, but sand ; for the roots at first, though large, and apparently able, do not take
nourishment fi'om the ground, and for a time the larger the foliage becomes the less
substance it has; but as soon as little feeding fibers appear on the sides of the long
roots, the plants must be set in food-supplying soil, and very soon thereafter fully
exposed to the sun and air, but not to the severities of atmospheric changes, which
they are not yet for a long time able to bear uninjured ; and it may be well to bear in
mind the indisputable truth, that in man, beast, or plant, the early age, passed under
circumstances most favorable to perfect development, safely guarded from injury, is
the best preparation for a vigorous, productive maturity. Propagating-houses, it must
be understood, are not "hot-houses," but simply dwellings to guard the tender begin-
ning from injury or hindrance, that would be damaging or destructive ; and vines
well managed in them acquire a hardihood and vigor which bring them to an earlier
and more enduring maturity than any other process, except that of the tender nursing
of the mother, in the form of layers, which we have noted. The abuse of propagat-
ing-houses is in attempting to grow the vines out of season, making summer of win
ter; in having them so small as not to afford room for healthy growing: in suffering
too high temperature, etc.

Plants from single eyes, if well made, are in no respect inferior to those grown
from seed, as they very soon become entirely new wood; and plants that are started
and grown for a time in pots, are muc'i better supplied with fibrous roots than the^
oan be in the open ground, except by layering with best care and skill.

C9

In estimating the quality of a plant, tlie proper inquiry is not, How large is it? but,
In how long a time was it acquiring its size ? We will suppose a plant of three yearg
to have only the size of a plant of one year. That of one year, if well grown and
perfect, would be valuable, and that of three years worthless; first, because that of
three years must have been damngel by defective treatment; second, because its roots
must have become quite destitute of fibers, except at their extremities, and no art
can restore them. We have remarked, " the vine never naturally feeds twice in the
same place." From this comes the need of shortening the roots, or pruning them, as
well as the shoots, at planting, and the largest often the most severely. When strong
roots of one year are cut back, they readUy send out numerous fibers from the cut
ends, which have a tendency to form short-jointed, bearing wood that will not be
impatient of restraint. Hence we see the need of transplanting and cutting back the
roots of such vigorous vines as are not set in place for fruiting at one year of age. In
case of cuttings, this is generally done by the winter frost, and the vine becomes
reduced to the state of a catting, nearly, with the difference that surface-wood has
become root-wood, and shoots readily.

Fig S3

We have said it is very advantageous to have the plants in the fall, near the place
where they are to be set in the spring, but they are sometimes damaged by improper
treatment during winter. I subjoin a plan by which all hardy trees and vines may
be kept without fear of injury. It is well known and practiced by nurserymen under
the name of " heeling in," but not always properly carried out by the uninitiated. A
very common error consists in only having sufficient depth of covering above the
roots, not considering that if the roots are above ground, or nearly so, that the frost
will reach much flirther horizontally than perpendicularly. Let them be covered by
a mound represented by the curved line above A, reaching some distance beyond the
trench, B, so that the water can not run into it. Dwarf pears, peach, anc cherry
trees in particular, are safely and very advantageonsly kept in this manner, f nd the
advantage of fall planting gained without fear of damage which maj^ befall any of
the trees named, if set in place in autumn. Raspberrj' and Blackberry plants, espe-
cially, are well kept in this way, and the labor is very little. Sandy soil, and nearly
as may be without vegetable mold, is to be preferred. A poi'tion of the filling up
must be taken from a little distance, so that no water may be turned towards tlie
roots.

At Fig.83may be seen a trench made in dry soil (so elevated that water runs from
it) about twenty inches in depth, and a bank raised by the soil thrown from it. - In it
may be seen a vine and a Mulberry tree, both cut back to a length of three feet. A
Magnolia also, not cut back. For distinctness they are put far apart, but in practice
.may be put near together, fine earth being put into the interstices of the roots. A row
of any desired length being put in, and the roots so covered that they are out of sight,
another row may be put before, and partl}^ above them, until by repeated rows the
irench is filled If there are but few plants, we may suppose onh' the number now
in, and that the}' are to be subjected to the greatest severity of freezing. Th^ cover-
ing of earth needed will be nearly the same as for many, as may be seen at A, fig. 84

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF

Uescriptive Catalogue;

%j

IS*

WITH WHOLESALE AND RETAIL

PRICE-LISTS FOR 1864,

Describing and Exhibiting tbe Kelative Importance of all our Valuable Native Vines.

C O NTENTS.

To Correspondents, stating the advantages and
importance of the new liinds — An account of
the lona stock the present season — Proposal
to sell to clubs at wholesale prices, by which
plan purchasers will obtain vines at very little
advance on actual cost of production, and al-
ways receive good plants in perfect condition —
Extent of the lona establishment — Method of
producing best vines, . .... 2

Classification of our hardy vines cultivated, in
six groups and four sub-groups, for the con-
venience of cultivators, . . . . . S

A full and accurate account of the characteristics
and properties which constitute the value and
importance of all that are worthy of attention
by cultivators, ...... 4

History of the seedlings lona and Israella, . 8

Letters from Peter B. Mead, giving impressions
and characteristics, with a minute analysis of
the qualities of the lona and Delaware, with
their coincidences and differences, and also his
opinion of the Israella, 9

How to keep grapes in winter, with engravings
showing how it may be easily and efficiently
done. Some of our best kinds may be kept
as easily as apples until spring, in full vinous
life and flavor, 10

The quality of vines as affected by the age of the
plants and different modes of preparation, and
the economy of the different kinds to purchas-
ers, with many engravings, . . . .11

The value of plants according to the method of
propagation, showing also how and what plants
to use for clothing the trellis the first year, and
obtaining an immediate production of fruit, . 16

17

18

19

Selection of varieties to plant for the table and
for family use, with the considerations, which
determine the proper choice, ....

Tables of selections for different latitudes for any
number of plants, from six vines for a very
small yard, to hundreds for a fruit-garden for
family supply, ....

Table of selections by Mr. Mead, with the con-
siderations which influence his choice of a se-
lection of one hundred, ....

Selections for vineyards for wine, and for table
use, for latitude of New- York, by Peter B.
Mead,

Is C. W. Grant influenced by interest in the rec-
ommendation of kinds ? . . . .19

Extracts from letters, 19

Quality of grapes, and education of taste. By

R. G. Pardee, 20

"The Conditions of Success in Grape Culture."

Extract from a lecture by Peter B. Mead, . 20
The value of plants as affected by age, , .21
Importance of transplanting and root -pruning

if vines are more than one year old, . .21
How to avoid check of growth in transplanting, 22
Are vines from single eyes, if well propagated,

better than from cuttings ? . . . .22
Are vines made tender by propagation under

glass ?

Training, with many engravings,

Wine, and how to make, ....

Profits of vine culture, ....

22

24
26
27

For Descriptive Catalogue, send Ten Cents; lUustratad Catalogue, Twenty-five Cents.
For both Descriptive and Illustrated bound together. Fifty Cents.

i

0

lONA, (near Peekskill,) Westchester Co., N. Y

Eotend, »ccor<iiiif lo Act of Congreai, io 'Ne year lt64, by C. W. Guitt, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U. S. for the Southern Dintrfct of New York.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

loSA, September 1, 1S63.

My Descriptive Catalogue for this season Is all newly written,
And I trust will be found to contain a large amount of informa-
tion that will be acceptable to purchasers of vines.

The Grape has become not only our most excellent fruit, but
fJne most important in value also, from the benefit and enjoy-
ment that it is able to afford for at least seven months of the
vear. Those who have learned its worth do not now plant
siugle vines of two or three kinds as formerly, when it was re-
garded as of little value, because ripening with great uncertain-
ly, continuing at best but a few weeks, and while remaining was
of but moderate goodness as a fruit; but a new estimate of
Importance belongs to it, and a winter supply Is provided for.

The excellence of the new varieties, and the facility with
which their fruit may be kept until spring, render the Grape of
the present time the most desirable of fruits ; and an important
part of their value for general and abundant use in the family
consists in the certainty and cheapness of production, and
the simplicity of management compared with our other garden
fruits.

Our best kinds are now almost universally preferred to the
best productions of the cold vinery by those who have the lat-
ter in abundance, and by all who have learned their spirited
excellence. The Delaware, especially, is being planted by
twenties, fifties, and hundreds for family winter supply.

In my Catalogue will be found a full, precise, and trustworthy
statement of the qualities, habits, and value, of all the hardy
native grapes that are worthy of attention, which has never
ueen attempted in any other publication.

Accompanying the Catalogue will often be found a proposi-
tion for the formation of clubs for the purchase of vines at
wholesale rates, by means of which all who wish can obtain
vines with certainty, in best condition, at prices very little
above the actual cost of production, and cheaper than they can
possibly be afforded in single packages to each purchaser.

Mr Stock is very large, numbering many more than two hun-
dred thousand, and I can not dispose of ail that I wish for garden
planting by sending single packages to each purchaser. If the
sales are made through the ordinary agencies, the prices of vines
must be doubled to purchasers, for the expenses of agents are
very great, and they can not live with less ; but there are con-
siderations of much more importance than the additional cost,
for agents very rarely have the knowledge that is necessary to
take the proper care of the plants while they are in their hands,
to be dealt out in the retailing process, and they do not have at
command the facilities for storage and repacking which the
safety of the plants requires.

There are but few persons gifted with fine perception of the
wants of plants while out of the ground, that will enable them
to become good packers, with the most stringent training, and
an agent does not need less qzalificaticn than a good packer.
By receiving the plants direct from my packing-rooms, this
serious dilficulty, which has caused great loss and disappoint-
ment to buyers, is avoided.

Last season I sent out many more than one hundred thousand
plants in the manner now proposed, and the operation was si
advantageous to purchasers, and so satisfactory to myself, that
I have determined to pursue it altogether, and trust to adver-
tising to call attention to my wares, rather than resort to the
expensive means of personal solicitation through agents. Tills
does not preclude the action of local club-agents, to whom a
very small gratuity is allowed in vines for their own planting to
isompensate for their duties as secretary of the club.

The express furnishes a speedy and safe means of transporta-
tion, which agents rarely employ, and the cost when divided
among the members of a club, is so little for the greatest dis-
tances that it is scarcely worthy of consideration.

By receiving the plants direct from me, the responsibility is
direct, and if error or any wrong occurs, it is easily and speedily
righted, without cost or trouble, except to name it.

The express company has never refused or hesitated to cor-
rect an error that has occurred In the transmissJon of my pack-
ages, or to make good a loss.

But losses very rarely occur, and delays as rarely, except at
the place of delivery, for which the receiver will do well always
to hold himself responsible, for this point of express duty is not
unfrequently neglected. With this last exception, I guarantee
the reception In perfect order of all plants sent by express from
my establishment.

Praise for the best packing has been uniformly accorded to
mt by all who have had opportunity to judge, both In the
uoontry and In the different countries of Europe, and still more
autant countries to which my vines have been sent

Entered, accordii^ ti^ Am u>' Congress, in the year 1863, by C. W.

States for the Southern

I have made the propagation of vines my special study and
occupation for a great number of years, for the purpose of dis-
seminating better plants of the best varieties than can be don«
by any other propagator, and on more advantageous terms to
purchasers.

My vines are offered under the certainty of knowledge that
they are of quality greatly superior to those that can be offered
by any other propagator, and he prices are lower than the bare
cost of the production of th >se of greatly Inferior quality would
have been under ordinary means of propagation.

My establishment is vastly more extensive than any other for
the same purpose in this country or anywhere. The business
originated with me, and all of those who are imitating It are yel
afar off in the facilities which they can command for the pro-
duction of the best plants, and in the quality of the plants pr*
duced, as has been shown uniformly by the results of numeroui
trials in every State In the whole Union. I undertook the busi-
ness because, after repeated trials by myself and others. It was
apparent that without more than the ordinary means of propa-
gation were to be used, the Delaware would not be able, until
a long time should elapse, to perform its part in making this
distinctively the country of the vine. And our excellent Diana
was but little less in need of assistance of the same kind ; for
none but very imperfect plants had been produced, and thoss
very sparingly, during a period of twelve years, and there were
no promising indications of any thing better from any quarter.

After experimenting with great attention for five years, and
obtaining very satisfactory results, showing conclusively, by the
products of numerous trials, that vastly better plants could be
obtained with care and skill, aided by proper appliances and ac
improved method, than vineyardists had ever conceived possi-
ble, so that vineyards at four years old would be able to give
better results than Europeans had ordinarily obtained In seven ;
at the stage when my operations had taken a mature fom^,
and extensive appliances and a large propagating stock had
been provided at a cost of many thousands of dollars, a disas-
trous fire destroyed the whole. At that time numerous imita-
tors had sprung -up who, without any knowledge of the business,
except what they had obtained by inspection of my operations,
flattered themselves with the hope that they should be able to
sell vines at very large prices, which they did not doubt being
able to produce abundantly at very small cost, not knowing that
to practical skill and application, great experience must also b«
added for the production of good plants which would bear out
promises of excellence in the garden and vineyard. The most of
them failed utterly, while some, stimulated to perseverance by
the hope that my loss would be Irreparable, were able to pro
duce great numbers of inferior and worthless plants that have
done much to bring both the kinds of vines and the manner of
propagation into disrepute with some who do not make the in-
A'estigation that is necessary to enable them to discriminate
between excellence and inferiority.

My stock and appliances were speedily replaced, on a greatly
enlarged scale, by an expenditure of more than thirty thousand
dollars in one season, with very Important Improvements, for
the production of all kinds of plants, but especially for those
called "Extras" and "Best Selection," which no one has at-
tempted to imitate.

The art of producing the best vines that will be perfect in
hardihood, vigor, and productiveness. In garden and vineyard, is
not only difficult of acquirement, but requires the most assiduous
attention by night as well as by day ; jet I hare found such a
degree of success practicable that the result is constant and un-
failing, and I am not compelled to charge my customers for any
losses or Imperfections. The degree of regularity of germination
and growth from the buds that I put into the ground greatly
surpasses that of the best corn-field. It is brought about by using
none but perfect eyes that have been produced for the purpose
after a long course of treatrrent, by which the wood has become
so perfect and enduring that it never loses any of its leaves un-
til the completion of the season, so that the buds are furnished
with the full measure of strength that belongs to them, and by
treating these eyes or buds so that all of their wants are as faily
supplied as if they had remained upon the mother branches. My
numerous assistants perform their part under my own immedi-
ate supervision, with a spirit that springs from a love of excel-
lence. In consequence, I am able to offer what may be repr«>
sented as perfect vines at the cheapest rates.

To early Fall purchasers I offer special inducements.

For the advantages of early Fa.l purchases, see Catalogues, In
which there is embodied such information as from very extended
experience, I have found purchasers and planters to be in need
of; and although named catalogues, they are a Manual of Grap*
Culture.

Orakt, In the Clerk's Ofilc« of th« District Cou S of th<. i'nitrl
Dbtrlct of New-Tork.

Description of all the Valuable Varieties of HARDY VINES, including a Brief
Account of many that are of no value for cultivation, but are noticed because
they have been recommended above their merits.

Description of Varieties.

Our hai'dy vines may, with few exceptions, be included in six prin-
cipal groups :

IsADBLLi Group.

Isabella, Massachusetts White,

York Madeira, Northern Jluscadine,

Alexander, Charter Oak,

Creveling, Sage,

liOgan, Catharine,

Concord, Perkins,

Hartford Prolific,
Adirondac,

Dracut Amber,
Blood's Black.

Seedlinqs trov Isabella.
Israella, Garrigues,

Union Village, Arkansas,

Manhattan, Louise,

Hyde's Kliia, Rebecca.

Catawba,

Catawba Group.

Bland's Virginia.

Sbbdlingb from Catawba.
Diana, Kilvington,

Annaj Cassady,

Wilmingtcn, Raabe,

Mammoth Catawba, Mottled Catawba,

To Kalon, Coleman's White,

Southern Group.
Herbemont, Elsingburg,

Lincoln, Norton's Virginia,

Lenoir, Alvey,

Pauline, Long.

■^he Ballace, sometimes called " Southern Fox," and also " Vitis Ro-
tuadifolia," with its principal variety, the Scuppernong, are not includ-
ed in the descriptions. All of these varieties are too tender except for
Southern climate, and none of them have proved to be valuable for
»uy purpose even there.

Minor or Venango may represent a transition class between North-
•ra and Southern fox grapes.

Another intermediate class may be designated as the Virginia Mount-
»!n grapes, including both black and white varieties, of which Taylor
or Bullitt may represent the white, and one disseminated by Mr. Raabe
nnder the name of Emily, the Black.

Clinton and Marion
Are representatives of the same class at the North, including White
Clinton.

tlR. Raabb's Seedlings, (so called.)

Clara, Brinckle.

Three which do not adhit of Classification.

Delaware, lona,

Allen's Hybrid.

In the following descriptions of our native grapes will be found a
full and accurate account of the characteristics and properties which
constitute the value and importance of all that are worthy of atten-
tion by cultivators.

t shall not give botanical descriptions further than Is required to

designate the habit of the Tines, and in a few instances the form and
character of the leaves, where it may be necessary to distinguish va-
rieties, but shall aim to state clearly and intelligibly, with a sufficient
degree of minuteness, all that pertains to the quality of the fruit, and
the habit, growth, hardiness, and productiveness of all of the kinds
concerning which cultivators and purchasers may desire to be inform-
ed; so that any attentive reader can not fail to form a correct judg-
ment upon which lie may act with confidence and safety in the pur-
chase of wines.

The list of varieties which are worthy of the attention of amateurs
does not comprise more than twenty, and twelve of them will very
nearly afford the full enjoyment of the grape in all of its good kinds.
Those who will cultivate eight of the best varieties in sufficient
number to produce grapes for abundant use, will not lose very much
enjoyment by being deprived of all of the others. A very full descrip-
tive account will be found, at the conclusion, of two new kinds, lona
and Israella, which have been added to the list this season; and it is
not claiming undue importance for them in the scale of merit, to say
that their acquisition doubles the value of our list of grapes for the
table — or rather, for family use. They furnish, in the first place, the
two varieties which possess the qualities most needed in their fruit ;
and the abundance and certainty with which their fruit is produced
in full perfection, in the most unfavorable seasons, is a qualification so
important, that its value can not be easily estimated.

While it is conceded that the chief interest of our horticultural exhi-
bitions the past season has been supplied by the unexampled show of
hardy grapes, let us consider how much, or rather, how little of that
interest was sustained by the Isabella and Catawba, which twelve
years since were of so much more importance than all of the other
kinds together, that no other kinds received or deserved much con-
sideration.

If those had been altogether absent from our best exhibitions thl»
season, scarcely a grain of loss would have been felt ; and this entire
change has occurred, not more in consequence of the surpassing qual-
ity of the new kinds, than of their unfailing constancy of produc-
tion^ while our old favorites just named have been generally mor«
than half a failure in quantity, besides being very inferior in their
own deficient quality.

The two new ones are of the highest quality, either fresh or dried to
raisins, and are not only early in their time of ripening, but excellent
keepers ; one being the earliest of the good kinds, and the other the
best keeper among grapes. Those which have recently become our
best kinds, especially Delaware, Diana, Anna, and Allen's Hybrid, are
not made less valuable by the accession of these two, but the grape is
made by them a much more important fruit, and must now take rank
above the apple in importance, as well as in excellence, without a
dissenting voice, although the apple has heretofore been justly entitled
to the highest consideration.

Our varieties for all seasons and uses, and for all cultivated tastes,
have become sufficiently numerous and diversified without including
any that are not of unexceptionable quality, as will appear in the
course of the descriptions. But still the number is not so great as to
bewilder the attention, and no confusion will result if the names are
not arranged in catalogical order, by which the natural groups wouI(L
be separated, making much repetition necessary in the description*.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES.

To take the subject according to the older in which it comes before
the attention, Isabella and Catawba will be the first noticed, because
these for a long time were the best, and the only kinds of passable
quality known in market or in gardens, and are now more extensively
known than any others.

These being so generally known, may be used and form a kind of
standard for the size of bunches and berries, and color, and they will
serve also as a point of departure for the description of flavor and
quality.

The bunches of the Isabella are large, conic, often "^ith a branch,
which is called a shoulder, but not very properly so. Berries are large
and somewhat oval, with very dark or purplish black color; the skins
rather thick, and containing a pungent essentia! oil that is slightly un-
pleasant in flavor and odor, even when the fruit is in the best condi-
tion to which it can be brought by the longest and most favorable
feasors. The peduncle or stalk is herbaceous and succulent rather
than woody, and becomes very fragile, breaking with a slight touch
after the weather becomes cool, or the occurrence of slight frost.

The structure of the berries is a favorable modification of the most
objectionable natives of our woods, but still retaining in its best con-
dition something of all their defects. It begins to ripen near the sur-
face, and never ripens to the center nor often quite to the surface.
When the process of ripening has extended into the skin, and about
two-thirds of the distance towards the center, the life of the vital ap-
paratus ceases, and no further improvement in the quality of the fruit
can take place. To have the fruit in its best condition, it must be
taken from the vines before the vital action of the stalks ceases entire-
ly, but when it has just as nearly as possible performed its work. At
this time it has all of the vinous life which it can possess, with as little
of the pungency in its skin and offensiveness of odor and flavor as can
belong to it, with its full measure of sweetness. Later the fibrous
toughness of the center breaks down partially, and finally altogether ;
but then its excellence is lost ; all of its spirit being gone, decay hav-
ing beg»'.n ; and the acid of the center being mingled with the sweet
juice of the exterior portion then, renders the fruit spiritless and in-
sipid ; for the jicid is that of unripe fruits, and not that of invigoration
.»nd refreshment. It is always rather feeble in flavor, never having
Bufiicient yivacity and richness to make wine. The beverage which is
produced from its juice never has the excellence that belongs to true
wine, although it is often represented as such by sellers. The Isabella,
under proper treatment, is a good grower, and endures the freezing of
ordinary winters ; but having thin, papery leaves, it often suH'ers
greatly in its foliage by the changes of summer, by which the crops
and often the health of the vines are lost. The fruit, under such cir-
cumstances, often acquires size and blackness without richness.

The Adirondac, a new grape of this group, was found on the shoee of
Lake Champlain, and has recently been introduced by Mr. J. W. Bailey
of Plattsburgh. It is supposed to ripen very early, but it has yet only
been grown in a very warm, sheltered nook, where the conditions have
been peculiarly favorable, both for the growth of the vine and for the
maturity of the fruit. Under such circumstances the Madeleine, Chas-
selas, and Sweetwaters, have attained an equal degree of ripeness much
farther north, which has led to much disappointment in attempting to
^ow them in a warm latitude.

The Adirondac in character possesses chiefly negative commenda-
tions, having not much toughness or acidity at its center, and little if
any of the offensive and nauseating odor that belongs generally to the
group. On the other hand, it has but a moderate amount of sugar,
with so great deficiency of vivacity and invigorating power that it is
Dot easy to give it any positive character. Unless it becomes better
by removal southward, and earlier than indications promise, its rank
in value will not be high, for it will not satisfy those who look to the
grape for such enjoyment as can be found in our best kindp. I have
included the Adirondac in the Isabella group, to which it has aflinity.
not believing it of foreign origin.

There is but one of the old kinds that may be included In the Isabel-
la group that is better than itself, or that will make wine, and that is
Tork Madeira. It is medium in size of bunch and berry, with the
eame characteristics of structure as the Isabella, but much more rich,
fpirited, and pure than that, making excellent wine ; but it is not very
abundant in juice. It is also earlier, and ripens more perfectly. Its
leaves difl'er in appearance from those of Isabella, but are not more
hardy. There is a sub-variety of this much larger, but 'uferior la quali-

ty, that has been known as the Alexander. The latter name Is also
frequently used as a synonj-m of Tork Madeira. York Madeira has, by
error or otherwise, been extensively disseminated under various names,
among which are Canby's August, Hyde's Eliza, Baldwin's Ear'v,
Shepherd's Port Wine, etc.

A great number have been sent forth under different names as better
and earlier than Isabella, which have proved to be simply that ; among
them may be named Ganigues, Arkansas, Miller's Louise, etc.

Creveling is the earliest of all the tolerably good ones of this class,
and ripens nearly three weeks before Isabella. The fruit bears a
strong resemblance to it, but it has a very long peduncle, and the
bunches are more pointed. The Logan is not quite so early, and has
a more brisk flavor, with pretty distinct foliage. In quality it may
rank with the last, and needs no extended description.

Concord is not so early as the last two, and is more objectionable in
its odor and flavor. In habit and foliage it is strictly like the wild-
ings from which it sprung, having very long-jointed wood, and the
characteristic rust on the under side of the leaves. Its gi-eatest recom-
mendations are, a good degree of hardiness, and extreme facility of pro-
pagation. It has the offensiveness of the natives in a large measure,
with almost none of the pure, rich, invigorating proi)erty that givet
high excellence to the grape distinctively, and the faults of the struc-
ture of the fruit are greater than those of the Isabella. Its value con-
sists in its ripening when the Isabella will not, and in its more endur-
ing foliage. Its habit of growth is very objectionable for both garden
and vineyard, where its long canes are not easily restrained within
proper space, and its very long, rambling roots starve the adjoining
plants. The same description will apply to Hartford Prolific, which is
one of the natives from the woods, and is a little lower in quality, bat
one week earlier in ripening. Both this and the Concord have but a
slight attachment to the peduncle after reaching their best degree of
ripening, and drop badly.

Both of these have been talked of for wine, and some persons have
been induced to plant them for this purpose, but only to incur disap-
pointment. It may be taken as a universal truth, that none but rtcA
grapes can make wine, and that the impurity which renders a grape
nauseating will not be less detrimental to the beverage that is made
from it. A further consideration is worthy of attention by those who
plant vineyards for making wine. Those who buy and drink wine for
its benefit and enjoyment, are chiefly persons who have a fine percep-
tion of its excellence, to whom preparations from the grape just named
are no more attractive than a concert of hand-organs to fine musical
perceptions.

It is of little importance to pursue the descending grade any further ;
but some questions will be asked concerning Northern Muscadine, 5Ias-
sachusetts White, the Sage, Catharine, Perkins, Dracut Amber, and an
endless number of others, all meaning the most offensive of the fox
grapes and under almost every dingy hue conceivable except black ;
but this color is just as frequent as any of the others, and Blood's
Black may be also named. The Hartford Prolific is just good enough
to stand at the head of these instead of the latter. Perkins may repre-
sent the red and Catharine the white. None of these are new, and the
offensiveness of all is very rank. Every one of them, under some oth-
er names, have been brought to notice more than once within my knowl-
edge ; but none of them can maintain any position for a moment in
opposition to grapes that are truly fruit, except with a very few tastes,
that find a measure of enjoyment in their very defects ; but these are
not persons who take much enjoyment from grapes of any kind, or
make much use of them. When they do use them, in most instances,
this partial liking passes into disgust as the palate and whole constitution
gain knowledge of better things by the cultivation of the perceptions.
" Charter Oak " is a term of opprobrium, but is only a little more of
fensive than the best of those just named.

The delight which all fruits of high excellence give to those who have
really learned to know them by full and free use, is only in a small
degree measured by the momentary sensation which they communicate
to the palate, although their worth is indicated by it ; but their great
excellence and power of attraction consist in the animation and vigor
which they impart ; in the general healthful tone which they con>
munlcate by their refreshing power, and the aid which they give to
nourishment as digestives, and in the pleasurable emotions which they
excite and sustain by all of these means combined, and from whi'l
their name — enjoyment, becomes very significant.

DESCKIITION OF VAEIKTIES.

For this the peach, wlien in perfect condition, in Us best kinds, is
eminent, as also the citron-melon, the best of pears, and especially the
best of apples ; but the true grape stands at the head of refreshing
and invigorating fruits, greatly surpassing them all.

Great numbers of seedlings have been produced from the Isabella,
But none of distinguished merit are before the public, except Union
Village, Ueljecca, and Israella, the latter recently Introduced by my-
nelf. The evidence of the parentage of the Rebecca is not positive,
and leads only to a strong presumption. The Isabella is so much dis-
posed to the production of what are called white kinds, all of which are
more or less greenish, that among those which 1 have grown, at least
one third are of that color; and many of them have foliage which is
not distinguishable from the Rebecca, with fruit also strongly resemb-
ling it in appearance and quality, but in all instances retaining some-
thing of the Isabella flavor, as is the case with the Rebecca. Some
are much better than the parent in quality, but more are either not
better or below. A number would have been very good if their foliage
had not been tender like that of the Rebecca ; but they have been gen-
erally lacking In vinous spirit, besides retaining too distinct sugges-
tions of their foxy parentage.

Hyde's Eliza is a seedling from Isabella, and may be somewhat
earlier but is not better, and has not deserved the reputation that it
has received from the error by which York Madeira was disseminated
under that name.

I^rAella is very distinguishable from the foregoing, having strong
and enduring foliage, with fruit sufficiently vinous and spirited ; that
npens and becomes very sugary and tender quite to the center. Until
the fruit has become quite ripe, the flavor is slightly suggestive of its
origin ; but whea fully mature, it is of such purity as to have been call-
ed the " American Hamburg." The bunches are large, compact, and
shouldered ; berries large, globular, and very dark, adhering to the
peduncle firmly, and remaining a bunch when dried to raisins.

Raisins can only be made of fleshy grapes, the substance of which all
becomes elaborated into fruit. Such grapes as Isabella, Concord, Hart-
ford Prolific, etc., may be dried ; but the part that is fully ripened dries
all away, and the part that remains unripe is, when dried, simply a
ra.ass of fibrous acidity, Herbemont being nearly all juice, (contained
of course in cellular bags,) and without7?<3sA, in drying leaves notliing
except the skin and seeds. The Muscat of Alexandria, and the Fron-
tignans, are fleshy but perfect fruit, and uniform to the center; and
when dried, have still much substance remaining, which retains, in a
concentrated form, a large part of the excellence which belonged to the
fruit in its fresh condition ; for examples of which see the best bloom
raisins which are made of these grapes. In this sense the Israella is a
fleshy grape, having fruity substance when dried, that is rich and
spirited in flavor.

The Israella ripens very early ; has never been aHected by rot or
mildew, and is one of the best for late keeping in consequence of its
fleshy structure ; and ths vine is all that can be desu-ed in habit, mak-
ing strong, short-jointed canes, that ripen early and endure the winter
iininjured.

Union Village is a very remarkable seedling from the Isabella, pro-
duced by the Shakers at Union Village, near Cincinnati, Ohio. It is
very large in all its proportions of vine, foliage, bunches, and berries.
The bunches have weighed more than two pounds, and the berries
•qual the size of Hamburgs. In flavor it Is nearly pure, sweet but
only moderately vinous, and becomes good quite to the center, and
ripens at least one week before Isabella. It is often suffered to over-
bear, which prevents the wood from ripening and renders the vine lia-
ble to winter-killing. It is, under favorable conditions, as hardy as
Isabella and is nearly free from its foxy defects. It is immensely
productive, and always becomes one of the wonders of the garden.

The Manhattan is a seedling of the Isabella, while in color but main-
lltlniug much of the Isabella ch.iracter in its fruit. It has the thin,
|«pery leaves of the parent, and is even more subject to mildew and
Bun-scald. The fruit has more spirit than the Isabella, but is not with-
out Its faults in flavor and structure, which render it unfit for general
cultivation.

I have left the Rebecca until the last, not because It is not worthy of
consideration, but because its difference of color would at first thought
place it in a class of that color ; but we shall hereafter have more of this
svior that are of Isabella orij,'ici, and partake in the same manner of its
aivacter.

The Rebecca has been very extensively disseminated, but its habits,
qualities, and requirements are' not yet generally understood; in con-
sequence of which many have been disappointed. It is not a diminutive
grower, so far as the length and size of its canes are concerned, but its
foliage is small, deficient in enduring substance, and suffers badly from
the trials of our ordinary summers, except in specially favorable local-
ities. The leaves often fail before either the fruit or wood becom*
mature, rendering the first greatly deficient in spirit and flavor, and tlu
latter with its roots tender and unable to endure the winter. It is one
of the easiest to propagate, so far as the multiplication of numbers le
concerned, but one of the most difficult for the production of strong
hardy plants, that retain their leaves in full action to the end of th'
seasoiy'

The bunches are medium or small, often slightly shouldered ; berrie
medium, often large globular, or pyriform from pressure ; color light
yellowish green, nearly white, tinged with pale amber when struck by
the sun, with some degree of translucency, giving something of the a.\y-
pearance of foreign grapes. In the texture and formation of the flesh
there is also an approach to the European character, becoming nearly
sweet and tender to the center ; and when so fully ripened that the skins
become pretty thin, the juice is sweet, moderately invigorating, and with
but little of the impurities of the Isabella. Even when in best condition,
it always lacks the vinous spirit that is the proper constituent of a grape
of very high excellence, and is never without at least a slight intimation
of its foxy origin.

The Catawba is the tj^pe of a widely different group, that may be
characterized as high-flavored, invigorating, and vinous or wine-making,
in contradistinction from the foregoing generally feeble-flavored, spirit-
less, or unanimating kinds.

In form and size the bunches of the Catawba are much like Isabella,
but less compact, with stronger and more woody peduncles, to which
the berries remain more firmly attached. The berries have the same
structure and texture, ripening from near the surface towards the cen-
ter, but never quite reaching it; always having some tough, fibrous
flesh at the center, which remains unripe and acid. The skins have
also, even when in best condition, some pungency that on"ends tender
mouUis, and something of foxy odor ; and there is also always present
in the juice some tannic acid, which causes a perceptible degree of as-
tringency. In sugar, tartaric acid, and spices, well produced and well
ripened Catawbas are rich, and the juice is strongly suggestive of re-
freshing wine. In this the excellence of the true grape is marred by the
inseparable defects named ; but the vinous spirit has made it a favorite
with many to whom the Isabella family have furnished no enjoyment.

Although it is much above the Isabella in quality, and commands a
higher price as it is ordinarily sold in New-York markets, it is rarely if
ever found there in its best condition, the climate of the vicinity not
being sufficient to mature the fruit fully under the ordinary circum-
stances of open culture, without the strict training and severe thinning
which are not often given. Excellent wine, resembling the German
Iloch of high character, has for many years been made of it at Cincin-
nati, whicli is more than three degrees farther south ; but that which
is made and advertised as " Pure Catawba Wine," in the latitude of
New- York, has never deserved the name. The defects have not been
simply tlie want of richness and the mingling of the acids of the unripe
fruit in the juice, to its deterioration, but the fine elaboration of the part
next the skin, which afTords the exquisite spice, not being performed
by the completion of the ripening process, a harsh flavor and offensive
odor takes its place. (See this matter fully treated in Landmarks.)

The large globular berries have often a fine, deep purple color, with
a good degree of translucency that give promise of excellence, and
makes it very beautiful. It is also beautiful before becoming fully ripe,
when the coppery red is beginning to be veined with the streakings of
violet, which afterwards soften and blend to produce the purple which
characterizes its maturity.

It is of Southern origin, and requires special care in the most favor-
able situations, to enable it to perform well in the latitude of New- York ;
and it is everywhere so disposed to great loss by rot, that the high value
which would have belonged to its excellence of quality, has been great-
ly lessened, and it is now being rapidly superseded by better, as well as
more hardy kinds. A grape called Bland's Virginia, of the same char-
acter of fruit, but better in quality, was introduced many years since;
but its foliage was so tender that its cultivation has not been extended
even in gardens. Bland has less fibrous toughness tlian Catawbk,

DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES.

The Diana, a seedling trom Catawba, is a great improvement upon
the original iu every respect. The vinies are much more hardy, and the
fruit ripens two weeks earlier, with purer, riolier, and even more spir-
ited flavor. Its bunches are large and compact; tlie berries are often
very large, but when suffered to overbear, tliey are often not quite so
large as those of Catawba.

Tlie fruit begins to become transparent and to commence ripening
very early, and soon becomes pretty good, but with some degree of
offensive odor and flavor. As the ripening progresses these disappear,
and that wliich constituted the great thickness of the skins, by com-
plete elaboration in ripening, gives the peculiar spicy richness that
characterizes this variety, leaving the skins very thin ar.d the flavor
exceediiisly ricli, spirited, and pure. Tlie Diana bears very early, and
its first produce contains only promises of its mature excellence. It is
greatly disposed to over-production and to excessive vigor of growth
when young, and consequently requires removal of its excess of fruit
as soon as it has set, and a judicious course of training, which will en-
able it to give full exposure of all its leaves to the sun, that its wood
may be matured. When the vines have attained sufficient maturity
for bearing they readily take a very compact habit, by which they are
adapted for any good system of training, under which they do not fail
to ripen abundant crops constantly. Where its habit and wants are
not understood, and the canes are i)ermitted to crowd each other, nei-
tlier wood nor fruit can ripen satisfactorily. The proper treatment is
aliown in Illustrated Catalogue, and more fully in Landmarks.

It is one of the indispensable varieties, from its assemblage of good
qu;ilities, ranking next to Delaware and lona in value, and in its pro-
per latitude may advantageously constitute a portion of every vine-
yard, eitlier as a grape for the table or for wine. When well managed
it« bunches and berries are large and beautiful, having a fine transparent
wine color, marked with white stars, and covered with a fine bloom.
Its excellence is becoming more apparent from the development of each
succeeding season. One noted cultivator has been so struck with as-
tonishment at its excellence that he has named it ''Eureka." For late
keeping it is one of the very best ; season of ripening more than a
week, or nearly two weeks before the Isabella, and quite as early as
Concord. The originating of this variety, by Mrs. Diana Creliore, of
Milton, Mass., marks one of the important events in the history of
American grape culture.

The Anna is a white grape, produced in the garden of Mr. Eli
Hasbrouck, of Newburgh, Orange County, N. Y., and has sufficient re-
semblance to the Catawba, in habit, and appearance of wood and
foliage, and also in the character of the fruit, to leave no doubt as to
its parentage.

The foliage, in addition to its strong Catawba character, has a pecu-
liar marking, or mottling of yellow, in the early part of the season,
that often leads careless observers to the belief that it is very liable to
attacks of mildew, whereas it is one of the most hardy to resist, and
these marks appear long before the season of mildew.

The bunches are large, moderately compact, generally shouldered,
(branched,) ben-ies large and globular, with very little translucency
until the commencement of ripening, which is ten days before the Ca-
tawba begins to color. The fruit begins to be sweet as soon as it shows
any transparency, but requires a full season to acquire its best degree
of ripeness. One of the characteristics of the Catawba family is the
imperfection of the produce of very young vines, of which the Anna
fully partakes ; but as it acquires age the fruit ripens early, and so
perfectly, that very little toughness, and scarcely a vestige of acidity
at its center remains. In pure, rich, vinous, and invigorating flavor
it is not equaled by any hardy grapes, and scarcely surpassed by tlie
Muscat of Alexandria.

The stalks are strong and woody ; the berries adhere firmly to the
bunch ; the flesh is somewhat meaty, drying readily to raisins, without
any disposition to decay, and it is one of the best for very late keeping.
The remarkable invigorating spirit of its extremely sugary vinous
juice renders it very acceptable to persons suffering from debility.

Wilmington is a white grape, of spirited Catawba flavor, that ripens
rather late but becomes good to the center, and for latitude south of
New-York may become of some importance.

Mammoth Catawba is a white seedling, raised by Mr. Mottier. It is
not equal to the parent in quality, being coarse and fibrous in texture
knd more foxy, Imt is of enormous size, as its name indicates.

lo Kalon is another seedling from Catawba, of very distinct char-

acter in foliage and fiuit. The leaves hare a rufTled appearance,
caused by the overlapping of their ahe, that is very common among
European kinds, but is scarcely found besides among our natives.

In habit it is strong, compact, and healthy ; but tlie leaves some-
times fail, and the fruit often suffers badly from " rot." Tie bunches,
when perfect, are large, the berries are also large, globular, with a pe-
culiar dark purple color, and some degree of translucency. It is eae-
lier than Catawba, and when in best condition ripens quite to the
center, and retains no vestige of the fox. The flesh is buttery, rather
than floviing with juice, which is pure, sugary, and sufficiently vinous,
but little spicy, and not particularly refreshing. The disposition to
rot detracts greatly from its value.

Kilvington is another Catawba seedling, so like its parent as not to
require a separate description. It is earlier and more tender in it*
structure, and it appears to be more pure in its flavor, but has not been
sufliciently tested to have its qualities precisely ascertained.

Cassady is a white grape of doubtful parentage, but possesses much
of the Catawba vinous spirit, and deserves to rank among the good
kinds where the climate will ripen it, which is about the same as is re-
quired by the Catawba.

Raabe is a seedling of Catawba, that has been long before the public,
but is yet but little disseminated. The bunches and berries are small,
but the quality is excellent, the grapes ripening quite to the center ;
of a uniform, flesh}', but tender consistence, sugary, vinous, and spicy,
pure, and very rich. Its foliage is strikingly like that of Catawba, and
the fruit, like it, often suffers from the " rot."

There is a Mottled Catawba, raised by Mr. Carpenter, of Kelly's Is-
huid, which resembles the Catawba in all general characteristics ex-
cept that the ordinary Catawba color of the skin is mottled with lighter
colors, as its name implies. There are some others not yet fully before
the public, but not any of great promise.

There are two white grapes of recent introduction, that do nDt
readily taU into any group, but may be briefly described separately
These are Cuyahoga and Maxatawney, the former of which originated
in the grounds of Mrs. Wemple, at CoUamore, not far from Cleve-
land, Ohio, and the latter near Philadelphia. It appears that the
grape which had been known for some years as Coleman's White is
Identical with the Cuyahoga ; and if so, injustice was done to purchas-
ers, for good plants of Coleman's White were to be obtained at mode-
rate prices, while large prices were asked for the most worthless plants
of the so-called Cuyahoga tliat were ever sent out.

The Cuyahoga is a medium bunch, with large hemes, considerably
translucent, and with very little toughness or acidity at its center. It
is sugar}' and vinous, with a peculiar flavor that is often prized.

It is very readily propagated, and grows finely, but the leaves do
not appear to be very hardy, and but very little is known with cer-
tainty as to its productiveness or time of ripening. It is claimed to be
earlier than Isabella.

Maxatawney is spirited and vinous, but ripens too late for a latitude
north of Philadelphia, except in very warm situations.

There is a remarkable group of Southern grapes, of which Herbemont
may be taken as the representative, which have none of the character-
istics of the American Fox grapes, either of the North or South. These
have thin skins adhering to the flesh, which is tender and good quite
to the center, and without pungency or offensive odor. All of them are
pure, rich, vinous, and excellent in flavor, and have a general resem-
blance to the Pineau family of Europe, from which it is by many sup-
posed they may have originated by seeds that were brought perhaps as
early as the time of Sir Walter Raleigh. This opinion has no better
foundation than conjecture, aided by the character of the fruit which
affiliates with none but the European kinds.

The original " Herbemont's Madeira " is still growing near Colucbb
in South-Carolina, but vines of the same kind had been known at War-
renton, in Georgia, some years before the particular vine ft'om which
Mr. Herbemont took his cuttings had been spoken of, and possibly it
may have been introduced from Georgia. It is, perhaps, the most
rampant grower of all the vines known, but with a very close, short-
jointed habit and abundant foliage, that endures our seasons very
well, despite its European appearance. The canes are very large and
smootti, with beautiful violet color, thickly covered with waxen bloom.
At first bearing, the bunches are not very large and the berries are
extremely small ; but with mature age, the berries become almost me-
dium in size, and the bunches very large and double-shouldered. Tb*

JJfiSCRlPTION OP VARIETIES.

eolor Is dark lilue, a little tingcil nrtcn willi yiolet. The berries are
ilmost without flesh jiiid fall of ch-.if juice that Is siifHcieiitly susavy
»ii<l very l)ri^kIy vimuis, sjiiiitcd, aiul refreshing. It makes very ileli-
catc iititl pure-flavcnetl claret wine, but having scarcely a trace of
tannic acid It i? not endurin-;, and is disposed to acetous fermentation.

Foreigners who eat tliese grapes pronounce them excellent, and able
to take ;i high rank in flavor wlicn compared with their own good
kinds, and some of oar own people find in them a degree of invigorat-
ing refreshment wh.ich they can not obtain from the more luscious,
sugary kinds. One or two vines on a pretty large trellis will add great-
ly to the value of any collection where tlie.v will fully ripen. Its season
is perhaps one week later than the Isabella, but on the south side of a
wall, fence, or building it will ripen constantly at least one degree
north of New-York, and in warm localities still farther.

For ornament, and especially for covering the south or south-easterly
Me of a house or building, these vines are well adapted by their beau-
ty, and in such situations none are more constantly productive. It is
wci'. to lay tlie vines down in winter, although their thoroughly ripened
wood iy able to endure severe freezing.

Lenoir, of the same group, is a native of the mountains of North-
Curiilina, and differs from the Ilerhemont in its foliage and also in the
smallei size of its bunches and less vigorous growth. The fruit is also
more sagary and makes enduring wine of very high character, that is
not less delicate and pure in flavor than that of the Herbeniont. It
ripens more than a week earlier, and the grapes are not less excellent
for the table. The berries are rather small, very juicy, rich, and ten-
der quite to the center, with a spicy Pinot flavor ; bunches compact, not
large, but handsome.

Lincoln is another of the group, and for general cultivation is the
most valuable of the class, being very productive, ripening early or
considerably before Isabella, with all of the purity and sugary richness
that belongs to the best of the Pinots. It is excellent for the table,
and makes wine that is second to none in jiurity and delicacy of flavor,
while in richness it greatly surpasses Catawba and approaches the
Delaware. The wine keeps well and improves by age.

Pauline is one of the richest, most spicy, and excellent of the group
in flavor, but has not been tested thoroughly in the Northern States, so
that it is now impossible to state precisely its time of ripening or de-
gree of hardiness, but it may be supposed in these respects to differ
but little from Ilerbemont, which is the case at the South. It has a
peculiar color of mingled copper and violet, and is said to be only
moderately productive, which is saying its bunches are not large in
proportion to its canes, for all kinds produce their three bunches to
each cane.

Alvey may be classed with these in purity of flavor, tenderness of
flesh, and general appearance, but in briskness and moderation of
Bugar it resembles Ilerbemont. Its berries are larger and bunches
emaller, but it ripens earlier.

Elsingburg, by its tenderness to the center and purity of flavor and
by its general appearance, may be classed with these, but it is still
quite distinct from them, yet has not any relationship to the wild
grapes. It is extremely rich, sugary, spicy, and spirited, and bears
gome resemblance in its flavor to the exquisite Schiras, and might be
expected to make wine like Hermitage. It has not been tested for
wine, but no doubt can be entertained as to its excellence for that
purpose. It is hardj', not disposed to rot or mildew, and rijiens one
week before Isabella. Bunches large, and berries small and very
black.

Norton's Virginia and the Ohio Segar-box do not require separate
descriptions. Long Is like Ilerbemont, but later and less valuable,
failing to ripen even in Georgia, from the crowding of the berries on
the bunches.

The Minor or Venango Is a fox grape from which wine has been
made, but it is not sufficiently valuable to be retained on the list for
cultivation. Bunches medium, compact, light copper color ; ripens
rather early, and has all of the ordinary characteristics of the foxes, ex-
cept that the attachment to the bunches is jjretty strong.

Tliere is a class that includes both black and wliite that have been
desigmited Virginia Mountain grapes, of which the Taylor or Bullitt
may be taken as the white representative. The flavor is tolerably
good, but the bunches are generally small and It has not a sufficient
degree of goodntee to entitle it to continuance on the list for cultivation,
■Ad the black ones have still less merit.

Clara is a white grape of foreign ciiar.acteristics that has been on the
list for some years, lint is not of sullicicnt value to rank very high by
tlie side of the Delaware and lona. It is jiure and rich, ripen; snfR-
clently early, but does not promise to be very productive cindei »rdi-
nary circumstances.

Brlnckle, if a seedling, is of the Pineau character, and not bett«r
adapted for our climate than any of the foreign grapes of that class,
being subject to mildew and not equal to Lincoln and Pauline In
quality.

Of Uogers's Hybrids too little is known to admit of precise dcscri|>-
tion. No. 7 resembles Minor in appearance and quality; Nos. 11 and
19 are large black grapes, of not more than tolerable quality; and
Nos. 1, 4, 5, 9, 14, and 34 may be taken as favorable specimens of the
whole. I do not fhi:ik the proof is clear and beyond doubt that any
of them are hybrids, and further evidence of merit is necessary to piace
any of thein among our standard kinds.

The Delaware grape is easily jiraised in the warmest terms, but it in
still the most diflicult of all to describe truly, because in its most essen-
tial characteristics it has no very near analogy in any other fruits. Of
the character and hal)it of the vine it is also difficult to speak so as to
be perfectly apprehended, because the peculiarities in which its exceed-
ing value consists are not those to which value is generally attached.
Its close short-jointed habit, with very hard wood of only medium or
small size, are often contrasted with tlie gross long-jointed wood of the
coarser kinds, to the disparagement of the Delaware ; whereas in this
consists the strongest point of excellence — the habit of the vine ren-
dering it easy of training in any desired form, with the most hardy
and enduring character after establishment in bearing, in which im-
portant conditions those of grosser porous habit are always deficient.

The Delaware has so good a degree of vigor that more is not desira-
ble, and is unsurpassed in the abundance and active, hardy, enduring
character of its foliage, which, in addition to excellence of quality in
its fruit, is the most important point in vines. Unless the vine pos-
sesses both in an eminent degree, its value can not be great, and in
both of these respects the Delaware is unsurpassed, and it may be
said, is unequaled, especially as a grape for the vineyard for wine-
making. Its wood is harder and heavier than that of any other vine,
and it surpasses all others in hardiness. Its growth is suQicicntly
vigorous, and it delights in generous treatment, which does not render
it less enduring or impair the quality of its fruit.

At first bearing, and especially when the ground- has been excess-
ively enriched, the fruit has something of foxy odor and an injuriouH
degree of tough unrijieness at its center, but on mature vines that are
not permitted greatly to overbear, the fruit becomes sweet quite to tlie
center, but is never without that meaty consistence which constitutes
tlie flesh of raisins. In pure, rich, spicy, vinous flavor, abounding iu
sugar, the Delaware is not surpassed by any grape foreign or native,
and is only equaled by some of the small foreign kinds, like Wliite
Ricssling, which have not half the productive ability of the Delaware.
Its Ijunches are compact and very symmetric in form, having a branch
like Isabella and Catawba, which is called a shoulder, with its berries
firmly adhering to the woody peduncle.

The berries have a great degree of transparency from the beginning,
which increases until the perio<l of ripeness, when the clear trans-
parency of their beautiful peculiar color renders the uniformly iier-
feet bunches exceedingly attractive in appearance, and withdraws
all attention from the opaque kinds, whatever may be their size or
quantity.

Under the training and management adapted to its habit, its
bundles and berries become of good size, and there Is no kind more
productive by weight, and no vine that sustains itself so well against
injury from over-bearing, to which it is almost constantly subjected.

It ripens very early, or about three weeks before Isabella, and at
any given time is better for eating than the earliest of the coarse bl.ack
gr.ipes, including Hartford Prolific, wliioh is perhaps the earliest of its
class. The pure rich delicacy of its wine as greatly surpasses that of
the Catawl)a as does the character of its fruit. When tested by the
saccharoineter it maintains the same preeminence that is always
awarded to it by the palate, and in consequence of the fineness of its
flesh, destitute of coarse, unripe fiber, ten pounds and a half will
yield a gallon of wine, for wliich at least twelve pounds of the most
fully-ripened Catawbas are required. The fruit is one of the best for
hite keeping, and does not decay or lose its spirit, but dries readily tc

8

DESCRIPTION OF VAniKlIES.

nisins, wlilcli, when sufficiently dried, maintaiu tlie Muscat meaty
character witliout any diminution of transiiarency. I am not ac-
quainted witli any grape among tlie foreign liinds tliat comprises so
"aluabie ;in assemblage of excellences, and we have none among our
own, except lona, that can be placed by the side of it, although Diana
!a one that we can not spare from our list for garden or vineyard.

Tona ij a seedling from Diana, and has none of its defects, with a
large amount of excellence peculiarly its own. The vine is of best
babit. being strong, vigorous, and hardy, with large, short-jointed
canes iind abundant thick, fleshy, and enduring foliage, which remains
antil both wood and fruit are fully ripened. It flowers and sets its
fruit late, but matures very early, and thus avoids danger from late
spring and early autumn frosts. It bears very early and abundantly,
giving excellent fruit that is tender to the center at first, but improves
In spirit, sugar, and richness as the vines acquire mature age. The
l>erries are large or very large, and the bunches very large and winged
or double-shouldered like the European grapes, and the berries are
remarkably transparent from their first setting, which is indicative of
the tenderness of the flesli. The color is peculiar, but is sometimes
aecn in the Catawba wlien its coppery hue becomes almost crimson,
with minute veinings of violet or amethyst.

Tlie same is often seen in what is called the Grizzly Frontignan,
which the lona strongly resembles both in appearance and flavor.

The structure of the berries is uniform from the circumference to the
center, melting under a slight pressure from the tongue, and when
fully ripe flows with most abundant clear, vinous juice.

In flavor it is rich, spicy, with a fine, delicate, muscatel aroma
added to its sugary and refreshing wine, constituting it one of the
most delightful and refreshing of grapes. For late keeping it is fully
equal to Diana, and is not in the least disposed to rot or lose its vinous
spirit, but dries readily to the most spirited of raisins, for which it is
admirably fitted by having only a few very small seeds, as well as by
its tender, meaty structure. From its early bearing and extreme pro-
ductiveness, and the certainty of its crops, as well as from the charau-
ter of its fruit, it must become equal in value to the Delaware and
superior to all others. It has not been tested for wine, but can not
fail of taking a high rank for that purpose. On another page its his-
tory and characteristics are more fully stated.

Allen's Hybrid is the only grape that bears in itself full proof of
hybridization. The Isabella was its mother, and which of the foreign
kinds furnished the father is doubtful. It has all o€ the excellence of
Golden Cliasselas, with much more vinous spirit and refreshment. It
is nearly white in the shade, very translucent, and fine light amber
when sunned near the time of ripening. It has very peculiar leaves,
which have great ability to withstand mildew, and appears to be quite
hardy. Init may be for safety laid down in winter. It is strong, short-
jointed, ;'.nd vigorous in habit, and bears early and abundantly. The
bunches are large, sometimes branched like Isabella and sometimes
ahouldercd like foreign kinds. The time of ripening is not yet fully
.'Ascertained, as it appears each season to become earlier, and may pcr-
hai)s surjiass the Delaware. By laying down in winter it will probably
be one of the best for the North, where it will be i ntirely exempt
from mildew and blight. Each j'ear gives additional evidence that
tills is one of our most esteemed varieties for the garden.

The lona and lamella, after six years of thorough trial in different
localities, have uniformly exhibited great excellence, and shown them-
selves, all things considered, to be superior to any native kinds in cul-
tivation.

The lona, in particular, for table use, will mark an era in American
gn'.ipe culture not less important than that so happily distinguished by
the introduction of the Delaware, which has wrought an entire revolu-
tion in our ideas of the characteristics of a good grape.

The former idea, as shown by the Isabella, and even by the Cataw-
ba, to "ome extent, even under the most favorable circumstances, and
when hi the best condition, was that of a considerable amount of good-
ness always inseparable from some degree of badness, which made a
very broad distinction between the best European kinds and those of
our own country, greatly to the disparagement of the latter.

The present ideals that of unmingled goodness, with a degree of re-
storative, inspiriting excellence that belongs to no other fruit. In the
presence of the grape, we can not characterize the juice of the noble

color, a little tinted with amethyst, and is translucent from tt e flnl
setting of the fruit, like the best European kinds ; the bunches arc alw
" winged " like those, that is. shouldered on each side, instead of being
branched like the Delaware and our ather native kinds. Its seeds are
few and extremely small.

The flesh is of uniform consistence quite to the center, and as swee' 1
at the center as near the skin ; in quality and appearance it r.ion. ' >
nearly resembles the Red Frontignan than any other grape. Like that <!
most esteemed Muscat variety, it is transparent, fleshy, tender, and is
even more spirited and vinous, and makes more spirited raisins. It
does not decay, and may be kept all winter on the shelves of the fruit-
room, adhering firmly to the bunch, and at length dries to raisins.

It is an early and profuse bearer, never having failed to fully ripea
its crop, and has never been affected with rot or any unhealthiness
during its trial, even in the most unfavorable seasons for the grape that
we have ever known. The third year from tlJe seed (185T) it bore and
thoroughly ripened many fine bunches.

The habit of the vine and the quality of the fruit are both so good,
that it would be difficult to say in what respect they could be altered
for the better.

It ripens fully two weeks before the Isabella, hangs long upon the
vine, and is not injured in its flavor or texture by severe frost. Flower-
ing late, it avoids danger from spring frosts. It has none of t!;e of-
fensive native muskiness, but a genuine, delightful Muscat flavor, and
with its spirited richness, it may be inferred th.it it will take .ns high
rank for wine as for the table, although it has not been tested for that
purpose.

The ISRAELLA is a large black grape, ripening one week before the
lona, and is the earliest black grape that is large, excellent, and hardy.
Like the lona, it adheres firmly to the bunch, is a late keeper, and
dries early to raisins, which are sweet and rich. It matures from with-
out toward the center, and when fully ripe, has no acidity or tough
ness remaining, being exceedingly sweet, rich, and good thrt ughou
its entire substance. It is somewhat suggestive of a spirited Green
Gage plum by its peculiar luscious flavor. It is not deficient in vinous
life, and is pronounced most excellent by all who have eaten it.

The vine has uniformly maintained its remarkable health and hardi
hood, and, during the five jears of its fruiting, has been constant in
its exceeding productiveness. It has never been affected by mildew,
nor has the fruit suffered from '' rot."

The lona and Israella, at first fruiting, stood out from a great num
ber of seedlings very prominently for excellence of flavor, and the
hardy endurance and productiveness of the vine.

A few words in regard to the origin and history of these vines may
here be added. The years lSaO-54: inclusive were very favorable, by
their he.-it and dryness, 'o the growth of the vine ; in 1SC>4, however,
there was some thinning of the crop by the rot among the Isabellas
and Catawbas, but scarcely a show of it among the Dianas, which had
that season arrived at a good degree of maturity, and excited my sur-
prise by the size, beauty, and excellence of the fruit.

I determined to plant all of the seeds from that kind that could be
saved ; and the remarkable excellence of the Isabella and Catawba
grapes that season, surpassing any thing that I had before seen from
those kinds, suggested the idea that circuiustances were opportune for
planting seeds from the best and earliest ripened bunches of these also.
They were planted in ground that had been trenched two feet deep
or more, and the roots of the best of them occupied the full depth of
the worked ground, and without any protection, endured the severe
freezing of the winter that followed without injury.

I transplanted five thousand of those which promised moat by their
hardiness, vigor, and nearness of joints, rejecting the long-jointed.

The next season was particularly trying to the leaves, by its sharp
alternations from cloud and fog to wind and fierce, bright sunshine.
The leaves of many suffered greatly from sun-scald, and for this tea
derness two thousand were rejected at the end of the season.

The lona stood out very distinctly above them all, having produced
two canes that appeared to be large enough for bearing, which were
pruned for that puppose.

The result more than realized the pretty high expectations that had
been indulged, and a small stock was propagated frrm it by layering.

apple as "blood," which we may now do in speaking of the animating j which greatly exhausted the mother-plant. All of this stock was lost
iuice of the best of our own grapes. the following winter by a destructive fire, by which I lost houses and

The lona is a large bunch, with large berries of a very peculiar wine I a large stock of plants which were in a pit adjoining.

DESCRIPTION OF VAUIETIKS.

At four ye.irs oM many of tliem showed great excellence, by tlie pro-
Juction of fruit better than Isabella and Catawba ; but meanwliile the
Btindanl of excellence had greatly advanced, by the dissemination of
the DeUnvare and Diiina, so that qualities which would formerly have
been valuable had happily ceased to be so, by the advent and dissemi-
nation of these.

Of those which bore fruit at four years old, one, now named Israella,
very clearly stood far above all of the others in the assemblage of good
qualities which constitute an excellent and valuable grape, although
there were six others of great excellence, and so good that I can not
now permit them to be lost. Unless, however, farther advance in the
maturity of tlie vines shall exhibit an increase in valuable qualities,
these will not come before the public as articles of commerce. Our
collection of grapes is not to be made more valuable by adding to it
such as are nearly as good as the best, with»ut ^ome important quality
In which they excel ; but additions, to be valuable, must possess all
the good qualities in an eminent degree, with some valuable character-
istics superadded.

■With lona and Israella added to Delaware, Diana, Allen's Hybrid,
Klsingburg, Lincoln, Lenoir, Ilerbemont, and Alvey, we have a list of
ten, all of excellent quality for the table, when tried by the highest
standard of foreign grapes, with all of the variety in character and
flavor that can easily be supposed to belong to that number of varieties
of hardy grapes.

/ might here present hundreds of tesiimonials from the most
respectable sources, but the one from Mr. Mead will suffice for the
present. JTe has tested it, perhaps, with more critical nicety
than any oilier person, and his judgment will not be disputed by
any one. Ilis letter covers the whoU ground of interest in regard
to a grape.

New-York, September 1st, 1S68.

Dear Doctor : I am very greatly pleased to learn that the Iona4s at
last to be sent out. I am pleased, not only on your account, but on
my own and that of the public. I am released from a certain restraint
which it is not always pleasant for an editor to be placed under, that
Is, of saying just what I please. Now it would have greatly pleased
me, many a time, to say publicly, and without circumlocution, how
highly I prize the lona grape ; instead of which, I have used figures of
speech and uncertain allusions. You may have guessed when the
lona was alluded to, but others could not. It is my firm conviction
tiiat a man does both the public and himself injustice in announcing
his wares prematurely. I think, therefore, that you have acted judi-
ciously in having said so little about the lona, but occupied your time
more profitably to yourself and the public, in thoroughly testing its
characteristics as a good grape.

You have acted wisely, also, for your own reputation and that of the
vine, and justly toward the public, in delaying to pro])agate plants for
sale until you had grown strong, mature wood from which to take the
eyes for propagation, thereby securing plants of the best quality for
first sending out, which la an important consideration that has been
too often disregarded.

I shall have occasion to congratulate the public in being put in posses-
sion of a grape of such marked excellence. You may remember what
I said of the lona when I first tasted it at your Island, several years
ago. I have tasted the fruit every year since, and I have grown the
vine. My first impressions are fully confirmed. You know I always
give my opinion quite candidly. It Is hardly necessary to tell you
what I think of the lona. It is worthy to take Its place by the side of
the Delaware. That you will probably esteem pretty high praise ; and
such it really is. There is one point, however, in which I must give
the Delaware the preeminence : I tliink it surpasses the lona in the
extreme sugary richness of its juice ; but then how very eminent the
Delaware is in this respect ! The lona, however, has its counterba-
lancing qualities, and possesses in a high degree more of the important
points now looked for in a good grape than any yet brought before the
public. It is a healthy and vigorous grower, making nice, short-
jointed wood, with thick, clean foliage, is perfectly hardy, and ripens
some time before the Isabella. That is its character with me. Then
tiie bunch is large and the berries are large, the latter being nearly
transparcnL The color ii beautiful, being almost amethystine. The

flesh is tender and melting to the center, sweet and vinous, with a de-
cided Muscat flavor ; and it is tlie only native grape that I have seen
that has it. I have several times told you that it looks and tastes much
like the Red Frontignan, and the transparency of the berry helps the
illusion. I shall advise my friends that they can not plant too many
vines of it.

I am glad to learn, too, that the Israella is to be brought out. I
ought to feel some interest in it, for it is the grape that I selected among
all your very early kinds, and named after Mrs. Grant ; and I am sure
I would not name any but a very good giajie after her. It is not so
vinous as the lona, but it is melting, juicy, and very sweet. The
bunch and berries are both large. It is better than the Isabella, and I
should think three weeks earlier, as I have seen if at ^ona Island. Its
early bearing and great productiveness I hope will ))rove to be a per-
manent characteristic of it. I can not speak so confidently of th«
habit of the Israella as I can of the lona, as I have not yet grown it ;
but what I have seen of it during the past three years, leads me to
think highly of it in this respect, and I must beg of you for one of the
first vines sent out. Feeling the interest I do in the Introduction of
really good grapes, I could hardly do less than congratulate you, as I
will any other friend engaged in the same good work.

Sincerely yom-s, PETER B. MEAD.

New-York, October 5th, 1863.

Dear Doctor : The lona has taken the first prize for the best seed-
ling grape at the New-York Grape Exhibition, for which I congratulate
you. Knowing the lona as I do, it would have been matter of great
surprise to me if it had been otherwise.

You will have observed that I place the Delaware and lona side by
side. In doing this I have no idea that either will supersede the other ;
I only wish to have you inferthat the Delaware and lona are my favor-
ites, and that I consider both indispensable. 'While they diffei greatly
from each other, both are most excellent in their way. In an imp,->rt-
ant sense they are the complement of each other, and give us, in
yariety for the table, with great certainty, something that will satisfy
a very nice taste, even though it has had a " foreign " education.

Both are very sugary, rich, vinous, and spicy, but the Delaware is
the most concentrated. The lona is the Delaware enlarged, with a
greater degree of melting tenderness, perfectly uniform to the center,
with a distinctive flavor. The Delaware is among grapes what the
Seckel is among pears, an exquisite refinement of them all, with a flavor
peculiarly its own. The lona, to continue the simile, may be likened
to the White Doyenn6 in its best estate, not so extremely rich and con-
centrated as the Seckel, but with an equally pure, spicy, vinous flavor,
a little diffused in a larger size, and, to use one of your own expres-
sions, full of " refreshing enjoyment," to which constant indulgence
gives increasing zest, but never cloys.

There is in them all a happy commingling of the " sweet and sour,"
with a spice added to the vinous spirit of the grapes, that makes them
most delightful to the palate, and more invigorating to the system than
any other fruit.

I could carry the comparison still further, and show that, by their
efTects and in their flavor, they are essentially wine in their character,
having its excellent generosity without its alcoholic stimulation, which
restricts the use of the latter to particular ages and conditions, while
the full advantage and enjoyment of good grapes, such as we now
have, may be flreely extended to all, even to the most delicate, and par-
ticularly to children.

I am too much pressed by business to pursue this interesting subject
further, but will only say in conclusion, that I shall increase my allow-
ance of grapes from five to ten pounds a day — five of Delaware and
five of lona — as soon as I can get them. One word more; we are
now able to sympathize with Europeans of the grape countries, who
have spoken so warmly of the benefits of the " Grape cure," by which
those who are well arc made better, and those who have become debili-
tated beyond the aid of medicine or ordinary curative regimen, are
restored without resorting to any more disagreeable remedy than a
plentiful diet of rich, vinous grapes. I have recently felt their restora-
tive power very markedly, and seen their good elTect in children. One
advantage will not be forgotten : there is not often much difficulty,
after the first dose, in getting the patient, of whatever age, ti; take the
medlchie freely. Yourt truly, PETER B. MEAD.

TO KEEP G-RAPES FOR THE WIIvTTER

Tns Intlications are very simple and easily fulftUed, when a room for
the purpose can be had on the northerly side of the house, out of the
influence of fire and sun. In an equable temperature of about forty
degrees, or a little lower, in a rather dry atmosphere, the late keeping
kinds remain for a very long time with scared}' a perceptible change,
if the air remains nearly immovable. In a freely ventilated room
ihey will, after a time, begin to shrivel, and at length dry to raisins.

A moderate freezing alTectS them but little if the process of tbatring i»
very gradual ; but repeated freezings break down their texture, and

lessen the refreshing property.

The indications then are a ratliev low temperature, but above fr»>«r-
ing ; very little movement of the atmosphere, and only a moderate
degree of moisture.

After the establishment 'f cold weather, in the fall, a dry cellar that

Plate No. 1.

admits of a little ventilation when needed, but where no mold or fungi
are permitted at any season, is all that can be desired. If the cellar
is used for general storage of fruit, the grapes will be perfectly accom-
modated in just such cu-cumstances as will be best for the apples, but
more nicety is required for the grapes, in consequence of their berries
being smaller. The degree of excessive ventilation that would cause
some shriveling of apples, would have more effect upon the grapes.
If the apples are kept perfectly, the gi-apes will be aiso. Grapes must

Plate No. 2,

not, for very late keeping, be piled upon each other, and when a quuD-
lity is to be stored, the easiest method is by suspending them just far
enough apart to prevent touching each other. For small quantities »
set of hoops may be used, as shown in the engraving, using hooks of
small wire for attachment, (Plate No. 1.) 'When large quantities are to be
kept, frames with movable bars are used, with wires for attachment, a«
before stated, (see Plate No. 2.) 'When not more than two or thre«
hundred pounds are to be stored, a miniature fruit-room or fruit-csM

H HOV.TOM ENB NIC

Pftte No. 8.

THE QUALITY OF PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC.

11

kfTords the neccas^uy appliance. The most simple of all Is a box of
any depth from six to twelve inches, which can be made very close.
If only six inches deep, it will admit but one layer of bunches, to be
laid only so near each other as just to touch without pressure, or
better, with a slight space between them. If the box is nine or ten
Inches deep, it will admit two layers, but the upper one must be separ-
Rted from the lower by a bed of slats let down half the depth of the
box. A box two feet and a half lonj, eighteen Inches wide, and ten
Inches deep, will accommodate seventy-live or one hundred pounds.
The bed for the upper layer may be conveniently made of ordinary
laths, separated one fourth of an inch, or less, from each other. The
grapes may be supposed to be gathered iu the fore-part of a dry day in
October, after the dew is thoroughly dried from thcra. Every green,
wormy, or imperfect berry should be carefully removed by cutting
with a sharp-pointed scissors through the pedicels, as is done to pre-
pare them for market, being careful to handle them so as not to re-
move the bloom. That is a wax covering for their protection, and is
needful before and after ripening.

Plate No. 4.

After the bunches are all prepared, lay them carefully into the box,
on paper, and when the box is filled, set it into the cool room, to re-
main all day without the cover. At evening, put the cover so that it
will, at the front edge, be raised up about one inch. Let the cover re-
main in this position until the cool weather of November is estab-
lished, when it is to be fastened down closely, to remain until opened
for examination, or to take out the grapes for use.

The success of the performance depends upon the perfection of the
fruit, the care in handling, and the suitability of the room in which
the case is placed. The north room of an ordinary dwelling, or any
other room made equally cool, affords a good reception for the box ; but
it must not be warmed to summer temperature by the sun or any arti-
ficial heat, even for a little time. The more nearly closed the boxes
may be before the final shutting up, the better for the grapes.

A much more convenient cabinet may be made with drawers, and
the cost for one of sufiicient size, to contain two or four hundred
pounds, will be very little in proportion to the worth to be obtained.

Such a case is represented in the engraving. Instead of trays with
slats, as directed when boxes are to be used, drawers are to be made of
the same structure, about four inches deep, or of sufficient depth to
admit the bunches. The case represented in the engraving (Plate
No. 3) is four feet high, three feet wide, and two feet deep, and will
contain about two hundred and fifty pounds. The cover is movable,
no shown, to be left open and closed as directed for the boxes. The
drawers need no separating piece between them, the ends being less
than the hight by lialf an inch, to give room for the slides. The
door in front must be kept closed after the cold weather is established,
and If the room admits of freezing, a bed-quilt thrown over the case
will be sufficient protection. In February, thorough examination
ibould be made of all the drawers, and any imperfect berries that may-

be found, must be carefully removed, and no free moisture permitted
to remain.

If a long !?erlea of warm days should occur In January, some venti-
lation may be necessary, and also an examination for the removal of
defective berries.

The cabinet is represented as closed. In Plate No. 4, in whicli condi-
tion it is to remain, except when opened for purposes named. It
may be enlarged by additions to the hight and width. None but the
late-keeping kinds are fit subjects for treatment. The lona, Anna,
Diana, Israclla, and Delaware, are all well adapted for this i)urpo;>c
and in the order named, for the latitude of New-York, where the Dela-
ware is easily kept until February, and the others until April. Farther
north the Dclawares may be kept until spring. Grapes for keepiiiR
must be taken before the stalks lose their vitality and begin to dry.

The Quality of Vines as affected by Age and different

Modes of Propagation, and the Economy of the dif-
ferent EZinda to the Purchasers.

Vines are chiefly produced for commercial purposes by six different
methods, and although the value of the plant varies greatly, according
to the plan of production, it differs still more in accordance with tiie
different degrees of attention and skill under which nearly all of the
plans are executed.

Each bud contains a perfect young plant, and the business of pro-
pagation is not to create a new plant, but simply to afford it an oppor-
tunity for development by affording ta it safety from injury, and the
proper nourishment during its infant progress. The propagating
house is the nursery for infant vines, to bring them forward in health
to vigor and hardiness. ,

The greatest degree of attention is required by single-eyes or short-
cuttings, because, when detached from the mother-vine, but very little
sustenance goes with them in the form of sugar that has been hiid up
iu the small piece cf wood that belongs to them. The plants must go
through a long, critical period, in which they are liable to receive in-
jury that will permanently affect their health and prosperity.

Vines that are started in March will, at the end of the season, pre-
sent a very great difference in appearance, according to the conditions
under which they have been produced, and may be either valuable or
less than worthless.

It may be stated that the vines designated as Extra and Best Selec-
tion, have all of the advantages of vines that rate as No. 1, at two years
old, that have been transplanted and root-pruned, and something more.
The Extras and the best selection have the real excellence of the vino
more fully and perfectly developed than the No. 1, and will continue
to give better results perpetually.

Those who get the best vines do much more than gain time — they
gain perpetual excellence in quality and quantity.

How Vines of Best Selection, etc., are produced. — ^AVood for their
production is taken from the most perfectly developed vines, that is,
such as have the most perfect balance of all their parts, rejecting alike
the produce of those that are gross and of those that are feeble. The
eyes thus obtained are about the first of February placed in tlie most
favorable circumstances for growth, and thus contmued until the wea-
ther becomes mild enough to put them out into the open air. At this
time they may have undergone six changes from small pots to larger,
until they have acquired the size of root and foliage that belongs to
No. 1 vines of roy Catalogue.

They are now in full health and vigor, with all of the favorable part
of the season before them in which to acquire a second season''s hardi-
hood and vigor, and If they are so managed as to avoid all check and
damage to their leave?, they do acquire it with the additional advan-
tages, which there is not room here to state, but which have been shown
by actual trial during the past five years, to be so great tliat persons
from all parts of the country, who have made the experiment by grow-
ing them in gardens and vineyards, constantly affirm that they are
cheaper at the prices paid for them than vines of a lower grade at no
price. All of the vines thus treated are very good, but not equal.
Three grades are made of them, the best constituting the Best Selection,
the next Extras, and tlie third best. No. 1. Those for No. 1 are started
in March and those for lower numbers later. The whole art, in its best
management, is one that requires more knowledge, skill, and care than
any other belonging to cultivation. When I begun to offer ^nes to the

12

THE QUALITY OF PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC.

public, it was necessary that something as to the quality of the plants
ihoulil be fciken, with no better proof of my statements as to their
value than couKl be shown in my own grounds. Now I have not only
the te?ti;:Mny of all of the best cultivators in my favor, but nlso that of
hundreds of thousands of vines, all testifying to the same truth.

There are two kinds of No. 1, first those intended for Extras, and come
short of It, and those grown specially for that designation.

It should be borne in mind that the numbers of one person's cata-
logue hare reference to his own vines, and not the least regard to those
of any otiier. Purchasers will seek in vain to find elsewhere vines
that have been produced with the care, attention, and cost of my No.
1, and my No. 3 challenge comparison with the best No. 1 of any other
catalogue.

I The actual cost of vines of best selection has been well stated by Mr.

I Mead at not less than one dollar each. I may also say that they havo
not been produced by any person except myself at any price. I do
not say that as large vines have not been produced ; for by growing
them in manure or beds of muck, very large size may be veiy cheaply
obtained, but only one or two years of trial is necessary to show that
Buch vines or trees are of little or no value. It has been tried with
apples, pears, and other trees, and after a short apparent success, aban-
doned as a dia:iStrous failure. The full discussion of this subject would
require a volume, but the well-ascertained facts thai are chiefly of in-
terest to purchasers may be stated in a few words. All propagation of
vines from wood i» artificial, and that method which produces the best
plants, as shown h^ thalr hardiness and the excellence and quantity oi

Plate No. 9.

Plate No. 8,

Plate No. T.

Plate No. 6.

Plate No. 10. Plate No. 5.

produce, is the best. Propagating houses are not used because they pro-
duce plants more cheaply, for they do not, but because they make bet-
ter ijlants than can be made except by layering, when it is properly
performed. Mr. Barry truly stated that one plant from a single eye,
well produced by the aid of a house, is worth more than si.K grown
wholly in the open ground without such aid.

I would not state that because plants are grown in houses they must
be good, for the most worthless plants in countless thousands have been
thus produced, and will continue to be while cheapness is accepted
irrespective of quality.

This matter has been fully discussed by Mr. Mead in an excellent
lecture on the subject, which he has prepared in answer to the wants
of this particular time, when it is cf groat importance that the condi-
tions of success in vine-planting should be known.

The conditions of success are well known and easily furnished, and
tha cultivation of the vine, wlieu well managed, offers a more speedy

and abundant reward than any other fruit, and is less complicated in
its management, but its requirements are imperative.

Although the interest that attaches to the grape in vineyards has be-
come very great, and is very rapidly increasing, it is very small in com-
parison with that which belongs to the vine in the yard and garden for
the full supply of the family; not for furnishing grapes by tens of
pounds for a few days, but by hundreds of pounds for half of the
year.

Good Delaware grapes may now, in their season, be bought in mar-
ket, but only at very large prices — as forty cents a pound and upwards;
but the difference in the benefit and enjoyment afforded by tliose
grown for market and those obtained from the owner's well-managed
vinee is so great, that it can not be fully credited except from trial.
Many have lcari;eil this, and are now planting vines by the hundred for
family sup)ily. Those who have a surplus of best quality arc obtaining
much higher prices for them than that just named.

THE QUALITY OP PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC.

13

In Plat f 3 Nos. 5 to 9 may be seen five Jlfferent grades of plants. A
Delaware cr Diana vine like that represented at No. 9, will, when four
years old, if indulged in its productive disposition, produce from eight
to sixteen pounds of excellent grapes. At the same time No. 5 might
be expected to produce one pound of very poor ones ; but to do that it
will have required, during its two first seasons, a much greater nicety
of attention in guarding and preserving it from drouth and injury. If
WT5 go on to the age of ten years, the disparity in produce will not be
nearly as great as at four years, but it will not be less than twenty-five
per cent in quantity, with probably an equal difference In the qualitj',
•s exhibited in size, beauty, and flavor. In pursuing the matter to the
tad of the tenth year, we shall find, that while one vine has produced

upward of one hundred pound"", the other has produced but Httle
more than fifty. The present wliolesile price of Delaware ^fapcs, of
fine quality. Is from thirty to thlrty-fiTe cents per pound, sliowing a
difference in favor of the large vines, all expenditure Included, c.vcepi
cost of vines, of from twelve to ei^liteon dollars. Tliis estimate is In-
tended to apply to the size of vines as limited to the Thoraory i>lan —
that is, with arms four feet each. If carried out into a larger plan,
with arms six or ten feet each, the disparity will be much greater in
favor of such a vine as shown at No. 9. The plan for a single vine Is
shown by Plate No. 18, wliore the vine is three years old, to be extended
at c, c, and in a vine four years old by Plate No. 17.
There is another consideration that is important to be remembered •

Plate No. 11.

the degree and kind of attention under which the one shown at No. 9
will thrive during the two first seasons, may not be sutBcient to keep
Buch as shown at No. 5 from dying when planted in vineyard or gar-
den.

The reader will have no difficulty in applying the same rule to the
Intermediate grades. Another calculation is required for estimating
the value of vines for the vineyard, based upon the same principles,
and leading to similar results. It will be given in another publication
called VINET.IRD Cat.iix)gub; and the subject will be found still more
thoroughly treated In Lasduihks, and also in the Manual of the

VlNB.

The difference in the vineyard is equally gi-eat In favor of the best
Tines from lingle eyes, but does not appear so striking when we tiike
only a single vine, because the amount is small, the vines being made
to occupy but a small space ; and the produce must be nearly in pro-
purtiou to the space occupied. At three years old Delaware vines of
the class "extra," like that represented in Plate No. 9, In the vinej-ard,
will bear and fully mature four pounds each, and leave the vine in per-

i-late No. 12.

feet health, with increased ability for next season's crop. The frnll
will be of such quality and beauty as will bring the best price and build
the reputation of the producer. A vine rating as No. 4, if well pro-
duced, may, at the same time, begin to bear, but not sufficiently to
yield any thing of value.

The grapes from the former, if used for wine, will be worth fifteen
cents per pound, making sixty cents for each vine. At four years nl(!,
the vine will be able to bear more, but extreme prudence for the health
and longevity of the vineyard may restrict the crop to that amount.
The sum earned by these two years will be one dollar and twenty cents.
The crop at two years old, which has not been named, may be reckoned
sufficient to pay for the cost of cultivation up to the time of gathering
the crop of the fourth year. At four years old, one of the class. No. 3
or 4, such as represented in Plate No. 9, may be expected to yield a
profitable crop half equaling in value that of the extra at three years,
or approaching in value that of the extra at two years. But to do this,
much more careful attention, both in the preparation and planting, and
also in tillage, will be required then by the " extra." At five years the

14

TUE QUALITY OF PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC

rine of lowcs" grade will nearly equal the amount of the former at
three, but not nearly in the beauty of the fruit. At this time the first
will have advanced to six pounds as the full weight of crop that it may
be suiTered to carry perpetually, fully maintaining the health of the

vine and the quality of the fruit. The " extra " will perpetually main

tain a superiority, in both quantity and quality, of at least one fiflk

over the other, which, commercially, will be foun Jto be much greater.

At five years old there will be, at least, fifty cents net in favor of tin

Plate No. 13.

best vines at prices for wine, but for the table the prices of the grapes
and of the amount in favor of the " extra " vines will be doubled. The
number of vines to the acre will exceed two thousand ; but that num-
ber is convenient to use, and is sufficiently near the truth for our pre-
lent purpoee.

Plate No. 23.

Plate No. 16.

An advantage of fifty cents per vine is equal to the large sum of one
thousand dollars an acre. Although this appears startlingly large, it i»
safely within the bounds of experience.

Size is only one of the conditions of quality among many which I
can not here specify, all of which are important to the full meassre of

Plate rTo. 14.

Kate No. 15.

THE QUALITY OF PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC.

lb

r.icce»3. Only one more will now be named, which is the importance
of the fall ripening of the wood and roots, which only takes place
where the leaves, after having fully performed their office, take the
hues of autumn, and fall off entire in tlicir ripeness, without shriv-
eling and rolling up from mildew, blight, or frost. One of the very
Smportant conditions which have always given surpassing excellence
to my vines, as shown by their performance in every part of the coun-
try, has been owing to the exemption of the locality in which they are
frrown from k»*8 and early frosts, which has permitted the perfect rip-
•ning just named, in consequence of which the vines have acquired
a degree of hardiness elsewhere unknown. They have received the
tume general commendation from almost every quarter of the globe in

which vinos are grown, requiring only the simple treatment prescribed
in iLLUSTiiATKD CATALOGUE, and also in Gaiiuenku's Manual, for con
stant unfailing success.

It is a great error for purchasers to buy inferior vines, thinking tc
bring them up to good condition by their own superior management.
The fact should always be borne in mind that vines can be much more
cheaply brought to good condition by the propagator than by the
vineyardist or gardener, leaving out the consideration of loss of time.

Plate No. 11 re])resents a transplanted vine of best quality, which
will produce the results ascribed to that represented by Plate No. 9.
Plate No. 12 represents a vine grown in a box or crate, having a lattice
bottom and sides, by which a sufficient quantity of roots at the center

Plate No. 17.

remain undisturbed by both transplanting and transportation ; and
consequently the vines, if well grown, are able to produce a crop the
first season. The capacity of the boxes is greater than that of the
largest pots in which vines are grown for fruiting, and they are filled
with soil, specially prepared to induce the formation of fibrous, fruit-
bearing roots, which is also further favored by the position given to the
tejer. These plants are not only better in consequence of these atten-
tions, which can not be given to otlier layers, besides the advantage of
not being checked by transplanting. These will be more than two
years in advance of an extra single-eye plant like Plate No. 9. By ad-
ditional care and expense, vines from single-eyes, more advanced to-
ward productiveness than the one shown at No. 9, may be grown in
pots, as represented by Plate No. 13 ; but when taken from the pots,
and the soil shaken from them, one year of time is lost by transplant-
ing. By sending them in the pots this is saved, and the bearing is
hastened. As these require special management to secure their full
advantages, directions for the purpose will accompany the plants.

An impression prevails extensively, that by the increase of age sim
ply, the time of productiveness is advanced, and that an ordinary vine
of three or four years old is as much nearer to establishmemt in bear
ing than a vine of one year, as it has more years of age. This is a
mistake, by which many are disappointed. A vine of four or five
years old, as ordinarily grown, will generally give some very imperfect
bunches the season of planting, but it will be longer in giving a fill
crop than one of the best quality that is only one year old ; and it may
be generally stated that vines so old before transplanting, never attain
a good bearing condition. Old vines, before planting, must be so se-
verely cut back by the operation of root-pruning, that th^y are
brought into the condition of one-year-old vines as to length of roots,
but with some important advantages lost for the formation of fibrous
roots at the center, which can not be regained by any course of treat-
ment.

Plate No. 14 represents a Delaware vine, one year old, of best selec-
tion, grown in open ground. It is not as well furnished with fibrous

Plate No. IS.

roots as if grown In a pot, but is larger, and if projjcrly treated by
root-pruning and planting, will bear very early and abundantly. If
suffered to remain until two or three jears old before transplanting
and root-pruning, it will present the apiiearance shown in Plate No. 1.5,
the fiber having nearly or quite left the parts where it should be, and
gone to the extremities of the roots, where it will he all cutoff at root-
pruning, and will only be rei)laced at the ends where the cuts are
made, and not along the sides of the roots. It is not difficult to make
iboots spring out of the old branches of vigorous vines, but very diffi-

Plate No. 22.

cult, If not impossible, to make new roots spring from the sides of old
ones. The vine at one year old was worth more for planting than it
could be ever after, excei)t by being subjected to the operation of
tiansplanting and root-pruning, by which it would be brought into the
condition of the one represented in Plate No. 11.

Grafted vines need peculiar treatment, without which they generally
disappoint expectations. The union of scion and stock is generally
very imperfect, and the vines thus produced are greatly disposed to
reject the stock, and form their own roots. This should be favored by

16

THE VALUE OF PLANTS ACCORDIKG TO THE METHOD OF rRODUCmON.

gettintr flie stock so low that opportunity will T)e afforded for roots to
form :!t the proper depth from the new vine.

The best course of proceeding is to set the vines at least one foot
fuither from the place which the stocli Is to occupy than would be done
if vines on their own roots were used, and tlien, by laying one year
ranre, pnod vines on their own roots will be obtained.

The stocks have also a strong disposition to throw off the new vine,
and are constantly throwing up shoots of their own, which must be
suppressed soon after their appearance, or they will take all of the ac-
tion, and leave the new vine to die. This not unfrequently occurs ;
and those wlio do not understand the case, by leaving the new shoots,
which are the strongest, have found their vines, at the time for fruit-
ing, all of the kind used for stocks. Tliia has occurred in numerous
Instances. Those who are watchful have no difficulty in detecting the
shoots of other vines, in case of the Delaware ; but when the similarity
It great, as between Union Village and Isabella, it is difficult for any

one to see which should be suppressed, without exrralnation under tiM
surface, which Is very difficult.

Very strong vines at one year old are easily made by grafting ; but
besides the objection named, is that of imperfect growth, unless treated
as just mentioned ; the union being so imperfect that the roots of the
stocks are not induced to form the small, active fibers. The largest ,
specimens are often produced by young, grafted vines, the imiierfect
union having the same e^ect as tlie annular incision. Plate No. 16
represents a grafte'* /me, as they ordinarily appear, at three year*
old, when dependent entirely on the roots of the stocks. Tliey are
destitute of fibers, and not in vigorous health. In Plates 11, 13, 14, 15,
and 16, are seen marks to direct in root-pruning preparatory to planting.

The foregoing statements are the result of very extensive experience
and observation during the past fourteen years, and my desire has
been to make tliera trustworthy and useful, so that purchasers may
know what to obtain to avoid disappointment.

IMMIil

Plate No. 20.

THE VALUE OF PLANTS ACCORDING TO
THE METHOD OP PBODUCTION.

Vine plants differ in character and also in value, according to the
plan of propagation ; but they vary so much more according to the
conditions of treatment, under the different plans, that no statement
that will precisely and universally define their quality, according to
plan of propagation, can be made.

The best possible plant that can be made is the best possible layer
of one year old, grown under the best possible conditions, for removal
from the place in which it is grown, to be set in place for fruiting.
Plants grown in crates, or baskets, by which the vines are removed
and reset, (transplanted, transported, and replanted,) without disturb-
ing their connection with the soil, so as to check their productive
ability, fulfill all of the important conditions. The best possible plant,
in the most favorable condition, is the Box Layer, which undergoes no
more disturbance in removal than the root-pruning which it requires.

This statement must be made with a possible reservation, for a
plant from single-eyes of best selection, by repeated transplanting,
root-pruning, and growing in large crates, or baskets, for a series
of seasons, may be made to equal the best plant of one j'ear before
named. This would be so troublesome and expensive that it would
scarcely be done.

We may then say, with general truth, the best layer, under ordi-
nary circumstances, is the best of plants, and the best uncovered layer
the best of uncovered plants. But it is possible, by the best degree of
skill, to make a root-pruned transplant equal to a naked layer, al-
though only by a painstaking and expensive process, that has never
been resorted to for the production of plants for sale.

It will give an impression, generally true, to say, that the next best
grade of planto 'ncludes two kinds, each, under the most favorable con-
ditions, by a sUii:ht advantage, for special uses, but both excellent for
all general uses. These are root-pruned transplants from the best
single-eye plants, .and the best single-eye plants. A plant from two
eyes can be made just as good as a plant from one eye, although the
case rarely occurs ; but a plant from two eyes, in open ground, un-
aided by a house and bottom heat, can not be made nearly equal in

Plate No. 19.

value to a plant from a single-eye, aided by a honse and its proper ap
pliances, under the most favorable conditions.

Green cuttings, under ordinary circumstances of production, are vl
ferior plants, but I can, and often do, make plants from preen wood oi
such excellence that I do not like to part with them, preferring to re-
tain them, in consequence of their superiority, for my own use. I have
not room here to state the particulars in regard to green cuttings, but
must ask readers to take my statements made after extensive trials
during eight years, or read the full exposition in Landmarks.

The process of making the best plants from green cuttings is too ex-
pensive to be generally adopted, but inferior plants, by this method,
are very cheaply produced.

Grafts may be made to be very good for the proper course of treai-
ment, but for ordinary treatment, and under ordinary conditions, they
are much less valuable than single eyes.

The best long cuttings can not be made to equal the best of any of
the kinds that have been named by any ordinary process, and the plan
may, therefore, be said to be inferior.

The manner of executing this plan is generally so defective that the
plants produced by it are unfit for any purpose. They are produced
and sold in great numbers for less than one fourth the price that plants
by this plan would actually cost, which would be called good of this
class by those who understand the matter. These are generally bought
by cultivators of the least knowledge, who think all abatement of price
so much saved.

Plants, under the foregoing view of the case, may be said to rank lo
value, according to the method of propagation, as follows :

First. Box Layers, or Layers in the soil.

Second. Naked Layers, or Layers taken from the sofl.

Third i Transplants, root-pruned, two years' old.

• j Single-eye plants, or short cuttings, rooted by bottom liesl

Fourth. Best green wood plants.

Firth. Grafted plants.

Sixth. Plants from long cuttings, well treated.

These grades refer only to plants honestly and skillfully produced
There nre imitations, whose rank in value is too low to be st-ated. Vay
many " improved plans, by which vines can be produced at the folloT-

SELECTION OF VAUIETIES TO PLAIST FOR TABLE OK FAMILY USE.

17

ing cheap rale?," have been practiced upon, all of which have failed to
produce plants from which buyers have obtained or can obtain good
results in the garden or vineyard. Cheap.. jjS may be acquired in va-
rious ways, and the buyer should learn tliat he Is always expected to
pay largely for the use of the " improvement.'^

.\pparent size may be very cheaply given by the distention produced
l.y linuid manure. Half the cost mny ue saved by Infrequent changes
of pots ; that is, by putting t)ie plant.< at once Into the largest size In
wliich they are to grow, instead of going through the regular grada-
lions. More may be saved by transferring the plants as soon as rooted
to the open ground. In both of these cases the plant will be without
the line fibre that constitutes their chief value.

.\notlier half may be saved by omitting the use of stakes, and so
avoi.Iing the cost of stakes, of tying and removing of laterals.

More than another half of the remaining cost may be saved by grow-
in;; four plants in the space that should be occupied by one.

X plant called No. 1 may be grown, and often is, for twenty cents-
that will afford the producer much better rates of profit than a first,
rate re;il No. 1 will afford at fifty cents, while the latter will be found in
the result cheaper by much more than the coat of purchase.

Although vines, by other processes, may be made as good and as
well prepared for immediate bearinpr as box layers, which has just been
show.1, they never are so made, and the circumstances of the case do
not j^ermit that they should be to any considerable extent.

I>i all cases, to make them as good, they must he brougl-.t forward to
the bearing state under the most favorable circumstances, and the con-
rililons of their first future prosperity must be transported to purclias-
ers with them, in the form of the undisturbed soil in which they grew,
as in the case of the box layers.

Thosfe layers are grown for different plans of training, some of tlicui
having but one strong bearing cane, and others two of equal strength.
Hy using such vines a trellis for the Thomery, or other good systems,
may be handsomely covered with strong canes the first season, and
some fruit, with a large crop, the second. At two years old the arms
will be formed as shown in Plate No. 20, Figures 1, 2, 3 ; and at three
years old the bearing courses will be fully established, as seen at Fig-
ure 4; the vines bearing uninterruptedly during the course of prepa-
ration. The cost of maintaimng the large vines during the three
years will be no more than for small ones, and the value of the fruit
that will be borne before good vines from single eyes will be in full
hearing, will more than pay the entire cost of the box laj-ers. They
are not only the most desirable because they immediately clothe the
trellis with beauty and furnish some excellent fruit, but they are the
most advantageous commercially for the worth of their early produce,
although the cost appears to be dear. To propagators they are dear,
costing both the fruit and life of the mother vine that is of full bearing
age. The canes of both the box layers and the nude layers of best se-
lection are strong enough to prune for the standards of a Thomery
trellis, including the bedding, so that arms may be grown the first
season.

The best vines of all the dilTerent classes are so generallj' the cheap-
est, that it may be stated as a general rule. Purchasers never speak
with regret for having taken the best vines, but hundreds have re-
f rotted sot having taken them, even by the thousand, for vineyards as
well as for gardens. Very many have also had cause to regret not
having followed the directions for planting and management, as they
have informed me, but not one has yet complained of being misled by
Ihtm.

It is now six years since the first edition of my Catalogue or Manual
of Instruction was published, and many thousands have been guided
by it in the purchase of vines, and in their treatment, and it is very
satisfactory to be called upon to make large additions for those who
desire to study the subject more thoroughly, while I have not found
cause for retniction either in the directions or in the description of the
varieties for wliich I brought the knowledge from my own investiga-
tions, and from the vines cultivated and managed under my own ob-
servation, and chiefly with my own haml.s. They were not only " ray
early observation and my last," but my all-day companions. The
compHnionship of the vines has been, for nearly Iialf a century, very
pleasant to me, with constantly increasing interest, and it should not
b.; regarded as surprising or unexpected that I have never been mis-
taken in tlie character of any of them, although my descriptions of

their qualities and capabilities have been made with a degree of pro-
cision and minuteness that has never before been attempted.

The extent to which the observations in the lona Catalogues have
been coi)led, affords some evidence that they have been suited to the
wants of the times, and some flattery should be taken ; but wanting
the extreme of benevolence and good nature, I feel disposed to com-
plain of the almost universal neglect to give credit, which should at
least be done where copy-right is taken.

Some desperate attempts hare been made by changing a word or
sentence to avoid liability to an unpleasant charge, and when a man
mis-copies, in praising a grape, it is " perfectly cloying," instead of
" perfectly satisfying," the greater sin should obscure the less, and
the stealing of a chapter should be suffered to pass unreproved.

The additions which I have been able to make through the kindness
of Mr. Mead, are very important, and g^e with very great clearness
and lucidity the main conditions upon which success both In garden
and vineyard depends. Mr. Mead has prepared himself for the posi-
tion that he now occupies, by many years of attentive study as well
as of the most extended observation throughout the entire extent of
the country. The selections made by him have been done under the
full knowledge of all that pertains to the whole listof native kinds, and
are worthy of attentive consideration. The Lecture ia very valuable.

Selection of Varieties to plant for table or family use,
and some of the considerations which determine
the proper choice.

A TABLE grape, to be valuable for constant use, or rather to be desir-
able for constant use by its goodness, and to grow upon the desires, for
the refreshment it affords, never sating the appetite or becoming op-
pressive and distasteful, must be vinous, refreshing, and rich, pure and
spicy, having nothing in its skin or flesh to offend or disgust, on the
most intimate acquaintance.

The bases, or, more truly, the conjoined base of the wine and refresh-
ment are tartaric acid and sugar. The aromatics, which are recognized
by both the gustatory and the olfactory senses, are subordinate to the
vinous property, bit when pronounced and of the best quality, they
greatly increase both the restorative power and inspiriting effect, as
well as the sensuous deliglit.

The properties named are all distinctly recognizable by attentive
observers, with the exception of the few whose perceptions are very
blunt and defective. But in addition to these pronounced qualities,
there are in the richest and best of grapes other exquisite harmonious
minglings, which neither the chemistry of the senses or of the laboia-
tory has yet been able distinctly to exUbit and point out, for which we
have no name but the superlative of excellence and delight that is
comprised in the name of the fruit. Thus with the Northern Spy Ap-
ple, the Muscat of Alexandria, the Red Frontignan, and the Delaware
grapes, we point out their more prominent and distinctive excelh-n-
cies, but are compelled to leave them half analyzed, and give their
name, as alone sufficient to suggest their whole chai-acter, which will
scarcely be intelligible except to those who know them.

This harmonious excellence admits of no discordant offensiveness,
without destruction of the symmetry of character, upon which the
charming goodness depends.

We may say, with scarcely a gi'ain of allowance, that we have such
peaches and pears, and strictly that we have such apples and grapes,
but the eminence in purity, as well as in power of invigoration, be-
longs to the grape, constituting it the most excellent of fruits by its
delight and benefits.

In making the selections, there is a restriction to particular latitudes
for some of the very good kinds, in consequence of their want of ear-
liness in ripening, but the Delaware, which is the best of all, is, also,
the most hardy and productive in every region and locality in which
gi'apes of any value can be cultivated. Consequently, it will stand at
the head of every list of table grapes.

The Diana, in consequence of its excellence in qualitj', when per-
fect, with Its earliness, hardiness, and great productiveness, is gene-
rally placed next to the Delaware. In size of bunch and berry, and iA
very late keeping. It exceeds the Delaware, but in earliness of ripen-
ing, and in precocity of bearing perfect flavored fruit, it is below it.
The first produce of young vines of every kind is always Imperfect ia

lb

SELECTION OF VARIETIES TO PLANT FOR TABLE OR FAMILY USE.

flavor, and generally deficient in size. This rule obtains in the case of
tlie Delaware, but much more markedly in the Diana, and particularly
In regard to the fruit. Large layers often bear profusely the season of
planting ; but unless the season is very long, the skins remain very
thick, and the fruit without richness or purity of flavor ; each year of
advance in age making a great improvement, until the vines are four
or five years old, when the great excellence that belongs to it becomes
apparent.

Under some considerations, Allen's Hybrid may claim the rank of
second to the Delaware. Its fruit is large, beautiful, and of very high
excellence in quality, being tender as the Golden Chasselas, and equal
to it in transparent beauty, but much more spirited and invigorating.
It bears sufficiently early, and appears to be more hardy than Isa-
bella and Catawba — perhaps equaling Diana — but that can only be
learned with certainty by longer trial. Its fruit keeps very well, but not
so long as Diana, nor is it quit« equal to it in vinous refreshment ; but
Its excellence is so great that there is no danger that it will be over,
praised. It is very early, and may possibly equal the Delaware in that
respect when the vines become mature. The rank of this is easily third,
if not second for the table ; but for wine, Diana is clearly above it ; al"
though no doubt can be entertained that the Allen is able to make good
wine.

Lincoln, for its proper latitude, will come next; but in regard to its
latitude, there is much doubt. It originated in the mountains of North-
Carolina, where the winters are severe, and it withstands all of the se-
verity of the changes of Cincinnati, in which the mercury often falls
as low as in New-Tork, and it has not suffered at lona, nearly a degree
north of New- York ; but the trial has not been long enougli to fully
determine that point, for which several years will yet be required.

It ripens very early when the vines are mature ; its bunches are
large, but its berries scarcely medium ; but its pure rich wine chal-
lenges criticism, and its flesh is equally good to the center. It is high
prai=e f"r a table grape to say, tliat in addition to the other requisite
qualities, it makes excellent wine, for that is proof of its refreshing
quality, in which the Lincoln is equally distinguished as for its sugar,
but less spicy than Elsinburgh. In placing it fourl^, the Elsinburgh and
Lenoir must be placed by its side, and also the Herbemont, for quality ;
the Ilerbemorft being less sugary than the others. The Alvey may also
come into the same gi"oup, with flavor resembling Herbemont, but rip-
ening much earlier. Of Pauline it is too early to affirm as to the pe-
riod of ripening, but it does not appear to be quite so late as Herbe-
mont, and in hardiness perhaps it is equal. One degree north of New-
York, a Herbemont vine, on the south side of a house, has continued
to ripen, and withstand the winter fifteen years ; whereas it would not
do eitl>er perfectly, in all cases, in the open ground, in the latitude of
New-York. The Pauline is one of the richest and most spicy of the
perfectly pure, tender-fleshed grapes, and is not below the exquisite
Shiras in that respect. It is one of the most hopeful subjects at \>re-
scnt, for trial in the gardens of amateurs, but has not obtained rank
yet, except for quality, which is first, or by the side of Delaware.

To a few it is impossible, in tliis summary, to give any numerical po-
sition of rank, but it will not be difticult to fix the estimate at which
each person will choose to hold them for liis own particular circum-
stance?, by recurring to the description of varieties, where they are all
carefully characterized.

Anna is the highest flavored and most spirited of grapes, but wliile
pure in flavor, is not without its two defects, which are, that it some-
times loses part of its berries by the rot, and, like Isabella and Cataw-
ba, it does not till late in the season lose all of the toughness in its cen-
ter. To sick persons it is often of special value. A few vines of it are
enough for any collection, and no collection is complete without one.
Few would be without one Union Village, for its earliness and great
size. Kebecca la good and pleasant, and often a favorite, but never
high-flavored.

Coleman's White appears to be identical with Cuyahoga, although
Cuyahoga at Cleveland is very different from the former at Cincinnati ;
hut parties who have been conversant with both from the beginning,
affirm that they are the same.

Of Creveling, Concord, Hartford Prolific, it is not necessary here to
speak.

Our two most hardy, constant, and prolific kinds that ripen unfail-
ingly through an extended latitude, and that have been thoroughly

proved, are Delaware and lona. If we take a narrow belt of abc de
grees, having New-York for its center, we shall include the region
most favorable and advantageous for tiie grape. In sheltered situa-
tions, and on the south side of walls and buildings, these two may be
grown and ripened more than two degrees further North, and very
much further South, only in going South the season of keeping becomes
shortened with kinds that ripen early, so that in the latitude of Augus-
ta or Atlanta, Georgia, these k-lnd can not be had for use more than two
months, while toward the Northern limit of perfect ripening they may
be had six or seven months, but not with the full degree of flowing
richness that belongs to them when ripened at the South. The Israella
will probably have a more extended range than these, but that has not
yet been proved, except by its very early ripening.

For the belt of six degrees the lona is equal in value to the Delaware
for a table grape, but with its own peculiar advantages, for which see
descriptions, and also Mr. Mead's letters, one of which is appended to
the Selections, and two others are in the pages of the Catalogues, all of
which are worthy of attention for tite illustration of important facts
that are interesting to every lover of good grapes. .

Although the lona is now, for the first time, offered for sale, it is not
untested, but has been thoroughly proved as far North as Northern
Vermont. It ripens fully farther North than the Concord, which it
equals in size and surpasses in uniform constancy of production, hav-
ing never been affected by rot, which in unfavorable seasons has been
destructive to the crop of the Concord. The comparison can not be
continued, for in beauty and quality they are not to be named together,
the latter having the leaden opacity that is always a characteristic at-
tendent of all the offensive qualities of the Northern fox grape, while
the lona has all of the bright, clear translucency of the Frontigyans,
the best and most spirited of the Foreign kinds, and which it the mon
strongly resembles.

The following table is made for a belt extending two degrees north of
New- York, and indefinitely south. A slight variation only will be need-
ed for adapting it to all of tlie conditions of this extensive range, the
chief of which will be the omission of the Herbemont in some localities
north of New-York, and adding Pauline in some localities south. The
selections are for six, ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty, and thirty vines.
When a greater number is desired, it may be found by doubling the
selection of twenty or thirty. I have not had in mind an interesting
collection of good grapes, but the most valuable selection for use.
Many persons would desire one each of all of the kinds described in
the catalogue to complete a collection.

lona,

6

10

10

12

1215

15 20

20 80

SO

2.

...1

3..

..2

3..

..2

3..

..4

5..

..6

3..

..T

Delaware, ....

2.

..2

3..

..2

3 .

..2

3..

..4

5..

..6

S..

..7

Allen,

1.

...1

1..

..1

..1

-.2

2..

..3

Israella,

1.

...1

1..

..1

,.1

..1

2..

..2

Diana,

1

1..

..1

..2

-.2

2..

..S

Lincoln,

1,.

..1

..1

..1

Elsinburgh,.,.

..1

,.1

..1

..1

Anna,

..1

..1

..1

..1

Union Village,

Alvey,

-.1

Herbemont,...

,.1

Rebecca,

Lenoir t . ..

The foregoing table gives two selections for each number very nearly
as I should plant for myself. If so small a number as twelve is to be
planted, so as to afford the greatest advantage from the *:est fruit, not
more than four kinds would be taken. But there is an interest attach-
ing to variety that will call for at least eight.

In the above selections, suSicient importance is not given to Anna
and Israella.

Delaware, ....

6

G

10

10

12

12

15

15

•^0

2030

SO

3

3

4 .

..4

4..

..4

5..

..5

6 .

. S 12,.

.12

lona,

1 ,

, 1

1..

..2

2..

..2

2..

. 2

3..

..3 4..

..4

Allen

1..

1

1..
1..

.2
. .2

2. .

2! '.

..2
..1

2..
2..

2
!.'l

2..
2,,

..3 4..
..1 3..

..4

..1

Israella,

!!i

l"

1'.'.

!!i

1.,
1,.

..1
..1

1..
1..

.,1 1..
..2 2..

.2
.,8

Creveling,.. . .

Concord

1..

1..

..1

1..

.,1

2..

..1 2..

..2

H. Prolific,...

1,.

..1

1..

..I

1..

..1 1..

. 1

Lincoln,

..1

1..

.. ; 1.

..I

Elsinburgh,. . .

..

1..

1..

SELECTIONS FOR VINEYARDS

19

Tlie second table is for latitude more tlian one degree north of Albany
and Boston. For this hititudc I tliink lona will be equal to Delaware,
but it is not yet clearly (iroved, and I have made the number much
less for the present, waiting full proof witli older vines.

loNA, September 80th.
Mr. Tetkr B. Mkad :

Dkar Sir : I want to enrich my Descriptive Catalogue with a selec-
tion, made by yourself, of one hundred vines, for affording a family the
largest amount of enjoyment that can be furnished by grapes ; having
in mind, also, an interesting collection, such in brief as you would
plant for yourself.

The considerations which Influence the selection will be valuable and
interesting to every one. Your truly,

C. W. Grant.

New- York, October 1st, 1S63.
Dear Doctor: In answer to yours, requesting me to give a list of
one hundred vines, such as I would plant for the table, I send you the
following :

Elsinburgh, 2

Lenoir, 2

Kebecca, 2

Alvey, 2

Union Village, 2

Herbemont, 1

Concord, 1

Delaware, 25

lona, 25

Diana, 10

Allen's Hybrid, 10

Israella, 10

Anna, 8

Crevcling, 3

Lincoln, 'i

The Delaware and lona I should plant most of, not only because they
are of excellent quality, but because tlieir liabits are reliable. Their
hardiness, productiveness, and excellence constitute them our best
grapes, or, at least, ray favorites. The Diana ranks but little below the
Delaware ; but it requires a longer season, and the vine needs age and
good treatment to work off the toughness of its skin. The Allen, in my
opinion, is a grape of very Cue quality, and one that will satisfy a
nice taste ; but in some places it has suffered from mildew. In a fa-
vorable locality, and with good treatment, it will sustain a high
character. The Israella I should want a good proportion of, because
of its earlioess, productiveness, sweetness, and good flavor. The deli-
cate tenderness of the flesh, melting quite to the center, is a very im-
portant characteristic of both the Israella and lona. The Creveling I
put in the place of the Hartford Prolific. It is a much better
grape, with a more lively juice, and at most only a few days later. The
Anna I should be sorry to be without. It requires a long season to be-
come perfect, but in flavor, when ripe, it is almost equal to a Muscat
of Alexandria. I should be willing to take a little extra pains with it
for the sake of its fruit. I forgot the Anna when I said the lona was
the only native grape that had a muscat flavor. The Lincoln, the El-
sinburgh, the Lenoir, and the Herbemont are all small berries, but
there is so much wine in them, and they are so refreshing, that I should
hardly consent to be without a few of them. I put in the Union Vil-
lage and Concord for their size, and for pui-poses of comparison, as
well as to please such friends as like a " big thing " on a plate, and not
because they are quite to my taste. The Union Village has not the
offensive foxy odor, which characterizes the Concord. I would put in the
Catawba, for its spirited flavor, but it rots incorrigibly without more
trouble than I feel disposed to give it. I am very busy, and have
given you briefly my reasons for selecting the above list, as I supposed
you would like to know them.

months out of the twelve, and the taste it already sufficiently educated
or developed to show that only the rich spirited kinds will be in de-
mand. Sincerely yours, Peter B. Mkad.

Selections for Vineyards, Latitude of New- York.
For Wi.ve Making.

For this purpose the number will be limited to two or three, in-
cluding only Delaware, Diana, and, perhaps, lona. The proportion
will be at least two of Delaware for one of Diana.

Vineyards for table tsk will also be limited to a few of the best
kinds which greatly surp.iss all of the others in value.

Delaware and lona will lead and become the principal grapes for
commerce. Diana, for this purpose, Is also very valuable for late
Ueepinp, and distinct in its own peculiar excellence. Israella, when
the vines become sufliciontly numerous, will be particularly valuable
for Its earliness, and Creveling may also be admitted.

It will not be manv vears before hardy graocs will be for sale eight

/« C. W. Orant influenced hy interest %n the recommendation
of kinds T
The question very often arises : " Is not C. W. Grant influenced hy
pecuniary motives in his recommendations of vines for cultivation?"
" Is it not for his pecuniary Interest to propagate and sell the Delaware,
and to discourage the sale of such kinds as Hartford Prolific, and Con-
cord ? "

A brief statement of facts will show the direct contrary, and that on
learning their character I at once gave up the advantage of having at
an early period a large stock for propagation and sale, which had been
acquired at great expense under an erroneous representation of their
character and quality. In 1S57 I had the best stock of both these
kinds in the country, and had learned their extreme facility of propa-
gation, but I had also learned their poverty of quality and the excel-
lence of the Delaware and Diana, both of which had in my hands made
very great improvement in their habits of growth and in the quality
of their fruit ; and the vines of my propagation which had been put
into other hands in different parts of the country, numbering in nil
some two hundred and fifty plants, showed clearly that the improve-
ment was permanent and progressive. In the language of Col. AVilder :
" They had at lona Island, in the hands of Dr. C. W. Grant, received
just what was required in the way of cultivation for the development
of their true character, which is so different from that which they ha<:
before exhibited, that they were scarcely recognizable as the same fruit."
Of the excellence of the Delaware in every respect, in its improved
condition, I had numerous testimonials from every quarter before mak
ing a general offer of plants to the public, and had made a pretty ex
tended " proving " of the Diana also. Before it came into my hands
it was generally declared to be a weak grower, as was also the case
with the Delaware.

AVhen the statement of the performance of these two kinds in my
hands was made to Mr. Longworth, he affirmed strongly his beliel
that " neither of the kinds (Delaware and Diana) in ray hands could be
true," and he could only be convinced by receiving vines from me, and
testing them in his own grounds, where the Diana, to his astonishment,
even produced better results than it had with me.

Meanwhile, the vines of the Concord that were first disseminated
bore fruit in many of the different States, and although it became often
better than at Boston, it everywhere exhibited a large measure of its
defects and want of goodness, which are radical, so that it could not
anywhere be called a good grape by the side of the Delaware and
Diana and the other best kinds that have been described. Wherever
these kinds were brought into use. Concord, with rare exceptions, be-
came at once distasteful, and ceased not only to afford enjoyment,.but
was rejected from use. My own opinion only concurred with that of
all who were able to appreciate the excellence of good grapes, juid 1
could not recommend the vines for dis.'emination umler the apprehen-
sion that buyers would soon regret having planted them.

It is true there are some idiosyncratic tastes in grapes as in other
things, which will adhere to the bad for their defects and reject the
good for their excellencies, but these are rare exceptions and should
meet with compassion for their imperfect perceptions.

The Hartford Prolific was even more objectionable and not to be re-
commended. I dug up and threw away a large part of my stock vines,
which had been obtained at a very great expense, although the vines
commanded readily a very remunerative price, and were so easy
of propagation that ten vines of Concord that would satisfy purchas-
ers could be more cheaply produced than one Delaware, of which fact
no one was earlier or better informed than myself.

The labor of introducing the Delaware was much greater than I
could have anticipated, and some opposed its dissemination with zeal
that would have been very commendaCle in a good cause, but the work
is now well done, and the grape has left its detractors on an unenviable
eminence where their goodness would never have placed them. I have
never regretted my decision, and hope my children will esteem it a
better inheritance to be able to say, " IMy father Iab<ired zealously f^ir
the dissemination of good vines, and the knowledge of their cultivMion

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. QUALITY OF GRAPE BY R. G. PARDEE.

nmon!; the American people," tlian to be able to say he acquired great
wealth bv the dissemination of the ConcorJ and other poor varieties,
which can have existence only until the truth becomes known.

Means not waiTanted by the merit of the vine will continue to be
used for giving it reputation and dissemination, but none need be dis-
appointed who desire to be informed as to its exact quality and worth.
It may be stated in conclusion, tliat the gentleman by whose recom-
mendation, by his high character and standing, it has been in a great
measure sustained, has recently given a public retraction, saying that
it " can not stand by the side of Dela\Yare and lona, etc., as holding
any value for a fruit, and that it has become so distasteful to him that
he can not eat half a dozen berries of it at a tiuie." He may be con-
sidered a representative of all who have continued to adhere to it for
a time.

T)ie Concord has performed its mission, which was to teach those
who had become discourage 1 by their unsuccessful efforts with Isabella
and Catawba, that a more hardy kind would succeed. AVe have now
earlier and more hardy kinds than Concord, which have all of the ex-
cellecce that belongs to the grape in its richness, purity, and refine-
ment, and these, as already stated, are superseding the inferior kinds as
rapidly as they can be disseminated, for the Delaware has in a measure
already "educated the American taste," and next season not less than
one hundred thousand more educating vines will be in bearing in thou-
sands of yards and gardens.

I would not be understood to say that the Concord should be exclud
ed from all collections, but that from its lack of merit, it will not long
constitute an important item in any. The past season it has rotted
often as badly as the Catawba. In market, it has often, for a short
time, maintained a respectable position for price, but in a little time,
having to sustain a trial upon its merits as a fruit, it has always fallen
very low, generally to half the price of the Catawba, and less. I have
a fine stock of the plants, produced in the best manner, for garden
planting, at very low prices.

Extracts from Letters.

I orFER d few letters in exemplification of statements made in the
Catalogue, which clearly and forcibly illustrate important points also
made in Mr. Meade's lecture.

The vines from which Mr. Eaton's premium grapes were taken, were
those of one year old, best selection, and the grapes were produced
tlie second season from planting. Three points are clearly proved :
the excellence of the Delaware, the superiority of the vines, and above
all, their judicious treatment by Mr. Eaton, without which the results
could not have been obtained ; but good treatment is exceedingly
simple.

Westchester County.
Editor ok Horticulturist: My attention was first called to the
Delaware Grape by an article in your excellent magazine, the Horti-
CCLTCRIST, some two j'ears ago last Spring, at which time I moved on
to a small place in the country, a short distance from Troy.

The same Spring I purchased from a Western house a few Delaware
vines, (a larger portion of which, by the way, turned out to be any
thing but Delawares,) and the following Fall I received a few vines
from Dr. Grant, (that were simon pure,) and send you, accompanying
this, a few bunches I to-day cut from one of the vines had of the Doc-
tor. Can any one at the exhibition (grape) now being held at N"o. 41
Park Row (which I designed, but am prevented attending) show better
and finer bunches of Delawares from so young vines, having but or-
dinary care and culture, and grown, too. In a very exposed situation ?
I have grown a number of other varieties, set at the same time ; and
notwithstanding all that has been said and written about the Delaware
being a poor and feeble grower, etc., I have not on my place a vine of
any kind that has done better or as well in every particular as the
Delaware ; and when the quality of the fVuit is brought in question,
words are not to be found in ipy vocabulary to express the excellence
of the Delaware over all other kinds grown out of doors ; and I some-
times think I prefer them to the foreign kinds I have growing under
plass. But not to be tiresome, have I not succeeded well with my
Delawares ? Are they not good ?

" I have some six hundred feet of grape trellis, and some dozen vari-
tties of grapes gi-owing. I now wish I iiad but one varletv and that

the Delaware. Dr. Grant and yourself have not said half enough in
its praise. Very respectfully yours.

Trot, N. Y., Sept. 80, 1S63. E. 0. Eatos.

Mr. Baton received the prize "for the tent five hunches of Del-
awares,'''' for these, at the New- York Grape Show, at the Agricul-
turist Office.

I make an extract from a letter by one of our most distinguished
horticulturists on a visiting tour in the vicinity of Hartford :

" 41though I shall see you soon, and tell you how gratifying the sight
which the excellent performance of your vines has almost uniformly
afforded, and always when your directions have been followed, I can
not forbear mentioning a few instances in this letter. One is a case in
Manchester where vines of your production, three years from planting,
are carrying a crop of Delawares that are worth a journey to behold,
by the side of those from another quarter, five years old, for which a
much larger price was paid, and which have not one fifth as much
weight of fruit of an immeasurably inferior quality. The purchaser
showed me, by calculation based upon the value of the fruit now on
the vines, that your vines were cheaper at the price which he paid
than the others would have been if he had received them free with a
gratuity of two dollars each with every vine. Sir. Mottier was right
when he decided to plant none but your best Delawares."

Dated, Hartford, Sept. 4, 1SG3.

Tr.OT, Nov. 7, 1S63.

Dr. C. W. Gr.int : Dear Sir : A few days since I called at your es-
tablishment, and was exceedingly well pleased with all I saw there,
but was displeased at being told I could not have half an hour of con-
versatio!! with yourself, and I left, giving you no order.

I bad seen an advertisement stating that " first-class vines were pro-
duced at the establishment named, by an improved process so choa[i-
ly," that I liesitated a little as to going. When I saw the vines, I did
not doubt the cheapness o the process rf pr'oduction, but I also
saw that I should have to take them to Saratoga with me to keep them
alive through the next season.

Their process was certainly very much cheaper than yours ; the word
" improved " should have been omitted ; I need make no further com-
ment than by sending my order to you. / may say their second
class pleased me just as well as their first ; and their third ! They
told me that staking them as you do, and removing the laterals to get
one well-ripened cane, was disadvantageous. I should like to see them
attempt to stake theirs. Kespectfully, James Batbs.

Chicago, Nov. 20, 1803.

Dr. C. W. Grant : Dear Sir : Four years since you gave me a plan
for growing vines and trees in our not very genial climate or soil

I hope you may publish an engraving and description of the plan in
Lakdmarxs, for general benefit.

The Pear-trees have done well, but the vines deserve most honorable
mention.

We have looked upon half of the produce of the one hundred Dela-
wares as our own, and the other half as belonging to the needy. I
gave one hundred dollars to the Sanitary Commis^on from the pro-
ceeds of the devoted half, and have more than that remaining foi
other purposes besides reserving one hundred pounds for the sick,
in a cabinet which you have taught us to make. They are so much
more winey and refreshing thap those from the houses, that we have
ceased to desire the foreign kinds, as you assured us would be the case.

If all of your promises are as fully honored as those in regard to the
Delaware grape, no protest will meet you anywhere.

Yours truly.

The Quality of Grapes. By E. G. Pardee.

" Our tastes are in some good measure the result of education.
When first called upon to judge of a new fruit, we are liable to err, by
reason of our imperfect stand-point of comparison or prejudice. Some
persons' tastes never become reliable. It requires, at all times, a very
nice discrimination, and no small amount of judgment and experience.

" In the question of the comparative merits of our delicious native
grapes, time and exper ence are working out the most important re-
sults. During the last three years the writer has taken especial p^ns,
not only to cultivate his own taste, but also to test the numeroui v.iri-
eties under multiform culture, climate and soil. The past season bav-

CONDITIONS OP SUCCESS IN GRAPE CULTURE. BY PETER B. MEAD.

21

tng alTordid ^uperio^ opportunities to complete tlic test, the results are
lierc«-ith given.

Fi^f stniuis the refreshing Delaware grape. It seems to be decided-
ly superior to all others in agreeable richness and flavor, melting pulp,
and acceptablene.ss for the table, or for wine.

" Having called to my aid more than a score of ladies and gentlemen
of cultivated taste, their unbiased opinion, expressed in every case
during a period of three weeks, was, that the Delaware stands decided-
ly ahead of all others. Of many jpeoimens of the Delaware grown in
various localities, clearly the best and richest flavored ones came from
Dr. Grant's oldest vines at lona.

" Second. Next we must place the new grape, * lona,' in so far as
one sea.son will permit us to do so. It is decidedly superior to the
Diana or Catawba grapes, in point of flavor or agreeableness. By
Bome it may be preferred to the Delaware, as it is more sprij^tly, al-
though our taste jjrefers the latter. It seems to combine more than the
good qualities of the Diana and the Catawba, but it does the more
nearly resemble the latter.

" Third. The Diana comes next. It has been very superior this
year, and sustains its well-known reputation.

" Fourth. I must place the new seedling ' Israella ' next in qualitj',
and superior in earliness. It is the best, the most sugary and tender-
fleshed black grape I have yet tasted. Ripening as it does, about three
weeks before the Isabella, and being so much superior in flavor to the
Hartford I'rolific, or even the Concord or Isabella, it must come into
universal demand, if it sustains in subsequent years the promise of
this.

" Fifth. The Concord has done well this year. It does not over-
bear, and the quality of its fruit this year equaled its best promise of
former years. It is quite a favorite with many, although in point of
flavor it will not bear criticism.

"The Rebecca, the Anna, and Allen's Hybrid have furnished some
most delicious white grapes, and well sustained their former reputa-
tion, and some other varieties I might name, worthy of attention, but
after particularizing the above, I am quite content to make ray list a
very short one. Methinks an abundance of those which I have enu-
ipcrated would soon lead us to regard most other kinds with indiCfer-
eiice. I am glad to observe that Dr. Grant is propagating Nos. 1, 2,
and 4 in liberal quantities, with improved culture and extraordinary
success.

" [We are obliged to you for your notes on the ' Quality of Grapes.
Seeing grapes as you do, under a variety of circumstances, you should
ni.Tc frequently give the results to the public. We tliink j'ou have
given the true relative position to the lona and Delaware. Some, as
you say, will no doulit prefer the lona, as it is almost as good as the
Delaware, and its size will determine the preference with some. The
Delaware and lona are the most valuable grapes we have at present. —
Ed.]"

Kxtracted from The HoRTlcuLTnmsT, by permission.

Extract from a Letter from Mr. Charles M. Beach,
of Hartford, Connecticut.

Circumstances now permit me to make a very favorable report of
the progress of the present and past seasons.

I did not begin to prepare for my vineyard until after pretty tho-
rough investigation had convinced me that nothing better could be
done than to follow your directions in every particular. My ground
wore a very forbidding aspect to a beginner, being both very hard to
work ami in need of thorough drainage, but I am happy in being able
to Bay tiiat no failure or disappointment has occurred in any one point
except that the performance has uniformly surpassed my most san-
guine expectations as well as your promises. My only regret is, that
the work had not been commenced tvm years earlier and prosecuted
with greater vigor ; but the experience of the past two years was
needed to give me full assurance in regard to climate, and various
other matters pertaining to an undertaking of such magnitude and im-
portance ae planting a vineyard that is intended for long duration as
well as excellence of produce.

I feel now that there is safe ground under my feet, and that the un-
dertaking may be prosecuted with any economical amount of energy

that circumstances will permit. We are using our utmost diligence !n
getting another acre ready for fall planting, apd must claim the per
fo.imance of your promise to call and see that all is right before begin
ning to plant. The bushels of Delawares and Dianas with which the
vines are now loaded, when only on their second season, and the e.x-
cellence and beauty of the fruit, and the strengtii and ripeness of the
canes, have warmed me with an enthusiasm for the work that is not
unmingled with gratitude to you for the full and explicit directions
given in your Illustrated Catalogdk and Landmajiks, and also by
letter.

Dated Ilart'ord, September 18th, 1863.

Mr. Eeach received premiums for his grapes at different exhibitions,
in competition, as usual, with those from much older vines, from which
he has a right to draw further assurance of the correctness of his course
of proceeding.

This letter is taken from among a great many of the same import,
because it very happily and fully illustrates the important circum-
stances of a very successful vineyard, of which it affords an unexcep-
tionable example. The exposure was favorable, being a southeasterly
declivity, but the other conditions were made so by the efforts of Mr.
Beach.

Extract from a Lecture by Peter B. Mead.
Success in Grape Culture depends upon the proper selection of

varieties, upon the qualitj/ of plants as affected hy propaga

tion, and upion the treatment in garden and vineyard.

In speaking of the cultivation of the vine, Mr. Mead remarks : I
have been a devotee of the vine for the past twenty years, and liave
studied it carefully during that period for the love of the subject and
the immense interest that attaches to it, and I may claim a degree of
accuracy and extent of practical knowledge in regard to it superior to
that of any person in the country, with one exception. I have lal)ored
zealously in the cause without any hope of reward except the con-
sciousness of the great good that must result from it. While the peo-
ple are rapidly learning the value of the grape in its excellent kinds
for plentiful use in the family, and cultivators have learned the profits
of well-managed vineyards, and are beginning to plant vines in great
numbers, very ma.ny will be disappointed in their expectations in con-
sequence of not fulfilling the conditions of success. The first and
greatest cause of failure is that of using too cheap and consequently
poor vines, which are expensive in comparison with the best even
in the outlay of money before tlie.y can be brought into profitable
productiveness, to say nothing of the extensive losses that will occur
by the death of the plants. Persons can not know until after years
of trial how important it is to the large measure of success which ren-
ders the cultivation of the vine so pleasant and profitable, to obtain
the right kind of plants to begin with. It lies at the foundation of
success, and with such vines as I now show you full success is more
easily attainable than in the cultivation of any other fruit, while with
very poor vines it is scarcely attainable at all.

Here are seven grades of vines from single eyes, with very ne.arly
equal intervals of quality, as indicated by their roots and other marks
which are clearly apparent to the habituated eye.

The highest are called "Best Selection," which means that they
are selected for remarkable value from the class called Extra, which
I now exhibit. The primary and secondary roots, covered with their
fibers and rootlets like a thick head of liair, seem to leave nothing to
be desired, but this one which I now hold up to you is still better aud
more mature in its development of the same characteristics tliat are
so satisfactory in the one last shown. This is called Best Selection.
These are both grown in large pots, to which they were introduced b.v
a long succession of changes, and they can be produced in no other
way. Observe the fiber and strength of action all at the center,
where it is needed to become effective, like the rays spreading in all
directions from the sun. These are most excellent, but necessarily
somewhat expensive, costing not less than one dollar in money each
to produce them, with the most skillful and unremitting attention
added. A calcul;ition based upon facts shows that by the worth of its
fruit over a good vine like the one marked No. 3, at three years old, the
one of Best Selection, at a cost of one dollar, is cheaper &y<wo<?oiiar«
than the one marked No. 3 at fifty cents ; and next season the advau-

22

CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS IN GRAPE CULTURE. BY PETER B. MEAD.

tage of the Best Selection (at four years old) will be doublerl. This is
not an exaggerated instance, but a fair representation of every day
occurrence. 1 would repeat the assertion that I am often compelled
to make, that the best are emphatically the cheapest, as fully demon-
strated by innumerable trials.

The reader will understand that Mr. Mead exhibited specimens of
Ihe different kinds and grades as he was speaking, for which Plates
Kcs. 5 and 15 may serve tolerably well as illustrations.

Here are the same grades (Extra and Best Selection) that were
begun in pots and finished in the open ground, that have nearly the
same value, the roots being larger and the vines also, but not so hard
tud fibrous. They had attained a good size in pots before being put
out, and have all of the advantage of the transplanted vines of two
years, with the additional advantage of carrying more of their excel-
lence of constitution into immediate effectiveness than is possible
with the vines of two years, when planted in place to fruit.

Here are No. 1 vines for vineyard planting of excellent quality,
and such as will not bring any disappointment ; and here are No. 2
.»nd No. S. All of these are excellent vines, and refreshing to behold,
(or they all speak of a good measure of success speedily, but each
^rade rei^oves the period of establishment in bearing about one j-ear,
:!ud when nearing the lower grades supposes a degree of attention by
the cultivator which they are not likely to receive. Here are Nos. 4
and 6, which are still much better than very many that are sold for
the best vines, and good healthy vineyards may be made from them ;
but there is no need of repeating what I have said in regard to the
economy of the best vines. Here are vines two years old transplanted
.".nd root-pruned, and here are vines that have been well treated to
(he time of their establishment in bearing at four years old. I will
now prepare all of them for planting by proper pruning

Now these are all in proper condition for planting ; and although
the one four years old will give some imperfect fruit the first season,
it does not take so much of the effeetive apparatus of the vine with it
into the ground at transplanting as those called Extra, Best Selection,
and No. 1 Transplanted, and at three years from transplanting it will
"le greatly below any of the three in the value of its produce.

It is time that this wrong idea of the increase of the value of vines
nj- age was entirely got rid of, for it is constantly leading to the most
serious disappointments through great expense. All vines, to be
valuable and give good permanent results, must, whatever may be their
leal age, be brought to the condition of one year old vines, for it is
only the roots andwood of one season that are of any value for trans-
planting.

The Lumple statement that a vine is two years old, and has been
Irar.spluitel, although it gives an important circumstance concerning
It, does imt fully specify its value. A vine that is pretty small at one
year old, if it has maintained its health through the entire season, may
()e made to become a pretty good plant at the end of the second, by
transplanting and root-pruning, if it receives besides the large amount
of additional care that is required.

'Vithout transplanting and root-pruning it will become a much
larger vine, and more attractive to some people, who do not know how
to estimate its quality; but the fiber, or secondary roots, near its
Center, upon which the value of the plant chiefly depends, will be lost,
and with it nearly one year of time, at least.

By those who are unacquainted with the important characteristics
of vines, the one not transplanted would be preferred, from its greater
size; but the practiced horticulturist, or vineyardist, who has learned
to judge of the vines by their ability to produce in the garden or vine-
yard, will not hesitate a moment in choosing the one which has its
secondary roots where they can be available, rather than at the ex-
tremities of the two-year old roots, where they are all lost by the ne-
cessary cutting back at planting.

In thb way many tolerable vines of two years old, transplanted and
root-pruned, are made like those that I now exhibit.

But the best vines, two years old, transplanted and root-pruned, can
only be produced from the best one year old single-eye plants, like the
one I now show, by pruning it to the form wliich it now presents,
(showing it with the roots cut back to about eight inches in length, and
the cane cut to three eyes.) From the ends of each of these roots
generally three new ones will be produced, (not certain in number —
from two to five,) and along the entire length of the remains of the

root that has been cut back permanent secondary roots will be pnv
duced, which gives the vine remarkable ability to endure and produce
occupying tJie ground fully with working roots.

I have said that the vines which have been shown as single-eyp
plants, best selection, are the best plants with naked roots (naked in
contradistinction from those grown in lattice boxes, or baskets, and J
moved with a sufficiency of the soil in which they were grown) that cm
be produced. I must qualify the assertion slightly. The plants of best
selection, treated as we have just shown, are equal in all respects to the
single-eyes, and have more ability to endure the trials of the first sea-son
without injury, and especially where the ground is not in the most per-
fect state of preparation, from having been recently done, or where
the attendance is not at all times as careful as it should be, and espe-
cially in regard to drouth. For myself, I could ask nothing better, for
extensive'planting, than the single eye, best selection, which I now
exhibit. For tVie large majority of persons who treat their vines pretty
well, (not quite so well as I shall teach them to do it in my book,) thia
of best selection, transplanted, is preferable.

I will now show j'ou one of four years old, that has been taken uji
for sale, and it is a pity, too, that it has been taken up. It is a fine
Delaware, and the crop of next season, which it is abundantly able to
bear, would have brought more tiian the price now asked for the vine.
Let us now prune it for planting. In the first place, cut one of its
large canes entirely away, and tlien cut the other to three eyes, but
one of which must be permitted to grow. Only the new root that ha,"*
sprung from near the surface can be retained ; all of the res: must 1«
cut off, for it will continue dying for two or three years, until it has all
disappeared, and the vine becomes a new plant. So it bad better be
done thus at once, as all experience teaches. Now you see the three
vines, of three different ages, all reduced to the condition of one year
old vines for planting. While you are looking at them, I think it may be
seen that most of you, with your present light upon the subject, would
take the transplanted of two years first, and that of four years last.
Vou would be right ; but I will state the case for you a little differently.
For the experienced gardener, whose attentions are always bestowed at
the right moment, the best selection of one year ; for the attentive
amateur, the transplanted best selection ; and for the man who cares ^
nothing about the matter, the vine of four years old. But the time is
near when there will be no careless horticulturists, and when good
vines, well attended, will be an essential part of every homestead; not
to furnish a supply of a score, or a few scores of pounds, to hist only a
few days, but hundreds of pounds, for at least si.x months of the year.

The wish to obtain fruit so beneficial and excellent as that of the
grape, as speedily as possible, is so commendable, that I am laboring
to encourage rather than to repress it ; and I desire, moreover, to put
every one in the Wue way to obtain it abundantly, cheaply, of best
quality, and as speedily as possible.

For general planting, the purchaser of the best plants, from single
eyes, never does wrong.

But there are other kinds of plants, of one year old, that are unob-
jectionable in all respects, and will yield fruit sooner, and some of
them immediately — that is, the season of planting.

The vine which I now exhibit is called a Layer,- and is a good repre-
sentative of the best quality of that kind of plant. This, you will ob-
serve, has two strong canes of bearing wood, each at least eight fei'l
long. If these had not been disturbed, but suffered to remain in the
ground where they grew, they might have been pruned to two feet
each, and suffered to bear from six to twelve pounds of grapes the next
season. In consequence of being taken from the soil, for removal to
another place, their ability to bear will he greatly lessened, so that four
pounds would be a pretty large amount for such a vine to bear the firs*
season after transplanting.

It is only the best of layers, that are skillfully produced from strong
healthy mother-vines, prepared for the purpose, that will do this. Or'
dinary layers hare no such ability. Such plants are necessarily very
expensive, but they are also very valuable. Inferior layers are the
poorest of plants, and should be avoided. I will not now attempt to
describe the manner of producing good layers, but leave the subject
for the present, simply saying very few of them are produced. This
one with abundance of secondary or fibrous root, evenly distributed
in moderate compass, is a model plant. That with its long, primary
root, and stragu'ingi detached secondary roots is to be avoided.

CONDITIONS OP SUCCESS IN GRAPE CULTURE. BY PETER H. BIEAD.

23

I have here something that is new to nearly every one of you
Very few of these have been producert in this country, and none for
«ale until last season. In spe:il;iiis of the last I mentioned that its
ability to hear was greatly lessened by its being moved from the
ground. To avoid that check this one has been grown in a lattice-box
or crate, so that a sufficiency of soil may be moved with it without
bein? distuibed. This j'ou will see by tlie size of the canes, and by
the number, appearance, and equal distribution of its secondary roots,
l)rotriidin:; on all sides from the box, is a layer of best quality. It is
called a " box layer," or a " covered layer," in distinction from one
taken from the soil like that previously shown which is called a " nude
layer. Vines like this receive no perceptible check by transplanting
and transportation, and give fine crops the first season, maintaining
their ad .'ance over other kinds long enough to pay for their excess of
cost, by their excess of produce. Such vines will cover a trellis with
their beautiful shade the first season, and give at once the air of com-
plete establishment, instead of raw newness, which detracts largely
from the enjoyment of new places.

This vine is a present to me, and I need not say that I prize it more
tliau I should six from single eyes of the best selection. It is an lona.

In answer to the question, as to whether vines from single eyes are
better than those from cuttings, the lecturer stated that they were,
and that the superiority was easily demonstrable to the understanditig
of cultivators, but would occupy too much time for the present. A
vineyard from single eyes, best selection, would give better results at
fiur ye:irs from planting than one from cuttings at seven, and in point
of durability there was no comparison.

Tiie propagation of hardy vines from' single eyes for open ground is
an Americanism, and the feasibility and great advantage of it, in a
large way, were first demonstrated at lona Island.

In answer to the question. Are not hardy vines made tender by be-
ing propagated under glass? the lecturer said, by no means ; but, on
the contrary, with the proper appliances, the habituated propagator is
thus enabled to command all of the conditions of success, which, in the
hands of attentive skill, result in the production of perfect plants, such
as I now exhibit to you.

Observe, not merely the quantity of roots, primary and secondary,
with their innumerable rootlets, like a thick head of hair, but their
uniform distribution, with their wiry hardness and strength. Try the
soli lity of the wood by cutting with a sharp knife, and its weight by
seeing it sink in water ; note the smallness of the pith, the fullness of
the buds, the nearness of the joints, and the ripeness of the wood, even
to the extremity.

The great superiority of such plants has been too often demonstrated
by trial to leave any doubt in the mind of the most skeptical. They
are not forced but judiciously treated for the benefit of purchasers.

I must be careful not to be misunderstood in regard to the produc-
tion of vines under glass. I would not have it infeiTed that, because
the best vines may be produced under glass, and by the ai4 of houses,
none but the best are so produced. The very poorest have been
go produced, and, doubtless, will continue to be, if the call of pur-
chasers is for very cheap rather than for very good vines. The condi-
tions of goodness and cheapness are it^ direct opposition, and pur-
chasers will control the matter.

The art of propagation, when skillfully practiced, is one of exceed-
ing nicety, and requires fine perceptive powers, thoroughly trained.

Vines produced in this way are necessarily expensive ; such as I
now show you can not have cost the propagator less than one dollar
each. Those may be considered as of the best possible quality. I have
nerer seen better. They are marked " best selection." Here are vines
of another quality, much below the first, but still excellent. They are
marked " No. 1," and may, perhaps, be produced at half the cost of
the first. There is a class between them in development and value,
called " extra." And here is No. 2 and No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5. These
different grades it is not very difficult to determine ; but to fix their real
value, as it will be determined by their productiveness and the qual-
ify of the fruit borne by each grade, in garden and vineyard, and to
exhibit, the whole matter clearly, would require your patient attention
for liai. an hour. I can give you the result^n few words, on the side
of safety. For the garden, plant, if single eyes, the best that can be
obtained, .and of layers the best, or none. For the vineyard, plant none
of lower grad- thin the No. 2, which I show you, and far better none

below No. 1. The most that have been planted have been below Noa
4 or 5, which I now exhibit. Good vineyards maybe made of all tliese
grades, but to the best cultivator in the world who buys the vines It
will cost more to make a vineyard of the inferior grades than of the
higher, and the vineyard can not be so good of the former as of the
latter, and much time will be lost. I did not Intend to estimate the
ilifTcrence in value between vines of moderate and those of eK,elle*it
quality. A part of the difference will be one year later in bearing.
This amounts to the net value of the crop for one year after full es-
tablishment in bearing, added to the cost of attendance and Interest
of the investment one year. Shall we put the sum at one dollar?
which is too low. This presents the case fairly in its true aspect.

But very few who plant yineyards are of the very best class of cul-
tivators, and to these the difference will be greater ; and for such to
buy the lower grade of vines will be the most mistaken effort at
economy.

It is only good vineyards that are both pleasant and profitable, and
such I desire to see always.

An excellent vineyard of one acre of the best varieties may be looked
to confidently for a more valuable crop than the average of four acres
of che.ap vines, in ground moderately prepared and rather negligently
attended. One acre of first-rate vineyard is a handsome and valuable
possession. A trellis of one hundred vines, in best condition, will, un-
failingly, furnish more enjoyment for a family than can be obtained
from an equal expenditure of means and attention in any other way.

It is well often to glance at the pecuniary value of even our most
delightful things. A trellis of one hundred vines, trained accoriiing to
the best method, will yield from one thousand to fifteen liundred
pounds.

The best Delaware grapes liave brought, the past season, sixty ccnta
a pound. For years they may be expected to range from twenty to
fifty cents a pound, according to quality. The. best may be expected
to command fifty cents. One half the produce of the trellis would
afford a tolerable family supply, (not such as I intend for my family,)
and the sale of the other half would pay for the entire attention of a
well-kept garden.

If those who desire to obtain vines will acquire the information
which they should have, in order to enter upon the course understand
ingly and safely, producers of vines will, per force of circumstances,
be compelled to furnish good ones, for they Nvill find sale for no others.
My object in this lecture, chiefly, is to furnish such information ; and
if I could speak to all who are about to obtain vines, with my living
voice, and could demonstrate the true course of proceeding, by the ex-
hibition of the realities of the case, as has just been done, few tliat are
cap.able of comprehending any subject fully would go wrong in this,
which is not only deeply interesting but commends itself to ^vell-in-
formed common-sense at every step.

The production of good plants is the first step toward obtaining
grapes, and the second, obtaining good vines in perfect order ; but
these steps, however well taken, are not, of themselves, sufficient to
secure the accomplishment of its whole course.

After the vines have been obtained, two other steps, of equal im-
portance, are to be m.ade before the goal can be reached ; the firgt of
which is, the proper planting of the vines in suitably prepared soil ;
and tlie next is proper cultivation and training.

When these operations are unskillfully performed, the best plants
often prove to be but little better than the poorest in their results,
which is utter failure. These operations will be treated in subsequent
lectures.

The whole lecture was very interesting, and presented the important
facts more clearly than has ever before l)een done. I have permission
to transcribe it all, but have not room for more.

Importance of Training.

Tr.ilnlng is indispensable in a threefold relation. The vines can not
remain productive without having it judiciously performed. 'Without
it they soon become unliealthy, as well as uncontrolable.

Without a good system of training, the fruit not only fails to ripen
early but it never acquires its full degree of spirit and rich refiresbing
flavor.

24

WINK.

Plate No. IT shows a good plan for training before a low wall, or
fence, or on a low trellis. By taking sufficient time one vine, in this
ray, may be made to extend to great length ; but this is not advisa-
Rble. Plate No. IS shows the same plan restricted to its proper limits.
Plate No. 22 shows half the same vine pruned, ready for the beginning
of the ne.xt season.

T'.'.e arms of a vine may be extendad in length, but the productive-
ness can not be greatly increased by increase of the height of the bear-
ing canes. To increase the height, or to cover a wall or building to
any desirable height, a plan, with successive stages, has been devised,
by wUch this plan can be built into a system, as shown in Plate No.
20. Plate No. 22 s!iows one of the best vineyard plans. Plate No. 19
shows a plan of iedding in vineyards. For full explanations of these
and many other plans see Illustkated Cataloqce, and Landmarks, in
which the subject is more thoroughly treated than in any single publi-
cation of any country. No engravings have ever been executed that
can compare with those given, for truth, clearness, and accuracy.

Wine.

Wise has been a most esteemed production in all countries where
vines have been found to thrive ; and a good vineyard tlie most desir-
able of possessions.

There is no other branch of cultivation which so largely calls forth
Into full action all of the excellent spirit of man in his daily avoca-
tion, and in which the employment of all of the most manly qualities
of tiie cultivator are so immediately and directly rewarded with a
prize that is congenial to exalted and refined perceptions. Tliis is
the most important Wesson which our rapid survey of France, in rela-
tion to the cultivation of the vine teaches with a living power that
can not leave the question in doubt, and is such a solution as all good
men must require before giving encouragement or even countenance
to its introduction to our country for wine.

A beverage from the grape has been often made by very rude people,
but good wine has always been the production of refinement and cul-
tivation, and can only be sustained by a people advanced in the arts,
knowledge, and elegancies of life. It belongs to quiet enjoyment as
strong wine does to revelry and high excitement.

Those wines which contain a large percentage of alcohol, either nat-
nrally or by addition, rnay be called wines of intoxication; and the
amount of alcohol which they contain may vary from eight to twenty
per cent, and even more.

Those that contain little of alcohol, but cheer and refresh by their
generous qualities, without inebriation, may be called wines of refresh-
ment, and by those who can appreciate their good qualities they are
rightly characterized as precious ; for there is nothing so grateful and
renovating to the whole man, when suitably taken, as excellent wine.
Its beneficial influence is not transient, but pro^iotes the healthful ac-
tion of all the vital powers. ,

These wines contain only from five to seven per cent of alcohol, but
so combined with other principles that the alcoholic action is little, if
at all, distinctively felt, and are never used for purposes of dissipa-
tion. Their finer qualities are never fully appreciated, except by those
whose tastes have been cultivated by their use.

Brandy, mixed with pure, delicate wines, not only destroys all of
that freshness, delightful perfume and flavor which renders them in
their excellence estimable beyond comparison with any other refresh-
ment, but it changes their character from that of the most genial and
invigorating restoratives, grateful to the stomach, soothing and reno-
vating, to that of a stimulating excitant whose primary action at best
5s not pleasant, and whose secondary action is attended by feverish
depression, headache, impaired tone of stomach, and general derange-
ment of the system. The evil of the adulteration is not lessened by
being made in the form of sugar added to the juice before fermenta-
tion.

Good wine is the produce of good grapes, only, and the excellence
of wine depends upon the precious qualities of the grape, which no
other fruit can produce ; and these qualities, in sufficient degree and
perfection to produce eslimable wine, are only found in the best kinds
of grapes, and not In these exce])t when brought to a good degree of
maturity, under the conditions that are favorable to the development
•f their excellent qualities.

Although this exquisite flavor b a delightful characteristic of our
best grapes in which they are unequalled among fruit, it must be borne
in mind that their chief excellence does not consist mainly in this
flavor, only as it is indicative of the higher qualities of invigoration
and refreshment which are never found without it. It may be said t-o
be their physiognomy — the manifestation of their nature— and bears
the same relation to their essence that the expression of a counte-
nance does to character. In both cases rich enjoyment is communi-
cated by the delightful expression of the qualities of the heart, teaching
us where to " find the friends whose value is inestimable."

Grapes to produce wine must be rich in sugar and tartaric acid, and
be free from malic acid. Our coarse grapes, such as Hartford Prolific,
Concord, Creveling, etc., are not only destitute of the finer qur;litieg,
and poor in sugar and tartaric acid, but besides the nauseating offens-
iveness of their skins, they possess a damaging amount of malic acid
in their unripe center; hence, these kinds have never been able to pro-
duce wine that has deserved the name. The kinds of grapes must be
such as furnish all ilie excellent qualiiies of the tcine, and none but
those of high excellence, and with that excellence fully developed, can
make good wine; for wine is but the juice of grapes changed by fer-
mentation, and does not admit of any other change, or any addition,
without destruction of its character.

Beverages which are called wine are often made of grapes that are
not wine-bearing, (Vitis Yinifera,) and also of various fruits and acid
juices.

We have Rhubarb wine. Tomato wine, Strawberry, Raspberry, Black-
berry, Elderberry, and Currant wines, all of which are made alcoholic
in some degree, by tlie addition of sugar that is suffered to undergo
the alcoholic fermentation, or by the addition of alcohol direct, in the
form of some Kind "of spirits.

And such is the case with the syrups or cordials named, from what-
ever material they may be constructed. No one ever becomes habitu-
ally a drinker of them for refreshment, for they are only unsatisfying
seductions to the palate, and yield none of that grateful stomachic re-
freshment, to call forth the feeling of friendship toward them. If
their use is persisted in, the alcoholic stimulant wiil be the object
sought, and the taste and feelings will soon begin to demand it in the
more simple and direct form of ardent spirits.

The qualities wliich give value to pure, rich, high-flavored grapes
are still more distinctively perceptible in the wine than in the fruit,
when the vinification is well conducted ; and the taste that becomes
onee well attuned to the enjoyment of the wine in which these qualities
are developed and preserved, can not turn to alcoholic stimulation, for
it destroys all of tlie enjoyment which has been received from the
wine, and the refreshing delight and renovation which the whole being,
through the stomach, receives from that, have no resemblance to in-
toxicating excitement.

The first real wine produced in this country was made from the Her-
bemont grape by Mr. Nicholas Herbemont, at Columbia, South Caro-
lina. Soon after Major Adlum made one specimen of Catawba wine at
Washington. A little later, Mr. J. J. Dufour, while making great ef
forts to introduce wine-making at Tevay, in Indiana, by a colony of
Swiss, succeeded in making wine from the York Madeira, which he
called Cape grape as if from the Cape of Good Hope. He did not sue.
ceed in establishing it as a wine grape, but this was afterward done by
Mr. John E. Mottier, who made excellent wine from it resembling
Chambertin. To the late Mr. Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio,
the county is indebted for the long course of very expensive experi-
ments which demonstrated the practicability of making excellent wine
from Catawba grapes in the latitude of Cincinnati Farther north it
has scarcely, if at all, been successful. A number have gained dis-
tinction at Cincinnati, by the production of excellent still Catawba
wine, foremost of whom is J. E. Mottier. Messrs. Werk, Bogen and
others besides Mr. Longworth have also made excellent sparkling Ca-
tawba wine.

To Mr. Schnicke belongs the high distinction of having been the
first to demonstrate the surpassing excellence of the Delaware grape
for wine. After he had|IUIly proved it to his own mind beyond a
doubt by tlie uniform recnlt of four years' trial, he rejoiced as only a
German could who had made this cnuntry his home, but had not dared
hope to find among its blessings so good a grape as the White Rle^sling.
He then expressed his full belief that the Delaware would prove to be

WINE-MAKING.

25

act merely the best American wine grape, but the best In the world ;
and three more years of trial with the same result have served to jus-
tify his firm conviction. It is pure, rich, and generously refreshing
with a somewhat spicy flavor, and smooth, v.'ith all of the sweetness
that can exist in a perfect dry wine. It also makes a sweet wine by
Buffering tlie griiijes to become over-ripe or shrivelled.

The first Deliiware vineyard was planted by Mr. J. E. Mottier, with
vines produced by nij'self. He has made wine from it two seasons, of
quality gi-eatly surpassing any thing that has been produced in this
country, and rivalling the remarkable wines of foreign countries in
parity, refinftment, richness, and that exquisite deiicacy of flavor, the
whole assemblage of which constitute tlie excellence of wine. It has
commanded more than three times the price of the best Catawba,
which has heretofore been our only standard both of quality and price
fcir native wine, the sugared wines so called not coming under consid-
eration when speaking of real wines.

The price of Delaware wine when made in great quantity will proba-
bly be double that of Catawba, until the latter will nearly disappear
from cultivation, and only be continued for a few special tastes, and
for special purposes as the Cape now is in the hands of Mr. Jlottier.

Tlie Diana produces wine much more refined and delicate than the
Catawba, and with many good judges it will for constant daily use fully
equal Uie Delaware. It ripens so mucli earlier than the Catawba that
It may be grown at least two degrees farther north, and it is much
more certain in its crops. These two constitute the only wine grape
that have been at present tested for the latitude of New- York, extend-
ing not much more than two degrees farther north except in specially
favored localities.

The principles of wine-making are very simple, and the conditions
are easily fulfiJled after the proper grapes for the purpose are obtained.
Good wine is simply the juice of grapes, fermented, without any addi-
tion or any change except that produced b.v the fermentation and the
natural effects of time in ripening and developing the inherent excel-
lences that are already in the fruit. The juice consists of sugar, tar-
taric acid, and glucose or ferment in large proportions, and other
matters in small quantities, of which cliemistry takes cognizance, be-
sides those which constitute the specific excellences of different kinds,
and which chemistry has not yet been able to recognize. Of the Eu-
ropean grapes which are ail descendants from those that originally
came from Asia, there are many varieties that are wine-producing ;
that is, their juice after undergoing the vinous fermentation under
proper conditions, remains in the form of a beverage called wine, for a
long time, without undergoing the acetic fermentation by which vine-
gar is produced. But there are only a few out of the great number
that have become distinguished for the excellence of their produce
80 as to be designated best varieties. These best varieties under dif-
ferent^ names are generally very widely disseminated, but a few by
particular requirements of climate are restricted to particular locali-
ties.

All grapes that make wine are distinguished by what is called rich-
ness of flavor ; that is, by a large amount of tartaric acid, with an
abundance of sugar, tempered by the aromatic and other properties
which constitute the distinguishing characteristics of each variety.

The grapes designated as feeble-flavored arc not wine-producing in
any country to the extent of furnishing wine for commerce. Among
these are the numerous Chasselas varieties and Ilamburgs. Grapes
which Iftve a large portion that remains unripe, which unripeness con-
fii'ts of malic acid, such as our natives generally, with their thick skins
;ind tough centers, are unable to produce wine.

The Isabella, although not a wine-making grape, approaches more
nearly to the production of wine than any of our natives of that class,
leaving Concord, Hartford Prolific, Northern Muscadine, and all of the
family quite out of consideration for th.at purpose.

The York Madeira is intermediate between the Isabella and Catawba
In spirit and refresliment, and is of the lowest grade that can furnish
real wine. The Catawba, under proper conditions, is distinctively wine-
producing, and possesses a high degree of ext^Bwice marred by some
defects. Vp

These excellences or defects vary greatly accordin;; to the conditions
of climate and season under which the fruit is produced. In the lati-
tude of Cincinnati, where the seasons are distingui.sheJ for high tem-

perature, long-Continued and dry, the thickness of skin and unripe
portion almost disappear, being elaborated into ex tellcnce tliat is sus-
pended in tlic juice. Under such conditions the juice for the best Ca-
tawba wine is produced ; but in the latitude of Cincinnati, in unfavor-
able seasons, the wine is inferior from the best attended vineyards, and
in those which are neglected, it has no enduring ability without adul-
teration. Under such circumstances, sugar, or alcohol, or bf>tli are
added, and a production results that is sold under tlie name of "S.'eet
Catawba."

In localities where the climate is less favorable the excellence tliat
would come from the perfect elaboration of the portion near the skin
and at the center, being absent, the product ncvtr results in real wine,
and is never offered for sale unadulterated. For latitude and climate
less favorable than that of Cincinnati, earlier ripening varieties of the
rich, wine-producing kinds are required. Such kinds as Concord, Hart-
ford Prolific, Crovcling, etc., never become wine-producing in a-iiy lati-
tude where they have been tried. When taken to Cincinnati and fur-
ther south and west in the state of Missouri, nothing that is capable of
giving any of the benefits and enjoyment of generous wine has yet
been produced from them.

Good wine-producing fruit must first be obtained thoroughly ripe,
all of the imperfect berries being rejected. The crushing of the fruit
must be thoroughly and evenly done without breaking the seeds. Very
strong pressure is required so that all of the juice may be obtained,
and this is not merely necessary for t!ie purpose of saving the juice
but the properties of the grape that are obtainable by the severest
pressure, as well as " the first running," are necessary to produce the
best wine. The different qualities of juice are obtained from each
quantity that goes upon the press, called " first," " second," and " third
pressing ;" and these three " pressings " or "runnings," in the propor-
tions in which they come from the best grapes are necessary to produce
the best wine. The first running will soonest mature to become drink-
able, but lacks both richness and endurance. The last pressing, if
kept sep:irate makes but very poor wine, although equally important
to the whole composition.

A thorough fermentation is required in a pretty equable temperature,"
which must be neither above nor below certain degrees. Fermentation
will not take place with sufficient energy to make wine at a tempera-
ture below sixty degrees, and the quality of grapes must be very good
and rich in sugar that can sustain a temperature above eighty degrees.
For furnishing these conditions a cellar is required with the means of
regulation so that the efl'ects of sudden cold shall not be felt in check,
ing the action which should be continuous, nor the effects of too grest
heat whicli will damage or destroy the wine by too energetic action.

With a cellar two-thirds under ground, having abundant means of
ventilation or confinement of the atmosphere, and sheltered from the
direct action of tlic sun, these conditions are easily furnlslicd. There
are two different plans for managing the juice during ferment«tioa :

/

Plate No. 24.

26

THE PROFITS OF VINEYARDS.

one Is to exclude the atmospheric air after fermentation has begun,
and the ether is to put the juice in a tub or rat, leavin^j it uiicovereJ,
except by tJie crust that forms upon the top, or covcsed with boards or
sauTEs.

Tiie otiier is by using the apparatus represented in the plate, called
the invention of Gervaise, by which the action of the air is chiefly ex-
cluded. The bent tube is fitted to the bung of tlie casli, and its upper
end opens into a vessel of water, which prevents the ingress of air,
but jic;-D:its the gas generated by fermentation to escape freely by
ri?iii,^ through the water in bubbles.

At the beginning the casks are filled only to within a few inches of the
top. As the fermentation progresses toward completion, one plan is to
.till the casks by repeated additions so that the scum will overflow and
escape. Another method is to retain the scum, letting it settle to the
bottom, where it forms what is called " Lees."

Wine of the highest character is made in both ways, and the full ex-
.■iii:inatlon of the subject requires more space than can be afforded at
))rt'sent. The best wines that have been made in this country were by
ret,i!uing the lees,,and suffering the wine to undergo its second fer.
m^-nfat'.on before their removal. This is called " wine fermented on
the lees." It was by J. E. Mottier. After the fermentation has ceased
the ca.-iks have the bungs driven tight, and remain so until the warm
weather of the next early summer, when a second but much more
i;io.levate fermentation takes place, at the end of which the wine may
1 e siiid to be made, but not fully completed. Another year in the
,:mU, and some fining by isinglass, or white of egg, is generally re-
quired, when it is ready for bottling, and for sale, but not yet in its
1;et;t condition, for which one or two years more in the cask are re-
quired, when it will be ready for bottling and use in ripe condilion.

This is a general outline of the process by which any one who has
juice of the requisite quality can make good wine ; but it will vary in
goodness according to the degree of accuracy in fulfilling all of the
conditions of success.

For ascertaining the quality of the juice in regard to quantity of
Fugar, an instrument called saceharometer is used, and the degree of
ninety or upwards is required for very good results.

This subject will be fully treated in Landmarks with numerous en-
gravings.

The Profits of Vineyards.

This is a subject too extensive to be treated in narrow limits. It
may be safely said, in general, that no branch of cultivation offera so
,rood profits, and with such constancy for the amount of care and cap-
ital employed, and in all the pleasurable circumstances and associa-
tions attending it as the vine.

Vineyards for table-grapes, advantageously situated, at present offer
the most attractive inducements to cultivators, where among other
favorable conditions is that of easy access to market.

A great variety of considerations will affect the result both for table
arid for wine, the most important of which are situation and exposure;
certain favorable conditions of the soil are also indispensable, altliough
the vine will thrive in as great variety of soils as any other fruit. In
every good garden these conditions are always present; for in making
the conditions of a good garden, the proper conditions for the vine
must be furnished, except that it does not require extreme enrichment.

In the chapter pointing out the different methods of training the
produce per a' ve, will be found noted, according to each, under the
iuppo?it;on of food attendance, so that the question need not be con-
gidereil here.

Prices will U.ke as great a range according to quality in the hands of
different cultivators as will the quantity produced. It must be remena-
bered that the public taste is so far educated already, that not only the
best kinds are demanded, but the best of the kind, and that the differ-
ence here will be as it now is in grape countries, not merely great be-
tween tolerable and best, but several fold.

In the market of Paris excellent Chasselas grapes bring constantly
three times as much per pound as those that are simply good. Ex.
celience should be the aim of every one who plants vines, both on the
•core of profit and of pleasure in tlie occupation.

Simplicity of training is a consideration second in importance only
to ttiat of efficiency. The most simple of all is when a single cane is
trained to a ringle stake. The utm.-'st that such vines may be expected
to produce are three branches. By increasing the canes to three the

system becomes admissible, and maybe very producti>e. Tlie num-
ber of vines per acre would be not less than six thousand, and each
one might be expt-cted to produce one and a half pounds of fruit
These can not be maintained in health, except by repeated beddings,
as represented in plate 19. At pruning, each caoe is cut to one bud, or
better all removed but one, and that cut to three buds. By this means
the vines are kept in the same form as now seen in plates 27, 28. Plate
25 represents a vine without support, and the condition is little differ-
ent from or.;inary vines, with one stake upon which the fruit Is gener
ally borne at the top, but from stocks in the form here represented.
Plate 26 represents a very good plan by which the vines are planted
two feet apart in the rows, and the rows not less than seven or eight
feel apart. Each vine has but one arm, two vines being brought to-
gether by the stocks which at first sight appear to be but one vine. It
is a renewal plan, and a modification of that by Speechley, the vines
being about four feet long ; for the detail of formation, see plates
No. 29, SO. About twenty-five hundred vines will occupy an acre, and
under the best management, which will be rather difficult, four to six
pounds to a vine may be expected yearly, or even more. Plate No.
81 represents a better plan by which the vines will be set four feet
apart in the rows, with rows six feet apart ; something more than two
thousand vines wili be required for an acre, and from six to twelve
pounds may be produced by each vine. This is a half Thomery row,
here represented before a wall five or six feet high, but the plan is
equally applicable to a trellis. Plate 34 represents a single member
of the plan. Plate 81 represents the plans of 27 and 2S applied to a
trellis, with the number of canes increased. .In this form it is a very
good one for obtaining large crops. The remarks in regard to pruning
this form apply to those. Plate 33 represents one of the best vineyard-
plans, and equally adapted for the garden. At least two thousand five
hundred plants will be required to furnish an acre by this plan, and
four pounds of best fruit may be obtained perpetually from each vine ;
for simplicity and efficiency either as renewal or permanent it is not
surpassed. Plate 37 represents a plan for obtaining roots at each end
of the stock. Plates 33 and 34 are ornamental for the garden. Plates
89 and 40 are a plan for the garden, of which 39 is the beginning, and
40 the continuation ; but three more are required for completion. It is
extended and difEcult, suited only to the habituated.

For the farther development of the subject of training, see Illustra-
ted Catalogue and Landjlarks, where it is still more thoroughly treat-
ed.

Plate No. 28.

Plate No. Ml

1 ma.

PUte No. 8S.

28

Mr purpose hero is only to show that the subject of training is one
upon which much study and careful observation may be expended
without exhuustins it ; or, on the other hand, that its rules are so sim-
ple and well defined, and may be so clearly represented, that by
using tiio experience of others as a guide-board, a child may easily
comprehend and carry out one of the best plans for any purpose in the
garden or vineyard.

The best and most simple plan for covering a wall from eight to ten
feet high is the Thomery, as shown at page 16, plate No. 20 ; and for
a waif five or six feet high, a half Thomery, as shown by Plate 31.

The simple elementary plan from which aU half, three fourths, or full
Thomery or double Tiiomery systems are composed is that shown
by Plate No. 17, and again a little raodified in Plate No. IS, and again
in Plate No. 34 Plate No. 1" is a plan for covering a wall or trellis
not more than three and a half or four feet high, and is essentially the
same as that followed most extensively in the Medoc vineyards, but
with arms three feet each, instead of two or two and a half, as is gen-
erally the case in the vineyards. Nos. 26 and 40 are each plans for
covering walls or trellises eight feet high or upwards, and both accom-
plish the object very well, but not very simply. No. 40 is very defect-
ive in this respect. Plate No. 41 is the detail of the plan advocated
for that purpose by Speechley, and C. Hoare. It is not difficult of ac-
complishment by a thoroughly experienced gardener, who is well ac-
quainted with all that pertains to the habit of the vine, but is not easy
of execution for a beginner, and requires constant attention. Nos.
42 and 43 accomplish the same thing much more speedily, as well
as more simply. AU of these, except No. 43, are renewed plans. No.
44 is designed for the same purpose, but is drawn to a scale half as
large as the other. The standards (cordons) are obliquely set, and in
consequence have some important advantages over all of the others,
and from the same cause the bearing canes (coursons) all spring
from one side. Nos. 42 and 44 are modifications of 43, each for the
accomplishment of a different important end. No. 43 affords the most
simple, expeditious, and effective mode for covering a wall with foliage
and fruit, with a further most important advantage of having any de-
fect from mismanagement or error easily remedied. No. 44 is only be-
hind in all of these advantages in a little additional complication of
trellis, consequent upon the obliquity.

Plates Nos. 45 and 46 are contrasted plans, as are also Nos. 47 and 4S.
No. 49 shows a- simple dwelling greatly improved in beauty and comfort
by a covering of vines, which are able to bring an important income,
besides furnishing a family supply for six or eight months. No. 50 shows
plan of No. 33 in a system by which the rows are made six feet apart,
well adapted for steep hill-sides. No. 51 represents a small cottage also
covered with vines. Plate 52 shows plan of planting to cover the side
and roof of a stable. Plates Nos. 53 and 54 show method of preparation
for laying down and covering for winter ; the first to be laid lelo^o the
eurface, and the second upon it. To save the beginner from bewilder-
ment or error in choice of plans, the best for a great variety of purposes

are pointed out in the Illustrated Catalogue, where the following

plans for training on buildings :ire fuUy explained.

This part of the subject deserves much "more attention than it
has received, and it is not more imijortant from the fact that the
fruit thus produced is the most cheaply and certainly ol'tained
and of surpassing excellence than from the large amount of com-
fort afforded by the shade and from the extreme beauty of the
covering. The best manner of training and the peculiar order ia
planting are easily understood from the engravings, with the aid
of a short explanation.

Ti — — — 'G~~^ ~^ B
Plate No. 41.
Renewal Plan of Speechley, and Hoare.

Plate No. 44.

29

Plate No. 42.

Plate No. iS.

Plate No. 45.
A celebrated historical vine under a bad plan of training and little productiye. Some
gardeners, who visited it, e.xpre83ed their disappointment by representing tlie vine — See No. 46.

80

Plate No. 49,

Plate No. 50.

31

The same house as represented In No. 45. Vines properly trained.

7G 54 3 21 I 2 3f 567
Plate No. 51.

U I H I U U U rt

3 i H H U H U Vl'l

Plate No. 62.

Plate No. 58. Plate No. 54.

Plate No. 55.

lONA AND ISRAELLA VINES.

I OFFER for sale a fine stock of tliese vines, numbering not less tlian ten thousand plants, a consideratlc portion of
which are already enga/^ed. The plants ore produced from single eyes, taken from wood grown expressly for the pur-
pose of propagation, with ail of the ca'd possible to secure a hardy and enduring growth, and not one of them will
fail to grow and give safisfiiction, if treated according to the directions given in the Illustrated Catalogue, which
Rre simple, with evcrj process for their management, from the reception of the plant to full establishment in bearing,
clearly and unmistakably shown by engravings. Price for strong and remarkably well-rooted plants, one year old,
grown in open ground or pots, as may be preferred :

SIlSrGIiE. $2 ; PER DOZEN, $18 ; PEB HUNDKED, $125.

The ordinary charge will be made for packing, which barely includes the cost. The vines may be sent in per-
fect safety iii the fall to any part of the United States or Canada, and a receipt is taken from the Express Company,
which secures from losp by transportation. Losses very rarel}' occur, and payment has never been refused for the
loss of my packagiis, when the certificate of loss has been presented.

The price is put so low that buyers need not be restricted by cost to the purchase of single vines for the pres-
ent, with the idea )f purchasing by the dozen for family supply of the fruit when they become cheaper, for at the
present price they only afibrd a fair return for the cost and care of production.

N. B. — A few plants of good quality, two yeai ' old, transplanted and root-pruned, both in pots and open ground,
for Three Dollars each, or Thirty Dollars per dozen.

THE GREELEY PRIZES.

For the purpose of obtaining new varieties of our three leading Fruits, or of suitably designating one from
each that may be possessed of all of the excellences that belong to the kind in an eminent decree, and above all
others, Mr. Greeley offered three jiremiums of one hundred dollars each, one for grapes, one for apples, and one
for pears. The following is an extract from the offer for Grapes :

The requirement, as will be seen by the extract below, is exceedingly liigh, being nothing less than for a grape
of quality equal to the best European kinds, with a vino equalling in hardiness of leaf and constitution the most
enduring of our native kinds, thus combining all of the good qualities of both, and avoiding the defects of each.

It will be seen that in the opinion af a Committee, as well qualified to judge as could have been selected, the
Tonn fully meets the requirements, and I believe all good judges who have had an opportunity to become well in-
formed on the subject fully and heartily concur in their decision.

AWARD OF THE "GREELEY PRIZE."

The Hon. Horace Greeley having very generously offered a prize of one hundred dollars for a grape adapted to
general cultivation in the Middle and Eastern States, the Committee, after due consideration, have awarded it to
the "lona," raised by Dr. Grant. The additional requirements were, in general terms, that the grape should be
larger than the Delaware, early, tender to the center, high-flavored, sweet, spirited, and good forniarket and the table.
These requirements are fully met by the lona. So far as trial is concerned, the lona is not a new grape, and tho
Committee failed to see that any thing would be gained by postponing the award, some of them being already
quite familiar with the new grapes now before the public. More grapes as good, or even better, are wanted, and
a prize equally valuable is in store for sucli. The lona, during the past four or five years, has been grown in
several parts of New- York, in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New-Jersey, etc., and in all has
proved to be early, a good and healthy grower, and of the best quality. Some of your Committee have seen it in
a number of these places, and can confirm the favorable reports that have been made. Your chairman has had
it some six years, and examined it under a variety of circumstances, and he fully concurs in the high opinion
of his associates. In conclusion, the Committee are of opinion that the lona is the only grape now before the
public that meets the requirements of the " Greeley Prize," and they accordingly award it. All of which respect-
fully submitted. [A copy.]

Note to Purchasers.— All of the large plants, except tho Box Layers and those in Pots, before packing will
be cut back to about five buds or eyes, which leaves the canes longer by two buds than they should be <*ufl'ercd to
remain aftei they are planted.

The canes of the box lavers will bo cut to about two and a half feet, which is sufficient for any plan of manage-
ment or training to which they may be subjected, except when it is desired to take the bearing arms from a great
heiglit, as is often the case for training on buildings, for which special plants are prepared.

TitKATjiENT OF ViNES WHEX Keceived.— As soou as thc vines are received, the boxes should be opened, and s
careful examination of the condition of the plants made, and if the packing is found to have been insufficient and
the vines are not in good order, notice should be immediately sent to me, stating the precise defect, and thc vine.i
carefullv returned to'the box and huld subject to my order. (No such instance has yet occurred in tho course ot an
extensive business of fourteen years.) Tlie examination should be made where the viucs^wiU not be subjected to
the action of the sun or wind, nor to more than a moderate degree of heat or cold. The roots shouid not be
exposed so much as five minutes to thc at:uosphere, ni>r for one moment to the infinence of a fire or stove, or to a
tenipeniture so low as forty decrees. The plants should not be exposed to the atmosphere longer tiian a person
can conveniently hold his iiead under water. Before opening the box, the ground should be prepared for hccang
them in, so that no exposure will occur. When plants are received for clubs, each member should be present with
a basket or box, having in it enonc-'h fine soil to cover the roots immedlatelv, to protect them while being taken to
a place for heeling in, which should be done without delay. If the plants are received in good ortler, tliey will
never fail to give satisfaction, if well treated according to directions given for planting, winch should be c.iretully
studied before the plants are received.

In the descriptive catalogue will be found examples of selections of vines, to guide purchasers in making choice
ot variitii:^ for family supply, and also directions for keeping grapes in winter,with explanatory engr.ayings. Oi rapes
may be nearly as easily kept until tlic hist of ilaroh as apples, by making choice of tho proper varieties. bpeciaJ
Instructioua sent on aj»pliculion for those who widt »o form clubs.