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OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE:

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GARDEN AND VINEYARD CULTURE

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NEW YORK:
GEO. E. WOODWARD & CO., 31 BROAD STREET;
ORANGE Tupp CO., 245 BROADWAY.
1876.
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Copyright, 1876, by

Gxo. E. Woopwarp & Co.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE, e - : - é : - : < -

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL Nors, List of Works on, or relating to the Vine, .

CHAPTER I.—NATURAL AND CIvIL HISTORY OF THE VINE,

II.—CHoIcE OF SOIL, . - r
Situation, . F . : - . é
Aspect,

Necessity for Protection from Wind and Storms,

TII.—PREPARATION OF THE SOIL, . . a -
Draining, : : 3 ° : . =
Trenching, . F . . . . ‘
Subsoil Ploughing, . : ‘ ° °
Manuring, . - ‘ ; . - ‘
Terracing, . . = = : 5 ‘
Construction of Vine Borders for Gardens,

IV.—Puanring THe VINES; 5 «©. 8 .«
Time to Plant, . F ; : 5
Choice of Plants—Distance Apart, . ‘
Marking off the Ground, . : : °
Digging the Holes, . . ° °
Taking up the Plants, . : “ ° °
Setting them out, : . . . .

' Staking, ; - : : : °
Afier-culture, - ° ° - see cy

Vi CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER V.—CARE OF VINES DURING THE First, SECOND AND THIRD
Means, 6 7 4 b : . . ° . > ue
Mulching, . 5 3 5 ; ° ° ° - 96
Laterals, : ; : : . : ° ° - 96
Winter Protection, . 5 ° ° 3 = Ven
Management during the Second Year, . : - OB:

Management during the Third Season, A : - 100

VI.—MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES, . : . - 104
Winter Protection of the Fruiting Canes, . ° - 105
Summer Pruning,. , : : ; : - 108
Thinning the Berries, . ; : : : é . 118

VIT.—buBsEQUENT MANAGEMENT OF THE VINE, 5 - 120

VITI.—TuHEorRY AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING AND TRAINING AS
APPLIED TO THE GRAPE VINE,. 4 4 : . Lae

1X.—ConsrrucTion oF WALLS, TRELLISES, Erc., - 158
Effect of Walls, . : “ ° : . 5 - 159

X.— PROPAGATION OF THE VINE, . . : és 5 . 15
Layering, . - . . . . . - . 175
Cuttings, . : ° . . ° 4 ‘ - 180
Eyes, . . : 5 2 . ° - c . 186
Grafting, . : 5 ° - : 4 5 « 1ST
Budding, . < % ° : ° . ° - 194
Seed—Hybridization, . ° 5 5 ° : . 196

XI.—MANURES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE VINE, ; 202
Sources of Manures, . é A ° ° . - 203
Effects on the Vine, . : ° ° ° . . 209
Liquid Manure, Mode of Producing and Principles of

its Application, see cs ° 5 . ° » 21

XGI.—DISEASES AND INSECTS, . «© « “© «© » —mmao

CONTENTS. Vil

PAGE
CHAPTER XIIJ.—MetHops oF HASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE

GRAPE, . : é - a ° ‘ seo L
Hand Glasses, . : : ° ° ° : « 20

Wall Glasses, : nS ao), dw eae ° . » 232
Reversing the Bunches, . . ay ja . . 234
Ringing or Girdling, . ° ° ° . ° o 204

XIV.—CarE OF OLD VINES, . ; A : “ - » 241

XV.—ToO PRESERVE GRAPES, . : é - A 6 - 247
The Ohio Vineyard System, . . °

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

—

Extracts from Letters from Mr. Jefferson, late President of the
United States, . = ey ; 3 : 3 : “ : . 23

Manufacture of Wine in the South of England, . 4 - “ . 20

Manufacture of Wine by Mr. Longworth and others, . . ‘ - 25

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE.

THE subjoined list contains all the principal works which
have been consulted in the preparation of the following treatise.
Having made the study of the subject a specialty, we have been
at considerable pains to collect all the works relating to vine
culture of which we could find any account, and although there
are several important omissions in the list given below, yet it is
believed that their piace is tolerably well supplied by those of
which titles are given. As our attention has been chiefly
directed to open air culture, we have intentionally omitted some
excellent English works. The French, however, possess some
valuable treatises which we regret having been unable to obtain,
and a still greater source of regret has been that we have been
unable to use the many fine works possessed by the Germans.

It was suggested that this list be prefaced with a short article
on the bibliography of grape culture, or at least that the pecu-
liar features of the works mentioned be indicated. But we found
ourselves incompetent to the former, and the latter would have
occupied a space disproportionate to its importance in a prac-
tical treatise. It is hoped, however, that the list given will not
prove useless to those who desire to extend their inquiries be-
yond the narrow limits of the present work, and from the assist-
ance which we ourselves have frequently derived from similar
catalogues, we feel confident that this hope is not ill founded.
It may be added, in conclusion, that many works have been con-
sulted and used of which no mention is made, simply from the
remoteness of their general bearing upon the subject. Thus
the figure of the oidium is taken from Pouillet’s “Traité de

xl BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE.

Physique,” and is, we believe, the only thing in all the three vo-
lumes of that work which at all relates to vine culture.

Having no desire to preface our work with a mere catalogue
of our private library (as we have seen done more than once),
no work has been mentioned which it will not repay the reader
to consult. On the general subject of the ‘‘Theory of Horti-
culture,” Lindley’s work has been our guide and our standard,
and for our chemical facts and principles we have relied upon
the work of Gmelin, published by the Cavendish Society of
London, in twelve volumes, as we have always found it most
full and reliable.

But in selecting a course of reading with a view to advance
his knowledge of grape culture, the student must bear in mind
that so varied, complex and intimately connected are all the
operations of nature, that the facts which have a bearing upon
any portion of them, are to be found in books which professedly
treat of the most diverse subjects. Chemistry and mechanics
are alike important; the principles which govern the relations
of heat, light, and electricity, exert a more or less important
influence on all vegetation, and he who would be fully master of
the subject, must aim at an extent of knowledge only to be
found in the widest range of scientific reading and experiment.

Abercrombie, John, Practical Gardener. London.

Adlum, John, Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in America. Wash-
ington, 1828.

Allen, J. F., Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Grape. New York,
1858.

the same, Boston, 1849.
American Cyclopedia. New York, 1858, continued.
American Pomological Society, Transactions 1852, 1854, 1856, 1858.

Barry, Sir Ed., Observations on Wines. 4to. London, 1775.

Barry, P., Fruit Garden. New York, 1855.

Bernay, A. J., Household Chemistry. London, 1854.

Blodgett, Lorin, Climatology of the United States. Philadelphia, 1857.

Bordeaux Wine and Liquor Dealer’s Guide. New York, 1851.

Boussingault, J. B., Rural Economy. London, 1855.

Bradley, R., Survey of Ancient Husbandry and Gardening. London
1725.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE. XIii

Bridgeman, Thomas, Young Gardener’s Assistant. New York, 1857.
Brown, J. D., Sylva Americana. Boston, 1852.

—_—_—_——_ Trees of America. New York, 1851.

Field Book of Manures. New York, 1855.

Buchannan, R., Culture of the Grape and Wine Making. Cincinnati, 185
Buist, R., Management of the Grape Vine. New York, 1856.

Busby, James, Visit to Vineyards of France and Spain. New York, 1835.

|

Carnell, P. P., Treatise on Family Wine Making. J.ondon, 1814.
Carpenter, W. B., Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors. Philadeiphia,
1855.
Chaptal, C., Traité sur la Vigne et l’Art de faire Vin. 2 vols., Paris, 1861.
The same, translated in Philosophical Magazine.

—— Chemistry applied to Agriculture. Hartford, 1854.

Chorlton, Wm., American Grape Grower’s Guide. New York, 1856.
The Cold Grapery. New York, 1853.

Cole, S. W., American Fruit Book. Boston, 1849.

Coleman, Henry, European Agriculture. Boston.

Country Gentleman. Albany (published weekly).

Dana, S. L., Muck Manual. New York, 1856.
Davy, Sir H., Agricultural Chemistry. London, 1827.
Davy, John, Ionian Islands. London, 1842.
De Bow, J. B. D., Industrial Resources of South and West. New O:-
. leans, 1852.
Review. New Orleans.
Décandolle, N. P., Physiologie Végétale. 3 vols. Paris, 1832.
Dempsey, G. D., On the Drainage of Districts and Lands. London, 1854.
Don, George. General System of Gardening and Botany. 4 vols., 4to.,
London, 1838.
Donaldson, Treatise on Clay Lands and Loamy Soits. London, 1854.
Donovan, Michael, Treatise on Domestic Economy and Wine Making
London, 1830. 4
Downing, A. J., Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. New York, 1853.
—— the same, revised by C. Downing. New York, 1857.
Du Breuil. Cours Elémentaire d’Arboriculture. Paris, 1857.

Elliot, F. R., Fruit Book. New York, 1854.

——— Western Fruit Book. New York, 1859.
Ellis, Robert, Chemistry of Creation. London, 1850.
Encyclopedia Americana. Philadelphia, 1834.
Encyclopedia Britannica. 8th edition, Edinburgh, 1852-6).
English Cyclopedia, London, 1854.

XIV BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE.

Fentwanger, Lewis. Fermented Liquors. New York, 1858.

Fitch, Asa, Report on the Insects of the State of New York.

Flint, C., Agriculture of Massachusetts. Boston, 1858.

Floy, M., Guide to Orchard and Fruit Garden. New York, 1852.
Forsyth, Wm., Culture and Management of Fruit Trees. London, 18602.
French, Art of Distillation and Manufacture of Liquors. London, 1657.

Gardener’s Chronicle. 19 vols., London, 1841, continued.
Gardener’s Monthly._ Philadelphia, 1859, continued.
Gardener’s Monthly Volume. London, 1849.
Genesee Farmer. Rochester, N. Y. (published monthly.)
Gmetin, Leopold, Handbook of Chemistry. 12 vols., London, 1848-58.
Graham, Thomas, Elements of Chemistry. 2 vois., London, 1858.
Gray, Asa, Manual of Botany. New York, 1858.
Systematic and Structural Botany. New York, 1858.
Guide to Importers and Purchasers of Wines, with a Topographical Ac-
count of all the known Vineyards in the World. London, 1828.

Hannan, John, Economy of Waste Manures. London, 1844.

Harris, Joseph, Rural Annual, 1857, 8, 9. Rochester, N. Y.

Harris, T. W., Report on the Insects of Massachusetts injurious to Vege-
tation. Cambridge, 1841.

Hoare, Clement, Treatise on the Grape Vine. New York, 1850.

Homans, J. 8., Cyclopedia of Commerce. New York, 1858.

Hooker, Journal of Botany. 4 vols., London.

Horticulturist, 1846-1859.

Hovey, C. M., Magazine of Horticulture.

Jacques, Geo., Practical Treatise on Fruit Trees. Worcester, 1849.

Johnson, Geo. W., The Gardener. 3 vols., London, 1849.

—_——— Dictionary of Modern Gardening, edited bv Landreth.
Philadelphia, 1857.

—_—__—_—_—_——_ Principles of Practical Gardening. London, 1845.

Johnston, James F. W., Lectures on the Applications of Chemistry and
Geology to Agricuiture. New York, 1858.

— Chemistry of Common Life. 2vols., New York, 1855.

Notes on America. 2 vols., Boston, 18—.

Johnson, §. W., The Culture of the Vine. New Brunswick, N. J., 1806.

Jullien, Topographie de tous les Vignobles connus. Paris, 1816.

Kendrick, Wm., New American Orchardist. Poston, 1848.
Kollar, V., Treatise on Insects injurious to Farmers and Gardeners. Lon
don, 1840.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE. XV

Ladrey, M. C., Chimie appliquée a la Viticulture et 4’ nologie. Paris,
1857.

Liebig, J., Complete Werks. Philadelphia, 1856.

Letters on Modern Agriculture. New York, 1859.

Liebig and Kopp, Annual Report on the Progress of Chemistry and the
allied Sciences. London, 1847-1850.

Lindley, Theory and Practice of Horticulture. 2d edition, London, 1555.

the same, edited by A. J. Downing. New York, 1852.
Loudon J. C., Encyclopedia of Gardening. London, 1850.
Gardener’s Magazine. 16 vols. :

Manures, Practical Treatise on. Society for Diffusion of Useful Know-
ledge. London, 1830.

McCulloch, Remarks on the Art of Making Wine. London, 1817.

McIntosh, Charles, Book of the Garden. 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1855.

McMahon, Bernard, American Gardener’s Calendar. Philadelphia, 1859.

the same, Philadelphia, 1806.

McMullen, Thomas, Hand-book of Wines. New York, 1853.

Meteorological Observations made in the State of New York from 1826
to 1850. Albany, 1855.

Meteorological Register, State of New York.

Miller, Philip, Gardener’s Dictionary. Large folio, 1759.

the same, 4 vols., folio, 1807.

Morewood, Samuel, Essay on Meliorating Liquors. London, 1824.

Mulder, C. J., Chemistry of Wine. London, 1857.

Chemistry of Animal and Vegetable Physiology. Edin-

burgh, 1849.
Musprati, Sheridan, Chemistry applied to Arts and Manufactures. Glas-
gow, 1858.

Natural History of the State of New York. 19 volumes, Albany.

Neil, Patrick, Practical Fruit, Flower and Kitchen Gardener’s Com:
penion. New York, 1856.

Northern Fruit Culturist.

Odart, Comte, Ampelographie Universelle. Paris. 1854.
Manuel de Vigneron.

Patent Office Reports. Washington, D. C., 1837-1858.

Persira, Jonathan, Treatise on Food and Diet. London, 1844.
Perzon, Nouveau Systeme de Culture de la Vigne. Paris.
Philosophical Magazine (Tilloch’s). 97 vols, London, 1798, continued.
Priuce, W. R., Treatise on the Vine. New York, 1830. .

———_———— Treatise on Horticulture. New York, 1828.
Pomological Manual. New York, 1832.

XVl BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRAPE CULTURE.

Quarterly Journal of Science and Art. 30 volumes, London, 1816-1830.

Redding, Cyrus, History and Descriptica of Modern Wines. Londen,
1851. Pee

- Reemelin, C., Vine Dresser’s Manual. New York, 1856.

Register of Rural Affairs. Albany, L. Tucker, 1855-1859.

Rendu, Ampelographie Francaise. Paris, 1857.

Rural New Yorker (weekly). Rochester, N. Y.

Schenck, P. A., Gardener’s Text Book. Boston, 1852.

Schow, J. F., Earth, Plants and Man. London, 1852.

Silliman; B., American Journal of Science and Art. New Haven, Ct.,
1819-1858.

Smeed, Wine Merchant’s Manual. London, 1828.

Skinner, John §., Journal! of Agriculture. 3 volumes, New York, 1848.

Speechly, William, Treatise on the Culture of the Vine, and the forma.
tion of Vineyards. 4to., London, i790.

the same, 8vo., 1821.

Solly, Edward, Rural Chemistry. Philadelphia, 1852.

Somerville, Mary, Physical Geography. Philadelphia, 1353.

Stockhard, Julius C., Chemica! Field Lectures. Londoa, 1838,

Spooner, Alden, The Cultivation of American Grape Vines. Brooklyn,
1846,

Thayer, Albert, Principles of Agriculture. London, 1845.

Thomas, J. J., Fruit Culturist. Buffalo, N. Y., 1847.

——_————_ the same, New York, 1857. :

Transactions American Philosophical Society. Philadelpuia, 1789.

Transactions of Society for Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures,
London, 1783-1850.

Transactions of New York Agricultural Society. Albany, 1842-185

Transactions of New York Institute. Albany, 1841-1858.

Transactions of Royal Horticultural Society of London. 8 vols. 1824-
1840.

Tucker, L., Register of Rural Affairs. Albany, 1855-1859.

Tull, Jethro. Horse Hoeing Husbandry. London 1829.

Ure, Andrew, Dictionary of Aris, Manufactures and Mines. New York
1857.
Dictionary of Chemistry. Edinburgh, 1824. }
Watson, American Home Garden. New York, 1859.
Webster, Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy. New York, 1856.

QPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

CEA Titi I.

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE.

Prorane history reaches not back to the time when
man first planted a vineyard and made wine, and
when we leave the sacred records, its first culture is
shrouded in allegories, myths and fables.

The native country of the vine cannot be well ascer-
tained. It occurs wild in Greece, Italy and even in
the south of France. In Mingrelia, Georgia and the
regions between Caucasus and Ararat and Taurus, it
flourishes in extreme vigor and great abundance.
And that it is indigenous to America, also, there can
be no doubt, the apocryphal stories about its intro-
duction by Sir W. Raleigh to the contrary notwith-
standing.

Records of its culture are found in most of the

poems and sculptures of antiquity. The shield of
17

18 OPEN -AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Achilles represented a vine-gathering, and Herodotus
and Theophrastus speak of the culture of the vine in
Egypt; and on the very oldest Greek tombs are
found pictures representing the vine harvest. Pliny
enters fully into the natural lustory ot the vine, and
describes a variety with berries shaped like the
finger,* while the second book of Virgil’s Georgics
forms no mean treatise on practical viticulture.

The generic name of the vine (wetzs) is derived, ac-
cording to some authors, fiom the Latin wincure to
bind ; according to others it comes from were, to bend,
alluding to the flexibility of its branches. Both these

* Most of the authors whe have noticed this variety, suppose it to
have been lost, but we have received from John Kolber, Esq., of New
York, slips of a vine imported by him from Hungary, the fruit of
which is described as being an inch and a half long and half an inch
in diarmeter—a form which might easily be described by an imagina-
tive writer as resembling a finger. In fact the native name is Acckse,
esocs or Goals icats—-an idea similar to that of the old philosopher,
though not quite so elegant. We find also in several catalogues
erapes called finger-grapes—synonyms of which are Cornichon Blane,
Cucumber Grape, Bec d'Oiseau (Bird’s beak), Teta de Vacca (Cow’s
teats), Doigts Donzelle, etc., etc. Mr. Kolber has made earnest and
praiseworthy efforts to introduce the hardier varieties of the vine from
the hills of Hungary, and we are happy to learn that thus far, the
results are exceedingly promising. It will take several years, however,
to decide whether or not any foreign variety can be grown with
success in this country, 4s most imported plants do well for a fow

years.

~

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE. 19

Latin words, however, are derived from a Greek word
signifying to bind. Dr. Whittaker, in a work published
in 1638, entitled, “‘The Tree of Human Life, or the
Blood of the Grape,” expresses his opinion that the
name vinum is derived a vz from its strength, or, per-
haps guast divinum, because it is a species of the tree
of life in Paradise. |

The species of the genus vitis are numerous, though
botanists are not agreed as to the distinctive differ-
ences, especially as between the European and Ameri-
ean sorts. In France, Chaptal, when Minister of the
Interior, caused 1,400 different varieties of the vine to
be collected in the garden of the Luxembourg, and
under his direction M. Champagny described as dis-
tinct 550 different kinds. Jour American species
have been usually numbered (some authors describe
eight), though the varieties, more or less distinctly
markedyprobably exceed 3800. To the namber of the
latter, however, there is no limit, as every seed may
produce a new variety.

The vine lives to a great age and attains a great
size. Pliny mentions a vine which had lived for 600
years, and in Italy, vineyards have continued in
bearing for 300 years, while in some parts of that
country, a vineyard of 100 years is still accounted
young.

Its size, whether we regard the European or Ame-

20 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

rican,varicties, is often very great. Speechly describes
and figures a vine trained against a row of houses in
Northallerton, Yorkshire, which covered a space of
one hundred and thirty seven square yards, and had
a stem three feet eleven inches in circumference at a
short distance from the ground. . No work on the
grape vine would be complete without a mention of
the great Hampton Court vine, from which George
the Third once directed his gardener to cut one hun-
dred dozen bunches of grapes, if so many were on the
vine, and present them to the players of Drury-lane
Theatre, who had greatly pleased him. The gardener
not only cut off this number, but sent word to the
king that he could cut off as many more without
entirely stripping the vine. This vine was planted in
1769 and has a stem fourteen inches in girth, one
branch extending nearly 200 feet.

In America, too, very large vines are to be found.
The following is clipped from the “ Alta Californian :”

‘At Monticito, four miles from Santa Barbara,
there is a grape vine, probably the largest in the
world. Its dimensions and yield would be incredibie,
were it not that my informant is a man of veracity,
and he spoke from personal observation. Itis asingle
vine, the main stock being ten feet in circumference.
It is trained upon a trellis sixty feet in diameter.
My informant with another person counted 7000

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE. 21

bunches, and the estimated yield was 18,000 pounds
of fruit. Can this be beaten? The only thing
that surprised me in the relation of my friend was
that any person in Santa Barbara should have
displayed the energy necessary to build the trellis
for this noble vine.”

In the “ Horticulturist ” for October, 1858, a vine
growing near Burlington, New Jersey, is described
as follows; “In May last it was measured with the
following result: Two feet from the ground it mea-
sured 6 feet, 25 inches in girth; four feet high it is
about 6 inches less; it there divides into two branches,
the largest of which is 3 feet, 3 inches in girth, and
the smallest is 8 inches. The largest of the trees
which the vine covers is 10 fect in circumference at
two feet from the ground. The vine 1s very much
decayed, but still puts forth leaves and young shoots.
It has never borne a grape in the memory of a lady
now 98 years old and who has lived her long life
within sight, or nearly so, of this gigantic production ,
and to whom it was a wonder in her youth. The
largest tree is a black oak, the others are black, or
sour gum. On pacing the circumference covered by
the branches, it was found to exceed 100 feet.

“This vine grows near a springy soil, or upland, its
roots, no doubt, penetrating to the water. May not
this teach us a lesson, to give the rootlets, wherever

29, OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

it is possible, access to a spring, or running water ?
It may be a question, too, whether we do not cut our
vines too much. I have observed frequently in
England that a whole house was devoted to a single
vine, generally of the Black Hamburgh, and I think
they uniformly bore the finest grapes. To carry a
single vine over a large grapery would, of course, re-
quire years of judicious trimming and management.”

The bunches and berries also have been known to
attain a very great size. In the south of France
instances are known of bunches attaining a weight
of eight or ten pounds; travellers in Syria mention
bunches weighing 17 lbs. ; and we all remember the
enormous clusters which the Jewish spies brought
back from the promised land. Even at the present
day the grapes of Damascus frequently weigh 25
pounds te the bunch.

With all the vigor and fruitfulness evinced by
such instances it is no wonder that the culture of the
vine should prove profitable and certain. At the
meeting of the Fruit Growers’ Society for western
New York, held in the city of Rochester in 1859,
S. H. Ainsworth made some statements as to the
actual products of several vineyards, showing that
from $1000 to $1500 had been realized from an acre
of Isabella grapes. Mr. Rush, of East Bloomfield,
had 100 vines on one-third of an acre, from which he

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE. Ss

picked 4000 Ibs., which he sold for $500, or at the rate
of 124 cts. per pound. None reported a less profit
than $500 per acre.

From the very first settlement of America the
vine attracted the attention of the colonists, and
efforts were made both to introduce the finer Euro-
pean varieties and to cultivate the native sorts. Even
as early as 1564, wine was made from the native
grape in Florida, though, of course, in small quantity.

The earliest attempt to establish a vineyard in the
British North American colonies was by the “ Lon-
don Company” in Virginia prior to 1620. By the
year 1630, the prospects were sufliciently favorable
to warrant the importation of several French vigne-
rons, who, it was alleged, ruined them by bad
management. Wine was also made in Virginia in
1647, and in 1651 premiums were offered for its pro-
duction. On the authority of Beverley, who wrote
prior to 1722, there were vineyards in that colony
which produced 750 gallons a year.

In 1664, Col. Richard Nicolls, the first English
governor of New York, granted to Paul Richards of
the city of New York the privilege of making and
selling wine free of all duty or impost, Richards hay-
ing been the first to enter upon the culture of the
vine on a large scale. It was also enacted that every
person who should during the succeeding thirty

24 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

years set out a vineyard should pay to Richards five
shillings for every acre of vines so set out. We have
been tunable, however, to find any account of his suc-
cess or failure, and the probability is, that after a
short time the enterprise was abandoned. A gentle-
man in Hoboken, also, had a fine vineyard which
after a little time fell into decay.

Beauchamp Plantagenet, in his “ Description of
the Province of New Albion,” published in London
in 1648, states that the English settlers in Uvedale
(now Delaware) had vines running on mulberry and
sassafras trees, and that there were four kinds of
grapes. “The first is the Tholouse Muscat, sweet
scented; the second, the great fox and thick grape,
after five moneths reaped, being boyled, and salted,
and well-fined is a strong red Xeres; the third, a
light claret; the fourth, a white grape, creeps on the
land maketh a pure, gold-colered wine. Tennis Pale,
the Frenchmen, of these four made eight sorts of ex-
cellent wine; and of the Muscat, acute boyled, that
the second draught will fox Gntoxicate) a reasonable
pate four moneths old; and here may be gathered
and made two hundred tun in the vintage moneth,
and replanted will mend.”

In 16838, William Penn attempted to establish a
vineyard near Philadelphia, but without success.
The same result attended the efforts of Andrew Doré

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE. 25

in 1685, but after some years, Mr. Tasker, of Mary-
land, and Mr. Antil, of Shrewsbury, N.J., seem to have
succeeded to a certain extent. Mr. Antil wrote an
excellent article on the culture of the grape and the
manufacture of wine, which may be found in the first
volume of the “Transactions of the American Philoso-
phical Society,” published in 1771. In this article,
Mr. Antil describes only foreign varieties, from
which it is to be inferred that he cultivated them
chiefly, if not solely.

In 1769, the French settlers in Illinois made one
hundred and ten hogsheads of strong wine from
native grapes.

In 1793, Peter Legaux, a French gentleman, ob-
tained of the legislature of Pennsylvania the incor-
poration of a company for cultivating the vine. They
purchased a farm at Spring-mill, Montgomery county,
thirteen miles from Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill.
For one year only were prospects favorable; divisions
and dissensions arose; the stockholders sold out in
disgust, and the vineyard went to ruin.

At Harmony, near Pittsburg, a vineyard of ten
acres was planted and cultivated by Frederick Rapp
and his associates from Germany. They afterward
removed to another Harmony in Indiana, on the east
bank of the Wabash, where they continued the culti-
vation of wine and silk for many years.

26 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

A Swiss colony settled about 1790 in Jessamin
county, Kentucky, and raised a fund of ten thousand
dollars for the express purpose of forming a vineyard.
Their first attempts failed, they having cultivated the
foreign vine. In 1801, they removed to a spot which
they called Vévay, in Switzerland County, Indiana,
on the Ohio River, forty-five miles below Cincinnati.
Here they planted native vines and met with some
success. but, after forty years’ experience, they con-
sider our climate and soil inferior to those of Switzer-
land, as they claim that they can there make a gallon
of wine from ten pounds of grapes while here twelve
pounds are required. ‘Their vineyards have now, we
believe, nearly disappeared.

But the great turning point of vine culture in
America was when the Catawba grape was intro-
duced by Major Adlum, of Georgetown, D. C., who
considered that in so doing he conferred a greater be-
nefit upon the American nation than he would have
done by paying off the national debt.

We could have wished to give an accurate view of
the present state of the vine culture of this country,
but the best works which we have been able to con-
sult are very imperfect in this respect, and we believe
that we have examined all the more important ones.
Want of time has prevented us from instituting a
special correspondence on this subject. We can

NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE VINE. g

therefore only say that it never at any period pre.
sented a more flourishing aspect than it does at the
present day. ’

Of the future prospects of grape culture, of its
extent, and of its influences, it would be ditticult to
speak. But we feel assured that, whether in the
form of wine or of fruit, the produce of the vine can-
not fail to do much good in this country—not the
least of its benefits being that it will afford those with
small capital an easy and pleasant mode of securing
a competency.

Another point in this aspect of grape culture, and
one in which we have strong confidence and ardent
hope, is the employment which it promises to afford
to women. We are none of those who would desire
to see woman rendered independent of man, for we
well know to what a miserable condition man would
come if rendered independent of woman, and it is a
poor rule that will not work both ways.

But we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that there
are vast multitudes of women whose labor receives
no adequate remuneration—who make shirts.at the
rate of five cents apiece, and then often get cheated
out of their pay. Now, if some of our large-hearted,
as well as large-worded, philanthropists would pro-
cure a few acres of land in some proper locality, and
after having it well trenched or subsoil ploughed,

&8 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

would let it out in half, or even quarter acre lots to
industrious women with a view to their establishing
vineyard plots, we think that after the first two years
such an allotment of half an acre ought to yield
its tenant from $250 to $400 per year, from which,
after paying a good round rent, they might retain
more than they can now make at any other employ-
ment within their reach. And let it not be said that
the ‘culture of the soil is unsuited to the sphere of
woman. We rather think that Eve was more of a
gardener than shirt-maker before she “ brought sin
into the world and all our woe ;” and those who think
gardening unsuited to woman are referred to Lous
don’s remarks in the “ Gardener’s Magazine,” where
be recommends it to his fair countrywomen instead
of the ball-room and the dance.

We shall not stultify ourselves with referring to
indian and European savages, who make the women
do all the hard work, even though women are there
found equal to the roughest agricultural labor. But
in vine culture, after the first great effort has been
made to get the soil suitably prepared, there is really
little hard work to be done. Even hoeing does not
require more strength than washing and scrubbing;
aud pruning, trimming, and gathering the fruit are
not above the strength of our weakest females ; and we
promise them that if they undertake it they will soon

NATURAL AND CIVIL EISTORY OF THE VINE. 29

acquire the necessary health and strength. All that
we can say is that we hope ere long to see the experi-
ment tried, and nothing would afford us greater
pleasure than to give a lecture on vine culture, with
experimental illustrations, to such a society of women,
and tell them all we know about raising good grapes;
and we think we can point to others who are not
only competent but willing to assist in the good work
—thus rendering the objection that “women don’t
know how” of no avail. But even if no such experi-
ment should be tried, we feel confident that the
thousands of acres which will be devoted to vine cul-
ture during the next few years will not be cultivated
without affording abundant work for women

2&0 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

CHAPTER IL.
SOIL. SITUATION AND ASPECT.

Som.—The vine will grow in almost any situation,
and reach a large size and exhibit luxurious vegeta-
tion under ,conditions apparently the most unfavor-
able; but W@hoalthiy vines and fine fruit be desired, it
is necessary to choose a soil where the roots can ram-
ble freely, find plenty of nutriment and be safe from
stagnant water and its accompanying cold, sour sub-
soil. One of the largest vines in the country grows
in aswamp in New Jersey, and a vine has been known
to grow vigorously from a cleft in an old wall twenty
feet from the ground. But these are by no means
examples to be imitated in practice where we have
the power of selecting the site of our garden or vine-
yard, though they afford encouragement to the
amateur who is compelled to make use of an inferior
location.

The opinion of good grape culturists is that any
soil which will grow goa? Indian corn is suitable for
grapes. Others describe a soil adapted to the cul-
ture of the vine as one which will grow good winter

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 21

wheat without the plants being thrown eat of the
ground in winter.

Downing recommends a “strong loamy or gra-
velly soil—limestone soils being usually the best.”
And in another place he gives it as his opinion that
“all that can be said of a soil for grape culture is
that it be light, rich and dry.” G. W. Johnson thinks
a light, sandy loam the best. And Buchannan, who
may be safely taken as the representative of the Cin-
cianati vine growers, recommends a dry, calcareous
loam with a porous subsoil. At the recont meeting
of the Fruit Growers’ Society of wester: New York,
Dr. Farley stated that his best grapes had been
raised on a clay soil, and that in this matter his
opinion in regard to the soil best adapted to the cul-
ture of grapes had undergone some change.

It will thus be perceived that the opinions of our
best horticulturists vary a little, but we believe that
this variation is mere adaptation to the different modes
of growth and training adopted by the various culti-
vators. The purpose for which the grapes are raised
—that is whether for wine or for the table—ought
also to have a material influence in ‘directing our
choice of a soil. |

When the object is to manufacture wine, the vines
require to be kept within moderate bounds; all rank-
ness of vegetation must be carefully avoided, and con-

~)

9 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.
\

sequently the soil must be light, rich, porous and dry,
and if calcareous so much the better.

On the other hand, where high saccharine qualities
are not so much desired as abundance of grapes of
agreeable flavor, the vines will succeed better and pro-
duce more certain crops if allowed a greater extent
of growth, and in this case they will bear a heavier
and richer soil—in some cases (as in growing Isabella
and Diana grapes for the table) even preferring a
clay soil well drained and cultivated and highly
manured.

That this view is correct may be easily proved by
referring to well-known examples both in Europe
and in this country. Thus in the Arriege in France
a rich wine like Tokay, is obtained from mountain
sides covered with large stones as if the cultivators
had left all to nature. In Italy and Sicily the best
wines are grown amongst the rubbish of volcanoes.
“Good rich soils,” says Redding, “never produce
even tolerable wines.”

On the other hand the rich Chasselas de Fontaine-
blean table grapes are produced by vines planted in
cold and heavy soil, well manured. And he who
desires to find rich soil should examine the vine bor-
ders of the English hot-house grape-growers. Allen,
one of our most successful grape-growers recommend
a border of the richest kind. So does Chorlton, and

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. Oo

such we believe to be the practice of all our success-
ful cultivators of the grape under glass. The cele-
brated vine at Hampton Court revels in the luxury
of an old sewer, and instances have come under our
own observation where the proximity of a vine to
a cesspool caused the production of large quantities
of most excellent grapes. In France, the application
of night-soil and sewerage to the vineyards has in all
eases injured the quality of the wine. That such
would have been the case, however, if the French
vignerons had acted upon correct principles in the
application of these powerful stimulants, we are
scarcely prepared to believe. And we have no doubt
but that by judicious management and a careful
observance of the laws of nature one of the greatest
achievements in vine culture may yet be effected, viz,
the union of vigorous vegetation and stimulatin,s
manures with the production of good wine. But sn
far as present experience extends the soil for a vine.
yard must be hght and not too highly manured—and
in all cases whether the object of culture be wine or
table grapes the subsoil must be warm and loose.
Cold borders are very prejudicial to the roots of the
vine, and are supposed to be an efficient cause of the
shanking of the grapes. It would appear from an
inspection of the subjoined tables that this desired

warmth might be secured to the surface soil at least
Q*

34 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

by plentiful addition of lime and any black mold or
charcoal.

Maximum Temperatures of the various Harths
Exposed to the Sun. By Schubler.

Maximum Temperature of the
superior layer, the mean tem-
perature of the ambient air

KINDS OF EARTH. being 77 degrees F,

Moist Earth. ~ Dry Earth,

Degrees, Degrees,
Silicious sand, yellowish grey, .... 99.05 112.55
Calcarcous sand, whitish grey,.... 99=10 112.10
Argillaceous earth, yellowish grey, 99.28 112.32
Calcareous earth, white,... ..... 96.13 109.40
Mold; blackish erey,.. .%... s.uu. 103.55 11727
Garden earth, blackish grey,..... 99.50 113.45

fae

Table of Leetention of Heat. By Becquerel.

Time required by 18 feet

Capacity for heat, cube of earth to cool

KIND OF EARTH. that of Calcareous from 144.5 to 70.2, the

sand being 100. temperature of the sur-

| rounding air being 61°.2,
§

Hours,
Calcareous sand,..... 100 3.30 |
Silieious sand,, . 2:2). 95.6 8.27
Argillaceous earth,.... 68.4 2.24
Calcareous earth,..... 61.8 2.10
NB elt os dix cede w.creiete 49 1.43

From these tables it will be seen that black mold
receives or absorbs heat most rapidly, but parts with
it in the shortest space of time also, and thet for

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. ad

receiving and retaining heat, dark colored, caleareous
earth is by far the most.efficient. Good silicious sand
comes next in order, and hence we conceive that a
soil composed chiefly of calcareous and silicious sand,
with a sufficient amount of charcoal or moid to give
it a dark color, would prove one of the best for
erapes.

Such are the general points deserving of considera-
tion. ‘Those desirous of studying more minutely the
influence of the chemical constitution of the soil
upon vines growing therein will find an interesting
and valuable résumé of the subject in M. Ladrey’s
“Chimie appliqué 4 la Viticulture,” whose general
remarks on this point are so much in unison with our
own experience and observation that we are tempted
to translate them.

“If now we examine the series of different soils
‘devoted to the culture of the vine in France and in
other countries, we shall find this plant cultivated in
soils the most diverse, not only as regards their
natures (nature evidently alluding to physical consti-
tution—Zrans.)—but also their chemical composition.
All soils appear suited to the culture of the vine, and
there are none, unless those absolutely barren, in
which this plant may not grow and develop itself.
Thus the vine requires but little fertility in the soil,
it covers a great space of land which would be

36 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

unsuited to any other culture, and in order to give an
idea of this, we may cite the ancient regulations of
Provence which prohibited the planting of the vine
_ until inquiry had been made as to-the sterility of
the soil, and the permission of the intendant of the
province had been obtained.

But if the vine can grow in all soils it behaves
very differently in each of them. In strong, argilla-
ceous, rich soils, it will acquire a great vigor of vege:
tation, the wood is largely developed, the product is
abundant; on the contrary, in soils poor, light and drys
the vine is less robust, more delicate; it requires a
culture well contrived as to even the most minute
details, and the product is much less in quantity.

‘Tn general, if in any locality the vegetation of the
vine be more rich as the soil is more fertile, we
observe by the side of this result that the nature and
quality of the product is consequently in an inverse
ratio. In heavy land the vine is well developed and
furnishes abundant return; in alight soil it gives less

and the product is of higher quality.”

Srruation.—Tum situation of a vineyard should be
elevated, but not too high, otherwise the vines will not
only be exposed to high winds and their concomitant
evils, but will also be subjected to a lower tempera-
ture. On this latter point, but little is known—at

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. ae
least not enough to enable us in all cases to reconcile
the anomalies which occur. Enough is known, how-
ever, to cause us to avoid the tops of hills and the
bottoms of valleys, and it may be worth our while to
consider a few of the principles which regulate tem-
perature in these situations. During the night, the
cold air, being heavy, settles down into the valleys
and hollows, thus producing in such locations a
temperature several degrees lower than is found on
the sides of the adjacent hills. And no influence is
then at work to disturb this state of things, for the
earth itself is becoming rapidly cooled by radiation ;
and if a small quantity of the air should become
warmed by contact with it, it immediately ascends,
and cool air takes its place.

At daybreak, however, an agency is introduced
which reverses this condition of things. Then the
dense air in the valleys concentrates and absorbs the
heat of the sun’s rays and increases their effect upon
the soil, which in turn imparts heat to the stratum of
air lying next it. This lower stratum of air being
warmed and consequently rendered much lighter than
the colder portion above it, it ascends, but as it rises
it also expands still more, which in some measure
compensates for the heat which it received from the
earth. The same process keeps going on until night
comes, when the lower stratum of air being no longer

as OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

warmed it no longer ascends, and the colder and
heavier air again accumulates in the valleys. Thus
it will be seen, that during the night the air in the
valleys is colder than that in other places, while the
reverse is the case during the day. The stillness of
the air in valleys and sheltered situations also con-
tributes to this result in a remarkable degree.

Now it is obvious, that if for any fruit tree, the air
in the valleys should be sufficiently cold to kill the
buds, no orchard could succeed. And if, on the
other hand, sufficient light and heat to ripen the fuit
could not be found on the hill-tops, such situations
also would be unavailable. |

Nor is the mere existence of such extremes of
temperature the worst evil. The destructive influ-
ence of a hot sun upon frozen vegetation is well known,
_and in low valleys, the circumstances are such as to
give the greatest effect to this adverse influence. For
not only are the plants chilled by the extra cold night-
air, they are also completely protected from the rays
of the sun, until it has attained a greater power than
it usually exerts at its first appearance upon plants in
more exposed situations, And then, owing to the
dense atmosphere through which they pass, the rays
strike suddenly with concentrated energy so as to
thaw the buds with a rapidity completely destruc-
tive to their vitality. In such situations also, the soil

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 3Y

is usually very deep and rich, producing a vigorous
though succulent growth which is unable to with-
stand the influences above detailed. All experience
bears out the practical value of these principles.
Thus, in Italy, where the country is undulating and
very much broken, all good wines are grown on the
hill-sides. Hence Virgil tells us

** denique apertos

Bacchus amat colles,”*

and modern experience bears out the ancient saw,
though it does not follow, however, that plains will not
produce good wine-making grapes, provided they be of
sufficient extent to obviate the evils just described.
The fine wines of the Gironde in. France, and Chataux
Margaux, Lafitte and Latour, are grown on the plains.

Aspecr—Hxposure.—The aspect which is_ best
adapted to the growth of grapes will, of course, depend
upon influences, some of which at_least, are liable to
vary, as the keenest .and most destructive winds may
come from different quarters in different places—a

very slight geographical change sometimes making

* The force of this saying is lost by adopting Mr. Redding’s trans-

lation ‘‘ Bacchus loves the hills,”

Davidson gives the whole, ‘‘ Bacchus
loves the open hills’—-which is better. But the true meaning
“Bacchus loves the open little hills” coincides perfectly with expe-

rience and with the principles above. set forth.

A() OPEN AIR GRAPi CULTURE.

an important difference in this respect, owing to pe-
culiar topographical features. . Thus a range of hills
or a belt of woods, may so deflect the prevailing
winds, as to completely change the condition of two
localities ‘situated within even a very short distance
ot each other.

In general, it will be found necessary to secure pro- . ”
tection on the west, north aud northeast. This may
be afforded either by natural local features, as by a
range of hills, or it may be derived from artificial
sources, as woods or fences. No defence is better
than a good belt of Norway spruce, and if they form
a crescent in which the vineyard is embowered, but
little danger need be apprehended from violent winds.
Even high fences, which may be single, double or
triple, afford am»le protection in ordinary cases, and’
as trees, even of the fastest growing kind, take a con-
siderable time before they give sufficient protection,
many will prefer the fence. Weare therefore tempted
toextract from the “ Horticulturist” for August,
1847, Downing’s description of the method by which
Frederic Tudor, Esq., has converted the naked pro-
montory of Nahant into a luxuriant garden. _

“To appreciate the difficulties with which this
gen‘.eman had to contend, or as we might more
properly say, which stimulated all his efforts, we

must recall to mind that, frequently, in high winds,

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 41

the salt spray drives over the whole of Nahant; that
until Mr. Tudor began his improvements, not even a
bush grew naturally on the whole of its area; and
that the east winds which blew from the Atlantic in
the spring are sufficient to render all gardening pos-
sibilities in the usual way nearly as chimerical as cul
tivating the volcanoes of the moon. Mr. Tudor’s
residence there, now, is a curious and striking illustra-
tion of the triumph of art over nature.

“ Of course, even the idea of a place worthy of the
name of a garden in this bald, sea girt cape, was out
of the question, unless some mode of overcoming the
violence of the gales and the bad effect of the salt
spray could be devised. The plan Mr. Tudor has
adopted is, we believe, original with him, and is at
once extremely simple and perfectly effective.

x x *% * * * * x

“Tt cons.sts merely of two, or at most three parallel]
rows of high open fences, made of rough slats or
palings, nailed in the common vertical manner, about
three inches wide, and a space of .a couple of inches
left between them. These paling fences are about
16 feet high, and usually form a double row (on the
most exposed side, a triple row) round the whole
garden. The distance between that on the outer
boundary and the next interior one is about four feet.
The garden is also intersected here and there by tall

dQ OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

irellis fences of the same kind, all of which help to
increase the shelter, while some of -those in the inte-
rior serve as frames for training trees upon.

“‘The effect of this double or triple barrier of high
paling is marvellous ; although like a common paling,
apparently open and permitting the wind a free pas-
sage, yet in practice it is found entirely to rob the
gales of their violence and their saltness. To use
Mr. Tudor’s words, ‘it completely sifts the air.’ After
great storms, when the outer barrier will be found
covered with a coating of salt, the foliage in the
varden is entirely uninjured. It acts, in short, like a
rustic veil, that admits just so much of the air, and in
such a manner as most to promote the growth of the
trees, while it breaks and wards off all the deleteri- .
ous influences of a genuine ocean breeze, so pernicious
to tender leaves and shoots.’

* * x * ww * * *

“Tt is worthy of record, among the results of Mr.
Tudor’s culture, that two years after the principal
plantation of his fruit trees was made, he carried off
the second prize for pears at the annual exhibition of
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, among dozens
of zealous competitors, and with the fruit most care-
fully grown in that vicinity.”

Of the necessity for shelter under circumstances far
less desperate than those at Nahant, no good horti-

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 43

eulturist has any doubt. Even the oak-tree has
been proved by a well directed series of experiments,
to be benefited by shelter in the comparatively mild
climate of England. For the rationale of the evil
effects of wind on plants in general, we must refer
the reader to Lindley’s “ Theory and Practice of Hor-
ticulture.” The following cases are detailed by Hoare:

“Many instances might be circumstantially de-
tailed of the injurious effects of wind upon established
vines during their sumimer’s growth; two, however,
of recent occurrence will perhaps eutflice.

“On the cleventh of June, 1833, a strong wind
sprang up early in the morning from the west, and
increased in force till noon, when it blew quite a gale
and continued to do so throughout the day. It slack-
ened a little during the night, and gradually de-
creased in violence the next day, dying entirely away
in the evening.

“The effects of this wind on a vine of the White
Muscadine sort, trained on a wall having a western
aspect, were carefully observed. It had on-a full
crop of fruit and a good supply of fine young bearing
shoots, and was altogether in a most thriving condi-
tion. Such, however, were the injurious effects of
the wind in dissipating all the accumulated secretions
of the foliage, and then closing, almost hermetically,
its pores, and thereby totally deranging the vital

44 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

functions of the plant, that although in the height of
the growing season, not the slightest appearance of
renewed vegetation could be discerned in any pari
of its leaves, shoots or fruit, until the third day or
July, or twenty-two days afterward. It never pro-
duced another inch of good bearing wood throughout
the remainder of the season, but lingered in a very
weak and sickly condition ; and the fruit which had
heen previously estimated at ninety pounds’ weight,
did not exceed fifty-five pounds when gathered, and
that of a very inferior description in point of flavor
and size of berry. Its leaves, also, having been thus
crippled, were shed prematurely a month before their
natural time, and hence the deficiency in the flavor
and size of the grapes.

“The other instance, which happened shortly after-
ward, is still more decisive. On the 30th of August
following, about eight o’clock in the evening, a strong
wind began to blow from the southwest, accompanied
with heavy rain. At nine it blew violently, and con-
tinued to do so until noon the next day. It then
slackened, and then veering to the northwest, died
away some time during the following night.

“The full force of this wind fell on a remarkably

tine black Hamburg vine, trained on a wall having a

southwestern aspect, and its effects were therefore:

proportionately destructive. Many of tke principal

ae

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. * 45

branches were torn so completely from their fasten-
ings that their extremities swept the ground. The
bunches of fruit were knocked about, and portions of
them, as well as single berries, lay scattered on the
ground in every direction. On the fruit, however,
that survived the wreck, the effects of the wind were
remarkable. It must be stated that the wall on
which the vine is trained, is ten feet high, and is 80
situated that to the height of about three feet from
the ground the wind had but little power over it, its
force being broken by an outer wall standing at a
little distance off in front of it. On the lower part of
the wall.so protected, the grapes not having been
much injured, began to change their color and ripen
about the twentieth of September, and on the twelfth
of October every berry was perfectly matured, while
all those that remained on the vine above three feet
from the ground, were, on the first of November, as
green and hard as on the thirtieth of August, when
the high wind occurred. Shortly afterward these
began to change their color, and ultimately ripened
tolerably well by the first weekin December. ‘Thus,
solely through the effects of a strong wind, there
were to be seen' at the same time, on the same

branches of this vine, and within nine inches of each - -

other, bunches of grapes, the lowermost of which
were periectly ripe, while the uppermost were quite

LG.” OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

green and hard, and not within seven weeks of reach:
ing the same state of maturity.

“These facts, which might be multiplied indefinitely, .
sufficiently show the injurious effects of strong winds,
and the necessity of protecting vines as much as pos-
sible from their destructive consequences.”

But although there can be no doubt as to the evil
effects of wind storms, it must be borne in mind that
ventilation, and even motion, are essential to the
health and growth of the vine. Experiments made
by Andrew Knight, show that young trees tied to
‘stakes so as to prevent all motion, do not increase in
size as much as those left to the free action
of wind. Hence, perhaps, one reason why wire is to
be preferred to wood for the cross slats of trellises.
In the northern States, however, we in general have
wind enough for all useful purposes. But in view of
these facts, we would rest content with shelter out-
side of the vineyard, and unless in very exposed situ-
ations we would not deem it advisable to place either
trees or fences amongst the vines.

But while we can guard against wind and storms
by belts of woods or high fences, there are other in-
fluences which we cannot thus alter. Chiefly among
these-is the exposure of the sun’s rays.

Exposure is, in general, derived from one or both
of two causes. First, the inclination of the ground,

/

SOIL, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 47

and, secondly, its openness and freedom from over-
shadowing influences. A wall is a good illustration
of the latter—the north side having a northern expo-
sure, and causing fruit planted against it to ripen at
a much later period than that planted on the south
side, which has a southern exposure. The little
raised mounds or flower-beds, to be found in every
garden, exhibit the influence exerted by the inclina-
tion. of the earth—the vegetation on the south side
being usually some days earlier than that on the
north.

For vineyards, the best exposure is undoubtedly a
southern one, slightly inclined toward the east, or at
least fully protected from the west, and also from the
early morning rays. “It has often been observed
that woods or thick trees, buildings, high, broad
fences, or steep hills, on the east side of peach
orchards, protect the crop. Hence the erroneous
opinion, that it is the east winds which do the dam-
age. Itis the sunshine upon the frozen buds which
destroys them; hence a clouded sky, after a clear
frosty night, by preventing sudden thawing, some-
times saves a crop. Covering trees of rare kinds
with mats, to shade them from the morning sun,
after an intensely frosty night, might sometimes be
highly beneficial.” (Thomas.)

In this connection, it may be proper to consider

43: OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

the best direction for the trellises on which the vines
are trained. We have often seen a north and south
direction advised under the idea that the vines thus
receive the sun’s rays for a longer time. But the
evils attached to this plan are great and insurmount-
able. In the first place, the vines receive the full
force of the early morning sun which, striking the
young leaves while still cold, and it may be partially
frozen, is productive of the most injurious effects.
Then as the day progresses toward noon, the vines
are so shaded as not to receive the amount of heat,
which they would gladly enjoy at that time, while
toward evening again their excitability is greatly
increased and is kept up until the last moment, instead
of the exciting influence being quietly withdrawn as
it ought to be.

But if we give our trellis.a direction from east to
west, instead of from north to south, the vines will
expose but a small surface to the first rays of the sun
which will thus warm them gradually, until it attains
its meridian splendor, when it will exert? s full power ~
and then gradually decline until esening, when
everything will gradually cool down. Sudden
changes are thus avoided, and the full power of the
sun is secured in the ripening of the grapes.

Intimately connected with the foregoing subjects,

are the laws which regulate the inflneuce of tempe>

SOil, SITUATION AND ASPECT. 49.

rature upon vegetation. These ats stated by M. De
Candolle, as follows:

1. All other things being equal, the power of each
plant and of each part of a plant, to resist extremes
of temperature is in the inverse ratio of the quan-
titv of water they contain.

2. The power of plants to resist extremes of tem-
perature is directly in proportion to the viscidity of
their fluids.

38. The power of plants to resist cold is in the
inverse ratio of the rapidity with which their fluids
circulate.

4. The lability to freeze, of the fluids contained in
plants, is greater in proportion to the size of the cells.

5. The power of plants to resist extremes of tem-
perature is in a direct proportion to the quantity af
confined air which the structure of their organs give
them the means of retaining in the more delicate:
parts.

6. The power of plants to resist extremes of tem-
perature is in direct proportion to the capability
which the roots possess of absorbing sap less exposed
to the external influence of the atmosphere and the
sun. |

From this it will be obvious that all rank growth
and succulent vegetation should be avoided where
the desired object is to obtain hardy vines.

hO OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTUEBE.

CHAPTER III.

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL AND FORMATION OF VINE

BORDERS.

Havine selected a proper site for a vineyard, the
next step will be to prepare the soil for the reception
of the young vines. It is rarely if ever that ground
can be found in a condition fit to plant a vineyard
without thorough and extensive improvements, and
unless it be in proper order our hopes of success will
end in failure and disappointment.

In our remarks on soil it was stated that one abso-
lute necessity is a dry subsoil. No other good quali-
ties can compensate for the want of this, and in most
cases.it is only to be obtained by thorough draining.

The first great evil obviated by thorough draining
is the existence of stagnant water beneath the sur-
face. It is a saying amongst vine-dressers that “the
vine cannot bear wet feet.” And nothing can be
more true. If the roots be exposed to stagnant water
they will become diseased and die off, thus giving
rise to weak and ill-ripened though sometimes succu
lent growth, and hence causing the vine to suffer from

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 51

the attacks of disease and insects. The grapes, 100,
will not ripen well, but will remain sour and ill-fla-
vored.

M. Gasparin gives the following observations with:
regard to the influence which a dry or a moist soil
exerts upon the grape: “Other things being equal,
we obtain grapes which contain much sugar and lit-
tle acid from vines grown in a dry soil; more free
acid in a moist soil, and much acid, albumen and
mucilage with little sugar in a soil which is absolu-
tely wet.”

Another advantage consists in the fact that well-
drained land always possesses a higher temperature
than that which is wet. This difference amounts to
10° to 12° Fah. and is accounted for by the rapid
absorption of heat by the water as it becomes con-
verted into vapor. During this process, too, it is pro-
bable that the nascent vapor robs the earth of a por-
tion of the ammonia and gases which it would have
separated from the water and retained if it had acted
as a filter and the water had passed off by the drains.
But however this may be, its effect on temperature
is such that Johnson regards thorough draining ag
equal to a change of climate.

But not only does draining enable the soil to filter
all the water which descends upon it, retaining its

ammonia, gases and even salts; it is probable that by

52 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

these means the excrementitious matters discharged
by plants, as well as other noxious bodies are washed
out of the subsoil or decomposed by contact with the
air which penetrates along with the water. In the
case of oxide of iron it is probable that a very
beneficial effect results from its conversion from the
protoxide to the peroxide by means of this influence.

But a change in the chemical constitution and
action of the soil is not the only effect of this opera-
tion; ano less marked alteration is produced in its
mechanical character—heavy lands being rendered
light, porous and permeable to the roots of tender
plants.

It is unnecessary here to give minute directions for
performing such a well-known operation, so we shall
merely refer our readers to some of the numerous
treatises on that subject. Anexcellent article on the
theory and practice of draining wili be found in the
“ Rural Annual” for 1859 published at the office of the
“Genesee Farmer,’ Rochester, N.Y. _

We may state, however, that in laying drains for a
vineyard, it should be borne in mind that after the
vines are planted it will be almost impossible to get
at the drains in case of accident, without serious
detriment to the plants. It will, therefore, be well to
construct them in the most substantial manner and

also to arrange them so that they will net lie imme:

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 53

diately under any of the rows of vines. If they are
between the rows it will not be so difficult to get at
them as if they lay directly beneath the plants.

The next great requisite in a soil for the culture of
the vine is depth. Ordinary soils of from eight to
ten inches are by no means deep enough. Twenty
inches is the least depth to be relied upon, and, if
very favorable results are desired, it should be made
three feet. The subsoil to this depth should be
thoroughly loosened, and, unless its quality is very
‘inferior, it may be well to mix it with the surface
soil—adding at the same time a good supply of
manure or compost. We are aware that some horti-
culturists object to bringing up the subsoil, but we
incline to the belief that if it is of such a character as
to produce much injury, the site is unfit for a vine-
yard. When the subsoil is light (except it be pure
sand) no harm can result. If it be pure sand, how-
ever, it had better remain where it is unless a sufh-
ciency of clay can be found to mix with it. If, on
the other hand, it be so clayey as to hermetically seal
up the vine borders, we should prefer to let it remain
under. But, if possible, a site should be selected
where a good depth of tolerable soil may be obtained
either naturally or by proper effort.

The advantages incident to depth in ordinary cases
zonsist in the roots being placed alike beyond the

54 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

extreme heat of summer and the severe cold of win-
ter. Consequently they do not suffer from drought,
and are able at once to enter upon their duties in the
spring.

For table grapes, we doubt whether the soil can
be too deep or rich—not meaning by the latter term,
however, saturated with wndecomposed organic mat-
ter. But observation leads us to doubt the propriety
of carrying these features: to an extreme in the case
of closely-trimmed vines cultivated for wine. It is
true that the Western authors (Remelin, Buchannan,
ete—some of them Europeans) advocate this depth
and richness. But, if our memory does not deceive
us, some of Mr. Longworth’s tenants who have not
pursued the most thorough system of cultivation
_have occasionally escaped evils to which their more
skillful and hard-working brethren have been ex
posed. And perhaps a solution of this mystery may
be found above, notwithstanding Mr. Longworth
naively tells us that he cannot believe that nature
ever favors the indolent. Our own experience in
this particular department is not sufficient to warrant
us in pronouncing a decided opinion on the subject ;
but the principles of physiology would lead us to be-
lieve that if the roots of vines are planted in a deep
and rich soil the branches must be allowed corres-
ponding elbow room. If we desire to keep a vigorous

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 55

plant down we must starve and curtail its roots as
well as use the pruning-knife on its branches.

There are two methods of deepening a soil, viz: by
the subsoil plough and by trenching with the spade.
Both these operations are too well known to require
a minute description, though in regard to the latter
there are so many and such contradictory directions
given in books that we may be pardoned a few re-
marks in-relation thereto.

In order properly to trench a piece of ground the
directions given by Loudon are as explicit and judi-
cious as possible. “ Trenching is a mode of pulveriz_
jng and mixing the soil, or of pulverizing and chang-
ing its surface to a greater depth than can be done
by the spade alone. For trenching with a view to
pulverizing and changing the surface, a trench is
formed like the furrow in digging, but two or more
times wider and deeper; the plot or piece to be
trenched is next marked off with the line into parallel
strips of this width; and beginning at one of these,
the operator digs or picks the surface stratum, and
throws it in the bottom of the trench. Having com-
pleted with the shovel the removal of the surface
stratum, a second, third or fourth, according to the
depth of the soil and other circumstances, is removed
in the same way; and thus, when the operation is
completed, the position of the different strata is

56 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

exactly the reverce of what they were before. In
trenching with a view to mixture and pulverization,
all that is necessary is to open, at one corner of the
plot, a trench or excavation of the desired depth, 3
or 4 feet broad, and 6 or 8 feet long. Then proceed
to fill the excavation from one end by working out a
Similar one. In this way proceed across the piece to
be trenched, and then return, and so on in parallel
courses to the end of the plot, observing that the face
or position of the moved soil in the trench ‘must
always be that of a slope, in order that whatever is
thrown there may be mixed and not deposited in
regular layers as in the other case. To effect this
most completely, the operator should always stand in
the bottom of the trencli, and first picking down and
mixing the materials, from the solid side, should
next take them up with the shovel, and throw them
on the slope or face of the moved soil, keeping a dis-
tinct space of two or three feet between them. For
want of attention to this, in trenching new soils for
gardens and plantations, it may be truly said that
half the benefit derivable from the operation is lost.”

A more expeditious method of mixing the soil,
and one which varies but slightly from the ordinary
system, consists in cutting down the bank in succes-
sive sections so as to produce theoretically a series of
layers of soil and subsoil, but in reality a most inti-

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 57

mate mixture of the two. This is best accomplished

by opening a very wide trench—say from four to
six feet wide. Then throw the top spit off a bank of
the same width into the bottom of the trench so as to
insure the burial of all insects, seeds, and weeds; cut a
width of from six to fifteen inches of the remaining por-
tion of the bank completely down to the bottom, and
spread the soil so obtained in a thin layer over the
spit formerly thrown in. Then cut down another six
to fifteen inches in the same manner, proceeding thus
until the whole bank has been cut down and used to
fill up the trench. It will now be found that, with
the exception of the extreme top spit which is placed
at the bottom for very good reasons, the whole soil is
sufficiently mixed for all practical purposes.

called bastard trench-

Another mode of trenching
ing—is thus described by a writer in the “ Gardener’s
Chronicle:” “Open a trench two feet and a half, or
a yard wide, one full spit and the shovelling deep,
and wheel the soil from it to where it is intended to
finish the piece; then put in the dung and dig it in
with the bottom spit in the trench; then fill up this
trench with the top spit, etc., of the second, treating
it in like manner, and so on. The advantages of this
plan of working the soil are, the good soil is retained
at the top—ap important consideration where the
soil is poor or bad; the bottom soil is enriched and

ax%
Vv

58 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

loosened for the penetration and nourishment of the
roots, and allowing them to descend deeper, they are
not so liable to suffer from drought in summer;
strong soil is rendered capable of absorbing more
moisture, and yet remains drier at the surface by the
water passing down more rapidly to the subsoil, and
it insures a more thorough shifting of the soil.”

A method which we have sometimes adopted, and
which we think a saving of labor under some circun-

stances, is as follows:

——

Fig, 1.

Let fig. 1. represent the plot of ground to be
trenched. Divide it into two equal parts by the line
a b, and instead of wheeling the soil out of a F to the
rear of the plot, simply throw that fron? a out in front.

PREPARATION OF TUE SOIL. 59

There can, of course, be no more difficulty in find-
ing room for it there than there would be in obtain-
ing a place for it inthe rear. Then dig down the
bank s, and with it fillthe trench a. Bis nowa
trench which may be filled from c;c¢ may be filled
from Dp; D from ©; © from ¥; and the filling of F
with the soil which was at first thrown out of a, will
make all even. The wheeling of the soil, which is no
inconsiderable item, is thus saved. It is evident,
however, that this plan is adapted only to small, or
at least narrow plots.

All the foregoing operations prove most beneficial
when performed in the fall. At that time the soil
should not be finely pulverized, but left in as rough
a state as possible so as to expose it thoroughly to the
action of the winter’s frost and snow. It should be
also well mixed with a good dressing of well decom-
posed stable manure, and any of those matters men-
tioned in Chapter XI.

By these means, the ground will be thoroughly
enriched by spring, and will not consist of eartn
mixed with fermenting masses of manure, than which
nothing can be more injurious to young plants. In
the following spring the land should be raked or har-
rowed, so as to obtain a level surface of finely pulver-
ized soil, and if it should be lightly forked over it

would be none the worse for it.

60: OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

TrerRAces.—I'rom our directions for the selection
of avineyard site, it will be seen that we prefer a gen-
tle slope to the south or southeast. If this slope does
not exceed an angle of eight degrees, or a rise of One
foot in seven, it will be unnecessary to adopt any
peculiar system of arrangement. Jor a rise of one in
four it will be necessary merely to make very slight
terraces, the borders being made eight feet wide
and half the descent being taken up by the slope
given to them, will leave but twelve_inches of a ter-
race, which may be easily secured by 2 row of sods,
boards or stones, or even the earth beaten hard and
kept carefully dressed up. But when the inclination
of the ground much exceeds this amount, it becomes
necessary to form regular terraces which is best
done as follows:

Find out the actual slope or inclination of the
ground, which is easily done by taking an eight-foot

Fig. 2.

board, and after laying one edge on the ground and
levelling the board, find the length of the perpendi-

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 61

eular which touches the surface beneath tle other end.
Thus @ d, fig. 2, being the surface of the hill,
and ¢ the eight feet board with the level resting upon
it, e d, will be the rise in eight feet and e d, less the
slope given to the border will be the height of each
step or terrace. Having found this, the next step is
to cut a perpendicular face half the height of the pro-
posed terrace at the foot of the hill and against it to
build a wall as high as may be required. This is best .
formed of dry stone, though the bank is sometimes
left with a good deal of slope, and sodded, the sods
being pinned to the face of the bank with stakes until
the roots have penetrated sufficiently to hold. The
sods for this purpose should not be cut square, but dia-
mond form, so that the face of the bank would pre-
sent the appearance shown in fig. 3. But sods are

Fig. 3.

‘ objectionable from the fact that they not only keep
the air moist in the vicinity of the vines, but also
abstract a good deal of nutriment from the soil, and.
unless kept neatly mown present a very bad appear-

62 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

ance. In default of good stone we think that sun-
dried brick would make a very good wall. The
earth of which they are made should be mixed with
straw, well worked and made into blocks.

It is probable that in well-drained terraces such
walls would last well if protected with a coping of
boards or straw secured with good clay in the man-
ner shown in fig. 4, so as to shed the rain.

Figure 4.

Having built this wall, the next step is to fill up
behind it, and level off a border of suitable width—
say 6 or 8 feet. To do this it will be necessary to cut
down a perpendicular face the same height as before,
when another wall must be built, and the same pro-
cess repeated.

A writer in the third vclume of the “ Gardener’s
Magazine” proposes to train the vines on trellises

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 63

lying on the surface of the slopes as shorvn in figure 5.
Trained in this manner, grapes are said to have

-
~
.
~
~
~
~
~~
-

te a
~
~

~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~~
~
~
~.
~ r
~,
~.
~
~.
~.
“~
~

=.

~
~
-
~
=
~
=
=
~
ae,
~

L™

ae
~
on
™

Figure 5.

ripened well in England. We would prefer the
vertical trellis, however, and give the illustration,
more to show what has been proposed than as an
example to be followed. So many times have we
seen it proposed to incline trellises and train vines
horizontally, that we cannot refrain from quoting
Lindley’s remarks upon this point.

“That training a tree over the face of a wall will
protect the blossoms from cold must be apparent,
when we consider the severe effect of excessive eva-
poration upon the tender parts. A merely low
temperature will produce but little comparative -in-
jury in a still air, because the more essential parts
of the flower are very much guarded by the bracts,
calyx and petals, which overlie them, and, more-
ever, because radiation will be intercepted by the

64 OPEN AIR GRAPE (CULTURE.

branches themselves, placed one above the other, so
that none but the uppermost branches which radiate
into space will feel its full effects; but when a cold

wind is constantly passing through the branches and

among the flowers, the perspiration—against which
no sufficient guard is provided by nature—becomes
so rapid as to increase the amount of cold consider-
ably, besides abstracting more aqueous matter than
a plant can safely part with. To prevent this being
one of the great objects of training trees, it is Incon-
ceivable how any one should have recommended
such devices as those mentioned in the ‘ Horticultural
Transactions,’ I. Appendix, p. 8., of training trees
upon a horizontal plane; the only effect of which
would be to expose a tree as much as possible to the
effect of that radiation which it is the very purpose
of training to guard against.”

All terraces should be well drained, and the drains
are best arranged by having a series of cross drains
parallel to the terrace, as seen in section fig. 4 and 5,
and emptying into a main drain which descends the
hill. These drains should be placed as in the figures,
taking care to leave the yround under the wall solid
and undisturbed. In forming terraces for vine cul-
ture it is necessary to exercise care and judgment, so
as not to bury the good soil and leave the poor seul

for the vines to grow In.

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 65

Vine Borpers.—The formation of vine borders in
gardens is a subject upon which the student will find
no lack of information, almost every successful
gardener attributing the superiority of his grapes to
some peculiarity in the construction of his borders,
and innumerable have been the paper conflicts waged
between the advocates of carrion, asphalte, ventilated
borders, etc., etc., and their opponents. The “ car-
rion” controversy has probably caused the shedding
of more ink than any of the others, the ultraists on
both sides being probably in the wrong. But,
after all, we regard the construction of proper vine
borders as no very difficult affair, and shall first give
our own views in the matter and afterward quote
those of other authors.

Of course in borders, as in other cases, it is neces-
sary that the bottom be as dry as possible. This
being provided for, if the soil is a light mellow gar-
den mold, we would rest content with trenching it
thoroughly, and adding liberal supplies of litter, well
decomposed manure, woollen rags, and especially
bones; * and if in the bettom of each trench a good

* In the ordinary course of agriculture, where ‘“ quick returns,” if
not ‘“‘small profits” are an important element of success, bones when
used as manure cannot be too thoroughly pulverized. Indeed, it is
often profitable to reduce them to the most active form—that of a solu-

tion—-by means of acids, But for reasons to be hereafter stated one

66 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

layer of brickbats, lime rubbish, and oyster shells be
laid, it will prove an advantage. <A border prepared
in this simple manner will give good satisfaction
under any circumstances.

If the soil be heavy we would also make liberal
additions of sandy loam or saw-dust.

But if the location of the border is such that it can-
not be well drained, we would remove all the soil to
the depth of 18 inches over the entire extent of the
border and fill up at least 12 inches of the space with
stones, brickbats, ete. Over this we would spread a
thin layer of straw or’ brush, and after building a wall
round the border 18 to 30 inches high, we would fill
in with a rich soil resembling in composition, that
described above. The earth on the outside might be
banked up to the wall, and either sodded, or merely
beaten solid.

In all such cases, it is evident that from the narrow
limits to which we are in general confined, the soil
ought to be of the richest kind; and as it is nearly
impossible to renew it after the vines are once started,
this richness should be derived from materials calcu-

great advantage to be derived from the use of bones in vine borders
is the length of time during which they continue to act, and, there-
fore, the largest and most solid should be selected and used without
being crushed or broken. This is no argument, however, against the

additional use of bone dust.

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 67

laxd to give more than a mere temporary impetus
to ‘ne plants. The nature and action of manures wi!l
form the subject of a future chapter, but we may here

S
and similar matters are by far the most suitable. For

state that bones, hair, woollen rags, leather clippings

the purpose of giving porosity to the soil, as well as
furnishing nutriment to the plants, nothing will be
found to equal chopped straw. Chaff, or sawdust
comes next in order, and from experiments which we
have made on the subject, we do not think the value
of the latter is half appreciated. To dead animals,
either whole or divided, we have never found any
objection, provided they were not placed in direct con-
tact with the roots of the plant. No danger is to be
apprehended of the vine seeking them to its own
detriment. But this more properly pertains to the
subject of manures. We will now give the manner
in which the most celebrated grape growers construct
their borders.

Miller 1759) recommends good mellow soil with-

ut any addition.

Speechly (1790) states inhis work: ‘As the vines
in the hot-house at Welbeck have been remarkably
fruitful and vigorous, I shall beg leave to recom-
mend the same kind of compost mold which I make
use of there, viz. one-fourth part of garden mold, »
(a strong loam); one-fourth of the sward or turf from

68 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

a pasture where the soil is a sandy loam; one-fourth
of the sweepings and scrapings of pavements and hard
roads; one-eighth of rotten cow and stable yard dung
mixed; and one-eighth of vegetable mold from re-
duced and decayed oak leaves. These are the several
and respective proportions. The sward should be
laid in a heap till the grass roots are ina state of
decay, and then turned over and broken with a spade 5
let it then be put to the other materials, and the
whole worked together, till the separate parts beceme
well and uniformly mixed and incorporated.

As the vegetable mold from decayed leaves can-
not always be obtained, by reason that the leaves
require two -years before they become sufiiciently
putrid and reduced, it therefore may sometimes be
necessary to substitute some other ingredient in leu
of this part of the compost; wherefore it may not be
inexpedient to point out the proper succedanea.

Rotten wood reduced to a fine mold, such as is
often found under fagot stacks; the scraping of the
ground in old woods, where the trees grow thick
togetner; mold out of hollow trees,- and sawdust
reduced to a fine mold, provided it be not from wood
of a resinous kind, are in part of a similar nature
with vegetable mold from decayed leaves, but are
neither so rich nor so powerful, because the vegetabla
mold receives a power by its fermentation.

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS, 69

Abercrombie directs the top slip of sandy loam trom
an upland pasture, one-third part ; unexhausted brown
loam from a garden, one-fourth part; scrapings of
roads free from clay, one-sixth part; vegetable mold
or old tan, or rotten stable dung, one-eighth part;
shell marl, or mild lime, one-twelfth part. His bor-
ders he recommends to be from three to five feet in
depth, and where practicable, not less than four feet
wide within the house, and not less than ten feet wide
without.

The vine borders at Wish... House, Lanarkshire,
in a cold and wet locality, are thusformed: Byeadth,
12 feet, depth of soil 18 inches, under which is laid
a foot of hard clinkers, by way of drainage. The soil
used is that natural to the garden, which had for
years been under pasture, and is aremarkably strong,
rich brick-clayey loam, with no other preparation
than the addition of a moderate supply of stable ma-
nure. In this soil the best grapes ever produced in
Scotland have been grown for the last three years.

A writer in the “ Gardener’s Chronicle” (1843, page
825) prepares*his borders thus: The soil most suita-
ble for a vine border is the surface spit from a field
of an old fertile loam pasture; this should be collected
some time before it is required, mixed with a good
proportion of cow dung, and the whole turned over

at intervals, three or four times, and exposed to the

70 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

action of the weather. In preparing the border, the
old earth should be cleared away from the whole
space, to the depth of about two and a half feet, and
a main drain cut parallel with the length of the bor-
der, at its extreme outer edge.

This should be at least two feet lower than the
bottom of the border, whether laid with concrete,
chalk or bricks, and the bottom of the border should
have a gentle inclination from the back to the drain.
To render this drainage more effectual, cut small
drains, placing drain tiles at their bottoms, at. con-
venient distances, to run in a slanting direction from
the back of the border into the main drain, the latter
being six inches below them. A few turfs should
be laid over the tile drains with the grassy side down 3
the fresh soil may then be filled in, taking care to
keep the roughest part near the bottom.

Three cubic yards of compost are enough for each
vine; this will admit of the border being ten feet
wide, or with forty-eight cubic feet, you may form it
only six feet wide in the first instance, and add six
fect more as the vines extend.

Ktoberts, the great advocate for carrion, gives the
following description of his border: “The compost
and manures I most recommend, and which I made
use of, are two parts the parings of a piece of old
pasture land, a strong loam laid up one year (or till

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. val

the sward is half decomposed), in the form of a potato
hod, close covered in with soil, and never turned; one
part, the turf with four inches of the soil, of a looser
texture laid up for the same period, and not turned,
as before ; an eighth part scrapings of the highways
formed from limestone, or other hard material; and
the other eighth part, half decomposed horse or cow
dung. Iam not an advocate for turning over and
mixing the materials promiscuously together, as, by
often turning, the compost becomes too solid, losing a
great portion of its fertilizing property by such re-
peated intermixture; and unless it be of a very sandy,
loose texture, the border will, in a few years, become
impervious both to water and to atmospheric air,
which are of incalculable benefit to the growth of the
vine. I would recommend the autumn, if the weather
be dry, to prepare to fill in your border.

“ A month previous to filling your border, providea
quantity of carrion, cattle dying by accident, disease,
etc., which I am sorry to say, has, of late years,
been too common an occurrence. If you have col-
lected it some time before hand, have it cut into small
pieces and laid up in soil till the time of using. It
emits a very nauseous effluvia, but this must be borne,
for this is the pabulwm to produce the nectar of
Bacchus. When all is ready, and the weather favor-
able, proceed at one end of your border, wheeling in

Ve] OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

and mixing the materials in proportion as they stand
to each other in my previous directions, on no account
breaking the materials in mixing, but turn them in as
rough as possible, adding one good sized horse or cow
carcass to every ten or twelve square yards, using
caution, and not bringing it to the surface of the
border within one foot as its assistance is not wanted
the first year. What I have here recommended is
my practice adopted at this place, the result of which,
I dare presume to say, has surprised all, both gentle-
men and practical gardeners, who have witnessed it.”

Fiske Allen, one of the best American culturists
of the vine under glass, constructs his borders thus:

“Tf the soil is very poor, or unsuitable for the pur-
pose, so as to require to be removed entirely, then
a compost prepared thus is recommended; one-half
to be the top soil of an old pasture, one-quarter to
be bone, or some other strong manure; one-eighth
oyster shells, or lime and brick rubbish ; one-eighth
rotten manure; these articles thrown together in a
heap, and so to remain until decomposed and amalga-
mated, when they should be placed in the border and
thrown loosely together. My borders having the
most slaughter-house manure, or whole bones of ani-
mals in their composition still continue, as they ever
have done, to produce the best fruit and the largest
crops.

FCRMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 73

“Tt is unnecessary to attempt to give rules for every
kind of soil. One must use his own judgment, and
make his border to consist, as near as can be, of the
above ingredients. He must bear in mind that, if
his soil is a stiff clayey loam, he must add freely of
such materials as will lighten and give permeability
to it. If the soil is light, sandy or gravelly, with the
manure should be added a proportion of clay or
clayey loam. The rich alluvion soil, abounding in
our western and southwestern States, will not require
any of these strong manures. If anything is requi-
site to improve them, it must be shells, charcoal,
leaves, small stones, or gravel—such materials as
will loosen the soil.”

But that the reader may not be discouraged by
these extravagant demands we quote the following
from Hoare: .

“But if vines could not be planted with any pros-
pect of success in any other situations than in bor-
ders set apart for that purpose, but a very small quan-
‘ity of grapes could be grown, compared with what
the country is capable of producing. Innumerable
instances occur throughout the country, and espe-
cially in towns and their suburban districts, in which
walls, cottages, houses, and various descriptions of
brick and stone erections present very favorable
aspects for the training of vines, but which neverthe-

74 OPEN AIR GRAPE OULTURE.

less are so situated locally, as to possess little or no
soil at all on the surface adjoining their sites; the
ground being either paved with bricks or stone, or per-
haps trodden so hard, as to be apparently incapable
of yielding sustenance to any vegetable production.
“Tn all such cases, however, if the ground adjoining
the site of the wall or building be opened to the
extent of eighteen inches square, and as many deep,
it will be sufficient to admit the roots of a young
vine, which must be pruned to suit that space. If a
wider and deeper space can be made, it will of course
be better; but if not, that will do. After the sides
and bottom have been loosened as much as possible,
the vine may be planted and the hole filled up with
two-thirds of rich loamy earth, and one-third of road
scrapings, previously mixed well together, and if
necessary the surface covering, whether of stone,
brick, or otherwise, may be restored again to its for-
mer state, provided a space about six inches square
be left open for the stem to swell in during its future
growth. Vines planted in such situations, will in gene-
ral do well, although their growth will not be so rapid
as when planted under more favorable circumstances.
“Tn all cases where vines are planted against any
description of buildings, their roots push as soon as
possible under the foundations, being attracted thi-
ther by the warm air which is there generated ; and

FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 75

such situations being also dry, from the excavations
which have been made, offer to the roots the same
protection from excessive moisture, as the substratum
of a well-prepared border. The same may be
observed of vines planted against walls, the founda-
tions of which possess similar advantages, although
in amore limited degree. Hence the fact may be
inferred that vines planted in such situations, without
any previous preparation of the soil, will frequently
grow as luxuriantly, and produce as fine grapes as
those planted in rich and well-prepared borders.

“ Indeed, it is hardly possible to plant a vine in any
situation in which it will not thrive, provided its roots
can by any means push themselves into a dry place,
and the aspect be such as to afford to its branches a
sufficient portion of the sun’s rays to elaborate the
juices of the plant.

“The truth is, that the roots of the vine possess an
extraordinary power of adapting themselves to any
situation in which they may be planted, provided it
be a dry one.

“They will ramble in every direction in search of
food, and extract nourishment from sources apparently
the most barren. In short, they are the best caterers
that can possibly be imagined, for they will grow,
and even thrive luxuriantly, where almost every des-
cription of plant or tree would inevitably starve.”

oj
Co

OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE

CHAPTER 17;

PLANTING.

Prorer Acre or Vines ror Pxiantinc.—Where
young vines have been raised from cuttings, in the
open ground, two years old probably is the best age
to select for planting out. Plants one year from the
cutting have rarely made sufficient roots to bear
transplanting’ well, and at a greater age than two
years the roots are so long that they generally receive
much mutilation in taking up—thus losing their
most fibrous and valuable part, viz., that at the ex-
tremities. Of course older vines, carefully taken up
and as carefully planted, will come into bearing in
shorter time than younger plants, and thus give more
satisfactory results where expense is no objection,
But where alarge number of vines are to be set out,
two-year old plants, as above stated, or one-year old
plants raised from eyes in the spring, and grown all
summer in the open air, have decided advantages on
the score both of economy and ease of planting.
Indeed, we should prefer plain cuttings, planted two
to each stake, to one-year old vines raised from ents

PLANTING. Y

tings in the open ground. Plants raised from eyes
in pots, early in spring, and transferred in summer to
their final location, do very well.

Prorer SEAson ror Prantrina.—The proper season
for planting depends much upon local circumstances
—soil and climate being chiefly to be considered. In
a few instances, were the soil is light and the climate
mild, it may do to risk fall planting, but under all
ordinary circumstances we should advise this opera-
tion to be deferred till pretty late in the spring, and
this advice is founded upon the uniformly favorable
results which have attended this plan in our own
experience, as opposed to frequent want of success at
other times. Plants set out even early in the fall
rarely outstrip those planted in the following spring,
and when autumn planting is delayed much beyond
the fall of the leaf, the plants frequently fail if the
winters are severe.

The reason of this probably depends upon the fact
that the roots ofall plants when vegetation is active,
are enabled to resist adverse influences which would
prove fatal to them when dormant. Thus the vine
when growing will revel in a degree of moisture
which would destroy it, or at least prove very injuri-
ous during the winter months. Now the roots of all
trees are more or less injured by transplanting, and

&

78 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

incipient decay is apt to supervene unless the vitality
of the plant is sufficient to withstand it. If this
should occur when the plant is dormant, there is no
influence at work to resist the evil. But if such
injuries should be inflicted in spring, when vegeta-
tion is just commencing, they are quickly and readily
repaired.

With care vines may be transplanted even when
their leaves are well developed ; but under such cir-
cumstances the vine, from its great evaporative
powers, makes a heavy draft upon the roots and is
rather impatient of removal after vegetation has made
some progress. We have had the best success, however,
when the plant was set out so late in the spring that
the buds were starting, but just before they were fully
burst. About this time the soil is getting gradually
warmer, and although it does not reach a sufficiently
high temperature to induce the formation of roots in
cuttings before June or July, still it is warm enough
to allow of the healthy action of the roots in a grow-
ing plant.

In the above cases the vines were set out immedi-
ately after being dug up. Where it is necessary to
transport them any distance, it would undoubtedly
be better to take them up earlier, before the sap
begins to move. They need not be planted for some
- ‘ime, but may be merely heeled in, as it is called,
ad

#

PLANTING. 79

that is, placed in a shallow trench and well evvered
with dry soil. A covering of straw or leaves in addi-
tion will do no harm if the mice do not make it a
harbor.

Distance Apart.—The distance apart at which
vines should be planted will, of course, depend not
only upon the variety, but upon the object for which
they are set out. In Europe they are placed at all
distances from 380 inches to 30 feet. In the Ohio
vineyards, where they are usually fastened to stakes,
the plants are placed about four or five feet apart ; but
in the northern States, where vines are trained upon
trellises, we should prefer to set them out in rows 6
feet apart, and the vines standing 7 or 8 feet apart in
the rows. This distance enables us to keep the vines
close enough and short enough for all practical pur-
poses, while it does not require more time to cover
the trellis than is absolutely necessary to bring the
vine into proper order for bearing. The rows are
also sufficiently far apart to allow of horse labor
being used—a considerable saving being ‘thus
effected.

The number of vines required to plant an acre will
be seen from the following table, which has often
been published, but which it may be well to insert
here.

.

&0 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

PLANTS TO THE ACRE. | PLANTS TO THE AORE,
8 x 8 requires 4,840 8x 7 requires 788
Boe Be Ba) See 680
4x4 ee 2,122 ox 1 a 691
DX a 2,178 9x 8 “ 605
DX ap 1,742 Dax es 537
i aes i 1,452 10'S SF 4 622
6 xX 6 ci 1,210 10-3 38 544
ix © . 1,023 Lox.) ef 484
(Gea nf 888 LO x Oe ee 435

Marxina orr THE Grounp.—Where vines are set
out at from 4 to 6 feet apart and trained to stakes,
the following directions, taken from the ‘“ American
Philosophical Transactions,” and frequently quoted
(generally without credit), are as good as any:

“Your squares being laid out, and having con-
cluded how far your vines shall stand every way
from one another, in which every man is to please
himself, you stretch a line of proper length, and
stitch small pieces of red, blue, green, or any other
colored cloth, at such distance from each other as you
mean to plant the vines. I will suppose 8 feet,
because upon the most mature deliberation, I think
that the best distance for vines to stand in this coun-
try, as I shall afterward show more fully. The line
bemg ready, stretch it along the head or upper part

PLANTING. 81

of your square, so that a rag appears at each corner,
drive down astake at every rag. This done, move
your line down to the lower side of the square, which
is opposite to the first, and stretch your line along -
that, having a rag at each corner, and drive down a
stake at every rag. ‘Then turn your line the other
way up and down, and fasten your line to the upper
and lower outside stakes, so that a rag be at each
stake, and drive down a stake at every rag, and so on
from stake to stake, till the whole be completed. If
you have been careful not to disturb or move the
line, when you drove down the stakes, and have
driven them all on the same side of the line, your
square will be uniform, and the stakes near the
ground will range exactly every way.”

Where the vines are trained to trellises, it is not
essential that they should be straight both ways as
when tied to stakes, it being necessary that the trel-
lises be parallel and equi-distant only.

To make them so, a very good plan is as follows:
Prepare a rod, fig. 6, a few inches more than
twenty feet long, and having a small hole (a) bored ©
through one end, then bore a similar hole (¢) twelve
feet from the first; one (6), 16 feet from the first ; and
one (@) 20 feet from the first. Having decided upon
the direction of the first row and divided it into
spaces corresponding to the distance the plants are ta

x
4 *

82 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

stand from each other, drive in stakes a a at each
end, and measuring off 16 feet, drive in other two,
BB. The heads of these should be made level with

Fig. 6.

the surface of the ground, and headless nails should
then be driven into them—the two nails (4 and B) at
each end being exactly 16 feet apart. Now place the
rod on one of the outside stakes, so that the nail will
pass through the first hole (a) and drive a peg into
the hole in the rod 12 feet from the end. With this
peg mark a curve (¢), and then placing the end (@) of
the rod on the stake B, mark another curve (d@) cross-
ing the first by means of a pin passing through the
hole (d). A line (4 p), drawn from a through the cross-
ing of these curves will be perfectly square with the

PLANTING. 83

first row. Divide the lines (4 p) into spaces ecual to
the width of the rows, and the lines joining the cor-
responding divisions will be the proper lines of the
trellises.

As many stakes or poles, 6 or 8 feet long, should be
provided as there are vines, and these should be set
at the points where the vines are to be placed before
the holes are dug. These stakes will serve during
the first two years and will save the tear and wear of
trellises as well as the interest on the investment,
besides relieving some of the hurry incident to the
work of the first spring, which is always more press-
ing than that of any succeeding one.

Dieeine THE Hores.—In digging the holes it will
be well to take up the stakes one at a time, and after
digging the hole to replace the stake, driving it
slightly into the soil at the bottom. By so doing the
centres of the holes, or at least the points where the
stems of the vines should come, will be easily kept,
whereas if all the stakes were removed before dig-
ging the holes, it would be troublesome to get them
exactly right again. The insertion of the stake,
_before planting the vine, not only aids us in this, but
prevents the possibility of injuring the roots by driv:
ing a sharp stake through them, a thing which is
often done. The holes should be dug from 12 to 24

St OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

inches deep and about 3 feet in diameter, or as wide
as the distance to which the roots extend.

Taxina up tHE Piants.—When plants are pur-
chased, this operation is generally left to the nursery-
man who not unfrequently commits it to men who
care very little how it is done so that they get the
plants out of the ground. But when we reflect that
a small amount of care in taking up a plant will
often cause a difference of a year or more in its sub-
sequent growth, it will be evident that the labor, time
and consequent interest on capital which will be ulti-
mately saved by devoting a little attention to this
matter will more than pay for the few extra minutes
required.

In taking up’a vine, or any plant, it is well to
remember that the most efficient portion of the roots
is that which hes at the extreme ends—those minute
fibres or spongioles which have been aptly termed
the mouths of the plant. In old vines, where the
roots extend to a great distance, these fibres are gene-
rally left in the soil, and the plant presents but a few
smooth, fibreless, cord-like roots from which spongi-
oles must be emitted ere the plant can derive any
nourishment from them.

But in young plants the roots have not yet extend-
ed so far as to prevent their being easily taken up

PLANTING. 85

without any great loss, and here we have cne reason
why we prefer young plants to old ones. A con-
sideration of this fact will also lead us to follow out
each root to its termination and so secure all the
fibres possible. Where the plants have been started
in sandy, friable soil this is not a laborious task, but
where the soil is clayey and plastic, it is often a work
of considerable difficulty.

In any case, however, the purchaser should see
that the roots are taken up as completely and entirely
as possible, and it will also be well to prune all that
are bruised, broken, or diseased—taking such injured
parts off with a clean cut. As these injuries can
never be so well seen, or so well remedied as when
the plant is newly taken up, this is the best time to
attend to them; and this forms another reason why
the purchaser should, if possible, give this matter his
personal supervision. They should then be dipped
in puddle made of good garden soil, stirred up with
water; clay is frequently used for this purpose, and so
is cow dung, but very injudiciously. The former is
too tough and hard and prevents the formation of
young roots, while the latter (as it is commonly used)
is caustic and destructive to the tender fibres. We
have tried all three substances and are confident that
nothing will be found equal to good common soil.

If the nursery in which the plants have been raised

86 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

~

is on the same premises as the vineyard, the vines may
be either rolled up in coarse sacking, or, a few being
taken up at a time, they may be plunged in a pail or
tub filled with puddle. But if they are to be sent to
a distance, they should be packed in damp (not moist)
moss (sphagnum) or good clean straw, and either -
nade into light bundles or firmly packed in boxes.

The vines having been carefully taken up and the
holes properly prepared to receive them, the next
step is to set them out, and in doing this the follow-
ing points require special attention :

1. That the roots be disposed in their new location
as nearly as possible in the same position that they
occupied before their removal.

2. That some fine, friable, mellow mold be placed
in immediate contact with the roots.

3. That no fresh manure or decomposing organic
matter be allowed to come in direct contact with the
plant under any circumstances whatever.

4, That the soil be firmly packed about the roots,
no air spaces being left. In doing this, however, do
not tread down the plant with your whole weight, as
you will thus be very apt to tear off some of the
roots, but work the soil in with your hand or a
pointed stick.

In general it will be well to insert the plants a
little deeper in the soil than they were previously,

PLANTING. x 87

aS, owing to the mutilation which of necessity takes
place, a greater draught is made upon the roots for
_ moisture than they can support when thus shortened,
if they are placed near the surface. But this point
requires the exercise of discretion, and a good sub-
stitute for deeper planting will be thorough mulch-
ing. |

As roots always spring from a bud or joint, and
rarely from the internode or portion between the buds,
the mode of propagation by which the plant has been
produced will exert considerable influence upon the
modus operandi of setting it out.

4 i WNW
Hi \Y \ \
ay i RQ WY
wae \ WN ‘\
if! \ \\ SS
ie ta | OY \
. eS

Gin

eae =
Sei =
\~ \\ | | . \
SBA
Vig. 7. i
In fig. 7 is shown the proper disposition of the
roots of a young plant raised from a seed or from a
single eye. In this case the roots all proceed from
within a short distance of each other and from the

base of the stem. In setting out such a plant, the
better plan is to throw a shovelful or two of fine

38 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

mold on the bottom of the hole, so as to form 4
conical heap, the top of which should be just ata
suitable height to support the base of the stem in its
proper position. Then, having placed the plant on
the top of this little mound, spread out all the roots
equally and naturally over its side and fill in with
pulverized soil, being careful to pack the soil firmly
around the roots, yet still leaving it mellow and
porous.

The soil ought to be raised some inches above the
surrounding ground, the amount depending upon the
size and depth of the hole dug. All filling-in is apt
to sink, and unless this is done, the plant may be
found after a few weeks to be too low. Some, how-
ever, prefer to have the plant set in a hollow, claim-
ing that a basin is thus formed which catches and
retains the rain. We would rather rely upon good
mulching for obtaining the requisite amount of mois:
ture, but if this is dispensed with, and recourse had
to the former plan, we should prefer to have the hol-
low or basin in the form of a ring around the edge of
the hole, leaving the stem surrounded with a little
mound which will shed the rain. The stem is thus
kept dry, and the moisture is guided just where it is
wanted, viz.: to the extremity of the roots. Figure
8 gives a sectional view of the soil so arranged.

When vines have been raised from cuttings con

PLANTING. RY

:

ae ee
Hr RRNE
Fig. 8.

sisting of several eyes or joints, there will in general ~
be several layers of roots—the plants having the ap-.

pearance shown in Fig. 9.

= ieee = S——— ——
—————e =
——— SS SSS a
— SSS = as =
—a <=
=a
f ala |

ee

} ni idl
UA
Fig. 9.

In this case it will be necessary to proceed as
directed for plants from eyes in so far as the lower
layer of roots is concerned—the upper layers being
held up while this is done. After the first layer has
been properly covered, the next layer is laid on the
surface of the soil which covers the lower layer, and
after being properly dispesed are covered in turn,

90 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

which process is repeated until all the roots are im-

bedded in the soil.
Plants raised from layers in general demand a

treatment peculiar to themselves. If they have been
produced as in Fig. 44, page 176, they will, of course,
be set out in the main as shown in Fig. 7. But if
they have been raised in the open ground, and the
roots have been produced from several joints or buds,
it will be found that while the roots are not disposed
in regularly-ascending layers, yet that some are lower
than others—the whole, however, in general lying in
one plane which is greatly inclined to the surface of
the earth. For such plants it will in general be best
to dig a trench or oblong hole, and instead of raising
a heap in the centre to lay the soil in the bottom, so
as to form a regularly inclined bed. The plant being

_ placed on this bed of fine soil, the roots are all ar-
ranged over it at once and covered in without further
trouble.

In all these cases it will, of course, be necessary
that the stem of the plant be placed sufficiently near
to the stake which has been inserted in the hole to
allow of its being tied thereto without much bending
or wrenching, and if the weather be dry it well be
necessary to give the plants a good watering at the
time they are set out.

When plants are received in pots—having been ~

PLANTING. 91

zrown therein from eyes or grafts—it is always best
after taking them out to remove a considerable por-
tion of the soil, and spread out the roots. This is
necessary from the fact that the roots of plants grown
in pots form a series of-spirals round the outside of
the ball (between the earth and the pot), and if set
outin the ground just as they are taken from the
pot, it requires a long time before the roots change
this habit and acquire a proper direction and healthy
condition. The plants should be well watered before
being taken from the pots, and they should be set in
fine, loose soil, being exposed to the air as little as
possible. After planting, it will, of course, be well
to be liberal with water, and liquid manure used in a
very diluted state will prove highly beneficial after
the jurst week.

Plants for setting out are usually obtained in pots
in June, July, or the beginning of August, and as it
frequently happens that at that time the earth and
air are so dry as to endanger the life of a young vine,
if treated as just directed, we have sometimes found
it advisable after receiving them from the nursery to
set out the pots (without removing the plants) in the
open ground, plunging them about two inches below
the surface of the soil, and leaving them there until
a few rainy days occur, when the pots are taken up
and the plants removed and properly set out.

92 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

CHAPTER V.

‘ CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE FIRST, SECOND AND

THIRD YEARS. _

Tue roots of the vine having been properly cared for,
the branches may now be pruned. Unless where
very large and well-rooted vines have been planted
expressly for immediate bearing, a!l the secondary
shoots should be cut away and the main stem
shortened to an extent depending upon its cha-
racter.

As usually received from the nursery, one or two
year old plants, if raised from cuttings, consist of a
short stem two to six inches long, one or two shoots
and a large quantity of spray or small twigs, consist-
ing of the laterals of last year. If raised from eyes,
there will in general be but one shoot, with perhaps
a few laterals. Under any, circumstances the plants
ought to be cut back at planting to two good eyes, and
as soon as they have made a few leaves, cut off the
upper one as close as possible to the one left, taking
care, however, not to injure the base of the remaining
shoot, which ought to be kept tied up to the stake

CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE FIRST YEAR. 93

as fast as it shows symptoms of leaning over.* The

base of the shoot which is retained (that is, the point

* It is recommended by some respectable authorities, to allow the
young plants to remain untied during the first year, urging as a
reason that more vigorous stems will thus be obtained. But, although
the experiments of Knight have proved the advantage of bending and
motion to most young trees, yet the vine naturally seeks support
from surrounding objects, and will in most cases, receive more injury
from dirt, and abrasion by being blown about and rubbing upon the

e ground than will balance the good derived from the motion imparted.

But as we may observe that the vine isadapted to cling, not to the
thick and stout bodies of trees, but to slender branches, it is obvious
that nature provides fully for sustaining the plant beyond the reach of
injury, without interfering with the action of the wind in producing
motion. Hence, in the construction of trellises and the choice of stakes,
it will be well to select flexible material, always provided it is strong
enough to avoid all danger of being blown down; stout rods or poles
are therefore to be preferred to sawed lumber, and we may add they are
also cheaper. From the above facts we may also gather the reason why

wires are to be preferred to wooden slats in the construction of trellises,

94. OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

at which 1t springs from the old wood) should be as low
down as possible—if even with the surface of the
ground, so much the better.

A plant such as we have described, is shown in Fig.
10 as it is usually received from the nursery. The
same plant properly pruned is shown in Fig. 11,

Many are afraid to cut back so severely, but it is the
only true method.

The object of leaving two eyes at first, is merely to
guard against accidents. If we could be insured
against them, the upper one would be better away.
Little else can be done during the first year than to
keep the ground mellow, loose about the plants and free
from weeds. The vine must also be tied up during
the season, and if a little liquid manure could be ap-
plied to them while growing, it would prove of great
benefit. In applying this stimulant, it is necessary to
use it in avery diluted state, and if possible, just
before or during wet weather. When applied during
very dry weather remove the surface soil to a depth

CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE FIRST YEAR. 95

of three or four inches, and give at least a pailful
to each plant, working the soil as little as possible,
lest it be converted into puddle. Such an application
will last for ten days during even very dry weather,
and will do more good than frequent sprinkling.
Motcuwe.—But if abundance of grassy weeds,
litter, stable manure, or similar matters can be ob-
tained, the best plan is to mulch the plants deeply
for at least three feet every way from the stem. Of
this process, A. J. Downing says: ‘“ Covering the soil
in summer is, in this country, one of the most valu-
able aids to good cultivation ever put in practice. The
best mode of doing this is, by what is technically
called mulching. This consists in spreading over the
surface of the ground, so far as the roots of the tree
or plant extend beneath it, a layer of tan bark, saw
dust, barn yard litter, straw, salt hay, sea weed, or the
like, of sufficient thickness to maintain, as nearly as
possible, a uniform state of temperature and moisture
for the roots. From an experience of some years, we
do not hesitate to say that mulching the surface of the
ground over newly-planted trees, is not only far bet-
ter than any after-watering, but that, if the layer is
thick enough to keep the surface cool, it renders
water wholly unnecessary. In the case of bearing
* fruit-trees, especially the more delicate kinds, as dwarf
pears, apricots, etc., mulching not only precludes the

=

96 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

necessity of stirring the soil, by preventing weeds from
growing, but it conduces so much more to the health
of the tree, and the size and excellence of the fruit
than any other practice in horticulture, that the more
intelligent growers in the United States now consider
it indispensable in this climate.” .

In addition to these lucid directions, we would only
say that before applying mulch of any kind to a
young vine it will always be advisable to raise the
soil around the stem to the depth to which it is in-
tended to lay the mulch, so as to prevent any of the
latter from coming in contact with the plant, as in this
case it might be productive of evil. »

The annexed figure, 12, where the mulch is seen on
the surface of the soil, will illustrate our meaning.

Fig. 12.

Larnrats* are small shoots which spring from the
axils of the leaves (the point which they join the

* To these the French have given the name stipulaires, and it seems
to us that stipwlaries would be quite as good a term as iatera!s, and

more correct,

CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE FIRST YEAR. 97

shoot). As these laterals absorb much of the nutri-
ment which would otherwise go to the increase of the
stem, they should be carefully pinched out after they
have made one or two leaves. Ifremoved before they
have made some growth, the bud at their base 1s very
apt to push, as it is called (that is, to grow), which
should be avoided, if possible.

Fig. 13 shows a young shoot of the current year
with a lateral (8) springing from the base of the leaf
L. ‘This lateral should be pinched off at the cross line.

If removed entirely or too soon the bud (c) will be apt
to push, and destroy our prospects for next season.

Winter Protection or roune Vines.—At the close
of the season, the vines may either be bent down
and covered with earth in the manner usually
adopted for covering raspberries, or they may be left
upright, and tied to the stakes, a mound of earth

98 OPEN AIR GRAPE GULTURE.

being raised up around each such mound, being at
least 18 inches high. The soil of which it is made
should be taken from the centre of the rows, as, 1f we
take it from about the plants, we only cover the stem
to expose the roots.

Where the vines are left tied to the nai we pre-
fer to leaving them unpruned. True, most of the
wood gets killed, but this is of little moment since it
is to be nearly all cut away at the spring pruning.

MANAGEMENT DURING THE SeconD YEAR.—AS soon
as the severe frosts of winter and early spring have
passed away, uncover the young vines, and if not
already pruned, cut them to a good bud within 9 to
14 inches of the ground. They should be shaded for
a few days from the sun and cold, which may be very
well done by sticking a shingle before each, though
two shingles placed so as to form an angle in which
the vine may stand, will be better. We have now
arrived at a point where it will be necessary to
decide upon the peculiar system to be adopted in the
training of our vines. Instead, however, of describ-
ing all the different modes of pruning and training
in this place, we shall give only that which we consi-
der best adapted to the native American varieties and
leave the consideration of the others to the chapter
on general pruning and training. !

CARE OF THE VINFS DURING THE SECOND YEAR. 99

If the plants have made but a weakly, stunted
growth, it will be necessary to allow them another
year before proceeding to grow shoots for permanent
arms or branches. In this case but one shoot should
be trained up, which may be treated precisely as
directed for the first year. But if a cane of from 6
to 12 feet has been produced, we may safely proceed
to train up two canes which will serve for the future
azms of our vine. ‘To do this, after cutting down the
first year’s shoot as directed, remove all the buds
except the three uppermost, and as soon as these are
beyond danger of accident, rub off one if three

should still remain. The two shoots which are left
must be carefully trained up, the laterals being

100 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

pinched out and any fruit blossoms which may
appear being removed.

The operations of thc second year will be readily —
understood from the inspection of Fig. 14, which
shows the young vine as it should appear at the close
of the first season. Here a is the wood of the old
cutting, with 6, the shoot which was cut back and
from which the young cane c d grew. As this
old wood is hard and cross-grained and cannot be
renewed, it will be well to add top dressing, suf-
ficient to cover it up to the linea b. The buds, ee,
are those which produce next year’s shoots; and the
buds at d @d must be carefully removed.

The ground should be kept clean and mellow
during the season, and by the first or middle of -
September the further growth of the canes should
be stopped by pinching off the ends—the wood
being much more thoronghly ripened when this is
done.

It will be necessary, or at least advisable, to lay the
vines down this season also and protect, not only the
old stem, but at least four feet of the young shoots.
The stakes may be removed, and during the fall or
early spring the trellises may be erected, for which
full directions are given in Chapter LX.

MANAGEMENT DURING THE TutRD Srason.—The tre:-

CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE THIRD YEAR. 10]

lises having been constructed in such a manner, that
the lowest slat or wire may be just below the base of
the second year’s shoots, that is from 9 to 14 inches
above the surface of the ground, these two shoots
should be firmly, though not tightly, tied, in a hori-
zontal position as shown in Fig. 15, and all buds

should be rubbed out except three on each arm (or
shoot) thus leaving six on each vine. Each of these
buds should produce a shoot which, if the ground has
Yeen in good condition and the plants healthy and
properly set out, would reach from 12 to 25 feet
unless stopped, and asit is upon every second one of
these that we depend for our next vear’s supply of
fruit, they deserve. and will require great care and

102 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

attention in order that they may finally be of equal
strength and well ripened. Every second shoot
should be stopped when it has made a growth of
about two feet, and if any of the others should so far
outstrip their compeers as to reach the top of the
trellis much before them, they should be stopped
also, though except in the case of excessive growth
all the shoots had best be allowed to grow on until
the first of September, when they may all be stopped
at once, unless it be deemed best to allow the weak-
est a few days’ longer growth, in which case it is sur-
prising how soon they will overtake their companions.
Stopping, or pinching, consists in breaking off the’
end of a shoot, and its immediate effect is to arrest
the further growth of the cane, or at least its further ~
lineal development, for the time being. But although
no more leaves are immediately formed, those already
in existence perform their usual functions and the
whole energies of the plant are directed to the ripen-
ing of the wood already produced. After a time,
one of the buds near the extremity of the shoot will
probably break and become the leader, when it
should be stopped in turn, this process being repeated
as often as any symptoms of vigorous growth are
exhibited. The result of all this checking is to lessen
the ultimate amount of wood produced and to
improve its quality both as to ripeness and density.
Stopping furnishes us with an. effectual means of

,

CARE OF THE VINES DURING THE THIRD YEAR. 103

equalizing the growth of our young canes—a most
important point, not only as regards the neatness of
their appearance, but the regularity with which the
fruit buds will break next season and the strength
with which they will shoot. But as the latter points
depends not only upon the szze of the canes, but
their maturity, it is necessary that an equal growth
be kept up during the whole season. This is easily
accomplished as the stopping may fortunately be per-
formed at any time.

The same directions as to the removal of laterals
and the clearing of the ground should be observed
during this as during former years. Greater care is,
however, required in the treatment of laterals when
raising fruit-bearing canes, as if by too close pinch-
ing we should cause the buds which are found at the
base of the leaves and upon which we depend for
our next year’s fruit to push, our prospects would be
materially injured. A good rule will be, never to pinch
out the laterals, and stop the main cane at the same
time; and if the vines show a very vigorous growth
of wood, to allow the laterals to make two leaves
before stopping them. If the vines are weakly, we
may stop the laterals as soon as they appear, as in
this case, the main shoot makes sufficient draft upon
the roots, to keep all other erowth in abeyance.

104 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

CHAPTER VI.

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES.

Ar the close of the third season we ought to have
a vine such as is shown in Fig. 16, consisting of a
stout, strait, clean stem, 9 to 14 inches high, from the

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\
am ee — \——— 2S SS Sse |S
= —— a — — = { fs fe= = = —_ [ ——
~ SS = SS = <<
——— a = E SS = sd 2a
SSS SS E SSS =
= SS a
‘ we SSS SS SS =

top, or head of which springs: two horizontal arms,
each bearing two well ripenea canes, 8 to 10 feet long,

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 105

and two smaller shoots of from two to five feet.
The two canes ought next season to produce 38 to 5
lbs. of fruit each, and their proper care during the

winter is worthy of our best efforts. ;

Winter Prorection or THE Fruiine Canes.—As
the vines have now assumed their permanent form
and size (unless it should be deemed advisable after
the lapse of a few years to remove each alternate
vine and so double the extent of trellis allotted to
the.remainder), it becomes important to settle upon
a systematic course of procedure in order to facilitate
our operations, and this remark applies to their pro-
tection during winter as well as to every other pro-
eess connected with them. Of the advantage, we
had almost said necessity, for winter protection there
can be no doubt. Some extensive cultivators, at a
late meeting of the Western N. Y. Fruit Growers
Society stated, that they would have made $100 per
day for the time spent in covering their vines if they
had done so in the fall of 1858.

One gentleman asserted that he had lost thousands
of dollars by neglecting it—and there is probably no
point in the whole range of grape growing upon
which cultivators are so thoroughly agreed as this.
The mere laying down the vines on the ground, cover-

ing them with snow, laying boards or brush upon or
5*

106 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

against them have all been found materially to
merease the next year’s product and to improve its
quality. but these are clumsy expedients, incapable
of systematic application and unfit for adoption on a
large scale.

Where vines are trained to trellises in the manner
which we have just described, it has been asserted by
many that it is impossible to lay down the horizontal
arms so as to cover them, owing to the rigidity of the
old wood, and in order to avoid this it has been pro-
posed to leave the head of the vine so low down that
the arms shall lie on the surface and be always co-
vered with earth. To this method there are many
objections. The berries are soiled with every rain,
clean culture is rendered more difficult, and the sur-
face roots thrown out by the arms cause a succulent
growth during moist weather, which suffers during
the succeeding drought. But if the vines are bent
down every year, little difficulty need be appre-
hended on this score, and if the following plan be
adopted, vines may be bent sufficiently, even when
they have become old and rigid.

The method which we have proposed, is to place
the trellis 8 to 12 inches in advance of the vine, the
stem being brought forward beneath the first siat or
rail, and tied up as usual. ‘The accompanying figure
(17) explains this better than words can express it, and

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 107

Fig. 17.

it will be readily seen that very little bending is
required, and even that is so distributed over the

198 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURR.

whole stem that no injury can result. No practical
objections that we are aware of exist to this method.

Before bending down the stem, the vine should be
pruned. This consists in cutting off the long shoots
to a length of four feet (the first season), and the
alternate short ones to the lowest good bud. The vine
so pruned is shown in Fig. 18. Then the stem,
having been bent down, it will be easy to fold the
flexible young canes so as to lie compactly to-
gether, as shown in Fig. 19, when they may be

ix It peer

Fig. 19.

covered with earth. The soil for this purpose must
be light and sandy, and should be so disposed that
water will not penetrate to the vines. If light soil
cannot be had, the vines may be pegged down and
covered with the branches of evergreens, though it
is improbable that these could be obtained in suffi.
cient quantity to protect a large vineyard. Leaves
or straw would answer, though they might harbor
mice, which would soon destroy the vines.

The vines should be left covered as long as possible,
but must be exposed before the buds begin to push
in the spring. No particular day of the month can

>

* *
En eee ee

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 109

be given, the date varying with the locality and the
season. The best mode of determining the point is to
uncover some of the vines as soon as the cold weather
has passed away. If they are swollen and ready to
push, it is time to tie the vine to the trellis. If they
seem still dormant, leave them a little longer. The
later the vines can be made to push the better, as they
not only escape late frosts, but their excitability seems
to be so accumulated and intensified by such retarda-
tion that their after growth is much more vigorous
than it would otherwise have been.

After the vines have been properly tied to the
trellis, and the ground raked, or hoed level (all work
on it being avoided when it is wet, however), nothing
should be done until the buds have burst so as at least
to show their vitality and strength. Then go over
the vines and rub off all buds which show themselves
on the upright stem and horizontal arms and disbud
the canes so as to leave six good buds, and no more,
on each. By doing this at this early period, the
strength of the vine is thrown into the buds which
remain, and they consequently push with increased
vigor. The lowest good bud on the short spurs must
also be ieft, all the others beimg removed.

As soon as the blossoms show themselves, and
before they have expanded, it will be necessary again
to go over the vines and stop or pinch all the shoots

~ {10 OPEN AIR GRAPE’ CULTURE.

which show fruit, at the same time removing all the
blossoms except two or three clusters on each shoot.
This will not only serve to keep the vine within
bounds, but it will cause the fruit to set much better
than it would do if this course were not pursued. In
a former section, we alluded to stopping with a view
to the ripening of the wood and the training of the
vine, and the directions there given apply equally to
our action as regards the shoots from the short spurs
—they being designed to furnish the bearing canes
for next year, to replace those which are now fruiting,
and which will be entirely cut away at the next winter
pruning. But other reasons also induce us to stop the
fruit-bearing shoots, and as the whole subject of stop-
ping, and its detrimental substitute, summer prun-
ing, is one of vital importance to the grape vine, we
cannot do better than preface our remarks by quoting
the physiological laws upon which it is based, from
Lindley’s “Theory and Practice of Horticulture.”
“Nature has given plants leaves, not merely to
decorate them or to shade us, but as a part of a won-
drous system of life quite as perfect as that of the ani-
mal kingdom. It would be of no use for a plant to
suck food out of the earth by its roots, unless there
was some place provided in which such food, consist-
ing principally of water and mucilage, could be
digested and so converted into the matter which

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. isd

maintains the health of the individual. The stem can-
not do this: firstly, because it is a mere channel
through which fluids pass; and, secondly, because
many plants have no visible stem, as in the instance of
the primrose ; and yet in allsuch cases the plant feeds
and must digest its food. It is to the leaves that this
important office is assigned, and to enable them to
execute it God has formed them with wisdom no less
infmite than has been displayed in the creation of man.
The leaves have veins through which their fluids pass
and cells in which they are held while digesting,
myriads of little caverns through whose sides respira-
tion is maintained, a skin to guard them from the air,
and pores for carrying off perspiration. <A leaf is, in
fact, both stomach and lungs; and to destroy it is to
do the same injury to a plant as would be effected in
an animal by the destruction of the parts to which
those names are given. Of this we may be certain,
that neither taste, perfume, color, size, nor any other
property, can be given to a plant except through the
assistance of the leaves ; and that the more numerous
these are, the larger and the more luxuriant, so, within
certain limits, will be all that a plant is capable of
forming. Strip the leaves off a tree, and no more
wood will appear until the leaves are restored ; feed
its roots in the hope of thus compensating for the loss
of its leaves, and the stem will be filled indeed with

112 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

watery matter; but the latter will collect in the inte-
rior until it forces its way through the bark, and runs
down in putrid streams, as happens to the mulberry-
tree when it is incessantly stripped for silkworms,
and as occurs to trees whose leaves are continually
destroyed by a noxious atmosphere. Strip the ripen-
ing grapes of their green garments, and no color or
sweetness will be collected in their berries. Rob the
potato of its foliage and you will seek in vain for
nourishment in its tubers; and so of all things else.
On the other hand, leave the mulberry, the vine and
the potato uninjured, to the genial influence of the
sun and the air, and the dews of heaven, and wood is
formed in the one case, sugar and color in the other—
and flour, the staff of life, in the last, and these pro-
ducts will all be in exact proportion to the health and
spundance of the foliage...) 2 ies tee:

“ But although the general rule is to allow as many
leaves to remain on a tree as can be kept in health,
yet there are. circumstances which justify their re-
moval, and, indeed, render it necessary. Jor example,
when a tender tree is trained to a wall, a great object
with the gardener is to secure ripe wood ; for unless
he does this, the frost of the succeeding winter may
destroy the branches, or the buds may be so imper-
fectly formed as to produce feeble shoots the ensuing
season. To attain this object, those leaves: must he

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. Tt

removed which prevent the sun from striking upon
‘the branches to be ripened, the effect of this being to
stop the rapid growth of the branches and to consoli-
date their tissue, in consequence, partly, of the exces-
sive perspiration, and partly of the rapid digestion of
the sap, which is thus induced ; for the rate of digestion
and perspiration in a healthy plant, is in proportion
to the quantity of light and heat to which ut ts ex-
posed. WUence the removal of those shoots which in
summer overshadow that wood of the peach-tree
which is intended to be preserved another year, is
useful ; there can be no doubt, however, that as few
shoots as possible should be thus removed. Another
case in which the removal of the leaves is justifiable
occurs in the vine. In this plant the fruit is borne
near the base of the lateral shoots, which will, if un-
checked, go on lengthening and producing leaves to a
considerable distance. Now all the food of such a
lateral shootis obtained from the main branch, which,
however, is only capable of furnishing a certain
quantity. Ifthe lateral shoot is allowed to grow un-
checked, it will consume its portion of food in the
production of many leaves and some grapes; and the
more there is of the former, the less will be the
weight of the latter. But ifthe shoot is stopped after
having formed two leaves, all that quantity of food
which would have been consumed in the production

114 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

of other leaves is applied to the increase of size in the
grapes, and the two leaves that are left; while on the
other hand, the general crop of leaves on the vine will
be amply sufficient to prepare those secretions which
are to give flavor, color and sweetness to the grapes.
This will, perhaps, be better explained by the annexed
diagram.

“Tet the line wag represent a lateral vine g
branch, bearing fruit at B, and leaves at ed ef.
Suppose six ounces of sap are destined to sup-
port this lateral a g, during the summer; it
is evident that, if equally distributed, each @
leaf and branch will receive one ounce of sap
as its proportion. But if ef g are removed,
it is obvious that the three which remain will *
have two ounces each, or double the supply. a

“Why, then, it may be asked, not remove ¢ and d
also? because, in that case, B, the bunch of fruit,
would have the whole six ounces of sap to itself. The
reason why this should not be done is this: if all the
leaves on the lateral are removed, there will be no
force left upon it wherewith to attract from the main
branch the food that belongs to it; for the power
which the parts of the plants possess of attracting
fluid isin proportion to the amount of their perspira-
tion. Now leaves perspire copiously, but the grapes
themselves scarcely at all; whence their gradual con.

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 115

version from a substance of the texture ut a leaf into
a massof pulp. In the instance of vine pruning,
the great object is to leave on the. laterals just as
much force as may be required to secure for the
bunches the food that is intended for them, and at
the same time to deprive the laterals of the means of
expending that food uselessly in the production of
leaves instead of fruit.”

In applying the above to the culture of the grape
in this country, however, we are inclined to believe
that the direct access of the sun to the wood or fruit
is not necessary to their perfect ripening. And our
readers must also observe that, although in the illus-
tration at the close of the paragraph, Dr. Lindley
alludes to the “removal” of the leaves, yet from the
remarks immediately preceding it, we gather that he
is no advocate for “‘ summer pruning,” but for “ stop-
ping.” By summer pruning we mean the removal
of large quantities of leaves and shoots—a practice
which is quite common throughout the country.
Often and often have we seen loads of such matter
cut away under the pretence of “letting in the sun
and air to the grapes.” Now if these summer prun-
ers would only observe that all the finest bunches
grow and ripen under the shade of the leaves, they
would cease their senseless efforts and rest content
with merely breaking off the ends of the shoots.

116 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

That grapes will not ripen well, and that vines wilt
not be healthy under a dense mass of matted foliage,
we freely admit. But this is not an evil to be reme-
died by the knife. In this case, most emphatically,
prevention is better that cure.

When we reflect that the amount of organizable —

matter which can be furnished by any vine is limited,
and also that all rank and succulent growth is prejudi-
cial to the production of fruit, we can readily appre-
ciate the advantage of directing the sap to the pro-
duction of fruit, rather than wood and leaves. But
we must also remember that every ounce of organiz-
able matter which is embodied in leaves or stem, is
so much capital invested, and is no more to be thrown
away than the stock of the moneyed capitalist, which
only brings in two per cent., even though his neigh-
bor, on a different investment, receives ten.

The leaves are the laboratories in which the sap is
prepared for the nourishment, not only of the fruit,
but of the wood, and the more of them we have the
better, provided we do not invest too large an
amount of our available capital in their production,

just as some of our farmers invest all their capital in _

land, and leave themselves nothing with which to
work it. —

Another evil attendant upon summer pruning, is
the sudden and violent check which it gives to the

»it hs,

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 117

plants. The roots being excited into vigorous action
by the enormous draft made upon them, find them-
selves suddenly without a channel through which
their unelaborated product can find vent; the balance
of product and supply is upset and the fruit is filled
with crude, ill-digested sap, thus causing it to be
unripe and ill-flavored. But by-early stopping the
shoots, and thus preventing the further production of
leaves and wood, we render summer pruning, that is,
the removal of superabundant leaves and wood, unne-
cessary ; no sudden check is given to the vines, the sap
is fully elaborated as fast as it is supplied, and the
fruit receiving an extra supply of properly prepared
sap (which would otherwise have gone to the produc-
tion of wood and leaves) is enlarged in size and
improved in flavor.

That the leaves are the great agents in the elabora-
tion of sap, was fully proved by the experiments of
Hales, who forced orange flower-water into the vessels
of a vine, with a view to impart its flavor to the fruit.
The experiment was unsuccessful as to its ostensi-
ble object, but not as to its concomitant results; for he

_traced the flavor through the stem and branches to

the leaves, but no further; thereit was decomposed,
and doubtless returned to the wood and fruit in the
form of sap.

In a few weeks, or perhaps days, after being

118 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

stopped, the last bud on all these shoots, will, no
doubt, burst and form a leader, which will grow nearly
as vigorously as if the terminal bud had not been
removed. It will, therefore, be necessary to go over
all these vines again as soon as the fruit is set, and
repeat the same operation. At this time, also, the
fruit should be thinned, which, for vineyard culture,
consists in the removal of all weak, ill-formed
bunches, some even recommending the removal of
the lower part of all the bunches.

When, however, extra fine bunches are desired,
we prefer the plan usually adopted in hot-house
culture, which consists in removing at least one
half the berries from every bunch—the largest and
finest being, of course, left. This operation is best
performed when the grapes are the size of peas, but
by many it will be deemed too minute and laborious
an operation for vineyard practice.

While doing this, it will also be proper to remove
or extirpate aJ shoots which either have not fruit,
or are not wanted for next year’s canes.

During the growing season it will be necessary to
look over the vines, at intervals of two or three
weeks, stopping the fruiting shoots, removing suck-
ers, and pinching out laterals at the second eye. The
ground should also be kept loose and mellow, and all

the operations of the vineyard be carried on, with as

MANAGEMENT OF FRUITING VINES. 149

litt'e trampling on the borders as possible. Indeed,
if the expense be not an objection, we would lay
down boards or planks, supported by suitable stakes
or posts, ang forming a walk along the front of eash
trellis, so as to allow all the work of the vineyard
being performed without a foot being set upon the

Boil,

120 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

CHAPTER VIL
SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT OF THE VINES.

Tue future management of the vines will consist im
training up, each year, a shoot from the intermediate
spurs, and cutting out entirely the cane which has borne
the fruit. The cane which was trained up last year, will
this year produce a crop, while, from the spur left in
cutting out the former cane, is trained up a shoot for
the following year, and so on ad infinitum.

As the peculiar pruning necessary is a subject of

vital importance to success in grape culture, we will
give a consecutive condensed description of it, illus-
trated by proper figures.

Fig. 20.

Fig. 20 shows a section of the horizontal arms, at
the end of the third season. A is the cane which has

SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT OF THE VINES. 121

been trained to the top of the trellis. s the shoot
which was stopped when two to four feet long. Just
before laying down the vine for winter protection, A
is cut to about a length of 4 feet, and Bis cut away
at the cross-line, or just above the first good bud.

As the force with which the buds push, depends a
good deal upon their number relatively to the size of
the vine, it is absolutely necessary to cut off a to 4
feet or less, and rub out several of the buds which
appear on it. If, in addition to this, all other buds
except one from each of the spurs, B, be removed, we
eould scarcely fail to train up a good cane from B,

even though none but latent buds were left.

Fig. 21.

Next season the figure is reversed. Here 3 is the
young shoot of last year, while a, which carries the
six shoots upon which the fruit grew, is cut off at the
cross-line. B is shortened this year to 5 or 6 feet,
and disbudded as before—one or two more buds
being left on, as the vine is growing stronger.

6

132 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

At the base of a, below the cross-line, will appear
intermediate little buds—some of them quite promi-
nent. The best of them must be taken, and no fear
need be entertained of getting a good cane from it,
if all the unnecessary buds are promptly extirpated.

If, however, we allow shoots to grow all over the
vine we will probably fail to get any cane at all.

The following season, the shoot proceeding from

J Fig. 22.
is fruited, and B is cut off at the cross-line. This
stage of its progress is shown in Fig, 22.

7

a

et

SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT OF TIE VINES. 123

In Fig. 23 is shown the vine at the end of the sixth
season. By this time, the spurs will have become
hard, and if allowed to remain much longer, it will
be necessary to renew the whole vine, as is done in
the Thomery system (see Appendix). It will, there.
fore, be well to allow a bud to push from the base
of B, if one should show itself, as there most likely

Fig. 24.

will. In this case, Fig. 24 will represent B as it will
appear at the close of the season, when the entire
spur must be cut off with a fine saw, at the cross line,
and the wound carefully pared smooth and coated
with a solution of shellac in alcohol.*

* “Take a quart of alcohol and dissolve it in as much gum shellac as
will make a liquid of the consistence of paint. Apply this to the
wound with a common painter’s brush; always paring the wound
smoothly first with a knife. The liquid becomes perfectly hard,
adheres closely, excludes the air perfectly, and i3 affected by no

changes of weather; while at the same time its thinness offers no

124 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

The shoot @ is cut off at the line, as shown, or just
above the lowest good bud. Next season, B will
appear as shown in J'ig. 20, and the same routine as
that first described much be again gone over.

If we should be unable to obtain the shoot aat the
time it is wanted (which, however, will not happen
once in twenty times), we must leave the old spur
and obtain a shoot from the base of last year’s fruit-
ing cane.

After a number of years (say six to ten), it may be
found advisable to extend the vines. This may be
done either by removing every second one, or by
raising the trellis.

In the latter case it will be best, in order to secure
an equal distribution of the sap, to lay down two
courses of horizontal arms and allow the vertical, or
bearing canes, to extend only half-way up the trellis.

The proper arrangement for this, is shown in Fig.
25, where it will be seen that the horizontal arms of
every second vine are extended both ways, so as to
cover double their usual space. The stem of the
centre vine is carried up to the middle of the trellis
and arms from it laid down, of the same length as the

resistance to the lip of the new bark that gradually closes over the
wound. If the composition is kept in a well-corked bottle, suffi-
ciently wide mouthed to admit the brush, it will always be ready for

use and suited to the want of the moment.”— Downing.

SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT OF THE VINES. 125

lower ones. The fruiting canes are produced and
treated in the manner just described.

In order to effect the change, the lower arms may
be extended by laying down the outer fruit canes of
last year and pruning their junction with the old wood
so as to leave a continuous rod. To produce the
upper arms, however, it will, we think, be found best
to cut the vines down to the ground and train up new

stems, arms and verticals. The loss of time incurred
will be more than repaid by the increased vigor
and health of the vine.

That the general system of culture here laid down

126 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

is the best for all ordinary purposes, we are firmly
convinced. The extent allowed to the vine during
its first few years, is amply sufficient for the produe-
tion of an abundant crop, while at the same time the

vine is so far kept within bounds, that every bud is.

pushed with vigor. And this will be found to be one

of the most important points connected with the ~

proper training of the vine. For when the balance
between the vital forces of the plant and the extent to
which it is allowed to extend, is greatly disturbed, as
exemplified in the opposite extremes of stake train-
ing and total neglect, nothing but debility on the
one hand, and the inordinate production of word ta
the exclusion of fruit on the other, can result.

’
1
;

Pa ge tn eee. AE lle ok 8 aes fae me

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 127

CHAPTER’: VII.

GENERAL THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING AS AP-
PLIED tO THE GRAPE VINE.

In the preceding chapters we have given muunte
directions for that particular system of pruning and
training, which we believe to be best adapted to our
native grapes. It is now our.purpose to detail those
general principles which apply to add modes of prun-
ing and training, and to describe a few of those pecu-
liar systems which have been founded upon them.

I. The first principle upon which all correct prun-
ing, whether of the vine or any other tree, must be
based, is that the sap always tends to the extremities
of the branches.

From this, it follows that unless the balance be-
tween the roots and branches of the vine be care-
fully and accurately adjusted, all the lower portion
of the old wood will become devoid of spurs or bear-
ing shoots, and unless the portion of the wall or trel-
lis over which it is trained is otherwise occupied, the
space will be left practically vacant.

Experience has also shown that there is no practi

735 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

cal limit to this law—that is, that the distance to
which the sap may be propelled exceeds any limits to
which it is ever necessary to carry it. ,

“Tf the shoots of the vine are trained along a con-
siderable extent of wall, the branches spread out much
wider, and the berries attain a larger size. This
property of the vine, although known to experienced
gardeners, isnot taken advantage of as it ought to be.
A. vine might be trained horizontally under the cop-
ing of a wall to a great distance, and by inverting the
bearing shoots, the spaces between the other fruit-
trees and the top of the wall could readily be filled
up, and if different vines were inarched to the hori-
zontal branch, the south wall of a large garden might
be furnished with a variety of sorts from the stem
and root of a single plant, the roots of which would
not encumber the border in. which the other fruit-
trees are growing. I have an experiment of this kind
now.in progress in my garden. Within a few years
past, I have gradually trained bearing branches of a
small black cluster grape, to the distance of near
fifty feet from the root, and I find the bunches every
year grow larger, and ripen earlier as the shoots con-
tinue to advance.

“ According to Mr. Knight’s theory of the cireula-
Jation of the sap, the ascending sap must necessarily
become enriched by the nutritious particles it meets

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 129

with in its progress through the vessels of the albur-
num; the woed at the top of the tall trees, therefore,
becomes short-jointed and full ef blossom buds, and
the fruit there situated attains its greatest perfection.
Hence, we find pine and fir-trees loaded with the
finest cones on the top beughs, the largest acorns
grow on the terminal branches of the oak, and the
finest mast on the high boughs of the beech and
chestnut; so, likewise, apples, pears, cherries, etc.,
are always best flavored from the top of the tree.
But I suppose there are certain limits, beyond which
the sap would be so loaded with nutriment, that it
could not freely circulate.”

The sap being determined so powerfully to the
extremities of the branches, the most unremitting
attention is required upon the part of the vine
dresser, so that the bearing shoots may be equally
distributed along the entire plant and an equal
amount of nutriment directed to each.

But if through negligent management the bearing
shoots or spurs are allowed to die out on the lower
part of the vine, it will be difficult, if not impossible,
to replace them.

By judicious pruning, the entire head of the vine
ray beso reduced that there will be abundant nutri-
mont for all the buds, and by promptly and carefully
stopping the more vigorous shoots, the sap may be

sa
“U

180 OPEN. AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

so directed to the weaker ones that no difficulty of
this kind need occur.

II. In this connection, we may consider a rule—
which is laid down as a principle, however, by most
arboricultural authorities—the buds are developed
with greater vigor upon a branch which is cut short,
than upon one which is left long.

This is true, but must be accepted with limitations.
If there be two shoots springing from the same stem,
one being pruned short and the other long, the buds
on the long branch will be developed with the great-
est vigor. If, however, the shoots be upon different
stems, the buds upon that which is pruned most
closely will push most strongly.

This we might anticipate, from the fact that there
is more root power (if we may use the expression) to
a given number of buds. But experiment would Jead
us to believe that if the lower buds are removed so-
that the same number of eyes are left on both, the
at least at first.

longest would have the advantage

But as sap moves with greater difficulty through
old than through young wood, the shortest shoot soon
overtakes its companion and outstrips it. This prin-
ciple is well exemplified in the rampant growth of
those suckers which spring from old vines near the
ground. They will frequently grow twenty or thirty
feet in a season, while the strongest shoots at the

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. Iss

extremities of the old branches do not exceed from
five to eight.

Upon these principles is founded the rule which
directs us to cut back plants which have made a
weak growth, or have become old, gnarled and hard,
so that they may throw up strong, vigorous shoots.

Ill. The sap supplied by the roots must be elabo-
rated by the leaves, before it is fitted for the forma-
tion of wood or fruit, and the development of the
roots is in direct proportion to the increase of leaves.

From this, it follows: 1st. That it is injurious to
remove the leaves from the plant, with a view to
ripen the fruit by the admission of sun and air (this
point has been fully discussed, page 110, e¢ seq).

2. That during the first two years’ growth of the
plants, the production of leaves should be encouraged
as much as possible, so as to aid in the development
of roots. Hence the plants should be carefully tied
up, so as to preserve the leaves clean, active and unin-
jured, and abundant light and air should be furnished,
so that they may be able to perform their part with
efficiency. This being the case, it may be asked why
we advise the stopping of the laterals which certainly
form leaves, and hence must increase the growth of
the roots. Two reasons may be given for the practice
either of which are ample. The first is that it is not
the leaves, per se, which do- good, but their action on

122 OPIN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

the sap, to effect which, they must be supplied with
airand light. Now, if the leaves on the laterals are
allowed to grow, they crowd the foliage at the base
of the plant, so that many of the leaves are partially
shaded, while if these laterals are prevented from
growing, the sap which would be absorbed by them
goes. to the elongation and enlargement of the main
stem, by which the leaves are disposed over a greater
surface and consequently maintain a more vigorous
action. And, as during the first two years at least,
the production of canes well ripened in their whole
length, is no object, seeing that they are all to be cut
away at the winter pruning, the vines should not be
stopped, but should be allowed to grow to the end of
the season. For as the roots require a certain degree
of warmth to enable them to grow, and as the earth
is in the best condition as regards temperature, just
at the close of the growing season, it is best to main-
tain a vigorous action in the roots at that time—a
time when they can make the most of it. f

The second reason is, that the sap, as before stated,
flows most vigorously through stout, free-growing
shoots. Now, by removing the laterals, we increase
the vigor of the main stem as well as its size, and
hence not only obtain an enlarged, ‘but a more
suitable channel for the sap to flowin. The conse.
quence is, that a well trained shoot will far exceed the

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 133

agoregate of the same shoot and its laterals, if it be
neglected during its growth.

IV. The more the sap is impeded in its course, the
less vigorous will be the shoots produced, but the
greater the tendency to bear fruit. This is exempli-
fied in the pear-tree, where the branches are bent in
order to produce fruit buds, and also in the common
practice of bending the canes of the vine into bows
and spirals, so that the buds may burst equally and
produce fruit.

VY. Whatever tends to diminish the vigor of the
shoots and to force the sap into the fruit, enlarges
the size and improves the flavor of the latter.

Upon this law depends the practice of summer
pruning, which has been fully discussed in a previous
chapter. Andas it is necessary not only to diminish
the vigor of the shoots, but to force the sap thereby
saved into the fruit, the object of destroying all fruit-
less shoots Gn bearing vines) is. obvious, as well as
the necessity of attending to the health of the roots.

Such are the general principles which should regu-
late the proper pruning of all trees; though they
have been expressed chiefly with reference to the
vine. In pruning with a view to the production of
fruit, howe r, it is necessary to know the peculiar
fruit-bearing habit of the plant under consideration.
Thus upon the peach, fruit is always borne upon the

134 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

last year’s shoots; the pear bears its fruit upon spurs
which have been formed during the previous year,
upon old wood, and the fruit of the vine is always
borne upon shoots of the current yeur, these shoots
proceeding from either last year’s shoots, or wood,
which is much older. The last assertion is one which
conflicts with the statements of most of our pomolo-
gists, and therefore it is incumbent upon us to give
some evidence of its truth. Thus, Barry says:

“Tt must be observed, that the grape vine pro-
duces its fruit on shoots of the current year produced
from eyes on the previous year’s wood.”

Du Breuil is more positive, and states that shoots
which accidentally spring from old wood never pro-
duce grapes. His words are: “ Dans la vigne, les
grappes sont attachces sur des bourgeons naissant sur
les sarments formés pendant l’été précédent. ~ Les
bourgeons développés accidentellement sur le vieux
bois ne portent jamais des grappes.”

We were rather surprised at this assertion, as it
appeared to contradict our own observation. But
lest it might be that the shoots which we had in view,
had been produced by the remains of last year’s
rubbed out buds, we carefully watched a piece of old
wood during one season, so as to assure ourselves
that no buds had sprung from it between certain
marked points. Next season the head of this old

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 135

vine was pruned so severely as to cause several
shoots to issue from the previously barren wood.
Two of these bore fruit. |

In performing this experimen‘, we kept carefully
in view the difficulties attendant upon bringing it to
a successful result, and although we succeeded in
getting fruit from only two out of nine shoots, still,
this was sufficient to establish the point. In perform-:
ing it, care will be necessary to prune with sufficient
severity to force the buds out of the barren wood,
and yet to leave sufficient head to draw up the sap
and prevent the too vigorous growth of the shoots
after they are formed ; otherwise the blossoms may
change to tendrils. This experiment does not sug-
gest any newer or better mode of pruning the vine,
but it throws new light upon the laws which govern
the formation of fruit buds, and exemplifies the fact
that they are formed where the vital forces of the vine
are so balanced that there is sufficient vigor and
material to form fruit, and yet not so much rampant
erowth as to rob the blossoms of their necessary
nutriment and convert them into tendrils.

That they are so convertible, every cultivator is
aware, for it often happens that the hopes of the
unskillful vine-dresser are disappointed—his fine
show of blossom buds, turning out 1othing but ten-
drils.

136 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

We believe the converse of this was first shown by
Knight, from whose papers we make the following
extract: ‘‘Every bunch of grapes commences its
formation as a tendril, and it is always within the
power of every cultivator to occasion it to remain a
tendril. The blossoms are all additions, the forma-
tion of which is always dependent upon other agents ;
and if any,considerable part of the leaves be taken
off the branch prematurely, or if the vine be not sub-
jected to the influence of the requisite degree of heat
and light, the tendrils will permanently retain their
primary form and office; and it is very frequently
observable, when much of the foliage of fruit-trees
has been destroyed, by insects, or when the previous
season has been cold and wet, that blessoms are
not formed at all, or are feeble and imperfect, and
consequently abortive. * °° °

“The tendrils of the vine, in its internal organiza-
tion, is apparently similar to the young succulent
shoot and leaf stalk of the same plant, it is abun-
dantly provided with vessels, or passages for the sap,
and it is alike capable of feeding a succulent shoot or
a leaf when grafted upon it. It appears, therefore,
not improbable, that a considerable quantity of the
moving fluid of the plant passes through its tendrils ;
and that there is a close connection between its vas-
cular structure and its motions.”

" PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 137

The various systems of vine pruning which have
been founded upon these general principles, may be
classified according to the part of the vine from which
the fruit buds are produced. Thus, if we suppose a

A

a a“
;

O

t6 be a shoot of last year ; B a spur two years old, and
ca branch three years old, then we may by judicious
pruning obtain fruit, first from the plump buds @ a
on the young cane a; secondly from the buds bd ¢
near its base; thirdly from the buds e which will be
found at its junction with the spurs; and fourthly
from buds situated at f, that is at the junction of the
spur B with the branch c. In the latter case, how-
ever, if the spur zB is old and has borne several shoots
like a it will reqaire some skill and very favorable

2

186. OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

circumstances to procure fruit from the buds at /f
But if B be always kept short, and no shoots be al-_
lowed except from its base, no difficulty of this
kind willarise. Following this arrangement, then, we
have: |

I. The long-rod renewal system.

II. The long-spur system. |

III. The short, or secondary-spur system.

IV. The close-cut, or primary spur system.

This system of classification we believe to be the
only true one, although we are not aware that it has
been adopted by any preceding author. Each of
these four systems is not only distinct, but it may be
adapted to almost any system of training, while none
of them can be well combined in the same vine, un-
less the power of the roots is greatly in excess over
the extent of the branches. Suppose, for example,
on a vine with a well balanced head, a few long rods
are left. No buds will start from the base of the
spurs. But if all parts are treated alike, the eyes will
break equally and in general will be all fruitful. The
facility with which this principle may be explained
and enforced is greatly increased by a clear and sys-
tematic classification, such as we have given above,
and most authors have been aware of the importance
of such a classification ; but if the reader will com-
pare the attempts of Loudon, who depends in hig

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 189

classification, not only upon the system of pruning,
but of training; of McIntosh, whose three systems are
“the spur,” “the long-rod,” and “the irregular ”
forms; of McPhail, who has the “ fruit-tree method ;”
“the spurring-in system” and “ the long-rod sytem ;” of

Von Babo, who has “head pruning,” “limb prun-

) y

ing,” “frame pruning,” and several sub-varieties
named after the localities in which they have been
adopted ; and most of our American authors, who have
simply the renewal and spur methods, with that given
above, we think he cannot but give his preference to
the latter. And as allsystems of pruning with which
we have ever met may be easily referred to one or
the other of our four classes, we will describe them in
detail and give a few illustrations of each, as derived
from the practice of our best growers.

I. The long-rod or renewal system is generally
attributed to Clement Hoare, who adopted it in his
‘Practical treatise on the Cultivation of the Vine,” and
as he has not seen fit to give the credit of it to prior
authors, most of his readers have awarded it to
him. But it is substantially the “new method” of
Switzer; the alternate system of Speechly, and the
“new and experimentally proved superior method”
of Kecht. It is certainly very old, though it is still
commonly called the “new method.”

The system which we have adopted as the best for

140 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

vineyards and gardens in the northern States where
our natwe vines are culiivated is substantially the
system explained by Hoare. The system pursued in
Ohio and in many European vineyards, is also a
modification of the long-rod system, but as we pro-
pose to give a full accouut of Ohio vine culture
amongst our examples of American vineyard prac-
tice, we need not dwell upon it here.

The following are a few of the most elegible modi-
fications which have been proposed:

Mr. John Mearns, in the Horticultural Transactions,
(vol. iv.) describes a system which is not only well
adapted to the hot-house culture of the vine, but is
one of the best with which we are acquainted where
it is desired to fruit quickly, a great variety of grape
vines ina small place. This method is as follows

‘My method of managing vines is in some respects
different from any other with which I am acquainted ;
by it I have never failed, for the last eleven_years, to
obtain invariably the same luxuriant crops, although
I have never allowed above one-third of the bunches
which showed themselves to remain on the vine ; and
each succeeding crop has been as uniform as if the
branches had been placed, artificially , over the whole
roof. J have no doubt but, under the same treat.
ment, the vines will continue to be equally produe-
tive for any length of time. ‘The shoots are so vigor-

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 141

ous that their girth is, generally, at the end of the
season, from an inch and a half to an inch and three
quarters. The branches, in their most luxuriant
growth, never appear in any confusion, even to those
who are but little skilled in the cultivation of grapes,
and the method is so simple, that it may be described
with the assistance of figures, so as to be perfectly com-
prehended by any person in the least acquainted with
the nature of the vine. I have never deviated from
it since I planted the vines in the spring of 1806.

“‘ My vines were planted two feet and a half apart,
and being watered to settle the earth round their
balls, I headed them down to within a foot of the soil,
as here represented.

“T only allowed one shoot to proceed from each
plant the first year; rubbing off all the others before
they had completely burst into leaf, the uppermost be-
ing the one [retained. _ In the course of the summer I
watered them with soft pond water, as I found they
wanted it, and frequently with drainings from the
farm-yard, and with soap suds, when I could procure
any. .

“ During the first summer, the vines made quite as

142 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

much progress as I could have expected, and their
different degrees of vigor were nearly in proportica
to the state of the roots when planted. When the
leaves had fallen in the end of the year, I cut them
down to the second or third eye, when they had this
appearance. (Tig. 28.)

“In the beginning of the succeeding February, I ex-
cited them gradually into action by a little fire heat,
and when the buds were ready to burst I rubbed all
off but the two finest on each plant; the strongest of
these I intended to furnish bearing wood for the
lower half of the roof for the following year. The
~most feeble of the two was cut down to the second or
third eve, at the end of the season, and at the same
time the strongest shoot was reduced to eight
feet, being the length of the lower half of the rafter.

Whilst they were growing during the second sum-
mer, I kept the shoots regularly trained upward, di-
vesting them of tendrils and laterals. I only allowed
the strongest of the two leading shoots to run about
three, four or five joints beyond the middle of thy

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 148

roof (where I intended to cut them at their winter
pruning), according to the vigor of the different
shoots; and then I pinched off their tops, in order to
strengthen the eyes for the ensuing season. The
weaker shoots I only suffered to run about three four,
or five feet, according to their strength, and I then
pinched off their tops, never allowing them to push
above two or three eyes from the same place, during
the remainder of the season, without pinching them
back; and then retaining only a single eye, unless I
found it necessary, in consequence of the vigor of the

D4 Dia

gine, I keptthe laterals stopped back also to the firs
leaf, At the fall of the leaf, I cut the leading shoots

144 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

at the middle of the rafter, and the lower one at the
the eye, as is here represented. (Fig. 28.)

“The preceding sketch represents four sepsrate
yine-plants, at the end of the second season after
they had been planted, when the strongest shoot had
been headed down to the middle of the rafter p, and
the weakest shoot to o.

In the third season, I carefully preserved the upper-
most shoot from the end of my bearing branch at p,
as a leader to furnish the upper part of the rafter
with bearing wood for the next year; and I also
trained upward the leading shoot from the bottom
spur oc, which I intended should become the bearing
branch for the lower half of the roof in the follow-
ing season. I was careful that none of the tops of
these leaders should meet, with accident, till they had
reached their destination for the season—that was
about three or four jomts beyond where they were
intended to be cut down, to the winter pruning. AJ
the buds on the bottom spur c, were rubbed off,
except the leading one. As I bore in mind the neces-
sity of a bottom spur to produce a succession shoot
from the bottom in the following year, which was
necessary to the regularity of the system I contem-
plated, I selected one of the most convenient budg
for my purpose, from the bottom of the old stems, all
of which were now. putting out several buds; but I

RUNING GRAPE VINES, 145

suffered none except the selected one, to remain long
after it had made its appearance. The management
of the young shoots of the year was, in this and the
following seasons, the same as I have before detailed.

‘In the ar.tumn of this, the third season, the lower
half of the house was furnished with a crop of ripe
grapes upon. the wood of the preceding year, and
parallel to it on each vine grew a young shoot,
intended to bear the lower crop the next year;
whilst the upper half of the house had single shoots
trained from the end of the bearing wood, which
shoots were also to bear a crop the next year; and
besides these, a_ third shoot on each vine had been
trained from the bottom bud, which I had not
removed, and which were about tour feet in length,
having been treated as the weaker shoots in the
second year’s management, which I have described,
and to which they were similar. When this half
crop wes gathered and the leaves had dropped, I cut
off the top leaders level with the uppermost wire of
the hcuse to which they were tied, and the lower
leader3 level with the middle of the roof (the top
and bottom leaders, or bearing wood for the next sea-
son, being each eight feet long), and the bottom or
weak shoot, above described, was cut down to the
second or third eye, as the lower shoot had been cut

in the preceding winter. All the spurs of the lowe
<

OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURS,

146

==

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 147

part of the shoot, which had now reached the top of
the house and had borne the crop of grapes, were
cut clean out. The following was the appearance of
' the same four vines, after they had been pruned in
the third winter, when they were in a state to pro-
duce their full crop in the following season. (Fig. 30.)
In the fourth summer a full crop was produced
both in the upper and lower half.of the house; the
longer shoot p bore its bunches on the upper half of
its length, and it was not suffered to extend itself by
a leading shoot ; the shorter shoot c bore its bunches
on its whole length, and extended itself by a leading
shoot te the tep of the house ; the spur » was suffered
to become a shoot, extending a few joints beyond half
the length of the rafter, and from the bottom of the
old wood a weaker shoot, as before, was trained, to
become the foundation of the lower shoot of the
next season. In the pruning season, p, which had
become the longest branch in the previous winter,
was entirely cut away from the bottom; the shorter
branch c, which had now become the longest, was
stripped of its spurs on its lower half of the old wood,
and its upper half was left for bearing ; the extended
spur FE, became the lower bearing branch, and the
weak shoot r (Fig. 31.) at the bottom, was reduced to
a spur, to furnish the lower wood tor the next year.
The: following figure represents the plants after

OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

i48

©

er

a eee
SESS

SSS

=F SS NY
oP
SI,

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 149

“being pruned the fourth season, the sides being
reversed.

With this alternation of pruning, the system has
been continued to the present time, and may con-
tinue as long as it shall be desirable to have the house
in bearing.

During the last four years, I have stopped the
bearing branches at the bunch, instead of the next
joint above it, which is the usual practice; for I
found that the fruit did equally well and it divested
the branch of an incumbranee, while it allowed a
much larger portion of light to come into the house,
together with a more free circulation of air among
the fruit and young wood.

1 blind all the eyes on each fruit spur as soon ag )
they push, except the uppermost, which I retain to
draw up the sap to nourish the fruit. . I never suffer
them to push above a joint or two, before I pinch
them back, always cautiously retaining an eye. By
constant stopping, the eyes soon increase to a large
cluster, when I frequently find it expedient to pinch
out a great part of them with my finger nails, unless
Isee danger of its exciting my next year’s fruiting
eyes to burst prematurely. I am particularly cau-
tious that nothing shall happen to injure the leaf that
accompanies the bunch, for if that is lost, the fruit, of
course, will come to nothing.

150 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURY.

During the summer I inspect the vines regularly
every morning; seeing that the ends of my leaders

7

are in their proper places, and not obstructed ; pick-
ing off tendrils and stopping the laterals above the

Fig. 83.

first leaf, on my next year’s bearing wood, tying
down fruit spurs carefully, and stopping any shoot

that may have sprung frwn the ends of them; a

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 153

well as other shoots that may come out from the pre
viously stopped laterals.

Fig. 32 shows a simple method of training wines
to a trellis formed of light stakes or a couple of

Fig. 24.

wires. If trained on the plan shown in Fig 33
neither stakes nor trellises will be required.
I. The long-spur system is that upon which old

vines are trained, and consists in cutting the yoang

152 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

wood the previous year, back to three or four eyes,
all weak shoots and dead wood being removed.

Sir J. Paxton, in the “ Gardener’s Chronicle ” for
1842, gives the following directions for pruning
vines on the spur system. The cut there given (Fig.
34) has been often reproduced, but in general it has
been soreduced that the character of the shoots is not
clearly seen :

“Jt represents a portion of the vine when pruned
in autumn, on the spur system, with short rods of
five or six eyes each, left at convenient intervals on
the oldest branches throughout the vine. The per-
pendicular main shoots should not be less than two
feet apart, and when pruning them no useless eyes
should be left, that is, no eye should be allowed to
remain but where a shoot is desired in the following
season. Dy attending to this, the vine will not have
to develop (as is usually the case), an immense quan-
tity of superfluous branches; and although the ope-
ration may appear a tedious one at the time of prun-
ing, an immense saving of labor and time may be
effected at a busier period in the spring, and the
quantity of fruit may be easier regulated in propor-
tion to the strength of the vine. If this is attended
to, nothing will be required in the summer but
securing the young fruit-bearing shoots to the wall,
and shortening them to one joint above the bunch

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 153

as soon as the fruit is set, excepting the leading
shoots, which should not be stopped until the lower
part is ripened ; otherwise the main eyes for the next
season may be induced to grow prematurely. In
autumn the young wood from the spurs is shortened
back to one, or at most, to two eyes, and the terminal
shoots in proportion to their strength; but for the
strongest wood, from eight to twelve eyes will be found
as many as will break well.

‘When commencing to train a young vine in this
manner, the side branches should not be brought to
the horizontal position at first, but lowered gradually
as the number of suitable branches for upright stems
are obtained; by this means they acquire strength
faster than if trained horizontally at first.”

It is obvious that this system is nearly the same as
the long rod, or renewal system—the difference being
that instead of taking several of the upper buds on
each young cane, we use only one and have a great
many canes or spurs.

The only real advantage to be derived from it (so
far as we are able to judge), and that upon which its
distinctive features is founded, is that the buds from
which the next year’s crop is to be obtained are
always well ripened. We would, therefore, prefer it
to the first system, where the vines are tender, or the

climate unfavorable, and deem it of sufficient impor-
yi

154 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

tance to give in detail a method of treating the spurs

during a series of years.

Fig. 35.

Fig. 385 (a) shows a portion of a young cane which
may either form part of the vertical branches on a
trellis, or the single stem of a young vine. ‘The first
season of fruiting, the tendrils should be cut off and
the buds thinned to from six to ten inches apart,
depending upon the vigor of the variety ; and so that
they will be alternately on different sides of the cane,
thus leaving the buds on each side from 12 to 20

Fig. 36.

inches apart. Not more than four or five buds should

be left on a cane during the first season.

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 155—

At the close of the first season, after the leaves
have fallen, the cane will present the appearance
¢ Shown in Fig. 36. Here a is the main cane; Bis the
shoot produced by the buds on Fig. 35; and cis a bud
at the base of thisshoot. Prune the shoot B to one
plump bud, as shown in the figure and allow the bud
c to push and form a shoot; stopping it, however, as
soon as it has made a few leaves.

Fig. 37.

Next season we will have the shoot p, (Fig. 37) witl
several nice, plump buds, and the old spur x, with it
shoot which bore fruit last year. Cut p back to one
or two eyes, and cut B away entirely. The buds on 1
will push and bear fruit, and a bud will, no doubt,
push from the base to form the spur for next year.

Fig. 38 shows the next winter pruning. From
this description, it is obvious that we must, each
year, have eyes to produce, not only fruit, but a

156 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

young cane, which will form the spur for next year.
If we depend for this spur upon last year’s fruiting

Fig. 38.

shoots, our spur will soon become so long, and our
vine so encumbered with old wood as to be quite
unmanageable, unless we adopt the system to be next
described :

III. Here we depend for our fruit upon buds pro-
ceeding from the base of last year’s fruiting shoot,
this fruiting shoot being borne upon a spur attached
to the main branch. This is the system of pruning
adopted at Thomery, and as no good description of
it is be found in any American publication with
which we are acquainted, we'give the very full and
lucid account by M. Dubreuil—a translation of which
may be found at the close of the volume.

IV. In the short-spur, or Thomery system, the
-fruit-bearing shoot proceeds from a spur on the main

-

PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 157

branch, which although short, is still a spur. Theory,

_ nowever, would lead us to suppose that it might just

as well proceed from the juuction of last year’s
fruit-bearing shoot with the main branch.

158 CPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE,

CHAPTER ix,

WALLS AND TRELLISES—THEIR INFLUENCE AND CON=-

STRUCTION.

Autuouacu the influence of the various forms of
walls, trellises and stakes upon the growth and matu-
rity of the vine depends somewhat upon the system of
pruning and training pursued in connection with
them, still, it cannot be doubted but that their forms
and the materials of which they are made also exert
an influence which is by no means to be disregarded.

In this country, walls devoted to the culture of the
vine have not been used to a sufficient extent, to
afford reliable data as to the benefit to be derived from
them. Many single vines, however, are trained on
the ends of houses and along board fences, and from
a careful examination of several such examples, we
are inclined to believe that in exposed situations the
erection of cheap walls would pay well, even in vine-
yards.

When vines are judiciously trained in front of
brick walls and at a few inches’ distance from them,
the grapes unifermly ripen sooner than those on

WALLS AND TRELLISES 159

exposed trellises. The wood also 1s more perfectly
matured, and this, during asuccession of years, exerts
a considerable and favorable influence on the vine.

The effect of walls doubtless depends upon two
causes, one being the higher temperature produced
by the radiation from the surface of the solid wall,
and the other being the protection from wind and
storms which such a structure affords.

That the latter point is one of material importance,
we are well satisfied, for however essential ventilation
may be to the healthy growth of the vine, all violent
winds and cold blasts are to be studiously avoided.

A striking instance of this is to be seen in the gar-
den of a gentleman of this city. Several vines are
there trained along the east side of a high board fence,
and although the same judicious and systematic care
is given to all parts of the vines, yet the finest fruit is
uniformly found a foot or two below the top of the
fence. Now when we remember that on all open
trellises the finest grapes are found at the top, since
all trees produce the best fruit at the eatremities of
the branches, we must attribute no mean effect to the
protection afforded by the fence, since the boards of
which it is composed can scarcely be supposed to
retain and radiate much heat, and its height (about
eight feet) is not sufficient to include the limit to
which vines may be judiciously carried.

Gore: OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

“The actual temperature to which a tree trained
upon a wall facing the sun is exposed is much higher
than that of the surrounding air, not only because it
receives a larger amount of the direct solar rays, but
because vf the heat received by the surrounding
earth, reflected from it and absorbed by the wall
itself. Under such circumstances the secretions of
the plant are more fully elaborated than in a more
shady and colder situation, and by aid of the greater
heat and dryness in front of a south wall, the period
of maturity is much advanced. In this way we suc-
ceed in procuring a Mediterranean or Persian sum-
mer in these northern latitudes.

“When the excellence of fruit depends upon its
sweetness, the quality is exceedingly improved by
such an exposure to the sun; for it is found that the
quantity of sugar elaborated in a fruit is obtained by
an alteration of the gummy, mucilaginous, and gela-
tinous matters previously formed in it, and the quan
tity of those matters will be in proportion to the
amount of light to which the tree, if healthy, has
been exposed. Hence the greater sweetness of plums,
pears, etc., raised on walls from those grown on
standards. It has been already stated that an
increase of heat has been sought for on walls by
blackening them, and we are assured in the ‘ Horti-
cultural Transactions’ (III. 330) that, in the cultiva-

WALLS AND TRELLISES. 161

tion of the grape, this has been attended with the
best effects. But, unless when trees are young, the
wall ought to be covered with foliage during the sum-
mer, and the blackened surface would scarcely a

and in the spring the expansion of the flowers woul.
be hastened by it, which is no advantage in cold, late
springs, because of the greater liability of early
flowers to perish from cold. That a blackened surface
does produce a beneficial effect upon trees trained
over it is, however, probable, although not by
hastening the maturation of the fruit; it is by raising
the temperature of the wall in autumn, when the ©
leaves are falling, and the darkened surface becomes
uncovered, that the advantages are perceived by a
better completion of the process of growth, the result
of which is the ripening the wood. This is indeed
the view taken of it by Mr. Harrison, who found the
practice necessary, in order to obtain crops of pears
in late seasons at Wortley, in Yorkshire (see ‘ Hort.
Trans.’ II. 330 and VI. 453.) It hardly need be
added that the effect of blackening will be in propor-
tion to the thinness of the training and vice versa.”

Landtey.

The articles referred to by Lindley, being short
and practical, it may be well to transcribe them.
Henry Dawes writes thus to Sir Joseph Banks: “TI
take the liberty of communicating to you my remarks

162 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

on a garden. wall, on which I have been making
experiments at Slough. It faces the south, and
against it, about the middle, a young grape vine is
trained. Two years ago I covered a portion of the
wall with thick black paint. The vine was divided
into two equal parts, one half was trained on the
painted, and the other on the plain wall. ‘The sea-
son was so unfavorable last year, that scarcely any
out-door grapes came to perfection; but those in the
blackened part of the wall were much finer than those
on the plain part. ‘This year the success of my expe-
riment has been complete. The weight of fine
grapes gathered from the blackened part of the wall
was 20 lbs. 10 oz., while the plain part yielded only
7 lbs. 1 oz., being little more than one-third of the
other. The fruit on the blackened part of the wall
was also much finer, the bunches were larger and
ripened better than on the other half; the wood of
the vine was likewise stronger and more covered with
leaves on the blackened part.

“Tt is a generally known fact, that a black, unpo-
lished surface absorbs more rapidly than other colors
the sun’s rays, and thereby becomes sooner heated.
It is equally well known that surfaces which absorb
heat more quickly, part with it more easily when tie
source of heat is withdrawn, and cool -quicker. In
the summer time, when the days are long, the wall

WALLS AND TRELLISES. 168

will be more intensely heated under the blackened
surface, and the night (or time of cooling) being short,
it may not have returned to the temperature of the
air, before it is again subjected to an increase of heat.
If the time of cooling were long enough, that part of
the wall under the blackened surface, might become
actually cooler than the part not blackened, and thus
the extremes of heat and cold be greater than when
the wall was left with its usual surface. In the sum-
mer time, however, the wall is not only more in-
tensely heated, but probably retains a great portion
of the heat during the night.

“ Horticulturists will decide which of these two
causes is efficient in producing the effect I have
stated, or whether both may not codperate ; it is not
for me to presume to do so, though I should be
inclined to think, that in this climate, the intensity
had more influence than the uniformity.”

Chas. Harrison, gardener at Wortley Hall, York-
shire, gives the following directions for blackening
walls:

‘¢ When the leaves have fallen in the autumn, I take
the earliest opportunity to loosen the tree from the
wall and to prune them; the wall is then colored
with coal-tar, mixing with every gallon of the tar one
pint of linseed oil, in order to prevent it having a

shining surface when dry. It is more necessary to

164 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

make this addition in the hotter parts of the kingdom
than it is here, but even here it is essential in hot
summers, for when the sun shines strongly on the
wall with a shining black surface it has appeared to
me to scorch those shoots which touch the wall; but
this does not happen when the color is rendered
opaque by the mixture of the oil as recommended.
If the wall has not been previously colored, I give it
a second coat as soon as the first is dry. In laying
on the color care is taken that the liquid is not
sprinkled upon the trees, for it would close up the
pores of the wood and consequently do injury.

‘ After the wall is colored I allow the trees to
remain loose from the wall until the coal tar has set
(unless strong winds prevail, in which case I secure
the main limbs and branches to the wall), in order
that the shoots may not be damaged by coming in
contact with it before itis dry. When the wall has
become moderately dry, I nail the trees to it. A
wall of sound bricks will not require recoloring
more than once in ten years. Coal tar being very
cheap, a wall of considerable extent may be colored
for a trifling sum. Any dark-colored paint will
answer the same purpose, but it is far more expen-
sive, and requires renewal more frequently.

“ The dark color, absorbing the rays of the sun, the
wall acquires at least ten degrees of heat more than

WALLS AND TRELLISES. 165

the walls not colored, as directed; thus affording
great assistance in maturing the buds upon fruit-bear-
ing shoots, so that the trees may be productive. In
eold and wet seasons, without such aid, I should not
have been able to obtain ripe buds upon fruit-trees
under my care. This I have had ample proof of by
the unfruitfulness of those trees which are against
walls not colored, at the same time that trees against
colored walls were abundantly fruitful. The wall
being colored is also a preventive of insects harboring
in it and also tends to keep it dry.

“The growth of young trees is much promoted by
the coloring and they are sooner brought to a supply
of fruitful buds.”

In all cases in which vines are trained in front of
walls or fences, it is important that a space of from
six to twelve inches be left between the wall and the
trellis to which they are fastened. If trained directly
to the wall, the vine will not only be subject to mil-
dew, but ventilation will be materially interrupted.
The bunches also, are lable to injury when lying
against the surface of the wall.

Walls may, of course, be constructed of any mate-
rial, brick, stone or concrete. Brick is probably the
most suitable material, though, as plain walls can be
rapidly and cheaply built of concrete, it is probable
that it might pay to erect them on an extensive scale

165 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

in some parts of the country. In the celebrated
Thomery vineyards, the walls are built of clay with
acap of thatch. It is probable that walls built of
well made sun-burnt bricks would last a long time
and answer a good purpose if properly protected by a
cap or eave of board or straw.

But, for all practical purposes, our reliance for vine-
yard training, in the present state of our experience,
must be upon properly arranged trellises. We will,
therefore, give what we consider the best mode of con-
structing them.

If the vines have been planted two years previously
at distances of eight feet in the rows and the rows six
feet apart, the first step to the erection of the trellises
is to set up a post between each vine and slightly in
advance of the rows, so as to facilitate bending the
vines for winter protection.* These posts may be of
such size and material as the vine dresser may pro-
cure. Cedar, chestnut, locust or oak make the best,
and a good size is four inches deep (across the rows)
and three inches thick. They should stand from seven
to nine feet out of the ground and be sunk not less
than two and a half feet—if three feet, all the better.
The two posts at the ends of the rows must be placed
so that they cannot be drawn inward. Various de-
vices for effecting this are shown in I'igs. 89 and 40.

* See page 107.

WALLS AND TRELLISES. 167

One consisting simply of a piece of plank uailed
across the post so as to afford a broad surface to le
against the earth. The other is secured by a brace,

Fig. 39. Fig. 40.

which rests against a large stone sunk below the sur-
face. 7
The posts having been set in a straight line and
reduced to a proper height, the next step will be to
nail two strips of wood, one along the top and the
other at from 9 to 14 inches from the ground, or just
at euch a height that the head of the vinestems

168 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

(from which the horizontal arms spring) may reach
its upper edge when laid against it. If the trellis is
over seven and a half feet high, it will be well to nail
a third slat, equidistant between the two, though it
is not absolutely necessary. The next step is to
divide the spaces between the slats into equal parts
of about 15 inches each. ‘Thus if the trellis be seven
and a half feet high, and two slats (the lower one ten
inches from the ground) we would divide into five
spaces of 16 inches each. Ifnine feet high with three
slats (the lower one twelve inches from the ground)
we would divide each of the two spaces into three
divisions of 16 inches each. Then take No. 12-16
annealed iron wire, twist a good loop on the end, and
having slipped it over a stout nail driven into the end
post, draw the wire along the posts, attaching it to
each with a small staple well driven in until the last
is reached, when the wire may be twisted round a
nail or pin and the loose end secured by a staple.
Various devices have been proposed for drawing
the wire tight and adjusting it for contraction and
elongation according to the temperature, as is done in
the construction of fences. But we are satisfied that
there is no necessity for this, as the wire can be
drawn over a stretch of eight feet tight enough for all
practical purposes, while it will always be loose
enough to allow of any contraction that can take

- aaa

WALLS AND TRELLISES. 169

place. The truth is, that the wires do not require to
be so very tight ; even if they do have a little motion
from the wind, it is not productive of any injury.

Our method of putting up the wire is as follows:
We first provide a pair of strong wooden pincers
such as those shown in Fig. 41, the handles of which
are at least 30 inches long, and having a piece of stout
sole leather tacked over the jaws.

Fig. 41.

Then having secured one end of the vine to the first
post and uncoiled the voll, laying it on the ground,

170 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

in front cf the posts to which it is to be fastened we
grasp it between the leather jaws of the pincers and
step slowly back, straining it as much as possible un-
til we are past the second post, when an assistant
fastens it firmly with a small staple and we are again
ready to step back to the next. By means of this
contrivance, the wire can be laid on as tightly and
smoothly as possible, for all the kinks are taken out
by passing it through the leather jaws of the pin-
cers, which should be well greased. It is necessary
to go into the field provided with several sets of
leathers, as they soon wear out, but are easily re-
newed. They should be at least three inches broad,
so as to straighten out the wire thoroughly.

That wire is better than wooden slats there can be
no doubt. It is less in the way, the vines cling to it
more readily and the appearance is vastly superior.
A pound of No. 12 wire will stretch across three
posts (24 ft.) so that a trellis 8 feet high with two
wooden slats and five wires, each 14 inches apart, will
require 1$lbs., which, at eight cents per lb., will cost
about 13 or 14 cents. As the cost of the wire is con-
siderable, some cultivators do with less. Dr. Under-
hill’s trellises are seven feet high with only three wires,
and we believe no slats. But we prefer the arrange-
ment just described, as we can thus tie in each shoot

conveniently and regularly, and the wires at 14 inches

WALLS AND TRELLISES. Z Lea

are none too close to have a bearing shoot on each.
When wire cannot be conveniently had, the follow-
ing is a good mode of putting up a rough trellis.

Set the posts as usual, and provide a number of
slender split poles (hoop poles) and also a sufficient
number of wire staples made of strong wire (No. 6
or 8 hard). Then secure the poles or slats to the
posts by means of the staples, the ends of the poles
being made to lap over each other so that two may
be fastened by one staple. The accompanying figure
(42) will explain this better than words can describe.

If the staples are a Zitt/e less than the poles, the latter
will be held very firmly. Nails will not answer, av
they are apt to split the poles, and we are inclined t¢.
think that, for ordinary slats, staples would be bette,
than nails on this very account. If made square and
light, they need not be unsightly, and the cost is not
very great.

No directions need be given for the construction of

172 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

arbors, or those ornamental trellises usually erected
In gardens, as their form and arrangement will vary
with the taste of the possessor.

A very neat, simple and efficient support for a single
vine trained on the spur system is shown in Fig. 43.

Y SY :

TSS SN
=

S

SEX AN DD Ds

Fig. 43,

x

It might be constructed so as to be removable when
the vine is laid down for the winter. It has even
been provosed to have a hinge at the foot of the trel-

WALLS AND TRELUMISES. 173

lis and lay down trellis and all. But this would be
very injudicious.

Stakes are frequently used in vineyards, and also
in gardens, but do not present any feature which is
not more immediately connected with the subject of
training, than with that of the present chapter.

The materials of which trellises, etc., should be
made, will as often be governed by local circum-
stances as by any other consideration. As before stated,
cedar, chestnut, locust and oak, are to be preferred
for posts, and any tough, light and straight-grained
wood for slats. The posts may be charred, where
they enter the earth, though we should prefer to soak
them for an hour or so in boiling coal tar. This may
be readily done in a large pot, or caldron, set up in
the field over a temporary furnace. It will of course
be wise to give the whole structure a couple of good
coats of paint, especially the wire.

The height to which trellises may be carried,
depends upon two circumstances—the extent of their
shadow and the influence of high training upon the
vines. The latter point has been sufficiently dis-
cussed, under the head of pruning and training, and
we find that at a distance of six feet no ordinary trellis"
will, in latitudes suited to the culture of the grape,
shade its neighbor -during the growing season. At
other times, shade is not at all injurious. We had

174 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

prepared extensive tables, giving the distance to
which shadows will be thrown by trellises of various
heights, at different seasons of the year, and in dif-
ferent latitudes; but omit them for the above rea-
sons.

The only limit which we would set to the height of
a trellis, would be our ability to prune the vines and
gather the fruit, with the aid of a light stool. Lad-
ders are too unwieldy and involve too much labor,

except for a few vines.

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 175

CEA Pian x.

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE.

Youne vine plants may be raised from seeds, eyes,
or cuttings, or by layering or grafting, all which
modes are in common practice, though some are only
adapted to peculiar circumstances and objects. We
shall give a few practical directions for each.

Layering.—This is the mode in which large, thrifty
vines may be most rapidly obtained; but itis by no
means adapted to general use, where large quantities
are required.

To procure a young vine by layering, we take a
cane of the preceding year, having a-well advanced
shoot; and about the middle of June, or first of
July, cut it half through, as shown in Fig. 45. It is
then bent down and pegged into a hole, about three
or four inches deep. It should be well watered, and
the application of a little mulch, consisting of long
litter, new-mown grass, weeds, or any similar matter,
will prove of much service. Roots will soon push,
and at the proper time for transplanting, it will have
formed a fine healthy plant. Larger and stronger

176 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

vines, which will in some cases bear the succeeding

season, may be obtained by layering older and stronger

shoots; but the most healthy and, we believe, the

most vigorous, plants will be produced by follow-

ing the directions just given. |
Instead of one plant, several may be obtained from .

|

= a

{
i “
1

eae aa IS zie vee

1s Ti AVE ae
y 1 A } AN
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Fig. 44.

the same layer, if it be simply buried its whole length,
as in Fig. 44. Roots will start from each joint, and
consequently each joint will forma plant. But where a
single plant is wanted, the method shown in Fig. 45
will give the finest results.

If very fine plants are wanted, in a short time, the
best method is to sink a six-inch (or larger) pot in
the ground and layer the shoot in it. This ig best
done by first making a hole in the ground, sufficiently

“»rge to receive the pot; then by running the loop

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 177

end of a doubled cord through the hole in the bot-
tom of the pot, and passing a stick through the loop

ions aE? a

Bal \

SETS

Fig. 45.

or double, it will be easy to tie the shoot in any
desired position. The whole process will be readily
understood from an inspection of Fig. 46; and we
much prefer this plan to pegging down the shoot,
or laying on bricks or weights, as pegs are rather
uncertain when used in pots, and bricks take up too

much room to the prejudice of the roots.

f Qe
ra

178 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

- The young plant should be detached from the
parent vine in about five or six wecks after layering,
and may then be set out in its proper location. As
this will be about the latter part of July, or the first
of September, the vine will have plenty of time to
become well established, and make good roots before
winter sets in; and it will form a strong plant, capa-
ble of throwing up two permanent canes or producing
a specimen bunch of fruit, during the succeeding sea-
son—provided, of course, that the variety propagated
is of a vigorous and prolific character. An Isabella
vine, layered in this manner in an eight-inch pot,
threw up, next season, two canes, one twelve and the
other sixteen feet. Another, treated in the same
way, bore sixteen bunches of fine fruit.

Inseveral instances, we have used common four-inch
semi-tubular tile, instead of flowerpots, and with excel-
lent results. They have the advantage of cheapness ;
but, in other respects, the flower-pot is to be preferred.
In some cases, the shoot is drawn through the hole in
the bottom of the pot; but although we have tried
this in one or two instances, we have not found it
either convenient or satisfactory.

A bearing shoot, layered in a good sized pot, or in
a common water-pail, may be made to produce a
well-rooted plant, which will perfectly ripen several
bunches of fruit the same season, even after being

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 179

removed from the parent plant. This forms a very
elegant and ornamental object ; but, except as a matter
of curiosity, such a process is worthless. In rare
instances, perhaps, specimen. bunches might be grown

Fig. 46.

out of doors, and perfected in the house, thus avoid-
ing numerous evils to which the finer varieties of the |
vine are subject in this climate. In all cases, it is
essential that the layer be kept moist and warm. As

180 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

the earth does not seem to be warm enough to induce
the formation of roots, before June, it has occurred to
us that very early and strong plants might be pro-
duced by inserting the pot (Fig. 46) in a slight hot-
bed. A few barrow loads of manure would answer
every purpose; and by producing roots thus early,
strong specimen plants might be procured more
easily than by any other method.

It may be well here to state that wood of any age
from the oldest gnarled stems to the succulent growth
of the current year will root if properly treated.
We have always found, however, that the best and
healthiest roots always spring from the junction of
the old wood with the current year’s growth.

it is recommended upon good authority (with
which we in general coincide) to separate the plants
from the old vine at least by the end of September,
unless previously removed. In the case of some
varieties, however (Diana, ¢. g.) this will not always
answer, as roots are produced with such difficulty that
two years are often required to make good plants.

Currines.— Where large quantities of young plants
of the common varieties are required, this is one of
the cheapest and easiest methods of procuring them.
Where wood is plenty, each cutting may consist of
several buds or joints, asin Fig. 47. In ordinary cases,

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 181

however, a length of three buds is sufficient, and we
have grown very good plants from cuttings of only
one joint in length—that is, having two buds. Indeed,
the latter make by far the nicest and cleanest plants,
and though not quite so strong at first as those from
a greater number of eyes, yet we question if in the
long run they would not prove quite their equals.

Fig. 47.

Cuttings to be good should be of thrifty, well
ripened, close jointed wood—long reedy canes and
spindling twigs being alike to be avoided. The best
cuttings are those which have the base of the shoot.
attached, and this may be either as in Fig. 47, where
the cutting has been eut away close to the old wood;
or it may be a mallet cutting, as it is called, where a
small section of the two-year-old wood is left, as in
Fig. 48.

The proper time for procuring cuttings is at the

182 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

regular fall or spring pruning. The cuttings may then
be preserved in a cool cellar, either buried in mode-
rately dry sand or simply laidon the floor and covered
with straw or leaves. Excessive dryness or damp-
ness are equally to be avoided, and the temperature
should be low though never sufficient to freeze the
fluids in the cutting.. In this state they should be kept
until the middle or end of April, as nothing is gained
by setting them out at an earlier period. Indeed,
we have found those which had been well preserved
during the winter and set out in May do quite as
well if not better than any others. In some experi-
ments we used the previous year’s wood, cut from the
vines when the young shoots had grown two inches,
and yet-in this case they grew finely and made strong -
plants. But of course this is not an example to be
imitated except where it is desired to procure scions
of some particular variety, and the opportunity for so
doing occurs only at the period indicated. Such cut-
tings should be set out as soon after being cut off as
possible, and if the weather be dry and warm, shad-
ing, watching and watering will all be necessary.

In planting cuttings it is best to choose a plot of
rather sandy soil (heavy soil will not do); trench it
deeply, mixing it with manure thoroughly rotten and -
converted into a black mold. (Any decomposition
going on in the soil will ruin the cuttings.) Then

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 183

plant the cuttings in rows twelve to eighteen inches
apart and six to eight inches apart in therows. They
may be planted either in holes made by a dibble or
laid in trenches made by the spade—the earth from
the next trench being used to fill up the trench in
which the cuttings are placed. Some authors direct
tis to place them perpendicularly, but we have always
obtained the best results when they were placed as
shown in Fig 49. In placing them, always be careful

to have the end bud which is out of the soil upper-
most, and be careful that the end be cut with a slant,
the same as that in the figure, so that it will not throw
the rain on to the bud as in that case it may cause it
to rot. In long cuttings the upper bud should be
left about three inches above the surface of the soil,
so that it may not be covered by the coat of mulch,
which it is well to apply. Short cuttings must be
‘nserted more deeply, but in all cases the bud should
be uncovered unless in very late planting. We are
aware that many advise the bud to be covered, but

our own experience has been uniformly agaist ifs

184 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Neither should several buds be left above the sur-
face, as they can do no good and require constant
watching, as it is important for reasons to be here-
after detailed that only one shoot should be allowed
to grow. With cuttings of four or more buds, avery
good rule is to place the second bud even with the
surface of the ground. In this case the cutting should
be turned one-fourth round from its position in
Fig. 49 so that the two upper buds may lie one on
each side.

Another mode of planting cuttings is to make a
hole with a dibble, and after inserting the cutting
about two-thirds its length, bend it over and peg it
down, as shown in Fig. 50.

Fig. 50. Fig. 51.

fig 51 shows a method of inserting cuttings which
we have practised with success. As it is well known
that a cutting will grow, no matter which end is stuck
in the ground, a scion is taken containing at least
three buds, and after bending it into a semicircular

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 185

form, both ends are inserted in the ground, leaving
the middle bud above the surface. As soon as this
bud begins to grow, it will be supplied with nutri-
ment from both ends and will make rapid progress.
The plants produced by this method are very strong
and if designed to remain where they are first set
out they give very certain and satisfactory results.
But they do not transplant well.

The following plan described in Miller’s “ Gar-
dener’s Dictionary” is one which we have tried with
success: “Having an Iron bar of an Inch or more
in Diameter, a little pointed at the End, they there-
with make a Hole directly down about three Feet
and a Half deep ; then, being provided with an Instru-
ment they call a Crucciala, having a Handle of
Wood like that of a large Auger and the Body of
Iron four Feet long and more than half an Inch in
Diameter, at the End of which there is a Nich some-
thing like a half moon, they after twisting the End
of the Cutting, put it therein, and force it down the
Bottom of the Hole, where they then leave it, and
afterward fill up the Vacancy with fine sifted Earth
or Sand; observing to tread the Earth close to the
Plants, which otherwise (unless it be stiff Land) i3
often inclinable to be Loose and Dry, especially if
Rain does not soon follow their Planting ; and it is
incredible how many Vines three Persons can ijn

186 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

this Manner plant in one Day, viz., upward of two
thousand.”

In our own practice we simply make a deep hole,
insert the cutting, fill up with dry sand and give a
' liberal supply of water. By inserting the cutting as
deeply as here advised it is placed beyond reach of
drought, though the lower portion rarely throws out
roots unless the soil be very favorable.

Eyrs.—Where the aid of a hot bed or propagating
house can be obtained, eyes afford an easy and rapid
mode of multiplying vines. They are usually cut
about two inches long, containing only one bud, and
are started in February or March in pots or boxes
filled with a mixture of sand, leaf-mold, and soil.
The buds are either buried half an inch deep or
placed, even with the surface of the earth, according

UML

Z
LF

Fig. 52. Fig. 58.
to the ideas of the operator, and generally form strong
plants, which may be set out in the open ground in
Juue or July. Figs. 52 and 53 illustrate the position

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 187

of the cutting in relation to the soil. This method
of propagating requires skill and great care and is
seldom employed except by professional men.

Grartine is seldom employed in the case of those
common varieties which are easily raised from cut-
tings or eyes. Diana and Delaware are, however,
sometimes raised by this method, and to the amateur
it is one of the most important processes, as by this
means a new and rare variety can be fruited some
years before a young plant would come into bearing.
Loudon gives the following directions for performing
the operation :

“Cleft grafting the vine is shown in Fig. 54, in
which @ is a bud on the scion, and 8, on the stock,

both in the most favorable position for suecess. Ths
graft is tied and clayed in the usual manner, except:
ing that only a small hole is left in the clay opposite

188 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

the eye of the scion, for its development. In graft: /
ing the vine in this manner when the bud (6) on
the stock is developed, it is allowed to grow for ten
or fourteen days, after which it is cut off, leaving
only one bud and one leaf near its base to draw up
sap to the scion till it be fairly united to the stock.
The time of grafting is when the stock is about to
break into leaf, or when it has made shoots with four
or five leaves. By this time the sap has begun to flow
freely, so that there is no danger of the stock suffer-
ing from bleeding; though, if vines are in good
health and the wood thoroughly ripened, all the
bleeding that takes place does little injury.”

Root-grafting the vine is also frequently practised.
For this purpose, saddle-grafting is most suitable, the
scion being properly secured to the stock with waxed
cloth 6r paper.

Lindley, in the “ Gardener’s Chronicle,” states that
the great secret of success in grafting the vine is to
keep the scion dormant until the stock has so far
developed its leaves and shoots as to be beyond the
reach of danger from bleeding. His directions are
as follows :

‘Shorten the branch or shoot at the winter prun-
ing, to the most eligible place for inserting the graft.
The graft should be kept in sufficiently moist soil till
the time of performing the operation, and for a week

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 189

previous in the same temperature as that in which
the vines to be operated upon are growing. When
such portions of the latter as are shortened for recelv-
ing the grafts have made a bit of shoot, graft as you
would other fruit-trees, taking care, however, to pre-
serve the shoot at the top in claying, and till the buds
on the scions have pushed, then shorten it back.
Inarching may be performed at any time after the
vines have started, so far as not to bleed.”

Speechly, however, names the middie of March as
the best time for grafting the vine in the open air;
and his directions are so lucid that we offer no apo-
logy for quoting them:

“Jn general, vines should be grafted about three
weeks before they begin to break into bud.

“Upon small stocks, not more than one inch in
diameter, cleft grafting will be found the most pro-
per; but upon larger stocks, whip grafting is to be
preferred.

“In both methods, much care should be taken in
fitting the scion and stock together, and the operation
should be performed with great exactness.

“When the stock and scion are well fitted
the graft should be fastened with the strands of bass
matting, and should then be covered with clay in the
usual way.

“ Vines do not harmonize with so much freedom as

130 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

commoner fruit; for though the scion will sometimes
begin to push in a few weeks, yet it will frequently
remain ina dormant state for two or three months 3;
and during this period it will be necessary to strip the
stock of all the shoots it may produce, as soon as
they appear; and, in order to preserve the scion in a
vegetative state, it will be necessary to keep the clay
moderately moist, which may easily be effected by
wrapping it round with moistened moss, and keeping
the moss constantly sprinkled with water.

‘When the scion has made shoots five or six inches
long, the clay and bandage should be carefully taken
off; and the clay may be removed without injuring
the graft, when it is in a moist state.

Vines will frequently prove successful by both the
above-mentioned. methods, but still the most eligible
way of all, seems to me, to be that of grafting by
approach. Indeed, I have seldom known any plants
miscarry, that have been grafted in this way. Now
in this case, it is necessary to have the plant, intended
to be propagated, growing in a pot. Strong plants
that have been two or three years in pots are to be
preferred, but plants from the nursery may be potted
and grafted in the same season, if brought into a hot-
house or vinery ; for the great warmth of either will
generally cause plants, brought out of the open air,
to push with vigor, and to form new roots, which will

Ss, Se ee, ee

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 1E1

support the plant, and greatly facilitate its forming 3
union with the stock.

“ [ have constantly had fine grapes, and the grafts
have made good wood, the first season, by every
method of grafting, but particularly by the last. In
which it is obvious that the graft has a double sup-
port, viz. : from the stock, as well as from the plant 1n
the pot.

“In this method it will be necessary to let the clay
and bandage remain two or three months after the
graft has formed a union; for if taken off at an
earlier period, the grafted part of the plant will be
very liable to spring from the stock.

“The pot should be plentifully supplied with water
till the month of August, when the graft should be
separated from the plant in the pot. Two or three
snches of wood below the bottom of the graft may be
left, but should be taken clean off at the next winter’s
pruning.”

Grafting is a common practice in the vineyards of
France. Chaptal’s directions are as follows :

«Having selected a healthy stock, it is, just when
the sap is beginning to flow, taken off with a clean
cut an inch or two below the surface of the ground.
‘The upper portion of the stock, which must be per-
feetly free from knots, is split evenly down the certre
and pared quite smooth within, of a sufficient size tor

192 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

the reception of the scion. The latter is pruned to three
eyes in length, having the lower part cut in the form
of a wedge, commencing about an inch beneath
the lowest eye, and gradually tapering to the bottom.
It is then inserted as far as the lowest bud into the
cleft of the stock: the second bud is level with the
gurface of the ground, which is drawn close aronnd
it, and the 2ppermost is quite above the soil. Great

care is necessary in adjusting the scion, that its bark
may touch that of the stock in every possible point.
“The whole is then bound round witha pliable oster

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. - 193

which retains the scion in its proper place. The
best season for grafting the vine is just when the
warmth of spring sets the sap in motion, and it should
be performed when the sky is cloudy, with the wind
blowing from the southeast or southwest. Whenever
a northerly wind or great drought prevails, it is
better to delay the operation; a burning sun or cold
wind would arrest the course of the sap by drying up
the vessels at the point of union. Neither is it
advisable to graft in rainy weather, because the
water will trickle down into the incision, and pre-
vent the union between the scion and stock. The
best time for taking off the grafts is in a dry day
toward the end of autumn, when the sap is still.
They should be cut off with a portion of the old wood
adhering, which will assist in preserving them until
wanted for use. They should be plunged two or
three inches deep in damp sand, and keptin a cool
cellar, where neither heat nor frost can penetrate.
Twenty-four hours previously to being used, they
should be taken up, and that part which had before
been in the sand should be laid in water.”

He, moreover, states that “ the vine is thus grafted
with so much facility, and the union between scion
and stock is so perfect, that no plant appears more
adapted for this mode of propagation.”

We have never met with an example of budding
9 ~

194 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

as practised on the grapevine. The following process,
which is described as budding in the ‘“ Gardener’s
Chronicle” for 1844, is in reality a species of grafting :

‘¢ Bud about the first week in March, or as soon as
the sap begins to rise. Cutaneye about three inches
in length, having attached as much wood as you can
get with it; at each end of the eye cut off about a
quarter of an inch of the upper vark, making the
ends quite thin. Next measure off the exact length
of the bud on the bark of the vine intended to be
budded, and make a niche slanting upward at the
upper part; and another slanting downward at the
bottom. Then take the piece neatly out, so that the
bud may fit nicely in, and by making the niche, as
stated above, each end of the bud is covered by the
bark of the shoot. Bind the bud firmly round with
matting, and clay it, taking care, however, that the
clay does not cover the eye of the bud. Then tie it
round with moss, and keep it constantly damp, and
as the sap rises in the vine the bud begins to swell.
When the vine commences to push out young shoots,
take the top ones off, in order to throw a little more
sap into the bud, and as you perceive it getting
stronger take off more young shoots, and so continue
until you have taken off all the young shoots. . Bud-
ding can only be performed where the long-rod system
is practised, as in that case you have the power of con-

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 195

fining the sap to the bud, which will grow vigorously.
As soon as you perceive this, cut the vine down to
the bud. Budding has the advantage over graft-
ing of not leaving an unsightly appearance where the .
bud was inserted. A bud likewise grows more luxu-
riantly. Allow the matting to remain until about
the month of September.”

Mr. Knight was accustomed on some occasions to
employ two distinct lhgatures to hold the bud of his
peach-trees in its place. One was placed above
the bud inserted, and upon the transverse section
through the bark; the other, which had no further
office than that of securing the bud, was employed
in the usual way. As soon as the bud had attached
itself, the ligature last applied was taken off; but the
other was suffered to remain. The passage of the
sap upward was in consequence much obstructed,
and buds inserted in June began to vegetate strongly
in July: when these had afforded shoots about four
inches long the remaining ligature was taken off to
permit the excess of sap to pass on; and the young
shoots were nailed to the wall. Being there properly
exposed to light, their wood ripened well, and afford-
ed blossoms in the succeeding spring.

Might not the principles here indicated be applied
with advantage to the foregoing method of budding

(crafting ?) the vine ?

L196 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

A method which partakes partly of grafting and
partly of inarching is shown in the annexed figure.
lig 56. Here the graft is covered with soil which

heel |
=-——-—— #
me on ow ed Mis.

% smn? 6

Fig. 56.

supports it in the same manner as a cutting, while at
the same time it receives nutriment from the stock.

Srep Hysripization.— Y oung vines are never raised
from seed, except for the production of new varieties ;
but, as this subject is deservedly attracting very
general attention at present, a few practical hints
thereon may prove acceptable. |

Ever since Bacon observed that “The compound-
ing and mixture of plants is not found out, which,
nevertheless, if it be possible, is more at command
than that of living creatures, wherefore it were one

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 197

of the most noble experiments touching plants to
find this ont; for so you may have a great variety of
plants and flowers yet unknown. Grafting doth it
not; that mendeth the fruit, or doubleth the flower,
but it hath not the power to make a new kind,” it
has been the constant endeavor of good gardeners to
improve the qualities of domestic plants by judicious
mixtures of varieties.

Bradley, we believe, was the first who undertook
to produce hybrid plants; but since his day, it has
been attempted by almost every celebrated horticul-
turist.

The limits of hybridization ‘amongst plants have
never been thoroughly ascertained, although it is a
subject of deep importance. Tor in the animal king-
dom we know that while cross breeding (or intermix-
ture of varieties) has been productive of the best
results, hybridization, or muling has been successful
in but very few instances, at least so far as practical
good is concerned. Now whether the different spe-
cies of the vine, as vitis vinifera, vitis labrusca, vitis
cordifolia, ete. are so far removed from each other
as to produce mules by their intermixture, or whe-
ther they are varieties and will freely cross-breed, has
not yet been fully determined.

To examine this subject, however, with sufficient

fullness to be useful would far exceed our limits.

198 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Neither can we enter upon a discussion of the
claims of the rival theory of Van Mons. We shall
therefore rest content with a few practical directions.

Speechly, who was probably the first to attempt
the improvement of vines by cross-breeding, directs
us to bring the flowering branches of the two kinds
of vines into close proximity—they being, of course,
in the same stage of maturity.

No very superior varieties followed his attempts,
however; and this is not to be wondered at, as it is
probable that branches might be entwined a thou-
sand times without effecting the result aimed at;
for no means are taken to bring the pollen of the dif-
ferent jlowers into contact with the stigma of the
others, and although we have no reasons to doubt the
possibility of super-feetation, (seeing it is well-known
to occur in the higher animals) yet no means are
here taken to produce even this.

J. Fiske Allen, one of our most successful grape
erowers and the originator of some new and excel-
lent varieties, gives the following directions upon this
point.

Phe applying the pollen, or farina of one variety
to the pistil, or stigma of another, is the surer method
of proceeding to obtain new sorts in the shortest
time ; and this is called hybridizing.

To do this properly, the bunch should be thinned

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 199

of three-quarters of the buds; the lower part should
be cut away entirely (immediately before inflores-
cence), the strongest buds always being left.

Observe them closely, and as soon as the flowers
open, with sharp scissors clip the anthers, being care-
ful not to injure the pistil; with a soft brush, apply
the pollen from the kind to be used in impregnation ;
or the whole bunch which is to furnish the pollen may
be cut from the vine and gently rubbed or applied to
the bunch, by frequently striking them together on
every side. This should be repeated several days,
until it is evident that the fruit is all impregnated ;
a fresh bunch with the pollen in a suitable condition,
must be had at each operation.

“The pollen must be dry and ina falling condition,
to be fit for the purpose. If your vines are so
situated that a branch to be acted upen can be
brought into contact with the branch of another kind,
and the bunches interlaced, this will be a good
method of proceeding—cutting away the males part
of the blossom from the kind that is to ripen the seed
for the new kinds.”

Fig. 57. Fig. 58. Fig. 59.

Wig. 57 is a magnified representation of the bud

900 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

of the grape. Figs. 58 and 59 show the blossom.
The change from the bud to the blossom is usually
rapid, and takes place about thirty to forty days after
the shoot appears in the spring which bears the fruit.
This bud, which forms the blossom, consists of a
covering, or cap, and the embryo berry with five
anthers, which, when the. time for inflorescence has
come, is raised, or lifted, by the anthers, and the
wind blows this cap free.

“The third is the blossom or embryo grape, with
the anthers clipped and deprived of their farina; on
the top of the embryo is the pistil; upon this is to be
placed the farina, or pollen of the male plant ; when
this is done, impregnation takes place, and the em-
bryo rapidly swells off. If the operation has not
been effectual, the berry will remain as it is. When
the grape has attained one-third or one-half its size,
it remains stationary two or three weeks, and at this,
time it is perfecting the seed. When this is done,
the fruit begins growing again; thus it appears the
seed will vegetate, even if the fruit does not ripen
sufficiently to be eatable.”

Loudon’s directions for saving and sowing seed are »
as follows: ‘Grapes for seed should be permitted to
remain on the plant till the fruit is perfectly mature,
and the seeds are of a very dark brown color. They
should be separated from the pulp, and preserved till

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 961

February or the beginning of March. They should
then be sown in pots filled with light fresh mi sId, and
plunged in a moderately warm hot-bed; they will
come up in-from four to six weeks, and when the -
plants are about six inches high, they should be
transplanted singly, into forty-eights, and afterward
into pots of a larger size. Water gently, as circum-
stances require, allow abundance of light and air,
and carefully avoid injuring any of the leaves. Cut
down the plants every autumn to two goed buds, and
suffer only one of these to extend itself in the fol-
lowing spring. Shift into larger pots as occasion
requires, till they have produced fruit. This, under
good management, will take place in the fourtn or
fifth year, when the approved sorts should be
selected, and the rest destroyed, or used as stocks on
which to graft or inarch good sorts.”

202 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Gis bed gil sen b

MANURE. »

Manure* may be defined to be anything added to
the soil to increase its fertility, whether by mechani-
cal or chemical action. Substances serving the first
purpose have been alluded to under the head of soils.
The latter will now occupy our attention.

In a former chapter sufficient practical directions
were given for the preparatory enrichment of the soil
and for the annual top-dressing of the borders; it will
now be our object to consider in detail the character
of the nutriment required by the vine; the sources
whence it may be derived; the various modes of its
application; and its effects upon the plant.

It is a well-established fact, that unless the soil in
which any plant is placed contains all the elements
necessary to the formation of such plant, no healthy
growth can ensue. Hence our first step must be to
inquire into the chemical constitution of the grape-
vine, or at least of its ashes, those elements which

* Query.—To what extent was Jethro Tull’s idea of horse-hoeing,
as a substitute for manure, anticipated by those who first used the
word manure (manceuvrer—to work with the hand), before it was em-
ployed to express the addition of matter to the soil, with a view to
increase its fertility ? One old English author speaks of the Com-
monwealth of England as being ‘‘gouerned, administered, and
manured by three sorts of persons,” 3tc.

MANURE. 903

are dissipated during combustion being abundantly
supplied from the atmosphere.

The following are a few of the most reliable analy-
ses which have been published:

Dr. Emmons found the wood of Vets Labrusca
(Isabella?) to contain: Water, 40.26; dry matter,
59.74: ash, 98.

Full-sized leaves of Catawba, picked June 2d:
Water, 72.388; dry matter, 27.612; ash, 2.188.
Per centage of ash calculated on dry matter, 7.746.

Leaves of Catawba grape picked June 2d. An-

alysis of ash:

Carvamc acid. 5). ... 6628 3.050| Pofassa .....-. per kee
SUMCIE BOIGs oo. 5.5 wesw oe ss ZOMG OM) OWA asi cic) a Geese wk ctaked Gore 9.698
SUMMMMIRIC ACId... soe eee se 2 Cea Chlorine ios". tetas oe 8 aon ae a
eos e GES ec. ov oss ee, 900) Organic acid 22. sey eeast 2.250
MMe Sees in (a cusiatong- she ok «ates 4.391 }
TRIES AS eos sees ie ones « 1.740 96.926
An analysis of wood and bark of wild vine gave
Wood. | Bark.

Ciera Ah Chale ah. 0a, Obit al sie- senile) obebeat'e '<. o.0) 8's 2 Ra EEE 20.84] 1.77
ODMR AE fo Creat ene SO aN era: wigs oct b-acaeahs 6 ee. boa 2.06} 9.27
GOTO. fast als 5 fe mesa ech ecbe sisesde passat States a aiken ers 0.02} 0.40
SUP MITIS A CIC: Stet css gic ekpate Bs s eee corre pee ee 0.23 | trace
Er Spbiatet Ok AERC. ota cong arbiters aioe Sa ova The phate ste 0 15.40] 5.04
Ehesphate Of; peromde Of iON... ois. ase csc wees 1.20} 5.04
SEMOMIGIACIG 2752s wales hist ass, 08 Soe NSE CeCe aTT Eree 54.83 | 32.22
MME Reena ot fais ia Sih ni wy ota cc eye se Te eis éoaes(. Pfheoe lpdasars
Merb tie pales a eke or sNotnieienh w ois°S 0) 6:4: eh eiin'n” aie Oa: stale es 4.40] 0.80
BIPM Patho A eis’ cy sieiny'ap 6. i d'e * 6s x wid ela ais alas Ss 2.80} 14.00
SNOMEIC TSCA) eke Sawiess « arias pintacecr Saree Sar 0.00 | 80.00
Cosel anG Orsamie Mater. © oo. cee eis asec s cane ens one 2.96)"

100.21 [100.86
The following tabulated analyses by Crasso &
Welz explain themselves:

OPEN ATR GRAPE CULTURE.

204

00°9 | PLL 619
00°O00F, 00°00T | 00°00T

08°46 | 89°26 | 99° FE
GOT | SL°T 16'T

96° TE |, 1s°9 0
a a Spee |
a fe a
EB eS =
e Z
- & A 2 2S
oa SF
Bs a 3
ep Bonk a)
HS g q
= 3 =
Z a 2
A [= S)
“ZTV MA.

Small Burgundy Vines
—Ash of Wood.

168°6

Green Grapes

00° 00T

Seed.

91L°S
00° 00T

6¢'8

Blue Grapes—Ash of
Seed.

16s"V

00° O0L

Green Grapes—Ash of
Skin.

Blue Grapes—Ash of
Skin,

Ripe Green Grapes—
Ash of Juice.

Blue Grapes—

Ripe

HOO SSD

Ke

Ash of Juice.

Ripe Blue Grapes
Ash of Juice.

or)
oI
10

—
o> |
WOownoo

=)

|

Unripe Blue Grapes—
Ash of Juice.

‘OSSVUO

toe oss-UBW Jo asequadledg

ea ee “uTpog JO aprix0T yO,
seeeeess ss oui Jo ayvydsoyg
wody jo *xombsag jo oyeqdsoyg
eulunyy jo ayeydsoug

ee ee ee ee wee poy oL toydsoyuq
ee ere) eee ee " PPV OTOTIS
eee eee eee ee ee eee . “ ULLOTUO
eee eee wees ploy A

eee eee “Tes * "ploy oLmMydyng
esouesue jo ‘xombsas-001g

ws *uo1g jo appxomnbseg
Ase g.GoBoe res F ee prssuSeyyy
TAOS E cotii0 veeeee tes oui]
ates Herat teeter sees epog

tri seeee cece serseees wgepiod

“SLUVd LNENOdWOO

‘INIA BdVUD JO HSV AO SUSRIVNV

MANURE. 205

Such being the normal constituents of the vine
and of its fruit, and the latter being, in almost all
cases, removed from the soil in which it was pro-
duced, it is obvious that a process of exhaustion must
be constantly carried on, which, if not counteracted,
must, in a short time, perceptibly reduce the crop.

The means by which the matter thus removed
from the soil is restored, are of three kinds: First,
the action of the plants themselves, or of man upon
the subsoil; secondly, rain; and thirdly, by the direct
addition of the requisite elements, through the agency
of man and animals.

Although the soil has, to a certain extent, the
power of separating salts and gases from the water
which passes through it, the drainage water still re-
tains a certain proportion of valuable matter,* and
consequently the subsoil also becomes saturated to a
greater or less extent with these same elements.
Hence one of the effects of trenching is not only to
bring up unexhausted soil to the surface, but to return
those matters which had previously been washed out
of the upper soil by the rains. The plants themselves

occasionally bring up some of this matter, sending

A series of valuable analyses and experiments upon this point ap-
peared lately in the transactions of the Highland (Scottish) Agricul-
tural Society, which the reader who desires to pursue this subject

would do well to consult.

206 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

down roots deep into the subsoil if it is open and
porous.

Rain is another important source not only of am-
monia and gases, but of mineral matter. We quote the
following from Lindley’s “ Theory of Horticulture”

“The researches of chemists have shown that all rain
water contains ammonia, a compound of hydrogen
and nitrogen, and thus the source of the nitrogen
absorbed by plants was explained. But it has also
been shown, especially by M. Barral, that other sub-
stances upon which plants feed are contained in rain
water to a much greater amount than was suspected.
This observer was led, during six months of 1851, te
examine minutely the water collected in the rain
gauges of the Observatory of Paris. His mode of
investigation is declared by Messrs. Dumas, DBous-
singault, Gasparin, Régnault, and Arago, names fore-
most in I’'rench science, to be free from all objection,
and to bear the most counter trials to which they
could expose it. M. Barral states, that although the
quantities of the following substances varied in dif-
ferent months, yet the monthly average from July to
December, inclusive, was as follows :

‘““SUBSTANCES IN A CUBIC METRE OF RAIN WATER.
GRAMMES. GRAINS.
Nitrogen, . ° . 3 . 2 S06) = 29;
Nitric Acid, ; ° 5 = » 1909 =< 984.

MANURE. QUT

GRAMMES, GRAINS.

Ammonia, . ° ° : : wAieol = Sart
Chlorine, .. F . : ; a chee =e. SE,
Lime, . F - : : e 949% =°100,
Magnesia, . : : ; : ae 8 ay

“Ele did not ascertain whether all these substances
are contained in rain water collected at a distance
from towns. But Dr. Bence Jones found at least
nitric acid in rain water collected in London, at
Kingston in Surrey, at Melbury in Dorsetshire, and
far from any town at Clonakelty, in Ireland. Uf we
assume that M. Barral’s averages represent what
occurs on an English acre, the quantity of such sub-
stances deposited on that extent of ground may be
safely estimated as follows:

“The average depth of rain which falls in the neigh-
borhood of London is well ascertained to be about
twenty-four inches per annum. ‘This is.at the rate of
87,120 cubic feet, or 2,466 cubic metres of rain water
per acre; and this, according to the proportions per
cubic metre in the preceding table, would afford anu-

ally of—
Nitrogen, . : : 4 . : 453 lbs,
Nitric acid, : : ° : : Tosi *
Ammonia, . - - - ° ; 195 ‘“
Chlorine, . . ° ° : : 124“
Dime. ..+.. ° é ° : d opis 5
Magnesia. . : . : , : | | ae

* Amount total per acre, 227

208 CPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

“Of these substances, the three first are of the
utmost importance, on account of their entering sq
largely into the indispensable constituents of the food
by which vegetable life is sustained. The quantity
of ammonia thus ascertained to exist, is about what 14
expected in two hundred weight of Peruvian guano;
and bountiful nature gives us, moreover, nearly one
hundred and fifty pounds of nitrogenous matter
equally suited to the nutrition of our crops.” ;

But although nature is thus liberal in supplying the
necessary wants of her children, man desires returns
rather more extensive than is merely necessary for
the good of the plant. He therefore adds directly to
the soil those matters which contain proper nutriment
for the vine. In doing this, however, it is not neces
sary to follow very accurately any recipe founded upon
the analysis of the vine, provided we obtain sufficient
of those elements which are most wanted. If we only
spread a liberal table, the vine will select its own
food.

Of all applications to the soil, none deserve more
confidence than well rotted barnyard manure; from
time immemorial it has been the staple reliance cf
the gardener and farmer and few are the instances in
which its judicious application has been known to
fail.

That it may do good and not harm, howevery when

MANURE. . 909

mixed with the soil in which plants are growing, it is
necessary it be thoroughly rotten. However much
may have been written about the waste incurred by
allowing manure to decompose, it is a well know fact
that thoroughly decomposed manure is beneficial to
most plants, while decomposing or fermenting ma-
nure is frequently prejudicial. This probably arises
from the fact that all bodies while undergoing decom-
position exert a catalytic action on any organized
matter in contact with them. Thus decomposing
manure directly tends to produce rot in the roots or
other parts of plants with which it comes in contact.
The proper time for the application of manure to
a vine border has been a subject of much discussion.
Our plan is to apply it as a top-dressing in the fall
and fork it in in the spring. It thus serves to keep the
border warm and the soluble portions are washed
down amongst the roots of the vine by the winter
snow and rain, thus reaching it in a most effectual
manner. To assist this process, the border should be
loosened with a fork before the manure is laid on.
Of all the substances entering into the composi-
tion of a manure heap none have a better influence
upon vines than bones. In the formation of a border
they are of essential utility, affording for a long period
a constant source of nutriment. ‘The avidity with
which the roots of the vine seek such a depot of food

910 OPEN AIR GRAPE. CULTURE.

may be easily seen by placing a large porous bone
amongst the roots of a vine. Ina few months it wilt
be literally covered with rootlets which have sought
it out and find their nutriment in its recesses.

Leather, hair, horns, hoofs, woollen rags and other
animal offal possess a similar action to bones. They
all possess the valuable property of lying undecom-
posed in the soil for long periods, yet yield readily to
the disintegrating action of plant roots. Hence,
while they afford abundant and valuable nourish.
ment to the vine, it is not surfeited by them as this
nutriment must be wanted and sought before it will
be given up.

Ashes of wood, whether fresh or leached are a
powerful manure for the vine, and probably contain
all that it requires. Leached ashes may be applied
as_a top dressing in almost any quantity with excel-
lent effect, but a more cautious use must be made of
fresh wood ashes, they being much more powerful
and caustic. Coal ashes have hitherto been deemed
utterly worthless, and are usually thrown into the
street. Tio some soils, however, particularly those
which are too heavy, they are a very useful addition,
and as they are a powerful absorbent, there is no
doubt that if mixed with night soil, or some similar
matter, they would prove an excellent article—more
lasting, and consequently better than night soil by

MANURE. 911

itself. They should never be thrown away, however,
as they contain lime, iron and minute, though appre-
ciable quantities of alkalies, soda usually predomi-
nating. It is also quite possible that they contain.
minute traces of phosphates, though in no analysis
with which I have met is it mentioned. Where the
coal has been burned at a high temperature the
alkali is in general reduced, and the metal volatilized.

The dung and urine of animals forms a powerful
manure. The solid excrements of all these are best
mixed with some absorbent, as plaster, char-zoal,
burnt clay, etc.; or thoroughly decomposed in con-
tact with vegetable matter, as straw, leaves, etc.
The liquid and soluble portion may be used as liquid
manure, or may be poured over the fermenting dung
heap.

The dung of birds, as hens, pigeons, etc., and also
gnano, form a very convenient and most excellent top
dressing for vine borders, but are better when applied
as liquid manure during the growing season.

An excellent manure may be made as follows:
Sink a hole in any convenient part of the premises
and fill up with saw-dust. On this pour all the
urine that can be obtained from time to time, and
keep closely covered with a broad cover.

When sufficient has been added, or when the smell

becomes offensive, remove the cover and place a pile

219 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

of charcoal, burnt clay, coal ashes, or other absor-
bent on top of it, and allow it to lie for a few weeks.
At the end of that time, a mass of matter will have
been produced almost equal to guano.

Road scrapings form a good top dressing for most
sdils. Hoare considers them unrivalled for the grape
vine, and such was the opinion of Speechly, who tells
us: “The dust, or dirt, from roads, consists princi-
pally of the following particulars: first, the soil of
the vicinity ; secondly, the dung and urine of horses
and other animals; and thirdly, the materials of the
road itself when pulverized. Various other matters
may be brought by winds, and by other means, but
the foregoing may be deemed the principal. The
first of the above articles is brought to roads by the
wheels of carriages, and the legs of horses and other
animals; the last is the worst part of the materials,
as the dust and scrapings of roads, made and mended
with soft stone that grinds fast away, is much infe-
rior in its vegetating quality to that which is collected
from hard roads. On the whole, however, this in-
gredient of compost from the roads is unquestionably
in general of a fertile nature, which may be attri-
buted in part to the dung, urine, and other rich ma-
terials, of which it is composed, and in part to a kind
of magnetic power, impressed upon it by friction and
its perpetual pulverization.

MANURE. O13

“The nature of this road earth ought to be duly
considered, when used in the vine compost, and its
proportion adjusted according to its quality. In a
sandy country it will naturally abound with particles
of sand, and long and continued rains will, of course,
wash away éts best parts. High winds, too, in dry
weather, will as certainly deprive it of its lightest
and finest parts, especially when roads he on enti-
nences, or enjoy an open exposure. Those materials
from roads are therefore preferable, which are pro-
duced from an inclosed track in a low situation
Pavements, however, and hard roads, produce the
best sulture of all. The compost is much better
when collected in a moderate dry state, than when it
is either very wet or dusty. If scraped off the road
in a wet and soft state, when it is become dry it. will
be hard and cloddy, and will require time to bring it
to a proper condition.

‘When thus circumstanced, the best way of recover-
ing it is to give it frequent turnings in hard, frosty
weather.” |

Dead animals may be used in a vine border if
placed sufficiently far from the roots to allow of their
being decomposed, before the roots reach them, as
previously remarked.

Any decaying matter m a border is very detri-
mental.

914 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Charcoal is one of the best additions to any soil.
It should be well burnt, however, and free from all
smell of creosote, as this substance is rather prejudi-
cial to the roots of the grape vine, although it seems
to agree with some plants; (chiefly alliaceous, for
which soot is a specific). On this account, when
used for drainage in pots, it should be reburnt.

I am informed by one successful grape culturist
that unless this precaution of reburning is taken with
most charcoal, it is rather prejudicial to the roots of
young vines in pots than otherwise. I have found,
however, that if well sprinkled (it need not be satu-
rated) with putrid urine and allowed to lie for some
time, it loses its injurious qualities and retains abund-
ant nourishment, which is gradually given off to the
roots of the plants as they require it. When used as
a compost for enriching a vine border it had always
better be saturated with night soil or urine. Even
brick rubbish, if so treated, becomes of great value.

Most of these solid matters are best added to the
soil in the original formation of the border. This is
especially the case with the prunings of the vine,
than which nothing can be more valuable. If added
when the border is first formed, it will not only fur-
nish nutriment for the vine, but will tend to keep the
soil open and porous. For our established vines, there-

fore, it will be best to depend upon liquid mannre

MANURE. 915

and autumn top dressing of stable manure, and al!
solid matters may go to the formation of new vine-
yards, of which we suppose there will in general be
an annual addition. But where no new borders are
being formed, it would be well to open trenches
between the rows of vines, in which such matters
might be buried. If this were done immediately
after the vintage, the roots would recover the same
season from any wounds they might receive, and the
ultimate gain would greatly overbalance any tempo-
rary injury. In doing this, it will of course be best
to enrich but a small extent of border each year and
do it thoroughly, so that it may afford a supply
during many succeeding seasons.

Liquip Manurg.—Of all the forms in which manure
ean be applied, the liquid manure is the most conve-
nient and the most effective. No garden or vineyard
should be without a tank of this article, as its judi-
cious application will often enable us to mature a
fine crop under very unfavorable circumstances, its
great advantage consisting in the immediate results
obtained ; though this very quality, renders it a
dangerous article in the hands of those who do not
thcroughly understand its proper application. To
prepare and preserve liquid manure, two tanks with
good covers should be made in some convenient spot.
In smal] gardens, barrels, such as are used for

9°16 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

hydraulic cement, will answer—larger establishments,
of course, requiring something more capacious. They
should be filled with chamber and kitchen slops and
soap suds, the latter being generally added warm.
On the large scale, when horse, cow, and other ma-
nure can be obtained, it may be mixed with water and
added to the contents of the barrels. Hen manure
is one of the most valuable additions. Zwo barrels
should be used, so as constantly to have some of the
manure thoroughly decomposed.

After standing for a week or ten days, it will be fit
for use, and may either be applied to the surface of
the border, or what is far better, introduced by means
of subterranean drains or channels. These may con-
sist simply of long wooden boxes, bored full of small
holes and sunk about twelve inches beneath the
surface, or of common horse shoe tiles placed in a
similar position. Under any circumstances, it must
have a tube at one end rising up to the surface,
through which the lquid may be poured and which
may be closed on the approach of winter so as to
exclude frost. In very small gardens, it may prove
sufficient to sink one or two flower pots in the border.
These, being filled with the liquid manure, it will
soak down amongst the’roots without the possibility
of loss by evaporation from the surface of the ground.
The pots should, of course, ordinarily be kept covered.

MANURE. oF

Liquid manure is such a powerful agent, that there
is only one season of the year at which it can be ap-
vlied ; that is from the time the first leaves are well
developed until the fruit is fully formed. During
this period a very weak solution may be applied in
large quantities once or twice a week. The culturist,
however, must remember that the solution must be
weak

say one pailful of the contents of the barrels
to six or ten pails of water, according to the strength
of the original liquid.

To prepare extemporaneous liquid manure ready
for application to the borders or drains, dissolve two
or three ounces of guano in a gallon of rain water,
and allow to stand some ‘ime, stirring occasionally.

The principles which govern the application of this
useful and powerful agent, are so clearly set forth byf:
Dr. Lindley, in the last edition of his “ Theory of
Horticulture,” that we cannot do better than quote
trom him. |

“In order that the full effects of liquid manure
should be felt without injury, it is indispensable: 1,
that it should be weak, and frequently applied ; 2,
that it should be perfectly clear; 3, that it should be
administered when plants are in full growth. If
strong, it is apt to produce great injury, becanse of
the facility with which it is absorbed, beyond the
decomposing and assimilating power of plants. if
10

918 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

turbid, ic carries with it in suspension a large quan-
tity of fine sedimentary matter, which fills up the
interstices of the soil, or, deposited upon the roots
themselves, greatly impedes their power of absorp-
tion. If appled when plants are torpid, it either
acts as in the case of being over strong, or it actually
corrodes the tissues.

“ Let the manure be extremely weak; it owes its
value to matter that may be apphed with consider-
able latitude ; for they are not absolute poisons, like
arsenic and corrosive sublimate, but only become
dangerous when in a state of concentration. Gas
water illustrates this; pour it over the plant in the
caustic state in which it comes from the gas-works,
and it takes off every leaf, if nothing worse ensues.
Mix it with half water—still it burns; double the
quantity once more—it may still burn, or discolor
foliage somewhat. But add a tumbler of gas water
to a bucketful of pure water, no injury whatever
ensues; add two tumblers full, and still the effect is
salubrious, not injurious. Hence it appears to be
immaterial whether the proportion is the hundredth
or two hundredth of the fertilizing material.

*“ Manuring is, in fact, a rude operation in which
considerable latitude is allowable. The danger of
error lies on the side of strength, not of weak-

ness.

MANURE. 919

“To use liquid manure very weak and very often is,
in fact, to imitate nature, than whom we cannot take a
safer guide. This is shown by the carbonate of am-
monia, carried to plants in rain, which is not under x
stood to contain, under ordinary circumstances, more_
than one grain of ammonia in 1 lb. of water; so that
in order to form a liquid manure of the strength of
rain water, 1 lb. carbonate of ammonia would have to
be diluted with about 7,000 lbs. weight of water, or more
than three tons. Complaints which have been made
of guano water and the like are unquestionably refer-
able to their having been used too strong.

“Jt must be borne in mind: 1, That liquid manure
is an agent ready for immediate use, its main value
depending upon that quality; 2, that its effect is to
produce exuberant growth; and 3, that it will con-
tinue to do so as long as the temperature and light
required for its action are sufficient.

“These three propositions, rightly understood, point
to the true principles of applying it; and if they are
kept in view, no mistakes can well be made.

‘With fruit, the period of application should be
when the fruit, not the flowers, is beginning to swell.
Nothing is gained by influencing the size or color of
the flower of a fruit tree; ;what we want is to increase
the size or the abundance of the fruit, If liquid
manure is applied to a plant when the flowers are

920 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

growing, the vigor which it communicates to them
must also be communicated to the leaves; but when |
leaves are growing unusually fast, there is sometimes
a danger that they may rob the branches of the sap
required for the nutrition of the fruit; as@f if that
happens, the latter falls off. There, then, is a source
of danger which must not be lost sight of. No doubt
the proper time for using liquid manure is when the
fruit is beginning to swell, and has acquired, by its
own green surface, a power of suction capable of
opposing that of the leaves.

“‘ At that time liquid manure may be applied freely,
and continued from time to time as long as the fruit
is growing. But at the first sign of ripening, or even
earlier, it should be wholly withheld.” :

The action of manure is even now very far from
being thoroughly understood. When modern chem-
istry was first applied to agriculture, it was supposed
that the great object of manure was merely to afford
food for plants. But it was afterward found that
other conditions were of equal importance, and that
the advantage of many manures arose from their me-
chanical influence upon the soil. At Lois Weedon
"in England, excellent crops of wheat have been raised
by thorough cultivation, without the application of
manure, and the same principle was advocated by >
Jethro Tull in 1731, whose famous system of horse

MANURE. 291

hoeing husbandry consisted simply in deep ploughing
and thorough pulverization of the soil.

But while the mechanical condition of the soil
exerts a most important influence on the growth of
plants, there can be no doubt that unless all those
elements of which a plant is composed, exist in the
soil, or are derivable from other sources, healthy
vegetation is impossible. Tull’s farm finally failed to
yield fair crops, notwithstanding large expenditures,
on the mechanical part of the process, and the same
result is said, to have attended the rigorous applica-
tion of his principles elsewhere.

If the action of manures in general, is but imper-
fectly understood, still less does its influence upon
the vine and its products, seem to have been reduced
to known laws. In France the use of manure has
been productive of evils so great as to induce the
company of wine merchants, and vineyard proprie-
tors, to condemn the use of azotized manures entirely.

On the other hand, the vine-dressers of Thomery,
who produce the beautiful Chasselas de Fontainebleau
grapes, use rich manures in liberal quantities. In
general, it will be found in this, as in other cases,
that a middle course is best. If the border has been
purposely prepared in the first place, a vigorous
growth will have been secured, while it was necessary
that the vine should produce abundant wood, and

One OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

when, after four or five years, the fruit is applied to
the manufacture of wine, all rankness of growth will
have disappeared. If, in after years, the vine should
show symptoms of debility, it will be easy to supply
it with nourishment, by means of liquid manure; and
if ample means are provided for keeping the roots
very dry during the ripening process, so that we can
regulate the period over which the effects of such
application shall extend, we are inclined to believe
that no evil results will follow.

M. Ladrey suggests that but one portion of the
vineyard be manured at one time, and that the wine
from the part so treated be kept separate from the
rest, until the evil influence of the manure has disap-
peared. It is obvious, however, that if we could
avoid entirely any loss, of even a part of the vineyard,
it would be desirable.

In this, however, as in all other matters, we must
keep steadily in view the fact, that all rank vegeta-
tion exerts an injurious influence, not only upon the
fruit product of the current year, but on the wood
upon which our next year’s crop depends.

In his ‘“ Nouveau systeme de la culture de la vigne,”
Persoz attempts to avoid the evils ‘incident to the
ordinary mode of the application of manure, by add-
ing to the soil those matters which tend to produce

wood, and those which favor the production of fruit,

MANURE. 923

each at the appropriate time. His formule are as
follows. .

Six pounds bone dust; three pounds leather clip-
pings and other animal refuse; (blood, horns, hoofs,
etc.) and one pound gypsum, making in all ten pounds
to be added to each square yard of border. This is
done in the spring before the buds have pushed.

As soon as the young shoots are well advanced, he
manures each square yard with eight pounds silicate
of potassa, and two pounds of the double phosphate of
potassa and lime. Silicate of potassa he procures by
fusing fifteen parts of quartz sand with ten of potassa
and two of charcoal.

The double phosphate of potassa and lime is pre-
pared, by adding 18 lbs. of sulphuric acid to 24 lbs.
of calcined and pulverized bones. ‘This, after being
well stirred, is diluted with water, allowed to stand
for three days, treated with hot water and filtered.
Carbonate of potassa is then added, until the liquid
is slightly alkaline, and it is then evaporated in a cast
iron vessel, roasted at a red heat, mixed with the sili-
eate, and the whole reduced to powder.

A vine manured by Persoz with 0.5 kilogr. of sili-
eate of potassa, 1.5 of phosphate of lime and potassa,
and an equal weight of dried blood and goose dung,
put forth in one year a shoot 11 metres in length, and
yielded on nine shoots twenty-five bunches of grapes,

994. OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

while a similar vine, which was not manured, produced
a shoot only 4.6 metres long, with ofily four or six
blossoms, which faded away before their full devel-
opment.—Lizzie anp Kopp: Annual Leport.

DISEASES AND INS3ECYS. 995

CHAPTER XIU.
DISEASES AND INSECTS.

We confess we have had very little experience in
the matter of diseases and insects affecting the grape
vine. Our native varieties are so vigorous and hardy
that disease rarely affects them, and during the grow-
ing season they push with such rapidity, that the loss
of a few leaves destroyed by insects is scarcely felt.

But we are aware that it is not always so, and we
shall therefore give as full -an account as we can
obtain of the formidable pests to which the grape
grower is exposed.

When growing in the open air in a suitable soil,
and with a good exposure, the only two diseases to
which the grape vine is liable, are mildew and -
the rot. The former appears in whitish spots on the
surface of the leaves and wood, and when examined
with a simple lens of 25 inch focus, shows a net-work
of fungus with its sporules.

For this, as well as for the red spider, no remedy
has been found equal to sulphur, the use of which for

this purpose has been known from time immemorial.
TO

ype} OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

To apply it, use may be made either of a common
dredger fixed to the end of a pole, or of a pair of
bellows with a contrivance for admitting a small
quantity of sulphur into the stream of air. Or it
may be mixed with water and the foliage syringed
therewith. But the most efficient method is that
proposed by Dr. Price, who was the first to suggest
pentasulphide of calcium for this purpose.

This compound is prepared by boiling 80 parts by
weight of caustic lime with 80 parts by weight of
flowers of sulphur, suspended in a suflicient quantity
of water; heat is applied until the solution has ac-
quired a dark red color and the excess of sulphur
ceases to dissolve. The clear solution is drawn off,
and after being diluted with 20 times its bulk of
water, may be applied to the vines by means of a
sponge, brush or syringe.

Where flowers of sulphur is used, it should have a
few drops of ammonia added before it is appled to
the foliage, as the sulphurous acid with which it is
saturated (derived from its combustion during dis-
tillation) is always injurious to leaves and young
shoots.

The rot has rarely troubled our northern vineyards,
though it is the great bane of vine culture in Ohio.
We are inclined to believe that if vines are planted
in soil, dry or well drained and not too rich, and be

DISEASES AND INSECTS. 997

allowed to extend themselves moderately, but little
need be apprehended from the rot.

Dr. Asa Fitch has found upward of thirty different
insects which prey upon the grape vine, but with the
exception of the red spider, and occasionally the rose-
bug, they do not injure the vine materially.

The red spider (acarus tellarius) of which we give
a cut (ig. 60), we have found, not only under glass,

Fig. 60.

but on vines in the open air. It is a small, reddish-
colored insect which it requires a sharp eye to detect.
For this, as for mildew, sulphur is a specific, and we
are always safe in giving our vines a good dusting of
this substance, so as to prevent any injury which
might arise from either source.

The rose-bug has never troubled us much. It
nearly destroyed Dr. Underhill’s vineyards at one
time, however, and we therefore give his account of
the matter in his own words.

“Several years since, when my vineyards were

928 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

smaller than at present, I found the rose-bug a
formidable enemy. They appeared on the vines
when they were in blossom, or just as the blossoms
were falling off and the young grapes forming, and
devoured them with the greatest avidity. This feast
continued from cight to twelve days, or, until the
cherries on the trees in the vicinity began to ripen,
when they with one accord flew to them, for a
change of diet, I presume, or from some other cause.
I was quite familiar with the habits of the caterpil-
lar, and had been in the practice of clearing them
from my orchards in the spring, before they had
destroyed scarcely a leaf. This I did not consider a
great or difficult matter, for they were enveloped in a
web early in the morning, and one man in a few
days was able to clear many hundred trees, by twist-
ing them off, web and all, with a basket, and care-
fully placing them under his foot. The rose-bug,
however, did not, like the caterpillar, make its
appearance in clusters or webs, but in small numbers
at first, and scattered through the vineyards, increas-
ing rapidly every day. Though taken from the vines
on the trellis every morning, they continued to mul-
tiply till the eighth or twelfth day, when they
suddenly left for the cherry-trees, as before stated.
I was at a loss at first to know where they came
from, till at length I discovered the ground perfo

DISEASES AND INSECTS. 220

rated with numerous holes, through which they made
their way to the surface. |

“JT observed, when they first appeared on the
vines, they were so feeble as to be unable to fly
even for a few yards. Having surmounted all other
difficulties, I was determined not to be defeated in
the vineyard cultivation of the grape by this insect,
and consequently resorted to the following means for
their destruction. I directed my men to take each a
cup, with a little water in it, and go through the
vineyards every morning, removing every bug from
the vines; and this was done quite rapidly by
passing the cup under the leaf, and merely touching
it, when the bugs instantly dropped, and were re-
ceived in the cup containing the water. When the
cup was full, they were soon destroyed by pressing
the foot upon them on a hard surface. After all of
them had been taken off, on the following morning
there were ten on the vines where we had found but
one; and the succeeding morning, after having been
removed as before, there were one hundred where
there were but ten, andso on. I was not discouraged,
however, and directed my men to persevere in the
work of destruction, and we should thus perhaps
prevent the formation of another progeny for the
next season, for it is very easily shown that they do
not migrate to any great distance; and by thus

230 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

destroying the present race, I am convinced that we
insure ourselves from their further depredations to
any injurious extent. When a person of some energy
has cleared them from his vineyard or garden, he is
pretty certain to enjoy the benefit of his labor an-
other season as well as the present, though he may
have a few from his less resolute neighbor. Pursu-
ing the course I have mentioned, I very soon lessened
the rose-bugs so much that they gave me very little
trouble.

“T also tried ploughing my vineyards just before ~
winter set in, so as to expose to the weather the
insect in the larva state, which will certainly destroy
all the young tribe that have not descended below
the reach of the plough. Jor two years past the
number has been so small, that I have omitted this

process for their destruction.”

(p29)

HASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE GRAPE. Se.

CHAPTER XIII.

METHOD OF HASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE GRAPE.

Severs methods have been proposed for causing
grapes to ripen at an earlier period of the season than
usnal, or in localities where they would not other-
wise ripen at all. The most successful, and, on the
large scale, economical, mode of effecting this is un-
doubtedly by means of glass houses, either with or
without fire heat. A description of these is beyond
the limits assigned to this work, though we may, per-
haps, be allowed briefly to describe two devices of
this nature, by which a few bunches may be matured
at small expense and with very little trouble.

“More than twenty years ago, a market gardener
at Bath published a plan of ripening grapes under
common hand-glasses. He planted the vines in a
soil composed in great part of lime rubbish; placed a
glass over each plant, taking out half a pane in its
summit through which the leading shoot of the vine
protruded itself, and grew in the open air. The
bunch or bunches of grapes remained within the
hand-glass, and enjoyed the advantages of protection

932 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

from cold winds, dews, and rains during the night,
and of a high degree of confined solar heat during
the day.” —Lovpon. )

Mr. Maund, editor of the “ Botanic Garden,” em-
ploys the following method of obtaining a few
bunches: “ Although my experiment is not yet com-
pleted, I cannot omit mentioning to you its success.
Grapes grown on open walls in the midland counties
are rarely well-ripened ; therefore, I provided a small
glazed frame—a sort of narrow hand-glass—of the
shape shown in the annexed outline, to fix against
the wall, and inclosed in it one branch of
the vine with its fruit and foliage. The
Open part, which rests against the awall, is
13 inches wide, and may be of any length
required to take in the fruit. The sides
are formed of single panes of glass, seven
inches wide, and meet on a bar which
may represent the ridge of a roof, the ends
inclosed by triangular boards, and having

a notch to admit the branch. This was
fixed on the branch a month before the vine came
into flower. The consequence was, the protected
branches flowered a week earlier than the exposed.
The frame was not fitted closely to the wall, but in
some places may have been a quarter of an inch from
it. The lateral branches being shortened before it

RIASTENING TILE MATURITY OF TIIZ GRAPE. -253

was fixed, it did not require removal, even for prun-
ing, because I adopt the long-rod mode of training,
which is peculiarly adapted to my partial protection
system.

“The temperature within the frame is always
higher than that without, sometimes at mid-day even
from 20 to 30 degrees. By this simple protection, I

ind grapes may be ripened from three weeks to a
month earlier than when wholly exposed, and this
saving of time will, I believe, not only secure their
ripening well every year in the midland counties,
but, also, that such advantage will be available in
the north of England, where grapes never ripen on
the open walls. I should have told you that the
cold nights of spring have caused almost all the
young fruit to fall off during the flowering season,
excepting where it was protected.

“To hasten the maturity of grapes grown in the
open air, means may be taken to throw them early
into a state of rest. On the 20th of September prune
the vine as you would in the month of December,
taking off all the leaves and grapes, ripe or unripe,
and shortening all the branches to one, two or three
eyes at most. The following spring it will push its
buds a few days before any of the neighboring vines
pruned in winter. Train it as carefully all the sum-

mer as though you were certain it would ripen its

¥st OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

-

crop of fruit. Pursue the same system anuually,
pruning the tree always between the 20th and 380th
of September, and in the course of seven years you
will be rewarded for your patience and expense with
half a ripe crop in most summers, and a whole ripe
crop in warm summers.”—Lovpon.

The following method of hastening the maturity of
grapes on open walls, was communicated to the Horti-
cultural Society of London, by Mr. Thos. Fleetwood:
“Before the vines are out of flower, he brings each
bunch into a perpendicular position by a thread at-
tached to its extremity, and fastened to a nail in the
wall, carefully confining the young branch with the
bunch thereon, as close to the wall as possible. The
period of blossoming is preferred for this operation,
because the bunch at that time takes a proper posi-
tion, without injury.

By this practice the bunches are kept so steady
that the berries are not bruised by the action of the
wind, and being fixed close to the wall, they receive
such additional heat, that they ripen a month earlier
than when left to hang in the usual way.”

But of all the plans which have been proposed,
perhaps the simplest and most efficient is ringing,
girdling or breaking. It has been employed for
many years in France, although it is there conceded,

that it injures the quality of the wine produced. Fon

HASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE GRAPE. 939

table purposes, however, the grapes seem to be im-
proved both in size and appearance.

The French method is shown in Fig. 62. Here
the annular incision is made just below the fruit
bunch at the time of flowering. A pair of pincers
with a double pair of semicircular jaws, makes both
the upper and lower incision at once, when the bark is
easily removed by the finger nail.

The following are the details of an English practi-

tioner:

“The vines are generally cultivated upon the
Hoare system, or, as it is called, the long rod systen: ;
but they are not so cultivated in every case, for
sometimes an old bearer is spurred back to one or
two buds, to carry its crop another year. My vines
are very strong, and the rods or branches stand at

ao OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

least three feet, or even three fect six inches, distant
from each other, when winter pruned. ‘This allows
just sufficient room for the fruit-bearing laterals anc
a young rod to come up between every two bearers.
This young rod, of course, to be the bearer of lateral

the following year:

“Thus no vines cultivated on auy other system are
so capable of being rung, without the disadvantage
of killing or losing the future useful part of the tree,
because on Hoare’s long-rod system, the whole of
the previous years, bearers will have to be cut entirely
away.

“The very right time to perform the ringing is
just after the berries are all set, or have attained the
the size of No. 2 shot, or small peas. In ringing, cut,
with a sharp knife, clean round the branch between
two joints. Or, if you are going to ring the laterals
carrying the fruit, leave either two or three buds and
leaves beyond the main stem, and make the ring just
in the middle, between the third and fourth leaves,
or joints. As I said before, make two cuts clean
through the bark, quite down into the wood, one inch
apart, and remove the bark clean away, all round
the branch or lateral. By this means, if you are in
the habit of spur pruning, the hinder ee are left all
right, to spur back the following year. If you prune

upon the long-rod system, you may ring the rod just

TIASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE GRAPE. 2837

wherever you please— the whole branch, if you like—
as the rung part will have to be cut away entirely
after the fruit is gathered.

“The ringing is performed just the same.on an old
whole branch as in that of the young lateral carrying
one or tivo bunches. I have repeatedly rung old
branches, that have been carrying from twenty to
thirty bunches of grapes, with the same good effect;
only it has been such branches that I have intended
to cut away entirely the following autumn: of
course, thinning out the berries of the bunches, and
the bunches too, if excellence be aimed at, is of
the utmost importance. The process of thinning this —
cannot be too early attended to. I always begin as soon
as the fruit is fairly set, and continue to remove all
inferior berries, and, with a good pair of scissors and
’ clean fingers, using my eyes to see what I am about,
so as not to injure the berries by handling and maul-
ing them.

“By thus practising ringing, [ have produced for
the last twelve or fourteen years, grapes, out of doors,
that have puzzled many a tyro and others toa.

“Our indefatigable editors have both watched my
progress in vine culture for years. My grapes have
many a time puzzled the late Mr. Elphinstone, when
he was gardener to the late speaker of the House of
Commons, now Lord Eversley, although I used to

238 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

compete against him, with both indoor and outdoor
grapes, at our Hampshire horticultural show in No-
vember.

“ As a matter of course, I had read of ringing fruit
trees, etc., but it never struck me to put the same
into practice until about fourteen years ago, when my
attention was called to it in an amateur friend’s gar-
den, Mr. Frampton, glass and paint merchant of this
city. I happened to walk in and look at some vines
to which he was paying great attention at that time.
This was in the month of September, and here I first
saw the ringing process of the vine. Seeing a few
bunches of the Black Hamburg so large in the berry,
and all ripe, I began to inquire into the particulars,
when Mr. Frampton kindly showed me where the
branches were rung, and that the ringing was the
cause of their béing so very large and so early. I
then wanted to know whence Mr. Frampton obtained
his information, when he showed it to me in the
‘Penny Cyclopeedia,’ from the pen of Professor
Henslow.”— Thos. Weaver, Gardener to the Warden
of Winchester College.

{Itis quite true that we have watched for some
years, with great interest, the experiment upon ringing
vines carried on by Mr. Weaver, and we can authen-
ticate his statement of the mode of ringing and its

HASTENING THE MATURITY OF THE GRAPE. 239

results. It must not be done in that petty timid
manner hinted at by a contemporary. There must be
a ring of bark perfectly removed; the cuts being
made boldly down to the very young wood, or albur-
num, and every particle of bark, inner and outer,
must be removed between the cuts. (See Fig. 63.)

>= yy A)
Sy
pe

-

SS

SA

This drawing represents, faithfully, the. rung y}az%
of a rod at the close of autumn, and shows how the
removal of the band of bark checked the return of the
sap, and how, in consequence, the rod above. the

940 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

removed band increased in size beyond that portion
of the rod below the band.

The effect upon the berries was, in every instance,
to advance their early ripening a fortnight, and to
about double the size and weight of the berries, when
compared with those grown on unrung branches of
the same vine. Nor was the color and bloom of the
berries diminished ; indeed, so excellent were they,
that we have seen them exhibited deservedly by the
side of grapes grown under glass, and they were sold
in November, at Winchester, for half-a-crown a
pound.

Ringing the branches of fruit-trees, to render them
fruitful, was practised in France, and recommended
there in print, about a century and a half since.
There are various letters upon the subject in the
early volumes of the “ Horticultural Society’s Trans-
actions,” and in one ‘of them (vol. 1, page 107),
published in 1808, Mr. Williams, of Pitmaston, gives
full directions for ringing the grape vine. He tells
the result, in these words: “I invariably found that
the fruit not only ripened earlier, but that the ber-
ries were considerably larger than usual, and more
uighly flavored.”—Lditor of the Cottage Gardener.]

CARE OF OLD VINES. DAL

CHAPTER XIV.
CARE OF OLD VINES.

THERE are scattered through the country numerous
old vines of large growth and great age, which have
~ been trained upon trellises, through trees, against the
sides of houses and on arbors, without much skill or
attention. These well deserve good culture, and the
owners would gladly bestow it if they knew how.
For their benefit, a few hints in this direction may
not be out of place.

Such vines have in general either been left entirely
to themselves, or trained wholly on the long-spur
svstem, no new wood except these spurs being kept
from last year’s growth to supply the wants of next
year, and the strength has thus been thrown to the
ends of the stems, leaving them barren for a great
distance from their base.

Vines in this condition, if of good origin, may, by
judicious management, be speedily made to bear
large crops of excellent fruit, as their roots are large
and powerful, and fully competent to supply nutri-
ment to a large crop of grapes.

EE

YAY OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

If the stems are tolerably well supplied with bearing
spurs, it may be advisable to take good care of such
of these as we can find, and where there is a barren
spot, to train a young shoot over it from the nearest
bearing spur. Upon this young shoot spurs may soon
be made, which will bear admirably.

But, in almost all cases, the better plan will be to
gradually renew the whole vine, as strong, vigorous
shoots, when once laid in for main branches and we.
supplied with bearing spurs or canes, will last for a
long time and give satisfactory results with far less
labor than is required by an old and straggling vine.

This change had better be effected gradually, a
portion of the old wood being retained until the
young shoots come into bearing, so that we need not
be entirely deprived of fruit during its progress.

Commence, then, at the spring or winter pruning,
and remove all:the wood that can be well spared,
keeping only a few of the best main branches, ana
cutting the spurs on these very close, leaving not
more than one eye to each.

This severe pruning will cause the vine to throw
up numerous strong shoots, or suckers, from near the
roots. Two or three of the best of these must be
selected and trained to stakes, away from the trellis
or arbor, so as to give them all the light and air pos-
sible; the laterals which start from these must be

CARE OF OLD VINES. 243

pinched at the third leaf, and they should be stopped
about the middle or end of September. All other
shoots from the base of the vine, as well as all useless
or barren shoots on other parts, must be carefully re- 4
moved as fast as they appear, so as to throw as much
as possible into the canes we had selected.

Next season, these canes must be disbudded and
laid in as follows: Having removed all laterals and
tendrils and tied them firmly to the trellis, as shown
in Fig. 64, commence at the first good bud from the

a tha

—— ~~
SSS] =

SSID EPI BE

Fig. 64.
base, which leave, and then remove all the buds for a
space of from 14 to 20 inches. Between 14 and 20
inches we will certainly find a good bud on the

e444 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE,

upper side of the cane (as it is tied to the treilis),
which must be kept, and all the buds on the next
equal space, removed in the same manner. So pro-
eeed until you have laid in ten or a dozen buds on
each cane, when it should be cut off. We will now
have two or more horizontal arms, each of whieh will
throw up from 5 to 6 vertical canes of a strength
sufficient to bear fruit next year, and the same num-
ber of short shoots which will form spurs for next
year’s bearing canes. But in order to make sure of
this, we must prune the old vine very severely, in-
deed, and if we could make up our minds to do with-
out fruit for one year and cut it all away, we would
be gainers by it in the end. But in any case, all
fruit must be removed from our new wood, as the
stems will have enough to do to cover the trellis
without bearing a crop of grapes.

Next year, the canes 6, 0, 6, 6, 6, will bear a full
crop of fruit, and shoots must be trained up from the
spurs, @, d, a, a, a, @, to take their place at the winter
pruning. The whole management will now be the
same as-that previously described for vineyards.

If it be preferred to train up the vine on the spur
system, the buds at a, a, a, a, a, a, should be removed
when the cane is disbudded the first season, and after
having borne once on the long-rod system, the canes

b, b,b, b, b, will be well provided with shoots by cutting

CARE OF OLD VINES. PAS

baek on which good spurs may be formed. These spurs
should be distributed along the canes at a distance
of 14 to 20 inches on each side, and may be managed
individually,as described in Chap. VII.

The height to which spur-bearing canes may be
carried is, perhaps, without limit, if they are properly
treated and the vines have sufficient root power.
But in practice, we do not think that it will be well
to have them longer than 6 to 8 feet. They are thus
kept within bounds, and any one which may become
barren is more easily renewed than if they are of
greater length.

Where the vines are managed on the long-rod sys-
tem, we would never have the canes over 6 feet long,
and if only 4$ to 5 feet, so much the better.

Thus, if we desired to cover a wall or trellis fifteen
feet high, we would have two tiers of arms carrying
spur-bearing canes each 7 feet long, or three tiers
carrying long-rod or renewal canes.

Before proceeding to renew an old vine, it may be
well to manure it thoroughly, either by a good top
dressing in the fall, liquid manure during the grow-
ing season, or by digging a trench about six feet from
the roots and filling it with good compost, bones, etc.

An excellent plan for feeding an old vine is to
make a basin about six inches deep round its roots,
with boards, against the outside of which suflicient

2

946 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURF.

heavy soil has been placed to make it water-tight.
Then, during the growing season, let this basin be
filled with soap-suds every washing day—mixing
them with chamber slops, etc. During the winter, it
should be filled with leaves and pruningss over which
a little earth may be thrown to keep the wind from
blowing them about, and preventing an unsightly
appearance. If the roots of the vine are so near
the house as to be unsightly when treated in this
manner, the basin nfight easily be provided with a
light board cover neatly painted. It might be
requisite to form it in two parts, having notches
through which the stem of the vine can ‘pass.

That a good manuring will often cause a vine
which has been previously unfruitful to bear abun-
dant crops, is well known. We have now in mind
an instance of a vine which after remaining barren
for many years suddenly became quite fruitful from
chickens making a roost of the trellis on which it

grew.

TO PRESERVE GRAPES. DAT

CHAPTER XY.

TO PRESERVE GRAPES.

AurHoucH He who “has made everything beauti-

ful in his season,”

no doubt designed grapes to be
used while fresh, yet, though we cannot preserve the
exquisite flavor of newly-gathered grapes, we may,
nevertheless, prolong their season, if not in its full
excellence yet with sufficient attraction to make it
worth while. ,

With proper care, grapes may be kept until
Christmas, and at that time will command a price
which would not be paid for fresh fruit during the
height of the grape season.

As yet, the preserving of the fruit seems to be but
little understood, and although we have kept grapes
until January in a very palatable state, and we have
tasted others which have been tolerably preserved
until March, we must, acknowledge that none of these
attempts quite came up to our desires, however much
others might have praised the result. The truth is,
that grapes in March will never be very severely
criticised under any circumstances. They are too
much of a rarity for that.

GAS OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE.

Although the foreign grapes which are imported,
packed in sawdust, are said to be gathered before
they are fully ripe, we believe that this plan is not
suited to our native varieties. They should always
be fully ripe Lefore they are gathered, and this should
be done on a clear, dry day before they have been
touched with frost. The bunches should be carefully
examined, none but the first-rate ones selected, and
they must be scrupulously freed from all dirt, such as
leaves, spiders’ webs, insects, ete. All decayed or
unripe berries must be removed with a pair of sharp
scissors (merely pulling them off will not do); and
they should be exposed to the air (but not the sun)
for a few hours before being packed away. In one
case where, after the grapes were gathered, the
weather became damp before they were put up, we
know them to have been placed in a moderately
warm oven for rather more than five minutes, and
the result was very good.

The following are a few of the methods which have
been*recommended : |

Ist. Procure some fine, dry sawdust (avoiding that
from resinous or scented wood), and pack the grapes
in a box or barrel, in layers, being careful to have
sufficient between the bunches to prevent their
touching. Bran is sometimes substituted for saw-
dust.

TO PRESERVE GRAPES. Ors

2d. Wrap each bunch in fine, clean dry paper,
and put away in layers in boxes.

3d. Take a good box and place a layer of cotton
batting on the bottom; on this place a layer of -
grapes, then a layer of batting and so on, until the
bex is full, wrapping each cluster in thin paper.
Some omit the paper.

4th. Seal up the ends of the stems with wax, and
suspend them in a cool, dry and dark room, looking
them over occasionally and removing unsound berries
and bunches.

The French suspend their bunches by the lower
ends to a little hook (see Appendix). Some cultiva-
tors, however, cut away the fruit-bearing branches
and preserve the grapes attached to them.

It has been advised to immerse the stems of the
bunches in wine, before the fruit isused ; but as they
are always dried up and incapable of transmitting
fluid, we have found it better to immerse the whole
bunch in cold water for half an hour or so. This
restores the plumpness of the berries and removes
some of the foxy flavor which is apt to tinge our
native grapes when long kept.

- 1i*

THE OHIO SYSTEM OF VINEYARD CULTURE.

Tus is merely a modification of the French and German
methods, having been generally introduced by vine-dressers
from those countries. It is, we believe, now generally giving
place to the trellis system of culture, which seems to be better
adapted to the habit of our native vines. Vines and even vine-
yards may be found around Cincinnati, which are trained dif-
ferently from the method here described, but nevertheless, the
following is what is known as the Ohio system.

The ground having been properly prepared, the vineyard is
set out either with cuttings or rooted plants, generaily the -
former. In setting out cuttings, holes about two feet deep ave
made with a stilt or Gibble, shod with iron, and after inserting
two cuttings in each, the holes are filled in with sand which is
washed into imretiute contact with the cuttings by means of
water. During the first season, the vines are allowed to grow
at random, the grceund, however, being kept ciean and mellow.

In the spring of the second season the vires sre pruned, which
is done by removing all the wood made by the young cutting,
and also all the roots which spring from the cutting, within
several inches of the surface. Fig. 1 shows the young plani.

The soil being removed, the roots e¢, e, ¢ are cut off close to the
250

THE OHIO SYSTEM. Roa

stem, the shoots a 0 are cut clean out, and ¢ is cut down to one
eye, which should be as near the old wood as possible, and if on
it, so much the better. During the second year the vines are
treated nearly the same as the cuttings were during the first
year, and the spring pruning is also the same.

During the third summer, three or four shoots are trained up
and carefully tied to stakes; laterals are pinched out and the
shoots stopped in September. :

During the fourth year, the vines are allowed to bear on the
spurs produced. by cutting back the shoots of the previous
season to six or eight inches. These spurs of course throw up
fruit-bearing canes, which during the fifth season are tied to
stakes in bows, so as produce a crop of grapes, and at the winter
pruning the bows are cutaway, their place being filled next
season by afresh cane trained up for the purpose during the pre-
ceding summer.

ho

a2 THE OHIO SYSTEM.

The following figures will illustrate this fully: Fig. 66 shows
the vine in the fall of the fourth year; u is the head of the

v

+

vine, B the arms or thighs, as they are sometimes calcd; and
a, 6, c, d are the canes which bore fruit last year; 6 and ¢ are
cut off to one good bud, and a and d, after being shortened, are
formed into bows and tied to stakes, so that the vine in the spring
of the fifth year presents the appearance shown in Fig. 67.
The bow will now yield a liberal crop of grapes, and a few
bunches will be obtained from the shoots springing from the
spurs 6 and ¢, though they must not be allowed to bear much,
as it is desired that they should grow strong and vigorous so as
to form the bows for next year. If the vines are strong, they
may be allowed to bear more, and other spurs are sometimes
allowed to grow from the arms where the vines will bear it.

THE OHIO SYSTEM. G53

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The arms themselves are renewed every few years, so as to get
rid of ail the old gnarled. spurs, by training new shoots from the
spurs € é :

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

Ir is still a disputed question whether or not it ie
possible for good wine to be manufactured in the
United States. Daniel Webster, whose high intel-
lectuality did not detract from his fondness for the
pleasures of the table, declared that we could never
hope to make good wine on this continent, and that
it would always pay us better to raise corn, cotton,
ete., for export, and buy our wines and silks. On the
other hand, the following letters from President
Jefferson to Mr. Adlum would seem to establish the
fact that, even at an early day, wine had been made
in this country of more than ordinary quality :

EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM MR. JEFFERSON, LATE PRESIDENT OF
= THE UNITED STATES.

Dated October Tth, 1809.

‘‘ While I lived in Washington, a member of Congress from
your State (I do not recollect which) presented me with two
bottles of wine made by you, one of which, of Madeira color,
he said was entirely factitious; the other, a dark red wine,
made from a wild or native grape, called in Maryland a Fox
grape, hut very different from what is called by that name in
Virginia. This was avery fine wine, and so exactly resen bling
the red Burgundy of Chamberlin (one of the best crops) that on

a fair comparison with that, af which I had very good on the
aod

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE. Tao

same table, imported by myself from the place where made, the
company could not distinguish the one from the other. I think
it would be well to push the culture of that grape, without
losing our time and efforts in search of foreign vines, which it
will take centuries to adapt to our soil and climate.”

Dated April 20th, 1819.

‘‘The quality of the bottle you sent me before satisfies mv
that we have at length found one native grape inured to all
the accidents of our climate, which will give us a wine worthy
the best vineyards of France. When you did me the favor of
sending me the former bottle, I placed it on the table with some
of the best Burgundy of Chamberlin, which I had importea
nyself from the maker of it, and desiring the company to point
out which was the American bottle, it was acknowledged they
could perceive no difference.”

Dated April 11, 1828.

“TI received successively two bottles of wine you were so
kind as to send me; the first, called Tokay, is truly a jine wine,
of high flavor, and as you assure me there was not a drop of
brandy or other spirit added to it, I may say it is a wine of a
good body of its own. ‘The second bottle, a red wine, I tried
when I had good judges at the table; we agreed it was a wine
one might always drink with satisfaction, but of no peculiar
excellence. Speaking of brandy being added to the wine, he
says it is never done but by the exporting merchants, and then
only for the English and American markets, where, by a viti-
ated taste, the intoxicating quality of wine, more than its flavor,
is required by the palate.”

Now Mr. Jefferson and his friends were no doubt
accustomed to drink good wines, and we think their
opinions valuable, although at the same time it must
be confessed that they were not very extraordinary

256 Tik MANUFACTURE OF. WINE.

judges, or they would have detected a diffezence
between the French and American’ wines. . The
question of superiority may sometimes be disputed
even by good judges, that of identity never.

Good wine has also been made in the south of
England, as the following extract from Barry’s work
on wines will show, and as it contains some practical
notes on wine-making, we give it entire:

‘“The vineyard of Painshill is situated on the south side of a
gentle hill; the soil a gravelly sand; it is planted entirely with
the two sorts of Burgundy grapes: the Auvernat, which is the
most delicate, but the tenderest; and the Miller grape, com-
monly called the black cluster, which is more hardy. ‘The first
year I attempted to make red Wine in the usual way, by tread-
ing the grapes, then letting them ferment in a vat till the hulls
and impurities formed a thick crust at the top, the boiling
ceased, and the clear wine was drawn off from the bottom.

‘“‘ This essay did not answer; the wine was so very harsh and
austere, that I despaired of ever making red wine fit to drink.
But through that hardness I perceived a flavor something like
some smal] French white wines, which made me hope I should
succeed better with white wine. That experiment succeeded
far beyond my most sanguine expectations; for the very first
year I made white wine, it nearly resembled the flavor of cham-
pagne, and in two or three years more, as the vines grew
stronger, to my great amazement, my wine had a better flavor
than the best champagne I[ ever tasted. The first running was
as clear as spirits, the second running was @il de perdriz, and
both of them sparkled and creamed in the glass like champagne.
It would be endless to mention how many good judges of wine
were deceived by my wine, and thought it superior to any
champagne they ever drank; even the Duke de Mirepoix pre-
ferred it to any other wine. But such is the prejudice of most
people against anything of English growth, I generally found it
most prudent not to declare where it grew till after they had

THE MANUFACIURE OF WINE. Q5T

passed their verdict on it. The surest proof I can give of its
excellence is that I have sold it to wine merchants for fifty
guineas a hogshead; and one wine merchant, to whom I[ sold
five hundred pounds’ worth at one time, assured me he sold
some of the best of it from 7s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per bottle.

‘“‘ After many years’ experience, the best method I found of
making and managing it was this: I let the grapes hang till
they got all the maturity the season would give them. Then
they were carefully cut off with scissors and brought home to the
vine barn in small quantities, to prevent their heating or pressing
one another; then they were all picked off the stalks, and all the
moldy or green ones were discarded before they were put upon
the press, where they were all pressed in a few hours after they
were gathered; much would run from them before the press
squeezed them, from their own weight one upon another. This
running was as clear as water and sweet as syrup, and all this
of the first pressing, and part of the second, continued white. The
other pressings grew reddish, and were not mixed with the best.
As fast as the wine ran from the press into a large receiver, it
was put into hogsheads and closely bunged up. In a few hours
one could hear the fermentation commence, which would soon
burst the casks if not guarded against by hooping them strongly
with iron and securing them in strong wooden frames and the
heads with wedges. Jn the height of the fermentation I have
frequently. seen the wine oozing through the pores of the
staves.

‘These hogsheads were left all the depth of winter in the
cool barn to reap the benefits of the frosts. When the fermen-
tation was over, which was easily discovered by the cessation
of noise and oozing—but, to be more certain, by pegging the
cask—when it would be quite clear, then it was racked off into
clean hogsheads and carried to the vaults, before any warmth
of weather could raise a second fermentation. In March the
hogsheads were examined. If they were not quite fine, they
were fined down with common fish glue, in the usual manner;
those that were fine of themselves were not fined down, and all
were bottled about the end of March, and in about six weeks

958 THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

more would be in perfect order for drinking, and would be in
their prime for above one year; but the second year the flavor
and sweetness would abate and would gradually decline, till at
last it lost all flavor and sweetness, and some that I kept sixteen
years became so like old hock that it might pass for such to one
who was not a perfect connoisseur. The only art I ever used
to it was putting three pourds of white sugar-candy to some of
the hogsheads, when the wine was first tunned from the press,
in order to conform to a rage that prevailed to drink none but
very Sweet champagne.

“T am convinced that much good wine might be made in
many parts of the south of England. Many parts are south of
Painshill, many soils may be yet fitter for it, and many situa-
tions must be so, for mine was much exposed to southwest winds
(the worst-of all for vines) and the declivity was rather too
steep. Yet with these disadvantages it succeeded many years,
Indeed, the uncertainty of our climate is against it, and many
fine crops have been spoiled by May frosts and wet summers.
But one good year balances many disappointments.

‘Captain St. Pierre, who has established a great colony of
vignerons in South Carolina, and carried there three years ago
above three hundred vignerons from different parts of Europe,
was with me several days before his departure, was charmed
with my vineyard, and he had cultivated vineyards many years
in France. He was very happy at my giving him all the cut-
tings of my vineyard, as he found it very difficult getting the
right sort, and though his plantations are about the latitude of
33°, he has not the least doubt-of having excellent wine there,
which, if he has, must be of infinite service to this country.”

Still more recently Mr. Longworth has succeeded
in the manufacture of fine champagne wines, which
we believe are valued as high as any, except the very
finest brands of foreign wines.

Wine is the fermented j juice of the grape, and pure
wene should contain nothing else. When sugar and

¢,

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 9FY

spices are added, and exist in the fluid as such, the
product is no longer wine, but léqueur or cordial.
Some have, however, extended this principle so far
as to assert that any addition to the juice of the
grape, either before or after its fermentation, robs it
of its claim to the name of wine; but to this we
cannot subscribe. If we by any process could pro-
duce a fluid identical in its chemical and physical
properties with the juice of the grape, we could no
doubt make good and real wine therefrom. And if
so, then surely the addition of any ingredient which
may be.required to bring the juice up to the quality
and composition of a good wine-making must, cannot
have any but a good effect, and must produce a real
wine. ,

Now the juice of the grape varies in composition
from several causes. The variety of grape, the cli-
mate in which it is produced, the character of the
soil in which it grows, the nature of the manure with
which it has been nourished, the mode in which it
has been pruned, its exposure to sun and air, and
many other influences, all modify the character of the
must, and consequently of the wine produced there-
from. In almost every locality we are confined to a
few varieties of grapes, and as the climatic cond1-
tions are also in a great measure beyond our control,
we must depend upon judicious pruning, manuring
and cultivation for the production of the best grapes
for the manufacture of wine. In former chapters we
lave detailed the peculiarities of vine-dressing as
adapted to the producing of wine-making grapes;

260 THE MANUFACIURE OF WINE.

but we may be excused for briefly reca itulating
them. ;

Must for wine requires to be highly saccharine,
and although the wines manufactured from Ame-
rican grapes have not yet shown much inorganic —
matter (potash salts) in their compcsition, yet the
best wines in Europe are made from grapes contain-
ing an extra quantity of these matters. In order,
therefore, to the production of a. good wine, it will
be requisite to produce grapes not only thoroughly
ripened by A HOT SUN ACTING ON THE LEAVES, but they
should also contain the juices and inorganic salts in
large amount.

With a view to this, it will be necessary in the
fall, and shortly after the vintage, to lightly fork in a
dressing of bone-dust, guano or hen manure; and on
the fall of the leaf, and before any frosts set in, the
border should be covered with the fallen leaves
raked together and mixed with stable litter or clean-
ings. ‘This will protect the roots from the severity
of our winters, and enable them to sustain the draft
made in spring by the branches at an earlier date
than they otherwise would.

In the spring, after the weather has become settled,
the border should be very lightly forked over and
the long litter removed; the rest may be mixed with
the surface soil.

The vine having been properly pruned, must be
allowed te break its buds, as it is termed, and push
out the young stems until those which promise best
can be clearly distinguished.

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 261

As soon as the leaves are formed, liquid manure
may be applied if the number of vines cultivated will
permit of it, and this application of liquid manure
may be continued until after the middle of July. It
should then cease for the season. Meanwhile, as
soon asthe young shoots are well formed, all the
weakly ones should be rubbed off, carrying the pru-
ning recommended in former pages to even a greater
degree of severity than there noted.

By these means the grapes will be obtained ripe |
much earlier and of a higher (not stronger) flavor.
The importance of having the grapes ripe early will
be appreciated when we consider that, other things
being equal, the heat and dryness-of the season in
which they ripen will be the measure of the per-
fection of the grapes, at least in this latitude. Now,
in 1858, the mean temperature of August was 69°
Fahrenheit, while the mean temperature of Septem-
ber was only 61°, and as the amount of rain which
fell in each month was equal, the grapes which were
ripe by the beginning and middle of September were
much richer in saccharine and other wine-naking
elements than those which were produced in the cool
and damp atmosphere of September and October.

From the foregoing observations it will be evident
that in preparing must for wine we must pay par-
ticular attention to the quality of the grapes and the
circumstances under which they were raised. Thus,
in Cincinnati, no sugar is added to the juice of the
Catawba; it is fermented just as it comes from the
press. But in more northern climes, not only does

\

262 THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

the juice of the Isabella and Clinton require sugar,
but that of the Catawba stands in need of it, in order
to make, not a sweet but a full-bodied wine, which
will bear keeping.

In the manufacture of wine from the erape, the
first process is to carefully pick over all the-grapes,
rejecting those which are unripe, rotten, mildewed,
or imperfect in any other way. The rejection of the
stems will depend upon the character of the wine
desired. If retained, they impart a roughness to the
wine, which some admire; and it is claimed by some,
that the tannin of the stems helps to’ preserve the
wine. The grapes are then to be mashed, which is
easily done with the hands if in small quantity. In
the large way it is performed by passing the grapes
between rollers armed with pins. On asmaller scale,
a beetle or stamper, armed with pins, may be used ;
and where but a few are prepared (as for domestic
purposes) the hands alone can perform the work. A
gentleman of this city has devised a very useful and
efficient machine, in which, by passing the grapes
between rollers covered with india-rubber, the juice
is expressed and separated from the husks without
bruising the stems or seeds.

If prepared in the ordinary way, the must may be
allowed to ferment either before or after the juice has
been separated from the seeds and husks. Fermen:-
ing the husks and seeds gives a roughness and harsh-

(
3)

ness to the wine as well as a higher color. For the
finest wines the juice only is fermented.
This is effected’ by simply allowing the juice t

THE MANUFACTURE’ OF “WINE. 9653

stand in casks filled three-fourths full. Fermentation
speedily sets in; the saccharine matter becomes con-
verted into carbonic acid, which escapes, and alcohol,
which remains in combination with the fluid, and
gives it the character of wine. At first the fermen-
tation is very violent, but after a time it moderates,
when the casks should be filled up, lightly bunged,
and kept during winter in a temperately cool apart-
ment. In spring it should be carefully drawn off,
either by means of a syphon or through a hole bored
into the cask some distance above the bottom, so as
to avoid disturbing the lees. After this, fermentation
should be avoided as much as possible, which is best
effected by a low temperature and the exclusion of
oxygen. It is generally considered best, we believe,
to leave the wine at least one season in the cask into
which it has been drawn off. In some cases it is kept
for years in the “ wood,” as it is termed.

Wine can of course be made of any kind of grape,
though in and around Cincinnati the Catawba is
altogether preferred. Tolerable wine has been made
of the Isabella, and in the hands of Dr. Underhill it
has proved of superior excellence for this purpose.
But for all northern localities we think the Clinton
promises to be the wine grape. When carefully
pruned and thinned, so as to get fair bunches instead
et the load of little sour trash usually seen, the
Ulnton grape is peculiarly rich in saccharine and
saline matter. Of its wine-making qualities Nicho-
1as Longworth speaks as follows in a letter to “The
Horticulturist :”

264 THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

““f believe I advised you that the must and wine of the
Cilnton grape differed from any I have ever seen. The must
weighs very heavy, indicating a large quantity of saccharine
matter; the wine, fully fermented, acid and weighing but little,
and indicating but little spirit. Of the grapes you sent last
spring I made two kinds of wine. One part I pressed as soon
as worked, and put at the rate of seventeen ounces of sugar to
the gallon of must; the other I worked and left to ferment -in
the skins before pressing, and put no sugar. The first is a beau-
tiful dark red, which I have never seen equalled, and very clear.
It has no sweetness and is rather dry, but of fine flavor. The
other is clear, very dark red, and more acid, but of fine flavor.
I deem that in our warmer latitude the must will have more
sugar, and will make a valuable red wine, an article we have
not at present.

‘““T am very desirous of giving the grape a further trial, and
shall esteem it a favor if you will engage and send me from two
to five bushels of grapes, and let them be as ripe as possible.
i shall also be pleased to get from two to five thousand cut-
tings. I will next spring graft a dozen roots with this grape,
and the next season guarantee to have grapes enough to test’
how they will suit our climate, as I have had grafts grow the
first season from ten to thirty feet, and often bear some fruit the
gamne season.”

The following letter, received from a lady whose
wine we can testify to be of very superior excellence,
contains directions slightly different from those in
ordinary use, and in some respects perhaps superior.
We give it in her own words, which it may be but
justice to say, were not originally intended for pub
lication :

‘* After the ‘grapes are gathered, pick carefully from the clus-

ters all the good ones. ‘ Wash these, being careful not to mash
ae seeds (we had alittle machine for this purpose that turned _

THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE. 965

with a crank). Have ready a perfectly sweet cask, that has a
hole, about an inch in diameter, bored in one side near the bat-
tom ; fit into this hole a stick from six to eight inches long, with
2 hole bored from end to end of sufficient size to let the juice
flow freely. through it. Stop this hole tightly with a plug; as
the grapes are mashed, pour the juice, skins, pulp and all, into
the cask. When all are in, cover closely with four or five
thicknesses of woollen blankets; let it remain in this condition
until fermentation has advanced sufficiently to cause the grapes
or must (as I believe wine-makers call it) to rise to the top and
begin to crack open, the cracks being filled with little yeasty-
I:ke bubbles, which will be probably in from four to eight or
ten days, according to the temperature of the weather. Now
have ready a perfectly clean barrel, purified with sulphur; put
into a pail ten or twelve pounds of sugar, take out the little
plug, and let the juice on the sugar. As you fill the pail, stir
the sugar occasionally from the bottom, so as to dissolve enough
of it to make the juice sufficiently sweet. If the sugar should.
all dissolve before the juice is all drawn out, of course put in
more. When the barrel is full, put the bung in lightly, so as to
give it a chance to ferment. The little cups you speak of were
used more as an experiment than a necessity; when those were
used, the bung was fitted in tight and a small hole made in the
bung, and a tin tube inserted in it, rising from the bung, tlie
Jong end being in the bung, and the short end in a little tin cup
filled, and kept full of water, care being taken to keep the bar-
rel always full; but, as I said before, this was not necessary.
After the juice had been barrelled, as above described, let it
stand till some clear, cold day in February. Then draw off the
juice and put it in another barrel, care being taken to have it
perfectly clean and well fumigated as the first was; save a pail-
ful, and when all has been drawn off, stir into this pailful the
whites of ten or twelve eggs, beaten to a froth, as you would
for cake. When well stirred, pour this in the-barrel with tha
rest. Avter being well incorporated with that in the barrel,
bung it up tightly, and for two years ‘touch not, taste not,
handle not,’ and as much longer as you can resist the tempta-

266 THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE.

tion, as it improves from 25 to 50 per cent. in quality every year
it is suffered to stand. The barrels should be kept in a dark
cellar.

“The above contains-all the most important particulars of the

doctor’s process of making wine, to the best of my recollection.
It will answer very well where one only desires to make a
little for his own use; but would hardly answer on a large
scale. :
_ “¥umigating the barrels with a sulphur match destroys any
musty or unpleasant smeil which the barrel may have, and is
done by melting flowers of sulphur or roll brimstone in an iron
vessel on the stove; making a swab by rolling a: rag around the
end of an iron rod, saturate the rag with the melted sulphur
as you roll it around; stick the other end of the rod into a
good sized potatoe, and set fire to the rag or swab; hang it in
the barrel at the bung-hole, the potatoe will prevent it dropping
down in the barrel.”

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