THE AMERICAN CHAMPAGNE DISTRICT. 751 



after sundown, so that the work of fructification goes on silently 

 by niglit as by day.* 



A few words as to the methods of cultivation that obtain in 

 the Lake Keuka district. The vines are set from six to eight feet 

 apart, and are trained to run on trellises. Three lines of wire are 

 stretched from stakes, which are about eight feet distant from 

 each other. The vines begin bearing in the third year, and the 

 yield increases until the fifth and sixth years, when a vineyard is 

 said to be in full bearing. The life of a vineyard is often three 

 score and ten years, so that with good care and attention the chil- 

 dren may reap from the vines their fathers planted. The average 

 yield is about two tons of Catawba grapes to the acre, while the 

 Concords will often go four tons to the acre. 



In the fourth year the vine, if it has made good growth, is 

 trimmed with two arms. The method of training is known as the 

 "horizontal arm and spur system." By this system two main 

 horizontal branches, or canes, are trained permanently to the 

 lower wires one to the right, another to the left. The upright 

 shoots, that grow from the two main arms each season, are cut 

 back each fall or winter to upright " spurs." The strongest new 

 shoots that spring from these spurs in the spring are left for the 

 bearing wood of that season, and this new cane is headed back to 

 the top wire of the trellis. A strong vine will carry four shoots 

 on each arm, or eight in all, care being taken not to overload 

 the vine. 



The method of pruning is known to growers as the thorough 

 renewal system. When the spurs on the two main arms become 

 overgrown or rank, they are renewed from new shoots, which 

 spring from the arm, or near the base of the vine. Sometimes the 

 arm itself is renewed from the head of the vine, or from a point 

 near the ground. Summer pruning consists in thinning the vines 

 here and there, and cutting off damaged clusters and imperfect 

 berries. 



As soon as the frost is out of the ground the grower goes 

 through his vineyard to see if it has wintered well that is, if post, 

 wires, and vines are in good shape. A few weeks later, the canes 

 are tied by willow bands to the lower wire. During May and 

 June the vineyard is plowed and the roots grubbed. The first 



* The peculiar climatic and other natural advantages of the Lake Keuka region are 

 summed up by William Saunders, Government Superintendent of Gardens and Grounds, as 

 follows : " Here the Catawba and other late grapes mature and reach remarkable perfec- 

 tion, taking the latitude into consideration. These vineyards are mostly on the hillsides ex- 

 tending for several hundred feet above the valley and surface of Keuka Lake. The soil is 

 a drift formation, and the surface is thickly covered with loose shale. The marked adapta- 

 bility of this locality for grape culture may be attributed to its elevation and nature of the 

 soil." {Report of Secretary of Agriculture for 1889, p. 113.) 



