STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 15/ 



The soil most suitable for the grape vine is a rich, free, gravelly loam. 

 It should be well broken up, to the depth of at least eighteen inches, and 

 if a stiff, cold hardpan underlies it, it should be thoroughly underdrained 

 before setting out the vineyard — the after cultivation will then be easy. 

 Stagnant water around the roots is poison to the grape vine, as well as 

 to almost all other fruit bearing trees or vines. No deep ploughing 

 should be allowed after the vineyard is planted, except one or two fur- 

 rows along the middle between the rows, for the first two years. A light 

 cultivator and a hoe will be the best implements to keep the ground clean 

 aud mellow on the surface. A top dressing of well decomposed manure, 

 once in two or three years, will be an advantage. It should be applied 

 just after the fall pruning, so that the winter rains will take its chemical 

 properties down to where the spreading roots of the vine will find it. 

 The whole may be worked in with the cultivator in the spring, and no 

 cultivation should be allowed when it rains, or when the ground is wet 

 enough to pack. 



The next point to be considered, is planting the vineyard. The rows 

 should be laid off four feet apart, and the vines six feet apart in the 

 rows, and the rows should run north and south as near as may be. I 

 prefer cuttings to rooted vines, and plant two in a place, for the reasons — 

 First — They can be got for less than one fourth the cost. 

 Second — If the ground is well prepared they can be set out with less 

 than one fourth the labor. 



Third — By setting two cuttings in a place you can almost insure an 

 even plant over the vineyard, which is a great desideratum, and the cost 

 of the extra cuttings is trifling in comparison with a lot of unprofitable 

 and unsightly gaps in the rows. 



Fourth — A cutting will make a better vine, all else being equal, when 

 left where it is set, than when removed. The roots of a grape vino 

 should never be disturbed if it can be avoided, and it is almost impossi- 

 ble to remove a vine without injuring to a certain extent almost all its 

 roots; and in three }^ears from the time of setting out, the vineyard set 

 with cuttings will be fully equal to the one set with rooted vines. 



The cuttings should be made in the fall, at the time of the fall pruning, 

 from well matured wood of the current year's growth. Each cutting 

 should have three well matured buds, or joints, cut square off just below 

 the lower joint, and leaving an inch of blank wood above the uppermost 

 one. As soon as made they should be tied up loosely in small bundles, 

 with the lower ends all one way, and placed about two thirds their 

 length, lower ends downward, in very wet sand or water — a deep muddy 

 puddle is the best. They will imbibe twice their weight of water, which 

 will help to sustain them in the spring until the roots begin to start. 

 They should be set out in January, or as soon as the ground is in good 

 condition. In setting the cuttings place the lower ends of the two cut- 

 tings near together, and let the upper ends slope away from each other 

 sixty degrees, lengthways with the rows. Press the earth firmly around 

 the lower ends, and set them at a depth so that the uppermost bud will 

 remain just at the edge of the ground. 



All the attention they will need the first year will be to keep the 

 ground clean and mellow on the surface, except it is a very dry spring, 

 in which case a little of the earth should be drawn away from around 

 the cuttings, forming a small dish, and give them a good watering in the 

 evening. The next day draw the earth back again, leaving it perfectly 

 smooth, and do not wait till the cuttings are entirely dried up before 



