192 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



PROTECTING CLUSTERS WITH BAGS. 



A wide board uailed over the trellis answers very well. Of late 

 much has been said about placin<^ a four-pound manilla paper baj? over 

 each cluster of grapes when berries are about the size of No. 4 shot^ 

 pinning the mouth close about the stem. I have practiced it mainly ta 

 secure tine clusters with bloom undisturbed for exhibition, or for pro- 

 tection from birds and fowls. The expense is trifling. Many large 

 growers bag them by the acre. It is an experiment worth trying by 

 all, yet I would not advise you to bag them by the acre until you have 

 experimented in a small way. 



MARKET GRAPES. 



Notwithstanding the great progress which has been made in the 

 cultivation of fine grapes throughout the country, and the increase of 

 intelligence as to their quality by a large portion of the people, there 

 is still abundant room for further improvement. Fine appearance and 

 showy exterior usually go further in market than delicious quality. 



For a list of the early grapes which do well in this county, and 

 which I think are worthy of more general cultivation, take those which 

 ripen first week in August — Champion, Moore's Early, Telegraphy 

 Moore's Diamond. Although the time of ripening varies in different 

 localities as compared with each other and with the seasons, the above 

 dates are not much out of the way for any place of similar latitude. 



Grapes for Money. 



G. F. Egpeniaub, Rosedale, Kansas. 



Grape-growing for the most money must be carried on on different 

 principles than for amateur purposes. Grapes can be grown on almost 

 any kind of soil or location ; they can be grown very successfully on 

 any kind of land, no matter how thin the soil ; but for money, and the 

 most of it, the location should be high to escape late spring frosts; it 

 can slope south, •east or west with little or no difference, but the rows 

 should run with the hillside to prevent washing, and a moderate slope 

 is preferable to level ground or too steep a slope, because a gentle 

 slope will carry off the water, which will in some cases prevent rot, and 

 a steep hillside is apt to wash badly, and the washing away of the soil 

 is the great cause of a vinejard being short-lived. Then the soil must 

 be dry and warm, yet at the same time it should be rich and of good 

 depth ; for while very good grapes can be grown on thin land, the best 



