320 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE CENTRAL 



this would admit of a longer sj'stem of pruning, permit the air to circulate freely, and give the 

 entire vine the full benefit of the sunshine. 



I long ago became disgusted with the whole subject of pruning and training as laid down in the 

 books; for experience has taught me that practically it is impossible to follow any arbitrary system, 

 but that the vine dresser must be governed by the conditions and recxuirements of the individual 

 vine, and that a little common sense and sound judgment is worth more in the vineyard than all the 

 books on grape culture ever published. Yet I would not discourage the perusal of these books, for 

 we may get many valuable hints from them, but woe to the man who attempts to follow to the letter 

 any of tlie systems so minutely described and beautifully illustrated. Several years ago 1 attempted 

 to train a small vineyard according to Dr. Grant's system. After an infinite amount of labor, I 

 succeeded in getting my vines to grow very much like the Doctor's pictures. I got one good crop 

 of fruit, and there the system and fruit both ended. There is as much quackery and malpractice in 

 horticulture as in medicine or surgery; and in no other branch do we find so many false theories 

 advanced, and so many impracticable rules laid down, as in grape culture. 



Some of our grape growers have learned a costly lesson in connection with summer pruning the 

 past season— removing a large portion of the leaves in August that the sun might ripen the fruit. As 

 might have been expected, a large portion of it went down before the rot, and what did not rot 

 refused to ripen. After the necessary spring tliinning out and pinching back, summer pruning is 

 very injurious. 



Tlie mode of training generally practised in the large vineyards in the vicinity of Warsaw, is to 

 train on trellises of tliree wires, two, four, and six feet from tlie ground. Two canes are trained 

 nearly perpendicular, until they reach the first wire, when they are trained horizontally, until they 

 meet the corresponding cane from the next vine. Two more are trained to the second and two to 

 the third vine in the same manner. The objection to the spiral system, now so popular in some 

 places, is. that it necessitates too close pruning. It may succeed for a time, but doubtless in a few 

 years it will tell on the health of the vine. ♦ 



Some of tlie positions of tills paper will probably be severely criticised by the Society ; but careful 

 observation in some of the largest vineyards in the State, and a comparison of the different modes 

 of planting and training, and the results attending them, convinces me that they are in the main 

 correct. 



Mr. Dunlap said tnat the writer had fallen into an error with regard to the spiral 

 training. One of its beauties was that it gave perfect freedom of growth to the vine, 

 and free circulation of the air. The Prairie Farmer Annual contains cuts that give 

 one a very good idea of the system. 



THE THEORY OF MOISTURE. BY J. 



Wishing to add my " two mites" to the general store of this great intellectual feast of the expe- 

 rience of practical men, I concluded to oflier a few opinions on this trite theme— or which is at least 

 moving the minds of a good many practical men, but whicli is verj^ imperfectly understood by most 

 men, and among the latter number some very prominent men. Tills, coming from me, may not be 

 "like one having authority," but "in the midst of council there" may be "wisdom." If I am not 

 correct, my tliouglits maj' prompt some of you to say what is. 



We have a phrase very commonlj' repeated, wliich is a relic of former science on this subject. It 

 is is said, Egj^it is watered by the Xile river, the plains of Babylon by the Euphrates, and our own 

 great valley— which will at some future time eclipse the former generations of the earth: notlilve 

 Babylon, I hope, with her artificial mountain which cost the toils and groans of so many peojjle, for 

 the pleasure of her queen; or like Egypt, with her great monuments of unrequited labor to make a 

 target for the world to gaze at; but a real pyramid of population, eacli individual of which will enjoy 

 his part of the great column of wisdom. Excuse this prelude. 



I am of the opinion that the moisture of the eartli, in the dry part of the year. Is maintained by 

 condensation of the atmosphere; and not much by capillary attraction, as many have supposed. 

 Were this not the case, a river could not in any sense water the land beyond their bottoms proper. 

 But it is true that the rivers water the entire valley. This watering is effected by evaporation 

 and condensation. These important parts of the economy of nature are aided by the aeration of 

 the soil, which is best effected by underdrainlng and a thorough comminution of the soil. In cast- 

 ing about for the opinions of otliers, I found some admirable tlioughts in the able essays of Wm. 

 P. Pierson and Parker Earle, on the subject of drainage, read at the horticultural meeting at Bun- 

 ker ITill. Mr. Pierson says: "Tliere are immense and untold resources in air and earth, which 

 cannot be utilized until a great deal of ditching is done;" and Mr. Earle says: "The air and water 

 both manure the soil." And Prof. Turner, who is always philosophic, said, in the discussion 



