Addresses — How to Raise Grapes. 169 



tried it, and then I found it is the same here as it is there. The 

 grape vine is just like a man; you have got to educate it, train it 

 and keep it in bounds, or you cannot do anything with it; so I did 

 ■with the grape vines here as I did in Germany, and with good 

 success. 



I raise my grapes on a single pole. They may be trained on trel- 

 lises or in any shape. In this climate we have a great advantage; 

 they grow without care, and many men in this country are raising 

 wild grapes on tame vines, and call themselves grape raisers, and 

 teach others how; but they grow only wild grapes and they stay 

 sour; but I am in favor of raising a quality of grapes which we can 

 eat and enjoy and have them sweet and good. I raise them on the 

 single pole system. 1 have brought one along to demonstrate to 

 you. This spur or bow bore grapes last summer. I have two or 

 three such bows on a pole. One goes this way (indicating), bending 

 in a circle, and tying back to the base of the cane; this one is a 

 little further up; by this process the grapes are brought out in the 

 sun and air. Then the same year I can raise on such a cane from 

 twenty to thirty large bunches of any kind of grapes. A sprout 

 like that (indicating) will generally have three bunches, but I take 

 one off, so that I may have two better bunches than the three would 

 be. Two bunches are enough. They grow more solid and con- 

 densed, and two bunches are as good or better than three; still 

 sometimes I let the three remain. The first or second leaf beyond 

 the last bunch of grapes I pinch off, and allow nothing to grow but 

 two canes, which I will bow down next year again. The great 

 secret in raising grapes is this: what you raise next year you must 

 prepare for this year. If you follow that rule you can raise grapes 

 anywhere. We have another advantage here. We know that we 

 have got to bury our grape vines, and they never freeze in the win- 

 ter time if we bury them; lay them down and put some soil or 

 rubbish or tomato vines, or leaves or a little straw over them, and 

 it will protect them against any cold in winter; but if you leave 

 them out, ten degrees below zero will kill any grape vine, when 

 they are in a wet condition. If they are real dry they may stand 

 fifteen, but not any more; therefore we lay them down every year. 



When we lay out a vineyard we plant them about eight feet 

 apart, but after the vineyard is done we have them about four feet 

 apart. We plant eight feet apart because we want to make roots. 



