170 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



We never have one vine standing on its own roots long; we just 

 let it grow as long as it will grow up large enough, and then we 

 make two or three of it. In Germany my father and I had over 

 three hundred poles on one root which extended fourteen or sixteen 

 inches under the ground, a regular network of roots; all one kind 

 of grapes. If you have the roots right the fruit will never drop off; 

 it will hang on and stand; while if you plant a grape vine just like 

 a tree and let it stand on its own roots, in six, eight, or ten years 

 it will get old and have poor grapes, even if you prune it. I prefer 

 the single pole system because they are more convenient and I can 

 prune them all around, while on trellises they are all on one side; 

 and if you want to go on the other side you have to walk clear 

 around it, while on a pole you can work on the vine just as you 

 could on a hill of corn. Another advantage of this bow system is 

 that you bring your grapes down to the ground. The sweetest 

 grape grows nearest the soil; if the grapes were raised high in the 

 air it would make the pole top heavy, while if they are down within 

 two feet of the ground the pole has not much to carry. 



In multiplying grape vines I dig a hole fourteen inches deep and 

 four feet square around the vine. I cut off the top shoots with a 

 knife, and lay the whole cane down in the bottom of the ditch and 

 bring it up in four places, so that I have four bearing vines; but 

 you must be careful not to meddle with the main root; that is to be 

 preserved; if you break it off you have to begin anew; but if you 

 let it stand, the vine will grow right on and bear grapes the same 

 year. Then instead of one vine bearing grapes, you have four out 

 of the one, which will bring you grapes the same year, and this is 

 the main secret of. the success of grape raising. You want young 

 vines; the vines are all right for a crop three years after, and you 

 have to keep them young. When my vines get old, parched and 

 thick again, I just dig another hole fourteen inches deep and draw 

 the whole thing down and make more roots and new vines. That 

 making roots is the main secret, the main part of raising grapes 

 with success. Now there is great diversity about pruning. They 

 say I prune too much. If you let a lateral grow six or eight inches, 

 the fruit bud will diminish and become impotent, or bring very 

 small fruit, while if you take the sucker away you raise a full sized 

 bud. I tried that for twenty years in Europe and do here the same 

 way. Many raise grapes here — they grow for them — raise some. 



