172 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



still it is not as profitable a grape as the Concord. Then I have a 

 seedling grape which I believe will be the grape for this country. 

 I have three poles bearing, and about twenty-one yearling roots 

 and about fifty more started. I intend to make them the grape for 

 this country. They are about as big as an ordinary plum; they are 

 ripe on the first of September, and splendid. I had them in our 

 horticultural society at McGregor, last fall, and everybody was 

 astonished. These were the second crop; the frost killed the first 

 fruit buds, but they sprouted again, and brought another crop a 

 little later. 



There is another thing; a great many farmers in America lay 

 great stress on trimming the vines in the fall because they bleed so 

 much if left until spring. If you hear a man talking about grape 

 vines bleeding, you set him down as a man that don't know much 

 about it, because it won't hurt them a bit. I trim in the spring or 

 fall whenever I have time, and I often make the spurs or bows and tie 

 them up with willows at once. You can do this easier on a wet day. 

 After a rain 1 can make about fifteen hundred in a day. (Mr. Hofer 

 here illustrated his manner of cutting and tying by means of a vine.) 

 I sometimes put two bows above and two below, and then raise one 

 or two such canes again for the coming year. I raise as many new 

 canes as I have bearing ones, or one more, to use for making new vines, 

 and I have two or three spurs or bows on one pole. I prune to 

 about ten buds; beyond that I let everything grow; about two feet 

 above the grapes; the middle of August I take a sickle and cut 

 them off on top; you have to leave them an outlet up there; it is 

 not necessary to prune any further; if you did, it would spoil the 

 fruit bud for next season. All suckers should be rubbed off as soon 

 as they grow; that won't hurt at all, but if you leave them on, so 

 that they form wood, then it hurts the cane; the bud is so small 

 it will not be injured by rubbing off the suckers, if done at first.. 

 I do not believe that bleeding is hurtful. You will not hear it from 

 an established grape grower. If you hear a grape grower talk 

 "bleeding," set him down as an ignoramus. I carry the canes up* 

 higher each year, until in four or five years I get pretty near to the 

 middle of the pole; three or four feet high; then I dig a hole again,, 

 fourteen inches deep, and down goes the old wood and all, and then 

 I make new roots again. When I lay them down I cover immedi- 

 ately. I can make four new vines if I need them, or just renew 



