242 



"Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



replied: "That is just what you want to do; write a paper for the 

 winter meeting, and illustrate that subject to your own satisfac- 

 tion." This is my apology for calling your attention to the subject 

 at this time. 



There are a number of things requisite for the successful culti- 

 vation of grapes. Training and pruning are indispensable; where 

 this is neglected, failure is almost sure to follow. No vineyard 

 will long continue to yield good crops of fruit without thorough 

 cultivation. It is difficult to do this when the vines are trained 

 upon the ordinary trellis. Staking does much better in this 

 respect, but I find it difficult to prune them properly, and it usually 



Fig. 1. Vine pruned at close of third 

 season. 



Fig. 2. Vine fruiting, the fourth 

 season. 



leads to the adoption of the annual renewal system of pruning. 

 Practical grape growers do not regard this as the best system, for 

 they find that the largest and most perfect bunches of fruit are 

 produced on the shoots from wood of more than one year's growth. 

 I have perfected a system of training which combines all the 

 advantages of the stake system as well as that of the common trel- 

 lis, and at the same time is not subject to the objections of either. 

 Experience has demonstrated the necessity of cultivating the soil, 

 keeping the surface loose and friable, with the rows arranged so 

 that the sun may shine upon the ground to a good degree. When 

 he vines are trained upon the common trellis, running east and 

 west, the vines receive their share of the sunshine, while the soil 



