388 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



apart is a good distance for the rows running north and south, and six 

 feet for those running east and west, if rowed in this direction. Trellises 

 will be found more convenient for those who cannot or will not take the 

 pains to train and prune their vines so as to keep them in proper bounds 

 to fasten to stakes. Three wires, narrow strips of lumber one and half 

 inches thick, or small poles, will answer for supporting the vines ; and 

 almost any kind of cultivation, except deep plowing close to the vines, 

 will answer to produce a good crop, at least such cultivation as will pro- 

 duce a crop of corn ; and there is nothing about the care of the vines 

 more intricate or more difficult to learn than to learn how to grow 

 corn or potatoes. And further : thirty pounds of grapes can be grown 

 ready to pick as cheaply as a bushel of potatoes can be grown and put in 

 the cellar. 



Let two of the strongest canes, which start from as near the ground 

 as any, grow for the first year's fruiting, pinching back all others occa- 

 sionally, during the summer, at " odd spells," if it can be conveniently 

 done. In after years, from three to six canes may be left, according to 

 the strength of the vines and the distance apart. These canes may be 

 allowed to lie along the row, or be looped up ; they will get firmer if 

 tied up as early as the last of July. At the approach of winter, after hard 

 frosts, cut off the canes which have borne fruit, down near the base 

 of the young canes left for next year's fruiting, cut off all other 

 canes, if not previously rubbed off, which start out below the base 

 of these canes, and cut these back, the first year after planting, 

 to three feet ; but afterwards they may be allowed to be five or 

 six feet, and allowed to fall upon the ground. The side shoots 

 upon these canes should be cut back to three buds. In the northern half 

 of this district, it is essential, except with Concords and Clintons, to scat- 

 ter a little hay or corn stalks over the canes, or bury them with a few 

 inches of earth. In spring, as soon as danger of severe frosts is over, take 

 them up and tie them up to the trellis, spreading them so that the fruit 

 which comes out from the side-shoots will be as well distributed on the 

 trellises as may be. Very little, if any, summer pruning is needed on 

 these canes; but if large, nice clusters are wanted for exhibition or 

 market, two, or at most three clusters only, should be allowed to grow 

 upon a spur, and the young shoots pinched off just above the second leaf 

 beyond the outside cluster. But if left alone, and with only once tying 

 in the spring, a good crop of Concords, Hartfords, or Ives, is almost 

 certain. 



Delawares require a little more care than the stronger growing 

 kinds, and I have found that a little better drainage is required for 

 them, and a somewhat richer soil. A little refuse from the tannery, con- 

 sisting of spent lime and hair, mixed, as it is thrown out, produces 

 marked effects in the product of a Delaware vine, if sprinkled upon the 

 surface around it. 



The cost of taking up, cultivating, and covering in the fall of fifty 

 vines — which are enough for supplying an average family with fruit — will 



