94 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Hzation of the varieties you have to look out for. I feel pretty- 

 sure for your own use you can grow the Green Mountain. You 

 can girdle them and get them earlier that way. Grow it up 

 about three feet high, and save one long leader each way this 

 year. Next year those two will spring out at every bud with 

 side shoots which will set two to four clusters of grapes. One 

 of these leaders you can girdle when grapes are about the size 

 of peas. If you girdle both of them you will lose your vines; 

 you must have some elaborated sap to store in the roots. Girdle 

 half your vine every year and they will ripen from a week to 

 ten days earlier. You will not get the quality if you girdle. 



PEDIGREE FRUITS. 

 By Prof. C. A. McCue^ Newark, Delaware. 



For the past ten years orchardists and nurserymen have been 

 hearing a great deal about so-called pedigree fruits. The grower 

 of grains is a believer in pedigreed seeds and the "pedigree" is 

 the fetish of the live stock man. The producer of pure bred live 

 stock points with pride to the long pedigrees which his animals 

 bear. He knows the productive record of the ancestors of his 

 animals for many generations back. He banks his all upon 

 ''breed." He is a firm behever in the old adage, "Breed is more 

 than feed." As far as animals are concerned every one agrees 

 that the faith placed in the pedigree is faith well founded. 

 Pedigree is not necessarily a correct indication of an animal's 

 performance and worth ; but it is an indication of its probable 

 performance and may be regarded as an insurance against 

 mediocrity. Wipe out pedigrees and our live stock industry 

 would fall into a chaotic condition. 



Pedigreed seeds are becoming common. Many up to date 

 grain growers and very many vegetable gardeners are demand- 

 ing that their seeds have a pedigree. Experience and experi- 

 ment have proven that they are justified in making such a 

 demand. Pedigree seeds are of a necessity based upon repeated 

 selection of the best and ruthless rejection of the mediocre. *Tt 

 takes three generations to make a gentleman ;" but it takes many 

 generations to make a good carrot. The orchardist and the 



