120 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



of the grape has convinced me that it cannot be made a profit- 

 able business for the farmers of Essex County. 



Statement of FranMin Upton, Danvers. 



Grapes can be raised as easil}'' as pears, apples or plums, 

 and much more easily than currants, and I know of no reason 

 why they should not be more generally cultivated. In cities, 

 where the gardens are more compact, how easy to add the 

 ornamental to the useful by training more or less vines to the 

 fences or on the walls of the buildings. The grape is a favorite 

 fruit, and why not have it more plentiful when it can be 

 successfully and easily fruited? 



After an experience of eleven years, I am willing to give 

 what information I possess, and will most cheerfully comply 

 with your request and answer your questions to the best of 

 my ability. 



Commencing my grapery with half a dozen vines, two 

 years old, I soon increased to one hundred and twenty- five 

 vines, mostly by layers which make the most rapid growth, 

 bearing on the third year of planting. My soil is a light rich 

 loam, with a fine gravelly subsoil. In the spring I top-dress 

 with ashes. A large part of my vines face the south. I trim 

 and train by Fuller's system of horizontal arms to the right 

 and left, on wires five feet high, the vines fruiting eighteen 

 to twenty-four inches from the ground. Every fall, as soon 

 as the leaves are off, I prune to three buds for the winter 

 and allow only two of these to push in the spring. 



I have ripened my grapes every year, with some exceptions 

 of particular varieties, which lost their foliage by mildew and 

 disease of the leaf. I can successfully contend against mildew 

 by the free use of sulphur applied to the vine. The rose- 

 bugs have been the greatest enemy to contend with, as they 

 had to be picked from the vines. I have thirty-three varieties 

 of grapes, including two seedlings. The six best with me 

 are the lona, Delaware, Eumelan, Crevelling, Israella and 

 Massasoit. For the best dozen I would add Croton, Adiron- 

 dack, Walter, Brunt, Agawam and the Rebecca. The fruit of 

 the Rebecca is very handsome, and when fully ripe is of good 

 character. The vine should be near some high fence, or in a 



