128 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



ill Essex County in the hope of ever making it a remunera- 

 tive employment, much less would I suggest the possibility 

 of ever procuring a first-class grape by planting the seeds of 

 any of our wild native sorts. While they have hardiness and 

 earliness, they are all of them foxy and lack nearly all the 

 essential qualities accorded good fruit. Besides, out of a hun- 

 dred seedlings, perhaps not more than two or three will ever 

 bear at all, and these seldom come up to a higher standard than 

 the parent. Let every mau who has a few rods of spare room 

 in his garden set out a few vines of those varieties best suited 

 to his taste. Don't try to get every new sort you see adver- 

 tised, and don't place too much credit in the high-sounding 

 story told by the printed circulars you will from time to time 

 receive just as soon as you begin to plant grapes and your 

 name becomes known to the vendors of nursery stock. Set 

 out a Concord or two for your stand-by, and you may put in 

 as many of Rogers' Hybrids as you have time and patience to 

 take care of. Never forget to cover all of your Rogers' vines 

 every winter. I throw mine down on the ground and cover 

 with hay or earth about three or four inches deep and remove 

 before the vines start in the spring. Vines should be uncovered 

 and tied up to the stakes before the buds swell, as they are 

 very tender and easily broken off in handling. 



In conclusion let me add, that it has been of much pleasure 

 to me to be among ray vines, and if I have not made it pay 

 in dollars, I have had enough fruit for my family and some 

 for my friends, and besides, there is a solid satisfaction in 

 gathering the fruit that has been produced by the labor of 

 one's own hands. If it does require constant care, it takes up 

 the spare moments that are usually lost, or spent in some 

 other employment that amounts to no more in the end than 

 growing grapes. 



Statement of George W. Gage, Methuen. 



My vineyard is located on a southern slope about one-third 

 the way up and one hundred feet from the valley below. The 

 soil is friable, with gravelly bottom, naturally drained. It con- 

 tains three hundred vines, the oldest of which is fifteen years, 

 the youngest five years. My first planting was fifty vines, on 



