PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 121 



Continuing the session, two more papers relating to grape culture were 

 read, the first of which was the following, by Mr. C. Engle of Paw Paw: 



RAISING SEEDLING GRAPES. 



The best way I have found to prepare the seeds for planting is to 

 squeeze the pulp into a vessel and let it stand a week or longer, until the 

 pulp decomposes. The seeds can then be easily separated by washing. 

 An old pan with holes punctured in the bottom is as good as anything to 

 keep the seeds in through the winter. I first put an inch or two of sand, 

 then the seeds, and fill up to the top with sand. The pan is then sunk 

 even with the surface, in the garden or some place where it will not be 

 disturbed and can get the winter's freezing. 



In the spring the seeds are sown in broad drills, one inch in depth, in 

 ground previously made very rich with thoroughly rotted barnyard 

 manure. After the seeds are sown I give a light dressing of unleached 

 ashes with a little plaster added. 



After they come up they are kept free from weeds, and the ground fre- 

 quently stirred, and treated m every way as a row of garden vegetables 

 should be to get the best results. Treated in this way, by fall ,a large 

 share of the little vines will be large enough to plant out in the testing 

 ground. Many of them will be a quarter of an inch or more in diameter 

 just below the crown, with the top eight inches to a foot in length. I dig 

 them in the fall and heel in quite deeply and set out in the spring. 



With good care quite a percentage show fruit the third season, while 

 others will be four, five, and even six years coming into bearing. So far, 

 the better grapes are, with me, the most tardy in fruiting. Whether it is 

 a uniform rule I have not lived long enough to find out. 



BEST VARIETY FOR SEEDLINGS. 



What variety shall we plant seeds from? Twenty years ago I raised 100 

 plants from Concord seeds, and since perhaps as many more, none of which 

 were of any value. About fifteen years ago I commenced planting seeds 

 from Rogers' hybrids, principally from Salem, with some Wilders and 

 Merrimacks, also enough seeds from Ives to grow fifty plants. Two of the 

 latter were an improvement on that variety. One peculiarity about these 

 plants was their close resemblance to their parent and to each other. The 

 closest observation could hardly detect the least difference in the leaf or 

 habits of growth. They could easily be taken for plants grown from cut- 

 tings of Ives. The fruit was all black. Plants from seeds of Wilder, 

 Merrimack, and Salem are very robust and strong growers, and from these 

 I have produced the most promising fruit, especially from Salem. As 

 much as ten per cent, are really good grapes; and of 500 seedlings, seven 

 will rank for quality as near best as any I have ever eaten. Tested by 

 myself and others , with Brighton and Moore's Diamond growing side by 

 side, they have been uniformly pronounced equal to Brighton and much 

 better than Diamond. The fruit is white, black, and the various shades of 

 red, the latter color predominating. Wilder and Merrimac produce plants 

 very similar to Salem. In the coloring of the fruit, black predominates. 

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