PROCEEDINGS OP THE ANNUAL MEETING. 127 



SOIL-CULTURAL METHODS. 



The soil for the grape should be dry and high, free from surplus stagnant 

 water, and having full exposure to sun and wind. Air drainage is essential 

 as well as water drainage. Different varieties of grape, to do well, require 

 different soils, or at least higher or lower fertility. Grapes like the Con- 

 cord, Niagara, and others of that class, will do well on any ordinary soil, 

 while the Delaware requires higher culture and stronger and better soil to 

 do well. The Diana is such a rampant grower that nothing but a light 

 soil will induce it to fruit well. 



Aside from the ordinary farming tools, but few special tools are required 

 in the vineyard. Among these a good pruning shear and wire stretcher 

 are essential. 



In trellising the grape, two systems are adopted, viz.: the horizontal 

 and upright. It is a mere matter of fancy which one we adopt. The 

 upright will afford more room for cultivating the ground, while the 

 horizontal will give better leaf shade and shelter to the fruit. In the 

 former, two wires are sufficient, while in the latter three are often used, 

 No. 10 galvanized wire is cheaper in the end and better than the black 

 wire. 



Bagging the grape has never been practiced to any great extent in Mich- 

 igan, and I doubt if it will be, at least in the near future. Unless some 

 greater calamity than any in the past overtakes this fruit, we will permit 

 grapes to blush and ripen in the wind and sunshine, without any extra 

 covering. At the present rate of supply and demand, any additional 

 expense would be burdensome. The margin now is so small that the 

 utmost economy must be practiced in order to make the business a success. 



SOME OF OUR DISADVANTAGES. 



We in Michigan are placed between two fires. California and New 

 York contend for our western markets. The California fruit does not 

 interfere so much with ours as the eastern fruit, because the former is of a 

 different character and partakes more of the fancy order in appearance, 

 yet greatly inferior in quality, while the eastern is the same in kind and 

 quantity, and has equal if not superior facilities for reaching our home 

 markets. There is no reason why they will not fill our markets in the 

 future as they have in the past. 



With us winter protection from low temperature, is hardly a supposable 

 contingency. The other extreme not unfrequently happens, a high 

 temperature when it should be low. Sixty degrees above, in midwinter, 

 makes the fruitgrower wish the summer was further away. December 24, 

 1893, the thermometer marked 62°. 



PRUNING. 



In pruning the grape, no specific rules can be given that will be satis- 

 factory to a beginner. Judgment and practical experience alone can fur- 

 nish a correct guide. It is safe to say that the great majority of pruners 

 leave too much wood. The fruit is crowded too much on the vines, does 

 not receive air and sunshine enough for well-developed and well-ripened 

 fruit. Only wood enough should be left to fill the trellis, and the bearing 



