GRAXD RIVER Yx\LLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 527 



ing up the last space with the earth taken out at the commencement. On a 

 larger scale, the plow will answer, saving time-and expensive labor. If the land 

 is in a good state of cultivation, spread a good coating of rotten manure over 

 the surface. Commence on one side of the piece, run a furrow from one end to 

 the other, as deep as possible, returning empty. Go down the same furrow again, 

 have two or three men stationed at intervals ready to step into the trench and 

 throw out the loose soil from the bottom, for the reception of the next surface 

 furrow. A continuance of the operation will invert the soil to a depth of 

 eighteen or twenty inches, and at a cost of from ten to fifteen dollars per acre, 

 and experience says it will pay from 50 to 100 per cent per annum. 



Notwithstanding the great benefits resulting from trenching the gro'und, it 

 is a fact that more than half the grapes are on land not trenched ; hence there 

 is no reason why every person with a small lot and smaller means should not 

 raise this delicious fruit for their families. 



If trenching is dispensed with, if your lot is small and only a few vines can 

 be planted, you can economize space by enriching and digging deep a strip two 

 feet wide on one or both sides of the garden walk. If both sides are used, a 

 space of three feet should be left between the rows. If several rows are to be 

 planted in a body, the whole piece should be enriched. The rows should be 

 four feet apart, and if convenient, run north and south, — or better southeast 

 and northwest, and the vines planted from four to six feet apart in the rows. 

 But it may be well to bear in mind the fact that a rov/ of vines of a given 

 length will produce at the end of two years double the quantity of grapes with 

 the vines planted four feet apart that the same length of row will with the 

 vines planted six feet apart, while at the end of the fourth year there may not 

 be any material difference. 



For early bearing good two-year-old vines should be procured, — the best are 

 roots pruned and transplanted the previous season. The planting should be 

 done with the least possible exposure of the roots to the sun or drying wind, 

 and may be either in the spring, from the middle of April to the middle of 

 May, or in the fall, any time in October. If planted in the fall, a good cover- 

 ing of earth or other material for protection will be necessary, and must be 

 removed before the buds start in the spring. The advantage in fall planting, if 

 well protected, is the increased growth the first season. 



If only a few vines are to be planted, get all the holes ready before planting ; 

 make the holes about eighteen inches in diameter, leaving the bottom (after 

 well loosening the soil) six to eight inches deep at the center, and eight to ten 

 at the circumference, and set stakes six to eight feet long just back of the cen- 

 ter of the mounds. Examine your vines in a cool room or cellar; cat smooth 

 the ends of short bruised roots, and cut the rest back to eight inches; repack 

 the vines, covering them so that they can be taken out one at a time. 



Every person planting young vines should do so on their knees. Place the 

 crown of the roots on the center of the mound, spread the roots out evenly all 

 around, cover them with two inches of fine rich soil, put on and pressed down 

 with the hand. Fill up the hole to a level of two or three inches above the 

 crown, with the earth taken out. An inch of well rotted horse or coav manure 

 may be put on the surface. TJiis will prevent leaking should it be necessary 

 to water the vines. But no watering is ever necessary on any ground that has 

 been trenched. Cut the cane back to two or three well-developed buds, and 

 when the shoots from these have made a growth of six or eight inches, select 

 the best one and cut off the others, as only one shoot must be allowed to grow 



