FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. 13 



A roomy packing house with plenty of packages is another expensive 

 thing hard to avoid. 



The large vineyardist has many advantages in the help problem. 



The long job gets the pick of the labor, and good help is a great factor 

 towards putting tlie balance on the right side of the ledger. 



Care is a big word when it comes to graj)es. It has only four letters 

 bu( it takes six months to spell it. 



Trimming comes first and it does not make much difference what sys- 

 tem you use, fan, umbrella or knifiin, just so you leave enough bearing 

 ^\'ood and of the right kind, yet not too much. One, remember, is as 

 bad as the other. 



From 50 to GO buds is my plan, according to the size and vigor of the 

 vine. 



Don't have it done by the hundred if you can help it. 



Human nature is the same trimming grapes that it is in picking 

 them by the basket, jerk them, yank them, slash them so as to make big 

 wages. 



No matter if the extra 50 cents they make does cost the employer a 

 |1() bill in Sej.tember. What do they care for that? 



Trimming can make a difference of from one to 500 baskets to the 

 acre any year. 



Tieing, I don't care how you do this just so they stay up all summer. 

 It is a great nuisance to have them in the way of cultivating and spray- 

 ing. Tie them so they will stay tied and use good string. 



Now we are ready for the gang. Our tools are the single vineyard 

 I)]ow, the three-plow gang, reversible disc, grape hoe and spring tooth 

 harrow. All are indispensable, could not get along without them, any 

 one, unless it might be the disc and that is mighty handy at the right 

 time. 



Gang the latter part of May and early June and keep well worked until 

 August 1st, then quit. 



Don't provoke too late a growth. The few weeds that will start after 

 thah are a benefit rather than a detriment. 



Now we are down to the most important part of the care of grapes, 

 spraying, and it is a nasty job at the best. 



But the vineyardist that does not spray and spray properly is not or 

 will not be in the profit list in Michigan. 



I know that spraying is not generally practiced in this section as 

 it should be, but every day you put it off you are breeding a scab on 

 your nose that will be mighty heard to soak off in the future, and copper 

 sulphate and arsenate of lead are the only things to work it off with. 



You have got some root worm, plenty of grape berry moth, a little 

 black rot, downy mildew some seasons and all the thrip you need. 



I said, the most important thing about raising grajies is the spraying, 

 and, the most important thing about spraying is the man, then the ma- 

 chine, method and mixture. I said the most important thing about 

 spraying was the man. On his gumption or judgment depends the suc- 

 cess or failure of the fruit crop. He must determine the proper time; 

 have the machine pulled out of the fence corner and the leaves and frozen 

 apples dug out of the tank and a patch put on the pump where the frost 

 has broken it for lack of proper drainage last season. He must get 



