324 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



were admired by all wlio saw them. I wish Mr. B. or some one else, would 

 tell US what is the secret of his success with this desirable grape, when almost 

 everybody has given it up on account of its liability to failure from mildew 

 or rot." 



Mr. Brad field prepared the following reply which he intended to give at the 

 annual meeting, but was prevented by sickness in his family: 



First, there is no secret, if there is it will be found in the following : In 1865 

 my first dozen of No. 1 one year old lona vines were bought of Dr. Grant (the 

 originator), costing me about 820. Two of these were planted on the Grand 

 River Flats, the rest on the side hill, about half way up to the table land. 

 The soil, a sandy and clay loam, was enriched by a good coating of barnyard 

 manure. The ground was trenched some 18 inches deep with the plow, the 

 vines set four feet apart in the row and the rows six feet apart. Only one shoot 

 was allowed to grow the first year and but two the second. The spare wood 

 was used for propagating to increase my stock. In 1867 I bought some more 

 vines near Mendon, N. Y. These were fortunately propagated from sound 

 healthy stock, a rare thing at that time for this variety. These vines were 

 treated as the above, and are as healthy and fruitful. 



In the spring of the third season one or two arms were laid down, and when 

 in full bearing the vines were closely pruned in !N"ovember, laid down and cov- 

 ered with from two to four inches of soil. Summer pruning in very growing 

 seasons is resorted to. This is done with a grass hook, as you would trim a 

 hedge, cutting off the longest shoots. The foliage of the lona, in unfavorable 

 seasons, is liable to mildew, but not more so than the Delaware, the Adiron- 

 dack and many others. In such seasons I have used one part sulphur and 

 three parts dry plaster, by measure, applied with a common bellows on a dry, 

 still day, on the windward side of the row. An inch hole should be bored in 

 the top of the bellows, fitted with a wooden plug, through which hole it is 

 filled from time to time with the mixture. A tin pipe about an inch in diam- 

 eter is pressed on over the nozzle and soldered to it near its base, the outer end 

 of the pipe is pressed flat, leaving an opening of one-sixteenth of an inch deep. 

 A strip, a quarter of an inch wide, is cut off the upper lip and the lower one is 

 turned up so as to direct the mixture up to the under side of the leaves. 

 With this simple bellows a small bo}^ 12 to 14 years old can go over an acre of 

 vines in a day, and the cost of sulphur for three or four applications in a sea- 

 son will be only from one dollar to one fifty per year at the wholesale price. 



I have fruited the lona for 10 to 13 vears, on the river bottom and on the 

 hillside. The vines a2:)pear as healthy now as when planted, and during that 

 time (excepting the year they were not laid down) have borne a larger and 

 more seasonably ripened crop of grapes than either of my other 30 varieties, 

 not excepting the Concord or Hartford. 



We made this fall 200 gallons of lona '^pure juice of the grape," from one- 

 fourth of an acre of vines. I attribute my success with this variety, first, to 

 plants propagated from good healthy stock; second, to close pruning in No- 

 vember, laying down and covering with earth ; third, exemption from mildew 

 or rot of the fruit, to judicious summer pruning and the occasional application 

 of sulphur and plaster, commencing when vines are in full leaf. 



As lona vines are now very cheap, there is no temptation to propagate from 

 feeble stock, and I see no reason why any person having a good soil with a 

 porous subsoil, can't grow this desirable grape, as well as those not worth half 

 as much in the market. It is gratifying to know from the increased number 



