TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 175 



In regard to distances apart, some varieties, like Niagara, want a 

 greater distance. Varieties like Lady will do well if planted six or 

 eight feet apart. It depends on the variety about the distances. 



Mr. Chidester: I have always found that heavy loam with a clay sub- 

 soil was best on high elevations. In the first place it holds moisture 

 better than other soils. I think it will hold moisture twice the length of 

 time without rain that sandy soil will. In ordinary seasons it wouldn't 

 make much difference if you didn't have a rain after your ground was 

 wet in the spring. You could cultivate all summer without rain, while 

 in sandy ground you could not do this, and of course I consider it much 

 preferable for grapes, producing better growth of vines and better 

 grapes. 



Mr. Bradish: I would agree with Mr. Chidester, if he would allow 

 me to cover his soil with six inches of sand. 



Mr. J. W. Helme, Sr. : If it is sandy or light soil, it should be deeper, 

 and if clay loam, I would think, shallower. That should be taken into 

 consideration. I have set both spring and fall, and I think I have the 

 best success setting in October or November. I agree with Mr. Bradish 

 about the soil, and if it were clay soil I would like to have sand on top. As 

 for manure, I use all kinds. I use cats and dogs, about a foot deep. Mark 

 Twain said he used his old aunt. He said she was no particular use to 

 him (an aunt by marriage), and he had a much better crop of grapes, 

 though they were a little tart! 



Mr. Chidester: I have a heavy loam with a clay subsoil; I believe in 

 having the loam on top and the subsoil under. 



Mr. Baldwin : I would ask if there is a representative from Monroe, 

 so as to have an idea of the soil suitable for grapes in that locality. 



Mr. Bradish: I formerly lived in Monroe county, and from eight years' 

 residence there I know they are great grape-growers, and the soil that 

 they grow their crops on there is nearly exactly what Mr. Chidester 

 speaks of, a dark loamy soil with clay subsoil. It is underlaid with lime 

 rock at a few feet's depth, and if any one wants to see grapes grow spon- 

 taneously, let him go there. 



Mr. Morrill: I have been over the hills of sand at Lawton, several 

 times, and they are today growing the finest crop of grapes, I think, of 

 the Concord type, that goes into Chicago from Michigan, and that is 

 where our theories all are upset. I do not believe that we can lay down 

 a rule that will fit all cases. One of the finest things in fruitgrowing is 

 good judgment. I have heard people say that sand was the only place 

 to grow" a real good crop ; I have heard other people say that a clay loam 

 was the only place to get a good yield. I have seen tremendous yields 

 on both, and I have come to think that I don't know very much about 

 these things, until they are tested, and I wonder if any of us do. 



Mr. J. J. Engel: My people have raised grapes three or four years 

 on light sandy land, here at Palmyra, and later we moved to Madison 

 township, and are raising grapes on heavy clay, and we cultivate them 

 the same as on the sandy land, and they are of better quality and ripen 

 better than on the sand, and they are better tasting grapes by far than 

 those raised on the sand. 



Mr. S. D . Willard : I desire to corroborate what you have to say, Mr. 

 Morrill. The great grape regions of my state, where a great portion 

 of the choicest grapes are produced in profusion, are slate formation; a 



