TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL, MEETING. 65 



Concord, as it is well adapted to the demands of the general market and 

 is the only variety that is called for in carloads as yet. 



Worden and Moore's Early give good satisfaction and are being set 

 quite largely to meet the need of an earlier ripening black grape. Niagara 

 and Delaware are also grown in considerable quantities and are profitable 

 where proper care is exercised in marketing. Some of the less prominent 

 varieties are grown to a limited extent. 



The vines are set eight or ten feet apart each way. The wider distance 

 seems gaining in favor. Wire and posts are used for trellises. The use 

 of stakes to support bearing vines is practically abandoned. 



Two wires are used for making trellises, the upper one placed about five 

 feet from the ground and the lower one about one half that distance. An 

 excellent brace for the posts is a piece of strong galvanized wire with one 

 end fastened to the post and the other end around a stone buried in the 

 ground. 



Of the insect enemies with which the grape-grower has to contend, the 

 climbing cutworm occupies the front rank, and in some vineyards does 

 great damage to the buds in spring time. The most effective check to 

 his depredations are pieces of tin of suitable size and shape, placed 

 around the base of the vine and also around the trellis posts. The grape- 

 vine flea beetle, commonly called " steel beetle," also brings ruin to the 

 young buds. These beetles are usually more numerous in vineyards 

 adjoining woodlands or neglected fence rows. Hence the necessity of clean 

 culture and clean surroundings. Rose bugs and thrips also remind the 

 fruitgrower that eternal vigilance is the price of success. 



Spraying with the Bordeaux mixture, as a preventive of grape rot, 

 has been practiced by some of our grape-growers with good results. 



Four tons per acre is considered a good crop, although much more than 

 that is occasionally reported. An average crop for a term of years would 

 be less than four tons per acre. 



On account of the excessive rains in the early part of the season, the 

 average yield per acre has been less than usual this season, but the large 

 number of young vines bearing their first crop has made this year's yield 

 the largest in the aggregate ever grown here. From five to eight carloads 

 per day were shipped from Lawton during the grape harvest, the total 

 shipments amounting to over seventeen hundred tons. 



Climax baskets are the only packages used for shipping. The size hold- 

 ing eight pounds is mostly used for Concords, while Niagaras, Delawares, 

 and other fancy varieties are generally put up in five-pound baskets. 



The bulk of the crop is sent to Chicago commission houses, a few car- 

 loads being sold here on the track and orders from other towns being filled 

 through the express company. 



A fruitgrowers' shipping association was organized the past season to 

 get the benefit of selling and shipping in car lots. 



About one third of the crop was sold through the association. The 

 price obtained for the eight-pound baskets of Concords here on the track 

 varied from 16 to 20 cents. 



The acreage of young vines not yet in full bearing is at least equal to 

 the bearing vines, so we expect a large increase in the output of grapes 

 from this vicinity in the future. The probability is that the number of 

 grape roots set the coming spring will be less than usual. 



In common with a large portion of our state, the apple crop was a total 

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