274 State HorticuhnraJ Society. 



mention them, as my selection is made according to the hardiness^ 

 producti\'eness. quahty and quantity of variety. 



Fifth — About the cultivation of the vineyard I will only say : Keep 

 the vineyard clean from grass and weeds by using such tools in 

 proper time as are most suitable to your soil and locality, as grass and 

 weeds curtail the crop, reduce the vigor and health of the vines, also 

 foster insect pests and fungi diseases. To combat the latter, proper 

 sprayings should be made in proper time, and lately the dust spraying 

 process seems to be easier, cheaper, surer in results and therefore more 

 profitable than the old method of using pumps and water as the carrier 

 of the remedies. Numerous bulletins issued by many states and by 

 the Agricultural Department at Washington, D. C, will give all vinc- 

 yardists the required information, receipts and formulas, and they 

 can be obtained by asking for them. Another principal point in the 

 proper care for the vineyard consists in the proper method of pruning 

 of the different varieties in due time. About pruning alone a volume 

 might be written, therefore I can only touch the underlying princi- 

 ples of "pruning the grapevine. The annual winter pruning 'should 

 begin as early in fall as possible, after the first sharp frost has de- 

 foliated the vines, but not when the vines are frozen. This pruning 

 should be finished very early in spring, the latest during Alarch, before 

 the sap will flow abundantly by pruning— the vine would lose its 

 blood of life, and I most earnestly contradict all who say : Oh, that 

 bleeding does not harm the vine — surelv it does alwavs and everv- 

 where. If anyone doubts let him bleed himself severely and often, 

 and if it does no harm to him, then I believe it will not hurt the grape- 

 vine either. The practical vineyardist must know what and how to 

 do it ; he must not only only understand the difference in the pruning 

 of the different varieties ; he must see and judge the individuality in 

 the different vines of the same variety ; must know how to prune for 

 fruit or for new wood ; must know how to correct the mischief done, 

 either b}^ frost or drought, or overbearing, and practical experience 

 herein will be our best reliable guide — through many errors we come 

 to a better understanding of nature's unchangeable laws, and a more 

 proper application of man's teaching and rules. For instance, the 

 pruning of my vineyard this year will and must be different from 

 that of former years, on account of the severe May frost. Good bear- 

 ing vines near the ground are scarce; the upper buds escaping the 

 frost produced fine wood, but are too high for next year's fruiting; 

 the vine must be annually rejuvenated with the tendency to bring the 

 bearing vines as low as possible, therefore I am compelled to use 

 those at the proper heighth for tieing them to the vines wherever 



