\Gi'ape C tilt lire. 279 



G-rape Culture. 



A CORRESPONDENT, whose locality is some three miles above Washington, on 

 the Potomac river, communicates the following to the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. One thousand vines were planted in the spring of 18GG — one-half Concord, 

 and the balance other sorts: 



*' I procured first class vines, and planted them with great care, as follows : Selected 

 ground sloping to the southeast and east ; plowed it from eight to ten inches deep, 

 harrowed it fine, and planted in rows eight feet apart both ways ; set an eight-foot 

 stake at each plant, and mixed with the soil, about the roots, one quart of ground 

 bone and a shovelful of old, well-decomposed stable-manure ; pruned the roots, also 

 cut the top or vine back to three or four buds ; and when the buds had grown from 

 one to two inches, rubbed off all but one, the strongest ; trained that to the stake 

 by tying, and pinched off at second leaf all lateral shoots, thus concentrating the 

 growth in the one cane ; gave them clean cultivation. 



" The next February, when there was no frost in the wood, I cut it back to three 

 or four buds of that year's growth, and let only two buds grow ; trained and man- 

 aged these two canes the same as the one the year before. During the following 

 February I cut the two canes back to throe and a half feet long, removed the stakes, 

 and built a trellis over each row, in the following manner : I set eight-foot cedar 

 posts half way between each vine, commencing with one set four feet from each end 

 of the rows, and nailed to these posts white-pine strips full one inch thick by four 

 inches wide, the first one foot above the ground, and the second four feet above that 

 from lower edge to upper edge ; then nailed to these strips good white-pine laths, 

 nine inches apart. I then tied the canes, on the two-arm system, to the lower bar ; 

 trained and tied the shoots from these canes to the trellis. 



"Each shoot bore this year from three to four bunches of grapes; pinched each 

 shoot off at from three to four leaves above the last bunch of grapes, and as it grew 

 again, pinched it off at second leaf; and so on to top of trellis. When the clusters 

 ripened, I was well repaid by the beautiful sight they presented. Both bunches and 

 grapes were very large and perfectly formed. I readily sold the entire crop at fifteen 

 cents per pound on the vine. Some of the vines yielded fifteen pounds each, and as 

 beautiful and perfect as those grown under glass. My success attracted attention. 

 Many enterprising farmers and citizens of Washington came to see my vineyard, and 

 pronounced it the finest, as to growth of wood, foliage and grapes, and as to training, 

 trellis, etc., they had ever seen. The Concords surpassed all other varieties in all 

 the desirable qualities. Having occasion, several weeks after my grapes had been 

 disposed of, to visit Central New York, I found many Concords grown there just in 

 the market, but they were much inferior in point of perfect maturity, flavor and 

 sweetness. 



" The crop of last season was the fifth I have grown, and was the largest ; and 

 although the average price realized was but about half that received for the first crop, 

 it amounted to over $800 per acre, or about $700 net. I am annually enlarging my 

 vineyard, which now comprises about six acres; expect to enlarge it to ten next fall. 

 The soil and sub-soil prove to be perfectly adapted to the growth of the grape, being 

 composed of about equal parts of sand, loam, and clay, and containing considerable 



