AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



485 



VIT 



These traits are rapidly disappearing under 

 cultivation, and now the better varieties of 

 the native Grapes are among the most valu- 

 able of our fruits, and the vineyaid culture of 

 the Grape is fast assuming a chief place 

 among the industrial interests of the country, 

 not alone for food, but for wine. Just now 

 the subject of wine has a peculiar signifi- 

 cance for the American vineyardist. The 

 Phylloxera having destroyed in some cases, 

 and materially injured in others, some of 

 the most noted vineyards in Europe, espe- 

 cially in Fi'ance, real wine has become rare, 

 except in some old cellars, where it has been 

 stored for years. To keep up the supply 

 resort has been had to fictitious wines of all 

 descriptions, and adulterations of a veiy 

 hurtful nature have been practiced to such 

 an extent that the French government has 

 lately interfered to prevent it as far as possi- 

 ble. If the American vineyardist shall now 

 step forward and supply the home market 

 with pure, high class wines, he will not only 

 be able to retain it, but also find a foreign 

 market for all not wanted at home. The 

 Grape should be regarded as an article of 

 food rather than a luxury, and it is becom- 

 ing more and more regarded in thaii light; 

 and there need be no fear, with our rapidly 

 increasing population, that the demand will 

 not always be in advance of the supply. That 

 many portions of the country are suited to 

 the successful culture of the Grape is abund- 

 antly shown by the vineyards already estab- 

 lished ; in fact, there are but few States in the 

 Union where some one variety of the Grape 

 may not be profitably grown, and even unfa- 

 vorable localities may often be made to yield 

 a supply for the family, by affording the vines 

 a little protection above ground and proper 

 drainage beneath. 



The following general directions may be of 

 service to many : For more detailed instruc- 

 tions we would refer to Downing's Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees of America, or to the excellent 

 works of Fuller or Hussman on this subject. 

 Grapes can be grown in any soil provided it 

 is well drained and in good condition. For a 

 vineyard a strong, loamy or gravelly soil is 

 preferable, and a warm, sunny, open exposure 

 is indispensable. One or two years' old Vines 

 are the most satisfactory and may be planted 

 in rows six to eight feet apart and four to 

 eight feet in the row according to the habit of 

 the Vine, whether it is a vigorous grower like 

 the Concord, or a short-jointed grower like 

 the Delaware. When planted they should be 

 cut back, leaving only two or three eyes or 

 buds. For vineyaid culture the long, re- 

 newal system is most practiced ; by it the 

 Vine the first j-ear is permitted to make but 

 one leading shoot, all the other buds or eyes 

 being rubbed off leaving only the strongest, 

 which should be trained perpendicularly to a 

 stake the first year. The second year this 

 cane is cut down again to two eyes, and these 

 are grown to two long canes. The third year 

 one of these canes is cut down to two buds 

 and the otJier to four buds, the former being 

 permitted to make two good long, stout, 

 canes and the latter to produce about four or 

 six clusters of fruit, all the ground shoots 

 being rubbed away. These two canes are 

 allowed to grow as long as they will and are 

 trained upright, the other on which the fruit 



VIT 



is grown is trained at an angle of about forty- 

 five degrees, and when it has set its fruit is 

 stopped back by pinching three or four 

 leaves beyond the fruit. The following season 

 or fourth year, the fruiting cane of this year 

 is cut down to two buds and the two canes of 

 this year's growth are cut to four or more 

 buds for fruit bearing and trained at an angle 

 of forty-five degrees each way, the two buds 

 on the bearing cane of last year make canes 

 for the succeeding year's bearing. 



In the gardt^n culture of the Grape it is just 

 as necessary to secure a perfectly open, sunny 

 exposure, for although it will make vigorous 

 growths in the shade of trees or buildings, yet 

 the crop will be poor and fiavorless and the 

 Vines likely to fall a prey to mildew. The 

 system of pruning and training pursued in the 

 garden is the upright or spur method. The 

 first season's growth is cut back to two buds 

 and the following season the two shoots pro- 

 duced are brought down to a horizontal 

 position and fastened each way to the lower 

 horizontal rail of the trellis, being shortened 

 at the distance of three or four feet from the 

 root. These will form the base from which to 

 start the upright shoots, which form the per- 

 manent fruiting canes, and should be from 

 fifteen to eighteen inches apart. The follow- 

 ing season a crop of lateral shoots will be 

 produced from the upright leaders which may 

 be allowed to bear from one to three bunches 

 upon each. Afterwards it is only necessary 

 at the pruning season to cut back these lateral 

 shoots or fruit-spurs an inch or so long and 

 a new fruit-producing lateral will annuall}'' 

 supply its place, to be again cut out at the 

 winter's pruning. Though this system gives 

 the largest crops and is the most generally 

 practiced, it is nevertheless certain, that the 

 renewal system always yields the largest and 

 finest fruit. If the vine is fully exposed to the 

 sun it will require very little summer pruning ; 

 in fact none, except stopping the young 

 shoots three joints beyond the furthest bunch 

 of Grapes at midsummer, for the leaves being 

 intended by Nature to elaborate the sap the 

 more we can retain of them, the larger and 

 higher-flavored will be the fruit; careful ex- 

 periments having proved that there is no 

 more successful mode of impoverishing the 

 crop of fruit than that of pulling off the 

 leaves. 



Although Grape-vines are hardy in nearly 

 all sections, yet in any locality where the 

 thermometer falls to zero it is beneficial to 

 lay them down close to the ground, and cover 

 them up with rough litter before the approach 

 of severe weather in winter, allowing it to 

 remain on in spring until the buds begin to 

 swell, when the Vines are uncovered and tied 

 up to the trellis or stake. If covered in this 

 way they should be pruned before being laid 

 down. Pruning may be done at any time 

 from November to March. It is a common 

 belief that Grape-vines should be pruned only 

 at certain seasons. The weather must not 

 be too cold, otherwise it is supposed they may 

 be injured if then pruned. Again, they must 

 not be pruned late in the spring, else the sap 

 oozing from the cuts may bleed them to 

 death. Let me say that both these notions 

 are utter nonsense. The pruning of any tree 

 or vine in the coldest weather cannot possibly 

 injure it, and the "bleeding" or running of 



