328 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



hear everybody say it was dry from fourteen inches down to four- 

 teen feet. I guess it was dry all the way down and half way back. 

 (Laughter.) The summer before and the fall was so dry that the 

 ground was like an ash heap. That summer, however, being so dry, 

 was a splendid season for the production of grapes, and the vines 

 ripened their fruit finely. The vines overbore, and my Delaware 

 bore from twenty-five to thirty pounds of grapes each, and I do 

 not think one of them has borne a good crop since. Now what I 

 am getting at is that the main cause of the killing was the summer 

 heat. There was no such thing as winter-killing. This vineyard on 

 the hill I spoke of was a young one. It was not exhausted by over- 

 bearing; it stood the winter all right. The point is this, in very dry 

 seasons you may sometimes have your vines summer-killed and 

 then the next spring you call it winter-killing. The remedy would 

 be irrigation, but, of course, we are n&t in a position to apply such 

 a remedy. 



Mr. Hobart : .How many miles north of here will the Dela- 

 ware succeed? 



Mr. R. H. Pendergast : I have been growing grapes on Lake 

 Superior for thirty years, and I have found the Concord and the 

 Delaware will not ripen. But the earlier grapes like the Moore's 

 Early and the Janesville will ripen. We have that difficulty, that 

 we have not the requisite heat. 



The President : Would they do better some distance away from 

 the lake ? 



Mr. Pendergast : The whole country around Lake Superior is 

 a cold country. That is what makes it a popular summer resort. 

 Our strawberries and raspberries are better than any I have ever 

 seen. 



Prof. Washburn : The Worden is the most delicious grape I 

 ever tasted. Why not put that in the list? 



Mr. IMurray : You cannot ripen it, and if it does ripen it shells 

 off so badly that you can scarcely get a ripe cluster. If I were 

 planting again I hardly think I would plant any Worden. 



Prof. Green : I would put the Moore's Early in the same class. 



Mr. Murray: I have left it out entirely. With us the Moore's 

 Early is one of the poorest bearers we have. The vines kill, the 

 buds kill, you can hardly get a good vine. They never bore me a 

 full crop, and I left it out entirely. I hardly think I would plant it 

 at all, although if it would bear well it would be one of the very 

 best grapes to raise. 



Mr. W. L. Taylor : I would like to emphasize ■ what has been 

 said about Moore's Early, and I would like to ask a question about 

 the Delaware. I live on the E. J. Cutt's place, and I am digging 

 out the Delawares because I have a better sale for the Concord. 

 It does not fail to ripen with us, but I can raise one hundred bushels 

 of Concord to one of Delaware. I have some grapes that were not 

 covered before the freeze came. Would it be better to put on ma- 

 nure, hay or straw for covering? 



Mr. Murray: I think anything would do that would not injure 

 the vine. 



