230 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, _ 
Mr. Van Houten, (Iowa): I was one of those who believed 
that spring pruning and bleeding of the vine would be detri- — 
mental to the crop. Once in a while after pruning, spring 
would come so early that there would be considerable bleeding. 
In talking with some of our most successful grape growers, I 
found that they were pruning in the spring, and if they bled they 
let them bleed, and in some of those vineyards where the vines 
did bleed excessively they remained alive and healthy. I think a 
great deal of the question of the bleeding of grape vines is a 
question of prejudice; it does not injure the vines in any way. 
I prefer fall pruning, however. I only speak of the prejudice 
against spring pruning which iscommon. I would not cover 
the vines, but cover the cutends. If I did not do that I would 
do my pruning in thespring, but my preference would be to lay 
my vines down and have the ends of the vines covered to pre- 
vent evaporation. Our growers are discussing the question of 
rooting out their grapes, as it does not pay them to compete 
with New York growers. 
Mr. Elliot: How can they afford to grow grapes and ship 
them at one and two cents per pound? ; 
Mr. Van Houten, (Iowa): They have a good climate, they d 
have cheap labor, they are in the business, and they are going F 
‘ 
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to stay in it, and you want to hesitate about going in such com- 
petition. 
Mr. Lord: I had a long talk last fall with a grower from 
Chattauqua county, New York. He had one hundred tons for 
sale. He sold them at one and one half cents per pound, and 
he said he would have to quit if he could not get better prices. 
Mr. Dartt: I think, Mr. Chairman, the point is they can sell 
them for no more. Now, a year ago I shipped a carload of 
apples to cold storage in Minneapolis, and I paid the storage 
on them and paid the other expenses, and they cost me about 
a dollar per barrel, and as they were not keeping very well I 
took them out and sold them, and I got seventy cents per bar- 
rel. How could I afford to get the apples in the Minneapolis 
market at seventy cents per barrel? But I did it, and I speak 
of it because this is the way they do with grapes; they try the 
experiment of shipping them west even if they do sustain a 
loss, just as we have to sell the Duchess apples, because it is a 
question of selling them at some price or letting them rot on 
the ground. I let a good many of mine rot on the ground; 
that was the most profitable business I did. 
