306 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the sun should shine on the leaves. For that reason I should 

 recommend that vineyards be planted with the rows running 

 north and south. I planted my own with the stem of the 

 plant inclining at an angle of about 45 degrees toward the 

 north, so that when I come to lay it down it goes down readily. 

 As I lay them down every year, they become accustomed after 

 awhile to it and do not make much resistance, although they 

 are quite large, some of them having been planted some eight 

 years, and some of them even longer than that. The rows 

 being planted north and south, you get the full benefit of the 

 sun on the leaves. In the morning the eastern side is flooded 

 with the sunlight, and at high noon it is directly over the 

 rows. In the afternoon the western side becomes flooded with 

 sunlight, and that is what you want to elaborate the sap in 

 the leaf. It must have a strong light upon the leaf, but the 

 fruit does not need it. I had a friend who took away all the 

 leaves so that the sun shone directly upon the fruit. He was 

 waiting there last autumn for it to ripen, and I don't know 

 but what he is waiting there yet. • [Laughter.] 



Mr. Sampson: There is one remark that the doctor made 

 that I would like to take up, and that is in regard to planting 

 north and south. I think that all vine growers plant accord- 

 ing to the slope of the ground, running their trellises sideways 

 of the hill, so that the wash may not be lengthwise of the 

 row. I think that the doctor made an error in recommend- 

 ing anybody to plant their vines north and south or in any 

 other particular direction, on that account. I think he knows 

 it is necessary to plant sideways on a hill. 



Mr.Brackett: I would like to speak in regard to fertilizing 

 grapes. I have not heard anything said about that this year so 

 far, nor last year. I was thinking the other day why it would 

 not be a good idea to mulch under the vines for purposes of 

 fertilization, and for the purpose of keeping down the weeds. 

 We know that the cultivator cannot keep the weeds down under 

 the vines; we have to go over them with a hoe in order to do 

 that. There is another reason, which is this, it will prevent 

 the wash. I would like to know if the members would not con- 

 sider it a good plan to take coarse manure and mulch under 

 the vines. The next point is in regard to the time. Last year 

 and the year before, we used up a good deal of time tying up 

 the vines according to the books, whose instructions I tried to 

 carry out. This summer I found that by taking a shoot and 

 standing it up between two other vines, or taking a double 



