“sl ile SI aa es ko Sle tlt id Cait it SIT ie eae Re elas Bet aE dl 
GRAPES. 115 
families during the grape season, and put up grapes in various 
ways for winter use. 
Many people believe and have been made to believe that grape 
vines are very difficult to manage, that the vines are not hardy 
enough to endure our climate and that it is a very difficult matter 
to plant them. Many have not got over the old idea, that they must 
dig a deep trench to fill up with old boots, bones and other rubbish 
to plant their vines on, and as they don’t take the pains to learn bet- 
ter by paying $1.00 and becoming a member of the horticultural 
society, they don’t know what is going on in the line of growing 
grapes and other fruits in Minnesota. Of course, a good many buy 
a basket of grapes now and then during the grape season, but they 
lose all the enjoyment of going into their garden and picking their 
own grapes. 
Many farmers imagine they have no time to waste on either gar- 
den, grape vines or other fruits; and, incidently, let me say right 
here, more than half the farmers lose half their living by not having 
a good garden with plenty of the different varieties of fruits and 
an abundance of grapes in it. In Rice county are not nearly as 
mlany grapes grown as there ought to be; in fact, the number of 
farmers and others that grow them are very few, and as grapes are 
shipped in and sold pretty cheap, a good many people think they 
can buy them cheaper than they can raise them. 
Iam nota professional grape grower at all—I have only grown a 
few vines in my garden; but I have found out by experience that 
grapes can be grown here, even if we have not the most favorable 
surroundings. I am located on the flat part of our city, where we 
are more exposed to late and early frosts by two to four degrees 
than other more elevated parts; but at the same time I have lost my 
entire grape crop in two seasons only out of about twenty since I 
commenced planting vines. This year, 1894, the frost on the morn- 
ing of May nineteenth killed all my grapes, for which I partly blame 
the signal service, as they did not report any frost the day before, 
and so I did not take the precautions I might have taken if the offi- 
cers had done their duty. So I had to do this fall as most of my 
neighbors did; that is, buy a few baskets of grapes; but we had very 
little satisfaction out of the operation. ‘There are a few parties near 
here, on more elevated ground,who raise grapes, where the frost did 
not strike so hard, and they had a fair crop. But I am not dis- 
couraged. While my vines were injured by the frost, they are in 
pretty good condition for another season. Of course, when the first 
growth of a vine is cut down by frostit makes a good deal of trouble 
and extra work, because where the first bud or shoot is killed by 
frost, invariably two or more dormant buds start to grow, all of 
which except one have to be rubbed off, which is no small job where 
there are a good many vines to look after. 
In regard to vines for planting, I like good, strong, two-year-old 
vines, as I have found them the most satisfactory. The young vines 
should be cut back to two or threeeyes. In planting, the vines 
should be set in a slanting position; this is very essential, as it les- 
sens the liability to injnre them in laying them down for winter 
