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116 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
covering. The vines should be planted in rows running north and 
south where practicable (although a friend of mine near here has a 
fine patch of vines the rows running east and west, and he has very 
good success with them). They should be planted seven to eight 
feet apart in the row, and the rows about eight feet apart. 
A good clay soil is preferable to any other, and the soil should be 
thoroughly worked to a good depth and made rich with good man- 
ure. Care should be taken to have no manure come in direct con- 
tact with the roots of the vines, as it is liable to injure them. Grape 
vines are great feeders and so the soil must be rich to give the best 
results. (I am speaking of planting on a small scale, as that is all I 
have had experience with.) Of course,the ground must be kept in good 
cultivation and free from weeds during the summer. In the fall 
after the frost has killed the leaves, I cut my vines back to two or 
three eyes, that is, this year’s growth. 
I am much in favor of summer pruning, as it keeps the vines in 
much better shape, instead of letting them have their own way and 
run allover. In my early experience I let them grow without sum- 
mer pruning, but I am much better satisfied with the present prac- 
tice of summer pruning. My method in summer pruning con- 
sists in pinching of the tips of the young shoots after they have 
grown about four leaves beyond the last bunch of fruit, that is, I 
leave three or four leaves from where the last bunch of fruit is 
formed. The pruning must be done as soon as the shoot is long 
enough. because if the vine is left to grow to a considerable length 
and then cut back, it is an injury to the vine, asit checks the growth 
too much at once. I don’t favor as close pruning as I have seen 
some do. When a shoot is nipped, of course the bud at the last leaf 
will start and make a new shoot, which must again be pinched off 
after the first leaf is formed; and if a real good job is desired, that 
pinching must be continued through the summer. It makes the 
vines very stocky and they invariably ripen the wood mnch better 
for next seasons use than where the vines are left to grow without 
pruning. 
I object to trimming off the leaves as I have seen some do, in or- 
der to have the sun shine directly onto the fruit, which is not only 
not necessary but it isaninjury to both fruit and vine, and I think 
really retards the ripening of the fruit. Another advantage of sum- 
mer pruning is that it prevents the liability of too much shade, espec- 
ially in wet seasons. 
Winter protection is an important matter. I think soil is the best 
material for covering. I dig a shallow trench along the row as close 
to the vines as is practicable without injuring the roots, then I bend 
my vines down into the trench. This is very easily done if the vines 
have been set slanting,as mentioned before. Then I cover with soil. 
It is especially necessary to cover the lower part of the vine next to 
the roots thoroughly, as in bending the vines the bark may be 
strained some, especially in old vines,and, so, if that part is exposed 
to drying winds and sunshine,it is liable to injury. In the spring I 
always leave my vines covered as long as I can to keep the buds 
from starting too early. 
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