170 Prcypagation of the Grape Vine. 



AiiT. IV. On the Propagation of the Grape Vine ; with Observa- 

 tions on its Management, Pruning, S^'c, in the Green-house and 

 Grapery, and the formation if Vine Borders. By J. W. Russell- 

 Gentlemen, 



I SHALL conclude my remarks with a few practical instructions on 

 the training, fruiting, and pruning of the vine. In the first place, I 

 intend briefly to state my reasons for recommending the vines to be 

 introduced into the grapery, every two and a half feet. The inten- 

 tion is to make sure of a good crop of fruit every year ; not only in 

 having an abundance, with scarcely a chance of failure, but so as to 

 be able to produce grapes perfectly ripe, and of exquisite flavor. I 

 think I shall not be thought to exaggerate much, when I say, that 

 well ripened grapes are always a very scarce article in the Boston 

 market. I am aware that it will be said by some cultivators, that it 

 is by no means uncommon, to see plenty in full perfection every year 

 in the market. That the tastes of individuals differ very much, is 

 well known to every body, for what is admired by some, is not at all 

 pleasant to others. 1 have known some persons to prefer the Isa- 

 Ijella grape, well known in this country, to any of the European 

 sorts. 1 cannot account for this in any other way, than from the 

 quantity of foreign grapes sold every year not half matured. But 

 present to any person who has a relish for good fruit, a bunch of the 

 Black Hamburgh grapes, well grown and thoroughly ripened, with a 

 fine bloom upon the berries, and a bunch of any of the sorts indi- 

 genous to America, equally well matured in every respect, and after 

 eating of each, the native fruit should be pronounced the best, 1 cer- 

 tainly should conclude the taste was decidedly bad. 



The system of fruiilng I shall recommend, has not, to my knowl- 

 edge, been much in practice in this vicinity. It will be perceived, 

 at once, that the vines are planted too close together to be fruited 

 in the ordinary way. The intention is to fruit them alternately 

 every year; this appears to be a very natural process, giving those 

 that have produced large crops this year, the next to recover, by 

 planting, as before stated ; and following this system, there will be a 

 vine every five feet throughout the house, in full bearing every year. 

 Supposing the vines were planted in the month of June in the bor- 

 der, from the pots, and introduced into the grapery ; with judicious 

 treatment, they w^ill have made a growth of eighteen or twenty feet 

 by the first of November, and they should be pruned the first or 

 second week in January; but if no artificial heat is kept up in the 

 house through the winter months, they must be pruned immediately 

 on the approach of severe frosts; and well protected from the sudden 

 changes of the weather. The wood should be left four or five feet 

 in length, according to its strength, but in this the operator must be 

 his own judge, as I do not think that any invariable rule can be laid 



