Grafting Grape Vines. 107 



V. Before naming a fruit, its qualities should be decided 

 by at least two seasons' experience ; and no new fruit can be 

 safely recommended for general cultivation until the same has 

 been tested and found valuable in more than one locality. 



Art. II. Grafting Graj)e Vines. By Alexander Marshall, 

 Esq., West Chester, Pa. 



The cultivation of the grape is becoming very extensive as 

 an article for the market, as well as for consumption by those 

 who grow them ; and one which cannot be too highly prized 

 as a delicious and wholesome fruit. Almost every one loves 

 to eat a plate full of good grapes, but very few know how to 

 cultivate them, and fewer still know what varieties to select 

 as best suited to the soil and climate of their particular loca- 

 tion. So that, after having reared a few vines to a proper 

 bearing age, they are disappointed in the crop by having been 

 unfortunate in their selection. They thus become disheart- 

 ened, and suffer the vines on which they have bestowed so 

 much attention, and watched with so much solicitude, to per- 

 ish for want of the very treatment that would make them 

 productive of good fruit. To such I would say. Cheer up ; 

 those vines are very valuable; their variety can soon be 

 changed by the process of grafting. 



If the reader will have a little patience, I will give him my 

 experience on this subject. Some years ago, I planted a vine- 

 yard, and, to make the variety as extensive as possible, hav- 

 ing a strong partiality for native plants and fruits, selected 

 cuttings from many wild varieties on the neighboring hills 

 and in the surrounding valleys. After bestowing a great deal 

 of labor and attention on them for several years, I found that 

 they would not meet my expectations as fruit-bearing vines, 

 and concluded to try the experiment of grafting them. Hav- 

 ing prepared myself with scions for the purpose, I commenced 

 one morning, about the last of March, by removing the soil 

 from the vine to the depth of five or six inches ; sawed off the 



