CULTURAL METHODS FOR THE GRAPE IN 

 NEW YORK 



F. E. GLAD WIN 



Associate Agriculturist, Vineyard Laboratory of the Xew York Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, Fredonia, X. Y. 



"A free loose earth is what the vines demand, 



Where wind and frost have help'd the laborer's hand." 



VERGIL 



Commercial grape growing in Xew York is limited to four 

 well-defined sections of the state. Arranged in order of their 

 importance they are: the Chautauqua and Erie belt, the Central 

 Lakes district, the Hudson Valley, and the Xiagara plateau. The 

 four areas present widely diverse conditions of climate and 

 topography. This diversity is reflected in the varieties grown, 

 and consequently the period of maturity for the same variety in 

 each district presents a succession of season. 



Diversity of Locations 



In the four districts are vineyards located on level lands, such 

 as the Xiagara plateau, on level to gentle-sloping land, as in the 

 Chautauqua and Erie helt, on the somewhat more elevated and 

 abrupt vineyards of the Hudson Valley, and finally on the steep 

 hillsides of the Central Lakes region. These differences in topog- 

 raphy would seem to indicate that the grape can be grown suc- 

 cessfully under variable conditions, but the ideal location of the 

 vineyard is on easy-sloping land. Many fine vineyards are located 

 on steep hillsides, yet liability to washing and difficulty of tillage 

 tend to render such vineyards less productive and shorter-lived. 

 The shores about the large lakes appear to be especially well 

 adapted to grapes these districts in some cases extending 

 several miles back from the water. Very rarely can grapes be 

 grown in our northernmost latitudes without the increased labor 

 and cost of covering in winter, except under the tempering in- 

 fluence of large bodies of water. Low situations that prevent a 

 free circulation of air, such as river bottoms and the basins of 

 small lakes, should be avoided. These locations are more liable 



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