FRUITS 231 



climatic conditions. Most of the kinds do best on 

 strong, well-drained limestone soils and in a dry 

 rather than a wet climate. Frequent rains and a 

 moist, muggy atmosphere, especially as the fruit 

 reaches maturity, always promote the many fungous 

 diseases to which this crop is so susceptible. The 

 common European practice of planting on hillsides 

 too steep for cultivation to other crops is seldom fol- 

 lowed in this country, not so much because grapes 

 cannot be made to thrive in such locations as because 

 the expense of cultivation is much greater than on 

 more level land. Good drainage is, however, always 

 important, and a southeast exj)0sure, where the dew 

 dries early, is to be preferred to a northern one. 

 Grapes require plenty of potash and phosphoric acid, 

 and where these substances are lacking they should 

 be supplied in commercial fertilizers ; but nitrogenous 

 manures should be avoided as they promote a ten- 

 dency to disease. Vine roots seem to have a consider- 

 able power of utilizing the insoluble phosphates. No 

 vines grow better than those having old bones buried 

 about the roots. 



Grapes are mostly propagated from cuttings, the 

 young plants being planted in the vineyard when 

 from one to two years old. They are usually planted 

 at from six to eight feet apart, and the ground should 

 be given frequent but shallow cultivation in order to 

 always keep it clear of weeds and grass. Cover 

 crops are seldom used in the vineyard, but at the 

 South some kind of winter cover crop would undoubt- 

 edly be of great benefit in protecting the fertility of 

 the soil. The California method of training which 



