308 APPENDIX I. 



is from number 10 to 12. "We have not the space nor the necessary ac- 

 quaintance with the subject to describe at length Dr. Underbill's method 

 of pruning. It is progressive, that is, different for each of a succession 

 of years as a vine grows older, until it finally reaches maturity. The 

 chief object kept in view, of course modified to meet particular circum- 

 stances, is to depend on this year's growth of wood for next year's growth 

 of fruit. The ground is thoroughly ploughed once in the spring, and the 

 spaces dug between the vines ; after this the harrow and cultivator are 

 depended on to keep the soil loose and free from weeds, until the fruit 

 begins to change its color when no one is permitted to go between the 

 rows until the picking begins. By thus employing horses and imple- 

 ments, the expense is very much less than on the German plan of merely 

 spading and hoeing. 



" When the fruit is formed in June, as much as three-fourths to four- 

 fifths of it are cut away only the small remaining fraction being suf- 

 ered to ripen. Thus, and by a careful system of pruning, the strength 

 of the plant is economized, and wholly devoted to the end of com- 

 pletely maturing the juices which form both the vine and the fruit, 

 and adding particularly to the size and sweetness of the latter. Every 

 effort has been made to subject the main vitality of the plant to the one 

 purpose of producing the best fruit rather than the most wood; and by 

 these efforts, by careful pruning, and proportioning the quantity of fruit 

 ripened to the capabilities of the vine, Dr. Underbill estimates that he has 

 succeeded in adding much to the strength of the plants themselves, to the 

 excellence of the fruit they bear, and in making the period of its maturity 

 earlier from season to season, so that there is an average difference of at 

 least twelve days between the time of the ripening of the grapes now and 

 that when he commenced his efforts 25 years ago. This appears to be no 

 inconsiderable advantage in favor of vines from his grounds ; inasmuch as 

 we see no reason why the same causes which operate to produce this 

 earlier period of ripening in his vineyards, should not also have a similar 

 effect on cuttings grown from them with the same care to the age of set- 

 ting out. He has plants for sale at the age of two, three, and we think 

 also four years old, as purchasers may prefer. About one- third of the 

 vineyards are Catawbas, the remainder Isabella? the latter of which has 

 been found the surest for a crop, though it is very seldom that either falls 

 short, and we understood that for many years past, Dr. Underbill had not 

 experienced a single entire failure. The present season has been, on the 

 whole, a cooler one than the average according to his expectations, 

 based as he told us, upon the fact that every tenth year regularly proves a 

 cold one at least he knew such to have been the case for certainly sixty 

 years back, and had no doubt it would continue so. The crop is very 

 good, however, the berries and bunches being especially large. We saw 

 some Isabellas that entirely exceeded in these respects anything we have 



