220 THE GRAPE. 



and, finally, plant it in mellow soil, in a slit made by the spade, 

 pressing the earth firmly about it with the foot.* 



The rarer kinds of foreign grapes are usually grown by cut- 

 tings of shorter length, consisting only of two buds ; and the 

 most successful mode is to plant each cutting in a small pot, 

 and plunge the pots in a slight hotbed, or place the cuttings at 

 once in the mould of the bed itself. In either case they will 

 make strong plants in the same season. 



But the most approved way of raising vine plants in pots is 

 that of propagation by eyes, which we have fully explained in 

 the first part of this work. This, as it retains the least portion 

 of the old wood, is manifestly the nearest approach to raising a 

 plant from the seed, that most perfect of all modes with respect 

 to the constitution of a plant. In the case of new or rare sorts 

 it offers to us the means of multiplying them with the greatest 

 possible rapidity. As the grape usually receives its annual 

 pruning in autumn or winter, the cuttings may be reduced to 

 nearly their proper length, and kept in earth, in the cellar, until 

 the ensuing spring. The hardier sorts may be buried in the 

 open ground. 



The foreign and the native grapes are very different in their 

 habits, in this climate, and, therefore, must be treated differently. 

 The native sorts, as the Isabella and Catawba, are cultivated 

 with scarcely any further care than training up the branches 

 to poles or a trellis, and are, on this account, highly valuable 

 to the farmer, while the European varieties are of little value 

 in this climate except with especial care, and are, therefore, 

 confined to the garden. 



1. Culture of the Foreign Grape. 



The climate of the temperate portion of this country, so fa- 

 vourable to all other fruits, is unfortunately not so for the foreign 

 grape. This results, perhaps, from its variability, the great ob- 

 stacle being the mildew, which, seizing upon the young fruit, 

 prevents its further growth, causes it to crack, and renders it 

 worthless. Unwilling to believe that this was not the fault of 

 bad culture, many intelligent cultivators, and among them men 

 of capital, and much practical skill, have attempted vineyard 

 culture, with the foreign sorts, in various sections of the country, 

 under the most favourable circumstances, and have uniformly 

 failed. On the other hand, the very finest grapes are produced 

 under glass, in great quantities, in our first rate gardens, espe- 

 cially in the neighbourhood of Boston j'j" in the small yards or 



* In sandy or dry soils the cuttings may be left longer. 



t The vineries at the seats of J. P. Gushing and Col. Perkins, near Boston, pro- 

 duce annually many tons of these grapes, grown in the highest perfection. 



