22 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



PLANTING — THE TKELLIS — PEUNING. 



Whatever else in the cereal or vegetable line 

 a landowner or householdci' may not have room 

 for, space can always be found for at least one 

 or more grape vines, the fruit from which is 

 among the most wholesome and delicious that 

 can he eaten; and coming, as it does, at the 

 season of the year when other small fruits are 

 scarce, it is the more desirable. This sketch 

 is not written for those practical horticultur- 

 alists who know more about the culture of the 

 grape than the WTiter, but for those 

 who have given little or no attention 

 to the subject, and may not have access 

 to such able and exhaustive manuals 

 on the subject as " The Grcqje Ciiltur- 

 t«t," by Andkew S. Fuller, which 

 is noticed more fully on another page. 

 This class, we apprehend," includes the 

 bulk of those owning faniis and gard- 

 ens in Lancaster county; and it will 

 therefore be our aim to make this arti- 

 cle as plain and itractical as possible. 

 For the accompanying illustrations, we 

 are under obligations to Mr. Fuller, 

 whose system of trellising and pruning we 

 adopted and experimented with someyears ago, 

 and which we still regard as the best, at least for 

 amateurs or those who desire to grow grapes in 

 limited quantities or for their own use. Whether 

 it is the best for vineyard purposes we leave for 

 the determination of those who have had expe- 

 rience in that wider field of culture — though we 

 think that few who read Mr. Fuller's reasons 

 for adopting and adhering to it, after a careful 

 consideration and trial of all other plans, will 

 fail to be impressed in its favor. 



PLANTING THE VINE. . 



Although our object is to treat more particu- 

 larly of constructing the trellis and pruning che 

 vine, as the season is approaching for planting 

 vines by those who did not plant last fall, a few 

 words on this subject may interest and profit 

 some of our readers. As a general rule, when 

 young vines are purchased from careful nur- 

 eerymen, who understand their business, the 

 roots will be pruned ready for planting ; for, 

 however carefully they may be taken from the 

 nursery, the ends of the roots will be more or 

 less broken. These should be trimmed ofl' 

 smoothly before planting. It is also beneficial 

 to shorten the roots considerably before plant- 

 ing, especially if they are long and destitute 

 of branching fibers. Two feet is long enough 

 for any rootupon a two or three year old vine; 

 longer ones should be cut ofl', not only for con- 

 venience in planting, but to incite the main 

 roots to throw out new ones from their ends, 

 as well as their sides. The soil will thereby 

 become filled with 

 feeding roots, instead 

 of a few long naked 

 ones, which have no 

 power of absorbing 

 food except through 

 the small fibres which 

 exist only at their ex- 

 treme ends. The soil 

 within the radius oc- 

 cupied by these long 

 roots is useless, so far 

 as furnishing nutri- 

 ment is concerned, 

 because they are not 

 capable of absorbing 

 it. It will therefore 

 often be necessary to 

 shorten the roots to 

 less than two feet, 

 and it is best to cut 



off a portion of the ends, no matter what their 

 lengthmaybe; for it is not the number or length 

 of the roots that determine the quality of the 

 vine, but their condition. If long, soft, spongy 

 and unripened wood and roots are left upon tlie 

 vine, they are of little benefit to it at best, and 

 they will often die, and in their decay commu- 

 nicate disease to the other and more healthy 

 portions of the plant. Vines will sometimes 

 have so many roots that when transplanted the 

 buds left upon the stem are insufiicient to call 



them into action, and they perish; forroots will 

 not remain entirely inactive for any considera- 

 ble time during the growing season without 

 suffering. K the roots are so crowded that they 

 cannot be distinctly separated and a clear space 

 allowed for each when placed in the groimd, a 

 portion should be entirely removed. 



The roots properly trimmed, the stem should 

 be cut off to almost eighteen inches, if not 

 already done. The hole to receive the vine 

 should be dug in a circular foim, and from six 

 to ten inches deep on the outside, and four to 

 six inches in the centre; then set a good strong 



Fig. 1. 



stake in the centre of the hole, by which in- 

 jury to the roots is prevented after planting. 

 feet the vine in the centre of the hole close by 

 the stake; spread out the roots in every direc- 

 tion, and throw on a little soil as you proceed, 

 to hold them in position. When all the roots 

 are properly distributed, fill up the hole, press- 

 ing down the soil with the 

 foot. The depth to which roots 

 should be covered depends upon 

 whether the soil be heavy or 

 light, and on other conditions 

 — deeper covering in light than 

 in heavy soils being necessary, 

 because the air has more ready 

 access through a porous than a 

 tenacious soil ; and while it is 

 necessary that air should reach 

 the roots, it is not judicious to 

 allow it to penetrate too freely, 

 because roots require a partially 

 confined atmosphere, and not 

 one that has any apparent circulation. There 

 are those who advocate plantmgasdeepasone 

 or two feet, while others, going to the other ex- 

 treme, barely cover the roots with earth, and 

 then depend on mulching for moisture. Mr. 

 Fuller recommends a medium depth as the best. 

 If the vines are planted in the fa 11 a little mound 

 should be raised around the stem to protect the 

 lower buds from freezing out ; but if planted in 

 spring a shallow basin may be left about the 

 stem to allow the rains more readily to reach 



two inches of the young shoot. As the young 

 cane grows, keep it loosely tied to the stake. 

 At the end of the first season the vines wiU 

 usually be large enough to be pruned for train- 

 ing, but many of the more feeble varieties will 

 require another year, and they should be cut 

 back in the fall or winter tatwo or three buds, 

 only one of which should be allowed to grow as 

 in the first year. 



CONSTKUCTION OF THE TEELLTS. 



While the usual manner of making trellises 

 with wires running horizontally is regarded as 

 objectionaVde for reasons which we have not 

 room to discuss, it is a much more expensive 

 method than the one shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration (Fig. 1) consisting of two hori- 

 zontal bars and perpendicular wires. In trellises 

 constnicted in the ordinary way there is a diffi- 

 culty in keeping the wires straight, owing to 

 contraction and expansion imder a change of 

 temperature and weight of the fruit and vine; 

 besides, unless placed unusually close, the wires 

 are not where most needed when the young 

 bearing shoots first start. Mr. Fuller's method 

 is to select posts of durable wood of from four 

 to six inches diameter, and six and a half feet 

 long, and to set them in the ground two and a 

 half feet deep, and in a line with the vines, 

 about eight feet apart, the vine being in the 

 middle of each trellis. AVe used ordinary pine 

 three-inch scantling, with the lower end tlipr- 

 oughly saturated with parattineor gas tar, and 

 they have lasted for years and are still sound. 

 Nail on strips of ordinary lath, one inch thick, 



Fig. 3. 

 the roots. It can be filled up when the vines 

 are fairly started in growth. 



When the buds begin to push into growth, 

 select the strongest and rub the others off; a 

 bud near the ground is preferable to one that 

 is a foot above, and this is one reason why the 

 vines should be cut ofl'quite short when planted, 

 as itmakes the lower budsmore certain to push. 

 After the one bud or shoot has been selected, 

 the old stem above it may be cut off to within 



Fig. 2. 

 one strip being placed one foot from the ground 

 and the other at the top of the posts. Then 

 take No. 16 galvanized iron wire and put it on 

 vertically, twisting it around the lower and 

 upper rail, each wire being placed just where 

 the upright bearing shoots are to grow. The 

 distance'between the wires will differ, accord- 

 ing to the variety of vines, as the distance be- 

 tween the buds varies; but usually from eight 

 to twelve inches will be the proper distance. 

 The wires can be eas- 

 ily moved to suit the 

 buds. No. 16 wire 

 runs 102 feet to the 

 pound and is there- 

 fore inexpensive. \ 



PKUNING AND 

 TRAINING. 



The first year the 

 single vine is allowed 

 to grow to the stake 

 set in the planting, 

 the lateral shoots be- 

 ing stopped by pinch- 

 ing back. The next 

 season this cane is to 

 be cut back to within 

 twelve or fifteen inch- 

 es of the ground and 

 only the ujiper two 

 buds allowed to grow, 

 all others being rubbed oft'. From these upper 

 buds two canes are produced, each one of 

 which should have the same treatment as the 

 single one of the previous season. These canes 

 by fall should be from eight to twelve feet long 

 and at least half an inch in diameter. If 

 much smaller than this, one of them should 

 be cut away and the other cut back to two 

 buds, and two canes should be grown, as in the 

 previous season ; but with good vines and 

 good culture they will be ready for training at 



