1378 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



1724. The trimming 

 of the grape-vine at 

 planting. 



than 70,000 acres, and Ontario, the leading province 

 of the Dominion, has approximately 14,000 acres. The 

 rapid increase has not been because of high prices, but 

 rather steady average prices from $18 to $30 a ton, 

 delivered at the winery, or an equal price f.o.b. the 



shipping-station. The 

 average yield has not 

 been over two tons to 

 the acre, but, under 

 good conditions, with 

 intelligent manage- 

 ment, an average of 

 four to six tons is not 

 uncommon. 



Soils and location. 



Grapes are grown on 

 all types of soils, 

 on many sites, 

 in various loca- 

 tions. But the 

 loams and clays 

 with good drain- 

 age, the sites 

 with good air- 

 circulation, and 

 the locations 

 that are reason- 

 ably free from 

 frost are preferred. 

 Quality is to a large 

 extent determined by 

 soil. Some of the 

 wineries will accept 

 only fruit that is grown 

 on clay soils. The prod- 

 uct is more uniform, 

 it ripens more regularly 

 and the sugar-content is higher. Also some cooperative 

 companies that are catering to a special trade, advise 

 their members to plant only on heavy soils because the 

 grapes are sweeter and of higher quality. The ideal 

 soil, however, is the rich, deep, alluvial, easily drained 

 loams that have taken centuries to build up from the 

 washing of the hillsides toward the margins of the 

 lakes and rivers. 



The site is of importance for two reasons, those of 

 air-circulation and sunlight, both of which serve the 

 same purpose: to assist the grower in his fight against 



disease. Disease can live only in conditions that favor 

 it, and light and air are its hereditary enemies. Site 

 is also often discussed with reference to early bud- 

 development and late spring frosts, but its importance 

 has been overdrawn. The number of vineyards injured 

 annually in this manner in the commercial districts is 

 very small. 



Location (and by that is here meant the situation of 

 a district) is of extreme importance. In the Niagara 

 Peninsula, Ontario, the largest grape-growing center 

 in Canada, the aspect is north, with a hill in the rear, 

 and facing the waters of Lake Ontario. Here the crop 

 naturally varies, but it never fails. The same applies 



1725. A vineyard in its first summer. 



1726. Illustrating the bracing of the end post in a fence or trellis. 



to the best parts of New York State, the commercial 

 sections of the one being but continuations of the other. 

 The favored spots in Ontario are not on the shore of 

 the lake but rather just below the escarpment where 

 the water has less influence. Grapes on the shore some- 

 times fail to ripen well and the quality is consequently 

 inferior. Because of this, many vineyards on the shore 

 have been removed in late years, while the interior 

 plantings have largely increased. If the volume of 

 water were smaller, the influence would be sufficient 

 only for frost-protection; but, where it is so large, it 

 retards early development. The water influence is strik- 

 ing, as the fruits (peaches, for example) ripen from six to 

 ten days later on the shore than two to four miles inland. 



Stock and pruning. 



One-year-old plants are the choice for planting. 



These should be well grown and healthy. Two-year- 

 old plants are often only one-year culls. The 

 plants are set as early in the spring as pos- 

 sible on land that has been previously pre- 

 pared by growing a cultivated crop. Plants 

 set in sod or on unprepared land dp not 

 thrive, and poor growth the first year is not 

 made up two years later. The stock is 

 heeled-in as soon as it comes from the nur- 

 sery, but is left heeled-in only until the 

 ground is ready for planting, which is as early 

 as possible. When planting, time is saved by 

 plowing a furrow, sometimes by throwing out 

 two furrows, one each way. A man with a 

 spade deepens this, or loosens the soil in the 

 bottom, and then packs it again firmly around 

 the roots. Before planting, all broken and 

 damaged roots are cut away and sometimes 

 the healthy ones are cut back. (Fig. 1724.) 

 The tops are cut back to two to four buds. 

 Distances of planting vary greatly, depending 

 on the variety and the ideas of the planter. 

 The popular distances are 7 by 10 feet to 

 8 by 10 feet for the small-growing varieties, 

 to 9 by 11 feet for the larger-growing varie- 

 ties. A few of the small-growing varieties 

 are planted 6 by 9 feet, but this is excep- 

 tional. The first year the vines are allowed to 



