32 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Talbot said he had a Delaware vine in a cold grapery where 

 it never had rain or dew, and it always bears fine fruit. 



Mr. Moore said that where his vines wore mulched the ground 

 underneath was so full of roots that he could not plow it ; they are 

 within two inches of the surface. All he has to do is to tie up the 

 vines and pick the fruit. No weeds grow there, and the mud does 

 not spatter up on the fruit. He thought the average temperature 

 of the soil was higher than when it was not mulched. 



Mr. Talbot said the fact that the roots come so near the surface 

 shows that they do not want to go deeper. 



Mr. Wilder said we live at the northern limit of the grape 

 region — almost at the jumping oflE" place — and we cannot be cer- 

 tain of our crops without covering. He asked Mr. Moore whether 

 he had had any vines split open by the cold, and said that he had 

 alreadj' noticed trees cracked open by the cold in November and 

 December, and he believed that in spring vegetation would be 

 found much injured. It would save a great deal of trouble if we 

 could keep our vines up all winter, but every few years we have a 

 season which destroys all the wood, and the only sure way to pre- 

 vent it is to cover every winter. 



Mr. Moore said he had no more doubt than he had of his own 

 existence, that on a warm, dry soil, with hardy varieties — not 

 hybrids — vines would ripen their wood as certainly as apple 

 trees. When vines are grown in rich soil and make coarse wood, 

 laying down is the only way you can save them. 



Mr. French thought this was a very important matter, and that 

 if Mr. Moore had laid down the vines which were killed, he would 

 not have lost them. He covered his every winter, and even the 

 Isabellas were sure to live. By covering, j'^ou escape winter kill- 

 ing, which is nothing but the injury to unripe wood by changes of 

 temperature. 



Mr. Moore said that the tops of his vines were not winter killed, 

 for cuttings from them grew, and the tops themselves grew two or 

 three inches. Vines'near by, which were mulched, were uninjured. 

 Vines with the best ripened wood would be liable to be killed by 

 the roots freezing, when the tops were not injured. 



Mr. Wilder mentioned a case of injury to an orchard of dwarf 

 Beurre d'Anjou pear trees, which he saw at Lockport, N. Y., by 

 killing of the roots when the ground froze very deep. Another 

 square of standards adjoining was uninjured. 



