REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION 79 



run from two to three cents per vine. Since the European vines are much 

 more productive than those of the American grapes the added cost of winter 

 protection will be much more than offset by the greater yield of grapes. 

 Trellising, too, is simpler and less expensive for the European grapes, helping 

 further to offset the cost of winter protection. 



It is apparent at once that European grapes must have special treatment 

 in pruning if they are to be annually laid on the ground. Several modifica- 

 tions of European and California practices can be used in the East to bring 

 the plants in conditions for winter laying-down. All methods of pruning 

 must have this in common: new wood must be brought up from the base of 

 plant every second, third, fourth or fifth year in order to permit the bending 

 of the plant. In our experiences we have no difficulties in so training the 

 vines. Briefly, we have maintained for each vine two trunks, one old, the 

 other young, which we have carried up to or just below the first wire in a 

 two-wire trellis system and from each of these trunks we have trained a cane 

 bearing from four to eight buds to right and left on a lower wire. The bear- 

 ing shoots that grow from the buds on these canes are tied to the second 

 wire. In a commercial vineyard, depending upon the varieties, our simple 

 method might be modified in many ways to meet conditions. 



The grower of European grapes grafted on American vines may be pre- 

 pared to be surprised at the growth the vines make. At the end of the first 

 season the grafts attain the magnitude of full-sized vines; the second season 

 they begin to fruit more or less abundantly, and the third year they produce 

 approximately the same number of bunches as a Concord or Niagara vine, 

 and as the bunches of most varieties are larger than those of the American 

 grapes the yield, therefore, is greater. The European varieties, too, may be 

 set more closely than the American sorts since they are seldom such ram- 

 pant growers. 



It is quite too soon to reason from this short experiment that we are to 

 grow varieties of Vitis vinifera commonly in New York, but the behavior of 

 the vines on the station grounds seems to indicate plainly that we may do so. 

 At Geneva the European varieties are as vigorous and thrifty as American 

 vines and quite as easily managed. Why may we not grow these grapes if 

 we protect them from phylloxera, fungi and cold? In Europe there are 

 varieties of grapes for nearly every soil and condition in the southern half 

 of the continent. In Eastern Europe and Western Asia the vines must be 

 protected just as we shall have to protect them here. It seems almost certain 

 that from the many sorts selected to meet the various conditions of Europe 

 we shall be able to find kinds to meet the diverse soils and climates of this 

 continent. And here, by the way, we have one of the chief reasons for wish- 

 ing to grow these grapes that American grape-growing may not be so local- 

 ized as it now is. Probably we shall find that European grapes can be grown 

 in more kinds of soils and under more various conditions than can our native 

 varieties. 



The culture of Vitis vinifera in the East gives us essentially a new fruit. 

 If any considerable degree of success attends their culture then wine-making 

 in Eastern America will be revolutionized, for the European grapes are far 

 superior to the native sorts for this purpose. Varieties of Vitis vinifera have 

 a higher sugar and solid content than do those of the American species and 

 for this reason as a rule keep longer and we may thus expe-t t'?p.t thrrup-b 



