SECRETARY'S REPORT. 89 



mend the use of dead carcasses ; one cultivator in tlie State of 

 New York put a quarter of an ox under each of his Isal)ella 

 vines and claimed an eminent success as the consequence ; 

 others who tried it found the roots of the vines rotted wherever 

 they came in contact with the carcass. The truth seems to be 

 that highly nitrogenized manures do quicken the growth of 

 those slender growing vines which require extra stimulation, 

 while more vigorous growers take up such an excess into their 

 circulation as to infect them with disease. Plowever the case 

 may be in regard to weak and tender vines, we believe that 

 grapes derived from tlie VUis Labrusca of our fields are natu- 

 rally impatient of excessive feeding ; the wood is thereby forced 

 into long, pointed, gross shoots, which, experience has shown, 

 have imperfect fruit-buds and spongy wood, neither fit for 

 bearing wood or propagation. This vine is found to grow 

 •vigorously and to great size in some places where it is impossi- 

 ble they could ever have received manures. If health and long 

 life of the vine be desirable, it is better not to apply barnyard 

 manure to the bearing vines — young vines will require some 

 compost at the time of planting to promote the formation of 

 roots, of course — but to give occasional dressings of such 

 mineral substances as experience has shown to be necessary 

 when they are not already contained in the soil of the vineyard. 

 Grape-growers are all agreed, however, that sulphur, phosphate 

 of lime and potash are indispensable to the grape ; these 

 substances are the most economically applied in the form of 

 gypsum, which is sulphur in combination with lime; ashes? 

 which supply potash, lime, some phosphates, sulphates, and 

 silica, all of which are useful to the grape ; and bone-dust, 

 which supplies the phosphate of lime and nitrogenized matter. 

 In the cultivation of the Concord in the- vineyard, the chairman 

 of your committee has found twenty bushels of bone-dust, 

 twenty of live wood ashes, and five of gypsum, a sufficient 

 dressing for an acre of vines once in three years ; soil a light 

 sandy loam. On the whole, we believe the safest method will 

 be to avoid excessive manuring with barnyard manures, and, 

 if necessary to do so, to give light top-dressings only until the 

 grape gives a satisfactory growth. But it will usually be found 

 that the vineyard, after the first year, will not require any 



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