78 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Smarting under the los8 of the entire crop of 1873, I cov- 

 ered about one-half the vines that fall, but I think the los3 

 from bending so great that I shall not practise it in future. 

 Contrary to the general opinion, I think the crop was lessened, 

 rather than otherwise, by bending and covering the vines 

 through the winter. 



Owing to the entire loss of one crop, the profits of the 

 vineyard have not been what I could have wished or what I 

 might reasonably have expected. But from the fine condition 

 of my vines at present, their small liability to a repetition of 

 the injury, and my past experience in the business, I believe 

 they will in the end give good returns for good care and 

 attention. 



Statement of George Bryant. 



The 330 grape-vines which I entered for a premium were 

 set in the fall of 1869 and the spring of 1870. They were 

 then one year old, and were set in rows six feet apart and 

 four feet apart in the rows. The lot is protected on the 

 north-west by an arbor-vitoe hedge, about ten feet high. The 

 soil, which is a sandy loam generally, with a mixture of 

 gravel on a part of it, was in good condition at the com- 

 mencement, and no manure has been applied since the vines 

 were set. I have kept the soil well loosened with the culti- 

 vator and hoe, and in the fall have cut back on the renewal 

 system of one fruiting-caue to a vine, which was wound 

 around a single stake and fastened at the top by a string. I 

 allowed no fruit to ripen until last year, when the crop proved 

 almost a failure, owing to the severity of the previous win- 

 ter. The present year has been more favorable, and my 

 crop would have been a good one but for the mildew, which, 

 to some extent, prevented the fruit from ripening. The 

 result is as follows : — 



Expenses: 330 vines, at 5 cts., $16.50; setting do., 

 $6.60; 330 stakes, at l\ cts., $4.95; sharpening and setting 

 do., $3.30 ; cultivating and hoeing, $25 ; picking and market- 

 ing fruit, $20. Total, $76.35. 



Receipts: 191 lbs. fruit in 1873, at 10 cts., $19.10; 

 1,685 lbs. fruit in 1874, at 5 cts., $84.25 ; estimated present 

 value of vines, $165. Total, $268.35. 



