SECRETARY'S REPORT. 53 



Plant your vines in rows, running north and south, that the 

 sun may shine upon and heat tlie soil to the greatest depth. 

 Let the rows be ten feet apart and plant the vines six feet apart 

 in the row, for the American vine is a strong grower and must 

 have more space than other grapes. The espalier is, perhaps, 

 the best mode of training, though training to poles is a very 

 good, and, some think, the best method ; but the superiority of 

 the espalier lies in this, that you do not have to take down the 

 vines, as you must do in renewing the poles, and the pruning is 

 greatly facilitated by the training of the grape on the flat surface 

 of the espalier. 



Aspect and soil greatly modify climate. A south aspect is 

 best, and a hillside, if not so steep as to make cultivation 

 impracticable, is much better than level land. Western aspects 

 are better than eastern, for the sun warms the western slope 

 in the latter part of the day, and this afternoon sun is of great 

 service in the autumn, when the grapes are ripening. There 

 will be fully ten days difference, in the time of ripening the 

 crop, between a warm soil on a southern slope, and an eastern 

 slope with a stronger soil. Yet in a strong soil, treated with the 

 mineral manures before spoken of, the skilful cultivator will not 

 fail to ripen his crop. The points made were that the soil should 

 not be too rich, that the culture of the soil should not be too 

 deep, that the wood should be well ripened, and the vine should 

 not be cropped too heavily. 



As to the amount of crop, the vine may safely carry five 

 pounds to a vine the third year after planting, ten pounds the 

 fourth year, fifteen pounds the fifth year, and twenty pounds 

 the sixth year, and thenceforward may be surely counted on, if 

 the vines are healthy, as they will be if treated as before advised. 

 This is equal to about thirty-five hundred pounds to the acre for 

 the first crop, seven thousand pounds the second year, ten 

 thousand five hundred pounds the third year, and fourteen 

 thousand pounds the fourth year, in round numbers. 



After some remarks on the best methods of propagation and 

 planting the grape, Mr. Bull invited the attention of the Board 

 to the improvement of our hardy native stock by raising seedlings 

 from it. He had been engaged in this work for more than 

 twenty years. His Concord grape was obtained in the second 



