114 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



keep the white grape by itself, the black grape by itself, the 

 early by itself, the large and handsome by itself, and each 

 quality by itself. I follow them all up and put them upon the 

 record, and breed in successive generations from that point for- 

 ward. In that way you may be sure of hardy vines ; in that 

 way you may ultimately get, I hope, all those qualities in the 

 grape which are so much desired. 



It has been recommended that the seeds be put, in the 

 autumn, into a pot, and placed in the greenhouse, where they 

 will vegetate readily, to gain by that method the winter growth. 

 But I do not think it a wise method. I think a seedling born 

 in a hot-house and nursed in that atmosphere is very likely to 

 be debilitated. I know that if they grow in the open air they 

 are almost certain, (in my experience I should say absolutely 

 certain,) to be hardy, at least, and of vigorous growth. The 

 quality will be various, to be sure, but you will be sure of that 

 prime necessity, hardiness. 



My method is this. In the autumn, I prepare a bed with the 

 spade, turning over the ground to the depth of the spade. I 

 enrich it with phosphate of lime, with wood-ashes, and with 

 nitrogenous manure. You may use saltpetre or nitre. Night- 

 soil, well composted, is perhaps equal to any other. I make 

 the bed rich, so that when the young seedling starts, it may 

 find abundant nutriment. I plant my seeds in this bed. In 

 the spring, when they start, the young leaves are very tender, 

 and must be shaded, at first, from the hot sun. After they 

 have two or three leaves, they require no more care, except, if 

 the season prove very dry, an occasional watering. I leave 

 them in that seed bed usually two years, during which time 

 they make strong roots, get well established, and make a good 

 piece of ripe and strong wood. Then I transplant them. They 

 need not be more than two feet apart, because they will shield 

 each other from the hot sun at that distance, and you will have 

 so many to reject, that there will be space enough for the 

 remainder. The soil is prepared as you would prepare it for 

 corn, with the addition (which must not be forgotten,) of phos- 

 phates and wood-ashes. There they grow, two, three, or four 

 years more. I have had them remain ten years sometimes, 

 before bearing, but rarely. In the fifth or six year, they will 

 bear, and when they get their first bunch, you will be able to 



