104 An American Fruit-Farm 



but not for profit. A variety of grapes becomes a 

 nuisance, like a variety of peaches or pltmis. The 

 vineyardist needs to raise grapes on a large scale, 

 so that he may harvest them at one time, with 

 economy of labor. Varieties compel irregular 

 picking, variety of packages, and extra labor. If 

 varieties are raised, let there be enough of each to 

 make the effort a commercial success. Five rows 

 of a variety are a nuisance; five acres may be 

 profitable. In planting a vineyard, care must be 

 taken to secure regularity; straight rows; vines 

 set sufficiently deep so as to protect the roots, not 

 alone from frost but from the teeth of the tools. 

 In wiring grapes, the rows may well be run so as to 

 escape the violence of prevailing winds — that is, 

 with the line of storms, not across it. Thus if 

 by mishap a hailstorm visits the region, grapes 

 which row with the storm escape better than those 

 which traverse its course. In the Lake Shore Valley 

 rows running parallel with the lake are less likely 

 to suffer from storm, — a serious matter when acres 

 must be re-tied after a northwester. But the Val- 

 ley lies at the confluence of two vast circulatory 

 systems of the continent: the St. Lawrence, and 

 the Mississippi, and in consequence storms spring 

 up quite without notice from any quarter. Few of 

 these storms are violent, and for a period of nearly 

 fifty years vineyards have been injured by hail 

 but twice. It is folly to set out grapes on land 

 that is not grape land. The traveler through the 

 Valley will see many acres of such folly. The 



