The Cultivation of the Fruit-Farm 141 



lat IS needed is thorough stirring (drainage) 

 of the ground. If your land is like an ash heap and 

 is full of humus, you have done your work right. 

 You keep down the weeds in order to stir and drain 

 [the soil. You stir the soil so as to keep its food 

 supply in circulation. Grapes root both wide and 

 deep; they tap the soil at top and bottom. They 

 endure moderate heat (75°-90°) and protracted 

 drouth, provided your soil is like an ash-heap and 

 filled with humus. The color and size of leaf and 

 the length of vine of the summer's growth test the 

 health of your vineyard. The grape blossoms in 

 mid- June, in the Lake Shore Valley ; in mid- July the 

 growth of vine is sweeping the ground between 

 the rows and the leaf is of full size. In mid- August 

 the grapes are two-thirds full size and the leaves 

 are shading into brown and curling at the edge. 

 In mid-September the brown has darkened, the 

 leaves are becoming brittle, the fruit is of a tint 

 of red. In mid-October the leaf has ceased its 

 functions and here and there lies dead beneath the 

 rows ; the fruit is purple and odorous. The pickers 

 are in the field and the harvest is on. If your 

 vineyard turns brown in July, or early August, 

 you may know that yoiu* land lacks humus and 

 nitrogen; that your vines have not enough to eat. 

 You will discover that the feeble vines have stunted 

 and scraggly bunches. ''Feed your vine and make 

 your wine, '' is the old German proverb. 



If you have made your soil aright, you have fed 

 the vineyard both for vine and fruit. You have 



