1893.] ESSAYS. 49 



uow ready to set the viues, a, much easier task than it was to set the 

 stakes. But here arises a very serious question : what varieties shall 

 I set? As few as possible; many a man has learned this too late. 

 We are confined to three, the Concord, Worden and Delaware ; if it 

 would succeed well on our soil we might add the Moore, but it has 

 never done well in our trial row. 



Having secured from some reliable nurseryman good No. 1 one- 

 year-old vines, the question arises, how shall I prepare them for set- 

 ting ; they should have roots from two to three feet long. For the 

 strong growing kinds, like the Concord and "Worden, I would take a 

 cuttiug, but for the weaker kinds, like the Delaware, I would prefer a 

 layer. Being all ready, we take a bundle of 100 vines in one hand, a 

 sharp axe in the other, and with a few blows cut off all but one foot 

 of the roots, and about two-thirds of the top. Sprinkle them well, 

 and see that they are covered up from the dry winds, for it takes but 

 a short time for the sun and wind to take out all the moisture there is 

 iu a vine. We now take a pail, fill it about one-third full of cow 

 manure from the stable, and then add water enough to fill it ; after 

 stirring this thoroughly, we are ready for the field. Arriving there, I 

 put about 25 vines into the pail, the man removes a spadeful or so of 

 earth from the south side of the stake, and 1 take a vine from the pail, 

 set it in the hole about five inches deep and up to the south side of the 

 stake ; he fills the hole, aud we move on until the field is set ; when 

 done every vine will be just 6 by 8 feet apart. During the summer 

 see that the growing shoots are kept tied to the stake, and the ground 

 well pulverized ; this is nicely done with a one-horse Acme harrow. 

 After the foliage has dropped in the fall cut away all the summer's 

 growth, with the exception of about three inches of the strongest 

 shoot. The next summer keep the growing shoots well tied up to 

 prevent their being broken off, and thus check root growth ; for it 

 must be borne in mind that the first two years are given up to the 

 growing of roots, not top, as they are our bank account which, in 

 future years, we are to draw upon. This has been one of the points 

 that has given me the most trouble during my twenty years as a grape 

 grower, — the equal balance of top and root. In the fall trim away all 

 the wood made this year, with the exception of the strongest shoot, 

 which we will leave about one foot long. The next spring we are ready 

 for the trellis. We use round, split or quartered chestnut posts, 8 feet 

 long ; if cut in June they will peel very readily ; piled up crosswise 

 they season nicely during the summer, and are in good condition to 

 set iu the spring. We draw them to the vineyard in the winter, and 



