REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GARDENS. 328 



might add Moore's Pearly, but it has never done well iu our trial row. 



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

 year-old vines, the ([uestion arises, how they shall be prepared for 

 setting : they should have roots from two to three feet long. For 

 the strong growing kinds, like the Concord and Worden, I would 

 take a cutting, but for the weaker kinds, like the Delaware, I 

 would prefer a layer. Being all ready, we take a bundle of one 

 hundred vmes in one hand, a sharp axe in the other, and with a 

 few iilows 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 in 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 twenty-five vines into the pail, the man removes a spadeful 

 or so of earth from the south side of the stake, and I take a vine 

 from the pail, set it in the hole about five iuches deep and up to 

 the south side of the stake ; lie fills the hole, and we move on 

 .until the field is set; when done every vine will be just six by 

 eight 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 checking 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, eight feet long ; if cut in June 

 they will peel very readily ; piled up crosswise they season well 

 during the summer, and are iu good condition to set in the spring. 

 We draw them to the vineyard in the winter, and put them in 



