240 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct., 



to prevent the use of brandy by encouraging the 

 use of wine. We would advise sincerely, the 

 use of neither; but we are satisfied to have every 

 man do, in this matter, as he thinks best. We 

 only allude to this topic, here, because it is dwelt 

 upon at considerable length in this report. 



Aside from wine making, the Grape is worthy 

 of extensive culture in every district of our coun- 

 try adapted to it. It is a most delicious, healthy 

 fi'uit, and easily grown. It should be on the ta- 

 bles of every family in the land. If we had an 

 abundance of Grapes, and other fine fruit, we 

 believe it would greatly diminish the thirst for 

 intoxicating drinks, of every sort ; and we think 

 every philanthropist should aid in promoting 

 their culture. We subjoin the following extract 

 from the Report, which has a practical bearing 

 on the mode of cultivating the vine : 



The soil most congenial to the growth of the A'ine, and 

 the perfection of its fruit, is a rich, hght, calcareous loam, 

 with a dry. stony, or rocky bottom ; no sub-soils can pos- 

 sess too great a quantity of these materials, as the roots of 

 the vine will run thoroughly into their interstices. In these 

 dry and warm situations, the fibres lie secure from that ex- 

 cess of moisture which accumulates in more compact soils. 

 One chief cause of the grape's not ripening, is tlie great 

 depth the roots are allowed to run, below the influence of 

 the sun's rays ; they thus acquire too great a quantity of 

 moisture ; vegetation is carried on until late in the season, 

 and the ripening process does not commence until there is a 

 want of solar heat to perfect the fruit. The roots require 

 not only earth, but sun and air also, which are as necessa- 

 ry to tliem as to the leaves and branches. That the vine 

 requires the soil above described, is evident from the fact, 

 that its roots soon become dry by evaporation, and are al- 

 ways free from an injurious excess of moisture. Hence it 

 is evident that it will not succeed well in a cold, wet, heavy, 

 clayey soil. In the early part of the season, it was observed 

 that in all the vineyards where the vines were not injured 

 by the I'rost, the fruit looked remarkably well, promising a 

 great crop ; but when the ripening season came on, in most 

 of them, much of the fruit rem:uned green and shrivelled, 

 and decayed and dropped. This, nodoubt, resulted from 

 the soil's being too wet and adhesive, into wliich the sun 

 and air could not penetrate. The cropping of vineyards, as 

 now practiced by many, I consider injurious, as it not only 

 impoverishes the soil, but keep= it damp, and shaded from 

 the influence of the sun and air, so necessary for the perfec- 

 tion of the grape. 



After a vine has been planted three or four years, its roots 

 will begin to grow up towards the surface, being attracted 

 by the sun and air. My own experience suggests that these 

 surface roots ought never to be disturbed by digging or 

 plowing, but great care taken to preserve them, as they con- 

 tribute in a high degree to improve the flavor of the fruit 

 and insure its ripening. After a vineyard has become well 

 rooted, instead of plowing the ground, it should be occa- 

 sionally stirred, to the depth of two or three inches, and 

 kept free from weeds and all kinds of vegetation, and the 

 surface loose and open to the air. A few years since I had 

 a portion of my ground well- spaded and the surface roots 

 cut otit'from fifty fine bearing Catawba vines ; but from this 

 experiment they have nevc.r fully recovered. One of our 

 most ^xperi ■need viae dressc r.^ also informs me, that on a 

 new piece of vineyard of I5!I0 vines, that, in the early p?,rt 

 of the season, looked more promising than any in the vicin- 

 ity, he bestowed extra pains by plowing and cultivating ; 

 but two rows necessarily remained without any other atten- 

 tion than a light dressing with a hoe ; the result was, the 

 neglected vines ripened their fruit perfectly, while the oth- 

 ers were badly injured by the rot, not yielding half a crop. 



It is hardly possible to plant a vine in any situation in 

 which it will not thrive, provided the roots can push into a 

 wann, dry place, and the aspect is such as to afford sullicicnt 

 solar heat to elaborate its drought ; but great loss is often 

 witneesed from too much wet. When the ground is work- 

 ed too freely, particularly with a plow, the upper roots are 

 injured, and, in wet seasons, the rain soaks down about the 



roots, preventing the fruit from ripening, so that they afford 

 only a weak and wateiy wine, which will not keep. I 

 have been ratiier minute on the subject of soils, for the rea- 

 son, that unless more attention is paid to it, many new be- 

 ginners will be disappointed, and abandon the business. 



In commencing new vineyards, the usual method is to se- 

 lect a hill-side, without any regard to exposure or soil, it 

 being considered sufficient, if it is only a hill , the ground 

 is tiien trenched about two feet deep, and terraced, with 

 either stone or sod, (the latter is becoming general, being 

 cheaper, and answering quite as well.) In this operation, 

 the lop soil is removed to one side, and the sub-soil thrown 

 up, where it remains until required to till up the trench, by 

 which time, from exposure to the atmosphere, with the ad- 

 dition of a little light manure, it becomes nearly as good as 

 the top soil. The cuttings are generally planted in nurser- 

 ies, and after a year or two, the most vigorous are planted 

 in trenches 2i or 3 feet apart, by 5 or (i feet wide ; the top 

 black soil is filled in and around the vines first, and the re- 

 mainder after the trench is full. By this time the vines be- 

 come strong, and well rooted, and in favorable seasons, in 

 the fifth year will produce a good crop. Each vi le ha.s a 

 stake from 6 to 8 feel high and is trained by either " bow- 

 ing" at the top, or at right angles and tied to the opposite 

 stake with a willow twig. The former plan is more gene- 

 ral, as it is thought the vine will last longer, and bear bet- 

 ter, probably because bowing allows the sap to flow more 

 freely than bending at right angles. ' he vines are gener- 

 ally trimmed in the autumn and winter, down to three stalks, 

 two for bearing fruit, and one for the next year's wood. It 

 is thought our vine dressers trim too close, and that it is 

 wrong to adhere so strictly to the i^uropean mode of culti- 

 vation, w here the diff'erence in soil is so great. In our new, 

 rich soil, vines have a strong and ripid growth, and yield 

 great crops without injury ; but in Europe, vjnes grovf 

 slowly, are feeble, and yield small crops. 



The American Flower Garden Companion. Revised 

 and enlarged; third edition. By Edward Sayers. 



A Manual on the cultivathjn of Live Fesces; with a 

 practical treatise on the cultivation of Evergreens, Orna- 

 mental Trees, «fcc. By E. Savers. 



A Treatise on the culture of the Dahlia and the 

 Cactus. By the same. 



We are indebted to Mr. Sayers, of Cincinnati, 

 for a copy of each of these works. 



The "Flower Garden Conipanion" contains a 

 great amount of useful information on the sub- 

 ject of Ornatiiental Gardening. Each branch of 

 the subject is treated of in a separate chapter, 

 in a brief but practical way — beginning with 

 the laying out of the flower garden, and going 

 through the whole routine of propagating, plant- 

 ing, and managing plants and shrubs. It also 

 treats of the construction and management of 

 Green Houses, and the propagation and culture 

 of Green House Plants ; and contains descriptive 

 lists of plants, with their time of flowering, which 

 will be found of great service to many. On the 

 whole, it is a judiciously compiled little book, and 

 would be a saving of more than 10 times its price 

 in one season to many who are making and im- 

 proving gardens without much practical knowl- 

 edge oi^ gardening. It can be had of Mr. D. M. 

 Dewey, Arcade Hall, Rochester, for 50 cents. 



The " Manual on Live Fences" is a pamphlet 

 not larger than a common Almanac, and yet it 

 touches upon a great variety of subjects besides 

 "Live Fences," viz: Seeds and roots of 

 Plants — Increase of inoculation and grafting — 

 Culture of hardy Evergreen trees and shrubs — 

 Culture of the Grape — Culture of fruit trees in 

 general, dec, &c., besides an Appendi.x oa 



