144 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



The Grape consijicuous among Vegetable Productions— Quick- 

 ness of Growtli— Great Agu — Its exemption from Bliglit and 

 other Diseases — Type of Plenty — Position for Borders — Prun- 

 ing — Manures for — General Cultivation — Mode of Keeping. 



The idea long prevailed that the grape could 

 only be cultivated by a few persons, enjoying the 

 most favored localities, and who had given the 

 subject long and careful attention ; that there 

 was some mystery about it Avhich could not be 

 fathomed by the common farmer or gardener. 

 Happily, that idea has nearly, but not quite, lost 

 its force, and large numbers of persons are avail- 

 ing themselves of the benefits which the vine 

 and its products confer upon the people. This 

 good work has been accomplished, mainly, 

 through tlie practical treatises of the culture of 

 the vine, which have from time to time been laid 

 before the public. The perusal of these treatises 

 took away that mysterious air which so long en- 

 veloped the subject, and led so many to a trial, 

 that thousands are now seeking for some plain, 

 practical rules for planting and tending the vine, 

 and for preserving the fruit. These treatises may 

 be purchased for 50 cents to $1,00 each, and any 

 one of them would be of service to a person who 

 intends to cultivate but a single vine. Clement 

 Hoare, J. Fiske Allen, Charles Reemelin and 

 Robert Buchanan have each prepared a work of 

 sufficient clearness to enable any one to take up 

 the matter understandingly, and to prosecute it 

 successfully. 



The first mentioned writer states that "of all 

 the vegetable productions of the world which the 

 skill and ingenuity of man have rendered condu- 

 cive to his comfort and to the enlargement of 

 the sphere of his enjoyments, and of the increase 

 of his pleasurable gratification, the vine stands 

 forward as the most pre-eminently conspicuous. 

 Its quickness of growth, the great age to which 

 it will live, — so great, indeed, as to be unknown ; 

 its almost total exemption from all those adverse 

 contingencies which blight and diminish the prod- 

 uce of other fruit-bearing trees ; its wonderful 

 fertility, and its delicious fruit, applicable to so 

 many purposes, and agreeable to all palates, in 

 all its varied shapes, — combine to make it out as 

 one of the greatest blessings bestowed by Prov- 

 idence to promote the comforts and enjoyments 

 ■of the human race." It has been mentioned by 

 most of the old writers, and strikes us with equal 

 force now, as the type of plenty and the symbol 

 of happiness, when we see its beautiful vines 

 creeping over lattice-work, or its tempting clus- 

 ters shining on the autumnal sun. 



Some fine grape may undoubtedly be found 

 that is sufficiently hardy to ripen in our most 

 northerly States ; but if this is not so, their seeds 

 should be sown in large numbers through a se- 

 ries of years, until some one will be produced 



conforming to the climate in which it grew. It is 

 believed, however, that the Concord, ]_)iana, Dela- 

 ware, Rebecca, Union, and some others, will ripen 

 in any of the northen States in favorable seasons. 



We now propose to give a few plain sugges- 

 tions in regard to vine culture, which we are en- 

 abled to make from some personal experience, 

 from observation, and a pretty extensive reading 

 of the practices of the successful grape groAvers 

 of New England : And first. 



Of Soil and Position. — If a person will allow his 

 mind to recur to the jjositioii and the soil where 

 he has often seen the grape-vine growing in a wild 

 state, he will find that it is usually in some shel- 

 tered nook, looking out "upon the warm south, 

 where the vines can stretch away over the tops 

 of alders or young maples, and bathe in the sun- 

 light and elaborate the juices which are to perfect 

 their seeds, — and that the soil is not a compact, 

 clayey one, but is a rich, sandy loam, kept light 

 and porous by numerous stones and the roots of 

 the surrounding growth. Here, then, is a hint 

 from Nature herself, teaching us in what position 

 and in what kind of soil to place our young plant. 

 If the subsoil be stony or gravelly, so much the 

 better ; for the roots will run with eagerness in- 

 to all the clefts, crevices and openings in which 

 such subsoils abound. In these dry and warm 

 situations the roots will spread themselves in ev- 

 ery direction, and throw out innumerable fibres to 

 cling around the warm stones, and extract from 

 among them their peculiar food. This, then, sug- 

 gests to us what 



A Border Ought to be. — By a border is meant 

 the strip of earth into which the root is to be 

 planted. The position of the border, as has al- 

 ready been suggested, should be a cozy nook, 

 facing the south, if possible. Then let it be suf- 

 ficiently long to accommodate the number of 

 plants to be set ; the distance they are to stand 

 from each other may be five to ten feet, to suit 

 the fancy or to conform to the mode in which it 

 is intended to prune them — as sometimes the vine 

 is wanted /or shade as well as fruit. If the soil 

 is loose and gravelly below, it is not absolutely 

 necessary to throw out the subsoil ; but to secure 

 a rapid growth and prolific bearers, it is best to 

 dig down about three feet, and to fill the lower 

 part with broken stones, oyster or clam shells, or 

 especially old bones, and then fill in with the top 

 soil that was removed, mingled with common 

 barn manure, leaves, chip-dirt, &'c., until the 

 border is two or three inches higher than the sur- 

 rounding soil. This will form a border and a 

 bed in which the young roots of the plant will 

 freely travel and find food, and particularly when 

 they get down among the shells and the bones. 

 Another advantage of such a distinctly defined 

 border is, that you may cover it with leaves or 



