Grapes at Hammondsport, N. Y. 



233 



been so favorable for cultivating vine- 

 yards, that we have been able to keep 

 pace fully with the advanced growth. 

 The custom of late fall plowing^ 

 throwing the ground up against, and 

 even over, young vines, is yearly be- 

 coming more general. How much of 

 good wintering and earl}' and healthy 

 starting of the young shoots should be 

 attributed to this it is as 3'et difficult 

 to determine. There is no doubt that 

 good results follow from it, by the pro- 

 tection from freezing it affords to the 

 roots of the vine, its fertilizing influ- 

 ence upon the upturned earth, and the 

 destruction it causes of the roots and 

 seeds of weeds, and, we may add, the 

 facility it affords for completing the 

 first course of sjDring cultivation at its 

 proper time. Our spring cultivation 

 is, or should be, finished in the month 

 of May, and consists of plowing be- 

 tween the rows to the depth of from 

 four to six inches, throwing the earth 

 away from the vines, and hoeing with 

 what is called with us a ^ grape hoe,' 

 stirring the narrow unploAved strips 

 of soil to the depth of four inches, care 

 being taken to remove all weeds and 

 grass^ and not to injure the roots at 

 or near the head of the vine. We find 

 the grape hoe so convenient and valu- 

 able an implement in the garden, that 

 I am tempted to give a hint as to its 

 form for the benefit of those who never 

 saw one. It has an eye as large as 

 that of a common axe, but rather ir- 

 regularl}^ square, from which eye pro- 

 ceed two prongs, parallel with each 

 other, two inches apart, about seven 

 inches long, an inch wide, half an inch 

 thick near the eye, and tapering to an 

 edge. Imagine the blade of a car- 

 penter's adze cleft) and somewhat 



straightened, and you will have some 

 idea of it. 



" ' The work of plowing and hoeing 

 being done * timely, the intelligent 

 vineyardist is ready for disbudding, 

 or 'rubbing out,' as we familiarly call 

 it. This takes place from the 25th of 

 May to the 10th of June with our best 

 growers. The young shoots are then 

 tender and easily removed. The im- 

 portance of this branch of training or 

 pruning is never over-estimated; it 

 affords an opportunity for the correc- 

 tion of errors or omissions in fall 

 pruning, and allows us to determine, 

 accidents aside, the quantity of fruit 

 the bearing vine shall carry. When 

 two or more shoots start from the 

 same bud, one only, the strongest, is 

 left, and all bai-ren ones, and shoots 

 coming out from the old wood, and 

 springing up from the roots around 

 the head of the vine, are removed. 

 Those fruit bearing shoots (always on 

 the last year's wood) which are feeble, 

 are taken out, leaving such a number 

 as the vine is able to support ; never 

 losing sight, however, of making pro- 

 vision for next ^'ear's bearing canes. 

 In the performance of this work, the 

 good sense and judgment of the vine- 

 dresser may be displayed to the ad- 

 vantage of the proprietor of the vine- 

 yard. 



"'The desii-e for improvement or 

 change, so natural to our people, finds 

 no abatement of activity, but rather 

 an increase^ in not a few of our grape 

 growers. It is not uncommon to hear 

 some of them say : ' I wish I had 

 planted this or that variety, instead of 

 those I have.' A few of the newer 

 kinds have been so thoroughly and 

 ingeniously pressed upon their atten- 



