The Ouachita Grape. 



323 



the Cordifolia class. Tliey will also 

 bear better on spurs on laterals than on 

 main canes, but do not produce their 

 best or handsomest fruit until they can 

 be "■ spurred in ' ' on old arms. For 

 this purpose select for your spurs only 

 strong, well ripened shoots^ cut out all 

 the small and imperfect ones, and cut 

 those back two to three e3'es each. You 

 may leave the same number of buds, 

 say from thirty to fifty, according to 

 tlie strength of your vine, and always 

 bear in mind that you can reduce the 

 number of bunches when summer prun- 

 ing. 



A third class produces readily 

 and abundantly from the main canes. 

 These comprise the varieties which do 

 not grow very strong — the Alvey,- 

 Cassady, Creveling, Catawba, Dela- 

 ware, lona, and Kebecca. They will 

 produce best on short canes of say six 

 to eight eyes, and the old renewal plan 

 may be as good as any for them. From 

 twelve to twentj^-four buds are gener- 

 ally enough for a vine. The number 

 must again vary with strength and 

 affe. There is much more danirer of 



overtasking this class than both of the 

 others, and they should never be allow- 

 ed to bear too much. 



Do not prune too close to the bud, as 

 it is then apt to be injured by the cold. 

 Leave from one and a half to two 

 inches of wood above the eye. Old, 

 dilapidated arms or stubs should be cut 

 out clean and close, and if the wound 

 is too large, it may be covered with 

 grafting wax or shellac. 



The rules, of course, will not apply 

 in all cases, and may be modified ac- 

 cording to circumstances. For instance, 

 if you have no suitable young canes 

 with laterals on vines of the first class, 

 the3' will fdso bear well on healthy 

 arms of old wood, as recommended for 

 the second class, and vice versa. The 

 intelligent vintner will soon learn how 

 far they are applicable. Nor do we 

 pretend to assert that there are not 

 other methods equally well adapted — 

 perhaps better — than ours. We should 

 be glad to have this subject fully dis- 

 cussed in our columns, and hope our 

 readers will give us their views freely 

 about it. Editor. 



THE OUACHITA GRAPE. 



We have received a very handsome 

 photograph of a bearing vine of a wild 

 grape, found on the plantation of Dr. 

 G.W. Lawrence, on the Ouachita river. 

 Hot Springs county, Arkansas. It 

 seems to be immensely productive, with 

 long, handsome, compact bundles. The 

 Doctor writes to us that he vvill try it 

 extensively, but gives no further de- 



scription. We have requested him to 

 send a description, and shall gladly try 

 it here if he will send us wood to start 

 it. We have a good deal of faith in 

 the wild grapes of our neighbor State, 

 which has already presented us with 

 one of our most valuable ones — the 

 Cyntliiana, or Red River. 



