Reports on Grapes. 



325 



these I took to town and had the 

 blacksmith affix them so that the 

 plow hung six inches to the left of this 

 beam — the beam being over the mould- 

 board instead of the point and bar; 

 this he ditl, by taking a bar of iron 

 five inches wide for a stock, and so 

 bending it as to throw the plow off in 

 the position desired, then drilling bolt 

 holes to correspond with those on the 

 plow, and putting two braces, one 

 from the heel and the other from the 

 mould-board, up to the beam, beneath 

 the handles, I thought I had the main 

 principle of the French plow, for the 

 small sum of §1.50. 



Putting it in the hands of a man 

 who would not be likely to prejudge 

 the thing, I put it to work, and had 

 eight acres plowed so close to the 

 vines that there was soil of but about 

 half the width of a hoe left undis- 

 turbed on each side of the vines, which 

 saved a great deal of hand labor. 



I will add, lest others may try this 

 arrangement, that before we got 

 through our plowing, it was found 



that the bar and point must be exact- 

 ly parallel with the beam, for if the 

 point turns ofi a little, as it does in 

 all plows, the plow will lead at once 

 against the vines and posts ; also, that 

 the stock should be of steel, iron not 

 being stiff enough. 



It was found that while the plow 

 worked very satisfactory in making 

 the last or close furrow, it was not so 

 handy in the first one, where the 

 plowman holds his plow more square- 

 ly ; consequentlj^^the centre furrows 

 were plowed first with the ordinary 

 plow, and the close furrows after- 

 wards with this, although this will do 

 the whole of the work very well. 



I have since seen the French plow 

 at the 8t. Louis Fair, and believe that 

 there are no other ideas to steal or 

 borrow from it. 



Yer}^ respectfully. 



Dean AV. Tainter. 



[Thanks for the vevj interesting 

 communication, which, we doubt not, 

 will be valuable to many of our read- 

 ers. — Ed.] 



REPORTS ON GRAPES. 



We give a continuation of these in 

 the present number, and will endeavor 

 to report on the so-called fancy varie- 

 ties, and some of the newer ones, in 

 this neighborhood, and what we could 

 learn of them at Hermann. 



AuTUCiiON (Arnold's No. 5). Some 

 mildew on foliage ; has made a fair 

 growth the first season. 



Adirondac. Slow grower and poor 

 bearer ; hardlv worthy of further trial. 



Agawam (Rogers' 15). Mildewed and 

 rotted badh' ; has always been subject 

 to disease as long as we have had it. 



Allen's Hybrid. Only an amateur's 

 grape. Fine quality, but tender and 

 subject to disease. 



Anna. Unworthy of culture here. 

 Poor grower ; subject to rot and mildew. 



Alvey. Has mildewed badly in the 

 river bottom, where it did well last 

 3'ear. The grape is so good that we 



