Treatment of the American Gra-pe-Vine. 



47 



followed practically, with the best of 

 success. 



We must diifer with Mr. Underhill 

 when he says : " I do not now recol- 

 lect any text book which suggests a 

 greater distance than six feet in either 

 direction for planting in vineyards." 

 We hardly know whether we would 

 call our little book "Grapes and Wine," 

 a text hook, but others seem to consider 

 it as such ; at any rate, it may lay as 

 much claim to that appellation as any 

 American publication, and we advise 

 6x10 feet, as early as 1865, for all the 

 strong growing varieties. 



But while we believe that generally 

 our American gi-apes have been planted 

 too close so far, we think there is a 

 limit to all things, and cannot see the 

 necessity of giving vines more space 

 than 10 to 12. feet. This will give 

 them ample room, air and light, and 

 here we have found six feet for the 

 Delaware sufficient. 



When the writer comes to descrip- 

 tion of Mr. Byington's method, we 

 are tempted to exclaim: There is a 

 grape grower after our own heart ! 

 We have long ago discarded the close 

 pruning of the Cincinnati and old 

 German and Jfrench school, and have, 

 year after year, pruned longer, until 

 we have been regai'ded with horror 

 by those who consider close pruning 

 essential to the longevity of the vine. 

 We refer our readers to the article on 

 ""Pruning the Vine" in the November 

 iiumber, where they will find that we 

 advise long pruning, giving the vines 

 plenty to do, thus arriving at about 

 the same conclusion as Mr. Byington, 

 that we should leave plenty of wood 

 to receive the flow of sap in spring. 

 But our method goes still a step far- 



ther. We do not wait until the clus- 

 ters have bloomed and formed, but we 

 remove the superfluous as soon as they 

 appear, when we have our pick and 

 choice, and before the shoots have fully 

 expanded. Thus, we lead the energies 

 of the vine into its proper channel. We 

 need not cut, because the young shoots 

 or bunches are easily removed with the 



i thumb and finger. There is no dis- 

 turbing of the functions of the vine, 

 and we can select the finest and most 

 vigorous shoots and bunches. This we 

 follow with the pinching of the 3'oung 

 fruit-bearing shoots, just beyond the 

 last bunch we wish to leave, and we do 

 this early enough to make the use of 

 the knife entirely superfluous. Our ex- 

 perience of last summer fullj' confirms 

 us in the idea that most of our Ameri- 

 can grapes are pruned too long, as the 

 Concord generally did not rot as badly 

 on vines which were pruned long as on 

 those pruned too short. But, in fol- 

 lowing this method, the operator must 

 not be sparing of bunches. He must 

 have the courage to take awa^- all those 

 he thinks are superfluous, and not be 

 induced by an ill-timed pity with the 

 young fruit, to leave more than its 

 mother — the vine — can bear. 



By planting somewhat farther apart 

 than has been done so far, by long 

 pruning in the fall, and by close rub- 

 bing out and pinching early in the 

 season, by continued experiments how 



far this should be carried, we may hope 

 to arrive at the proper method of man. 

 aging our vines correctly, and in the 

 closest accordance with nature's laws. 

 We hope all of our readers will exper- 

 iment with this object in view, and give 

 us the result of their experiments. — 

 Ed.] 



