loica Wine. 



115 



as an excellent protection and shade to 

 the fruit. Remember, our aim is not 

 to rob the plant of its foliage, but to 

 make tico leaves grow where there was 

 but one before, and at a place where 

 they are of more benefit to the fruit. 

 Had we allowed the fruit-bearing shoots 

 to grow unchecked, as some grape- 

 growers advocate, these buds would have 

 remained dormant ; the old leaves drop 

 off in August, and the fruit is exposed to 

 the scorching sun. Besides, the branches 

 intertwine so with their tendi-ils that it 

 is very difficult to manage them after- 

 wards. By our method, our rows of 

 vines have the appearance of leafy walls, 

 each bunch of fruit properly shaded, 

 and yet each part of the vine is properly 

 ventilated. 



We come now to another of those ac- 

 cidental discoveries, which has proved 

 of great use to us in the management 

 of the Concord, Herbemont, Taylor, 

 etc. In the summer of 1862, when a 

 piece of Concord, planted in 1861, was 

 growing rapidl}^ a severe hail storm 

 cut up the young shoots, completely 

 defoliating them, and breaking the ten- 

 der and succulent shoots at a height of 

 about two feet. The vines were orow- 



ing rapidly, and the dormant buds in 

 the axils of the leaves immediately 

 pushed out laterals, which made very 

 fair sized canes. In the following fall, 

 when we commenced to prune, we found 

 from three to five of these strong later- 

 als on each cane, and accordingly short- 

 ened them in to from three to five and six 

 buds each. On these laterals we raised 

 as fine a crop of grapes as we ever saw, 

 certainly much finer than we had evcj- 

 before raised on the strong canes ; and 

 we have since learned to imitate hail 

 storms, by pinching the leaders of young 

 shoots when they have grown say two 

 feet, forcing out the laterals, and grow- 

 ing our fruit on the latter : thus meet- 

 ing with another illustration of the old 

 proverb, " It is an ill wind Avhich blows 

 nobody any good." 



In our next number we shall take up 

 the third and last pinching, thus giving 

 our system of summer pruning complete. 

 Will not some of our friends give us 

 their methods, and the reasons for them ? 

 We expect to differ with many, and as 

 we think a proper course of summer 

 pruning one of the most important ques- 

 tions in grape culture, would like to 

 have it fully discussed. 



IOWA WINE. 



We had the pleasure of receiving a 

 bottle of wine from W. ]\loersehel. 

 Homestead, Iowa, which he says is a 

 combination of equal parts of Dela- 

 ware, Concord, and Isabella, and 

 iibout which he wishes to have our 

 opinion. As we are always ready to 

 try such samples of wine, and give 

 our opinion, here it is : 



Color, white or light yellow ; wine 

 brilliantly clear, showing careful 



handling. 



with a very fine flavor. 

 Delaware predominating, not as heavy 

 as some pure Delawares we have 

 tested, but heavy enough for a deli- 

 cate wine, and need not be ashamed 

 to show its face anywhere among fine 

 wines, and very creditable to the skill 

 of the maker. Vintage of 18t)8. It 

 can be truly called a very fine hock 

 wine, but not containing as much acid as 

 the generality of the imported Hocks. 



