Hybridizing the Grapes. 



127 



mer pruning to be one of the most 

 essential operations of the vine-grower, 

 I demand, hoAvever, that it shall be 

 done without inflicting more than the 

 least possible violence to the plant. 

 Therefore, in thinning out you must 

 not wait till the forms (the clusters 

 of incipient fruit) arc fully unfolded 

 and have bloomed, but pinch them off 

 forthwith so soon as the}' are dis- 

 tinctly seen, and at the same time 

 shorten the fruit shoot right beyond 

 the last remaining form, whereuijon 

 large and healthy leaves just near 

 the clusters and best fit for their pro- 

 tection will be brought forth. In re- 

 moving the barren shoots, or supter- 

 fluous shoots, do not allow them to 

 grow several feet high befoi-e cutting 

 out; whereby you would wantonly 



waste energies and enfeeble the remain- 

 ing shoots designed for bearing wood, 

 but rub them off in their earliest stage 

 when an inch long or less. The re- 

 moval of '^ entire canes," after being 

 furnished with leaves, I deem bad 

 policy. The planting of the vines at 

 a very great distance is no sure means 

 against rot and mildew, though both 

 may be furthered by the want of air 

 and light ; a Catawba standing soli- 

 tary and alone may rot as badly as 

 other vines in the dense row. 



Fr. Muench. 

 [Our valued correspondent gives 

 our views so fully and precisely, that 

 we can only endorse every word he 

 says, and refer our readers to the 

 article of summer pruning, republish- 

 ed from Vol. 1 in last number. — Ed.] 



HYBKIDIZIXG THE GRAPES. 



Walla Walla, W. T., March -22, 1870. 



Dear Husmann : Much has been 

 said and written on the subject of 

 crossing and hybridizing the grape, 

 and among some writers there seems 

 to be an entire ignorance of the sub- 

 ject, which seems likely to mislead 

 those who would take an interest in 

 this important branch of progress in 

 improvement, and cause them to fail in 

 the laudable effort to produce new and 

 improved varieties of grape, as well 

 ii8 other matters growing out of the 

 .application of the principle, to which I 

 will allude in the course of this article. 



Very able writers have given the 

 process of hybridizing, and are so far 

 from correct that I think it best to 



go into the particulars of the opera- 

 tion. Select a bunch of grapes, near 

 the flowering season. You will ob- 

 serve some of the most advanced buds 

 or berries are turning pale yellow at 

 the base of the berry where the petals 

 are attached to it. This specimen 

 will goon bloom (if we can call it 

 blooming: for it is so unlike any 

 other plant in this particular that 

 it can hardi}^ be called a blossom). 

 Watch closely now, and as the sun 

 warms the air, one of the petals or 

 parts composing the cap of the berry 

 will let go its hold at the base where 

 it connects with the berry and will 

 cui'l up. Soon another does the same, 

 and still another, and another; the 



