Reports on Grapes. 



221 



from grape growers. Well, as I ara 

 in that -line a little, and received all 

 raj instructions through you, I will 

 tell jou how I get along. I never saw 

 a vine planted, or layered, or grafted 

 until I did it mA'self. Now I have 

 three thousand vines in bearing, 

 mostly Concords, with a ver}^ fair 

 crop)^ although I was very much dis- 

 couraged on the 16th of April last. 

 My vines had put out canes from two 

 to six inches, and showed a large 

 quantity of fruit; but all were killed. 

 I read somewhere that I must pull otf 

 all the frozen Avood : I did so, except 

 one row, and that put out first again 

 and did better than the rest. Where 

 I pulled off the frozen wood the}- bled, 

 and I think I injured the remaining 

 bud. Part of my vine^'ard (one 

 thousand vines) were a j-ear old when 

 set, the balance were cuttings put out 

 in the field. I think the whole vine- 

 yard will average ten pounds to the 

 vine — the 1,000 vines Avill go fifteen 

 pounds or more. How is that for a 

 crop, under the circumstances ? There 

 is no mildew, but some rot. Fifty 

 Hartfords are very full, and I think a 

 tenth of them are rotten. I have also 

 fifty Herbemonts, with a few Cunning- 

 hams among them. On some of the 

 Herbemont vines the grape are all 

 rotten, others have no rot on them. 

 No rot on the Cunningham; the Del- 

 awares are very fine also. The Con- 

 cords are rotting some, mostl}' on the 

 richest ground. The}' are all on what 

 is called here poor land, and the Her- 

 bemont is on the poorest of it. I put 

 in about four hundred grafts of the 

 Goethe and Martha (I got from you) : 

 about half of them came up. I think 

 the severe drouth in Ma}- Avas the 



cause of their failure. The Martha 

 cuttings, four hundred, I lost; I root- 

 grafted them and planted in the vine- 

 yard ; none grew. The Goethe I did 

 the same; they did better, and all my 

 cuttings did well in the cutting bed, 

 where they were mulched. 



I have been very much discouraged 

 about grape growing here. The old 

 citizens said they would not do — that 

 I would lose all I put in them ; but I 

 think the prospect is good. We have 

 the advantage of the northern mar- 

 ket. M}- Hartfords are coloring now 

 (July 9), only about eleven weeks 

 since they were all frozen off. I put 

 three or four grafts of the Goethe 

 into an old wild vine, and one of them 

 has grown ten feet already. It Avas 

 grafted in February. 



Yours very respectfully, 



T. S. Barbour. 



[We are ghxd to see that our proph- 

 esy in regard to the crop Avas fulfilled 

 so well, and think that CA-en the 

 croakers Avill now concede that the 

 grape is the most recuperative and 

 safest of all fruits, if suitable A-arie- 

 ties are chosen. Your crop is a very 

 fair one Ave think. Go ahead, and don't 

 mind those Avho try to discourage you. 



We neA-er had any success in graft- 

 ing grapes and setting them out the 

 same spring. Would rather plant 

 cuttings of such A-arieties as Goethe 

 and Martha. — Editor. 



Cliff Cave, Mo., June ii, 1870. 



Mr. Geo. Husjiann : 



Dear Sir : At our locality Ave had 

 more or less rain fall on twelve succes- 

 sive days in this month, keeping the 

 surface of the ground and the foliage 

 of the vines almost constantly wet. 



