228 



The Grape Culturist. 



cover two or three inches Avith fine, 

 well pulverized earth, so as to keep 

 the sand moist : for if the sand be- 

 comes dr}* it would injure the buds. 

 Mulch with sawdust is mj' most suc- 

 cessful plan. Youi's truly, 



E. W. Gaxdy. 



[You are rij.'-ht about fall grafting. 

 It has been very unsuccessful here. 

 When sj^ring comes again we will give 

 our readers a new method, which is 

 much easier, and which we have prac- 

 ticed with good success. The leaf of 

 the Peggy 3'ou sent us was the largest 

 grape leaf we have ever seen. It 

 measured 14 inches across, and 15 

 inches from stem to point. We would 

 like to hear more of the grape, and 

 how ic has behaved elsewhere. — Ed.] 



Edoewood, July 10, 1S70. 

 FHIENI) HUSMANN : 



Please find inclosed one dollar for 

 the renewal of the Grape Culturist; 

 you said some time ago that 3-ou 

 would have to give up the paper, un- 

 less 3'ou got more subscribers; never 

 think of giving up ; add on another 

 dollar first, and keep the thing mov- 

 ing; can't do without it. I suppose 

 that you would like to hear how 

 grapes are doing in this part of Illin- 

 ois, I have five hundred Concord 

 vines in their fourth bearing, set 8x8, 

 ground trenched 2\ deep, which work 

 I think is useless ; the first crop was 

 rather light, the second 3'ear, sold 

 S600, worth of grapes, from 380 vines ; 

 which left me 8400 clear, the third 

 year f of them rotted, and the remain- 

 der brought but little, owing to there 

 being so few berries on the bunches. 

 This season they are looking fine, and 

 .are loaded with fruit, nothino: has dis- 



turbed them, save a little rot about 

 the middle of .Tune, being a little too 

 wet. I have 2,140 Concord in their 

 first 3'ears fruiting, and they are 

 doing their work faithfulh*; ground 

 subsoil, vines setGxlO; also 1000, two 

 yeai's, set 7x10, making a fine growth ; 

 and 780 set last fall, 7x10. I have a 

 dozen, of each of Hartfo'd, Ives' Seed- 

 ling and Norton's Yirginia on trial. 

 Hartford is well loaded ; Norton is 

 growing finely, but did not set much 

 fruit ; Ives is not looking so well as I 

 would wish to have them,not much fruit 

 on them. I have a few of the Clinton 

 doing worse every season ; think I will 

 graft them with some better sort, they 

 are not worth planting. Last season I 

 think that I cultivated m}' vines too 

 much, got too much growth of vines 

 which I believe was one cause of the 

 rot; some of my neighbors had a few 

 in their garden, with no cultivation, 

 growing up to weeds as high as the 

 trellis and no rot. I do not think 

 that we need to do any extra work to 

 make our vines grow, all the cultiva- 

 tion that is needed in this place- is 

 just enough to keep down the grass 

 and weeds. Some one came in to my 

 vine^'ard one year ago last spring, 

 about the time the buds were starting, 

 and cut part off of several vines, one 

 vine was cut all off, and of course 

 the}' bled ^ery much, the ground was 

 quite wet about the vines for a long 

 time, the vine that was cut all off 

 made a vevy large growth, and long- 

 jointed, and I was expecting to see it 

 hang full of nice large fruit, but was 

 disappointed. The fruit is rather 

 small and the bunches not filled out 

 good, and I have noticed the same 

 thing in other parts of my vineyard, 



