Slaughtering the Vines. 



279 



Where vines are trained to stakes, 

 wooden trellis, or on the sides of build- 

 ings, a nail or staple is used as a sub- 

 stitute for the trellis wire. Where a 

 nail is employed, the closed hook is 

 placed towards the head of the nail. 



For securing horizontal shoots or 

 canes, the device has a different form. 



The inventor claims for the use of 

 the Vine Lock the following advant- 

 ages : 



1. Three acres of vines can be se- 

 cured to the trellis in the time required 

 for tying one acre. 



2. Labor less skilled than is required 

 for tying can, by its use, do the work 

 as efficiently. 



3. In cold weather the work can be 

 performed w^th more comfort, as the 

 hands may be protected with gloves. 



4. By it the vine is securely fasten- 

 ed to the wire ; whereas ties are in- 

 secure, and during high winds fre- 

 quently break and let the vine fall. 



5. It is made of sufficient dimensions 



to avoid the liability of the vine being 

 girdled. 



6. When once placed upon the trel- 

 lis, it will remain for use for many 

 years ; w^hereas ties must be replaced 

 each season. 



7. It is cheaper than any material 

 now used for tying. Whether twine, 

 bass bark, willow, rye straw, corn 

 husks or rope yarn bo employed, either 

 will cost in money a?id labor from ten 

 to twenty-five cents for each thousand 

 ties, and they will last but a single 

 season. The price of the Vino Lock 

 will not exceed sixty cents a thousand, 

 and they will last for many years. 



8. The increased rapidity with which 

 the w^ork of securing the vines can 

 proceed by the use of the device is so 

 great, that three days less of labor 

 will be needed during the season on 

 each acre of vineyard; and at the 

 present prices of labor, its adoption 

 will result in a saving of from three 

 to five dollars annually on each acre 

 of land planted with vines. 



SLAUGHTERING THE VINES. 



" We have noticed with much interest 

 the change coming over the minds of 

 our grape growers in regard to the 

 operation generally known as " summer 

 pruning." 



It is an opinion held by many close 

 observers, founded upon facts that can 

 be tested by any one, that leaf growth 

 is essential to plant development ; that 

 in proportion as the leaves are impaired 

 in their action, disease in the plant is 

 induced. 



The Hon. W. J. Flagg, in a paper 

 on the '' Sulphur Remedy," read before 

 the Ohio Horticultural Society, says in 

 describing the condition of his vine- 

 yard, weakened by the mildew : "Some- 

 thins must be done to restore the vigor 



of the vines. For this purpose, I 

 devise the following plan, which I have 

 since carried out." ***** 

 " Sixth — No summer pruning." Show- 

 ing that he regarded summer pruning 

 an exhausting, wasting, disease-indu- 

 cing process. 



We visited a vineyard of strong 

 Concord vines bearing a crop of a ton 

 to a ton and a half per acre. The 

 vines were very rampant, and the later- 

 als and main shoots had had it much 

 their own way till the fruit was nearly 

 coloring, when it was found that the 

 space between the rows of trellis was 

 quite matted up and entangled, so that 

 passage was impossible. Large knives 

 were then taken, the spaces were 



