336 



The Grape Gulturist. 



[We are no " wise man " or sorcerer, 

 to tell you what is the matter with your 

 one cask of wine, as you say you 

 treated them all alike, and had the 

 casks equally clean. The least trifle 

 may be the cause of acetous fermenta- 

 tion ; a crust of bread dropped into the 

 must, a trifling delay in closing up^ 

 etc. It is very difficult, however, to 

 judge of wine in that condition, as it 

 will change every day. It maj'- be all 

 right now. 



You can rack off your wine at once, 

 and try electricity to your heart's con- 

 tent, if 3'ou wish. We have not tried 

 it, consequently know nothing of it. 

 We do not know that our teachings in 

 '^ grapes and wine, and in "grape cul- 

 ture," differ much, but if they do, we 

 hope we have improved, and perhaps 

 learned a few things since then. — Ed]. 



Independence, Mo., Oct. 17th, ]870. 



Geo. Husmann, 



Dear Sir : — I know you are well 

 posted in all matters pertaining to 

 grape growing, and take the libert}' of 

 writing for your advice : 



In the spring of 1866, I planted 

 nearly three hundred grape vines — 

 Concords and Delawares — six by eight 

 feet apart, trained to stakes after the 

 Fuller plan, of one vine the first year, 

 two the second, and the third year 

 tied the canes, four feet in length, to 

 the lower bar of the trellis, training 

 six upright bearing vines to each arm; 

 and at the commencement of the 

 fourth year, last spring, allowed 

 twelve upright bearing vines to grow 

 on each arm, 1 nailed common plas- 

 terer's lath to the bars of the trellis, 

 and trained a vine on each side of the 

 lath. The vines have grown flnely 



each year, borne three moderate 

 crops, the last one about a thousand 

 pounds, the Concords being remarka- 

 bly large and fine in quality. The 

 trellis is five feet high, and the Con- 

 cords soon get to the top, requiring a 

 great deal of pruning and checking 

 of growth to keep them from so 

 matting together as to render it diffi- 

 cult to pass between the rows. The 

 season being a wet one last year, 

 many of the grapes rotted, biit this 

 year there was no i*ot, or mildew, and 

 the growth of wood so enormous as 

 to make the labor great to confine 

 each vine within the limits of eight 

 feet. 



And now foi- a few questions : — 



1. Would you advise me to take 

 up every other vine and extend the 

 arms to eight feet in length ? or, 



2. Would you recommend to con- 

 tinue the Fuller plan for another year, 

 cutting down the upright canes to the 

 lowest bud, and keep each vine in its 

 allotted space of eight feet ? 



3. What do you think of the idea 

 of retaining every other one of the 

 pi'esent upright vines for bearing pur- 

 poses next 3"ear, and cutting down 

 the others to the lowest bud, growing 

 therefrom the bearing wood for the 

 succeeding year ? 



4. If this last plan is pursued, how 

 many bunches of grapes ought the 

 present upright canes to average ? 



5. How do you like the spiral 

 system of training grape vines? 



I desire to add to my assortment a 

 few more kinds, an earlier variety 

 than the Delaware, and one or two 

 long keeping kinds ; which varieties 

 do you recommend ? Is the Eumelan 

 any earlier than the Hartford Prolific ? 



