NEW ENGLAND FAllMEli. 



Fub lislied by Jun.> Ij. Rpsskll at th e coiner of Coii gn-ss and Lindiill S treets, (ciitr;iniH- from l.inliill Street).— Tmi>ma.s G. rFssENDE.\, Editor.' 



VOL. y. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, OCTOiiEll 20, I82(j. 



INo. 1:3. 



O.N T.lK t n.lTRK OF tiK.-M'K Vl.NKS. 

 Many gciitleiiicn in iliis ncigliborliood luivo giv- 

 in consiJernble attention to tlie cultivation of 

 ■ rapes in tiic open air upon open trellises, and 

 onie have succeeded remarkably well, altliough 

 hey have had to contend with the many difficul- 

 ies, whi.-h that delicate and delicious fruit is sub- 

 ect to in this climate. 

 Having given some personal attention to this 

 ruit for several years, 1 am satisfied that it can be 

 aiscd in great perfection, and with little trouble 

 the cultivator, if he set out right in the first in- 

 tance, and follow up tlie system prescribed, with 

 ttcntion and care. 



Although most men, who have any knowledge in 

 orticulturc, know more or loss respecting tlie 

 node of cultivating this plant — yet there are many 

 lew beginners^ who may collect some hints from 

 heso ni.tos, which may aid them in the outset ; 

 nd many gentlemen who have been long in the 

 labit of raising grapes in their gardens, may ch- 

 ain some information as to the means of preserv- 

 ng the plan's from the destructive insect which 

 las of late years attacked the vines, and destroy- 

 d the promise of their early growth and the fair 

 ppearance of their I'ruit. 



The best treatises on the subject of raising 

 jrape vineS, recommend planting the cuttings in 

 ,,ots, — but in this country it is entirely unnecessa- 

 •y, as the plants may be easily raised in the open 

 rrounds with little trouble and no expense; and 

 f we can add to our collection of fme fruits, one, 

 vhich in sickness as well as in health, is the most 

 •efreshins and nutritive of any that we po>>ac3.s, 

 ■vith little expense and even witli profit to the cul- 

 ivator, we shall do a great good. 



The best mode of raising the plants is by cut- 

 :ings taken from the vines at the Pall pruning, 

 and preserved in earth till spring. These may be 

 made either of one eye or bud, or of four or five, 

 attached to a small portion of the two years old 

 wood, forming a cutting in the shape of a small 

 mallet. 



The 1st year. — They may be raised in a small 

 (nursery bed, prepared of a good light soil — set in 

 the ground six inches distant from each other, witi, 

 the rows wide cnounh apart to permit them to be 

 weeded with a narrow hoe ; or, they may be put 

 in the first instance, where they are to be reared, 

 and left to grow, at the distance of five, six, or 

 seven feet, or more according to the wislies of the 

 cultivator. In this latter case there should be 

 three cuttings puc into each spot six incl}es apart, 

 to insure the setting of one. When this is ascer- 

 tained with certaint}-, the two weakest may be 

 withdrawn, leaving the best of the throe to grow. 

 If the cuttings be of one eye each, they should be 

 from the last year's growth, find a snull piece of 

 the branch an inch long should be left attached to 

 the bud and extending half an inch oi each side 

 of it. — These should be planted two iirhes below 

 the surface with the bud uppermost,- and a small 

 stake placed by the side of them that they may 

 not be disturbed. If the cuttings a-e of several 

 eyes, they should he laid in the ground sloping, 

 leavinir one eve level with, cr only just above the 

 surface. They should be krpt moist, but not wet 

 as tills will rot them. A sp«t which receives the 



morning sun till eleven o'chick, and not afterwards, 

 is the^bost for a nursery bod for them, but for per- 

 manency they should be planted where they will 

 receive the sun longest, and in this case they 

 sliould be shaded at noon day until tliey have en 

 tirely put out. One bud only should be allowed to 

 push from the cutting' the first year; the plant 

 sliould be kept free from weeds ; the earth kept 

 light around it, and as soon as the shoot has at- 

 tained strength enough to proiluce laterals, they 

 should be rubbed out, and the shoot tied to a small 

 stake, by which means it will gain firmness, and 

 the admission of the sun and air to the shoot will 

 prepare it to bear the frost of the J'all, and pre- 

 vent its imbibing the moisture which it would otli- 

 erwise ha subject to, when covered with earth in 

 tlie winter. By the 1st Nov. the shoots may be 

 cut down to two eyes, and by the middle of the 

 month, if it be dry weather, they may bo covered 

 over with earth, forming a slope to cast off the 

 wet and prevent the rains from penetrating — as 

 the drier the plant is kept during the winter, in 

 the better state it will be in the succeeding spring. 

 The '■id ijcar. — The plants should not be uncov- 

 ered in this climate till the middle of April. — 

 Those from the nursery should now bs transplant- 

 ed to the places where they are to remain ; a 

 shoot from each eye should be permitted to pus^h, 

 but as soon as you have ascertained which of the 

 two will be the strongest and tlie best situated, 

 you will preserve that and rub out the other. The 

 shoot preserved yon will be careful to tie up to a 

 small stake as soon as it has length enough for 

 this purpose, to prevent its being broken by the 

 wind or other casualty. During tlie summer, the 

 laterals from the four or five lowest buds must be 

 rubbed out, and the shoot be carefully protected 

 by being kept tied every eight or ten inches. 



The nc.\t Fall you may cut this slioot down to 

 two buds, (not counting the one in the crotch of 

 the plant between the old and nev/ wood), and cov- 

 er over as before. 



The iitl year. — You will allow shoots to push 

 from both the eyes, and suffer them to grow, tak- 

 ing care of them as recommended above; but the 

 bud in the crotch must be rubbed out. This year 

 you ntust rub out the laterals from the five lowest 

 buds, and nip in the other laterals to one eye, so 

 that if the plant grows luxuriantly the sap may 

 burst from the buds of the laterals, and not from 

 those of the main branch, as it would do if the vine 

 was dressed too close. Be careful to keep the 

 branches tied up that they may not be broken. In 

 November, cut down the two branches as follows : 

 the most feeble of the two, to two buds, to produce 

 wood branches the succeeding season ; and the 

 strongest, to three buds, for fruit branches, and 

 cover them as usual. 



The Ath year. — If you keep your vines properly 

 dressed, you may have your first fruits without in- 

 jury to your plants. After this the system to be 

 pursued must depend on the strength of your vines, 

 and this will depend on the goodness of the soil 

 and the care you take of your plants. But .as a 

 general rule, the following points must bo attend- 

 ed to. / 



1st, The number and length of your fruit branch- 

 es uiust always depend on the strength of your 



plant ; the wood branches arc always to be cut 

 down to two eyes. 



2. No more branches should be Icfionths vine 

 than it can nourish well, and abundantly; this will 

 depend on its age, and the soil in which it grows. 



•'!. Tlie branches should be cut in alternately for 

 wood and fruit blanches, observing to cut for wood 

 branches as low down on the plant as possible, so 

 as to renew your wood near the bottom annually. 

 No shoots should bo permitted to grow from the 

 old wood, unicjs wanted for this purpose. 



4. No more slioots shouIJ be permitted to grow 

 than can be laid in clear, and handsome, and with- 

 out confusion on the trellis, and so as to admit the 

 sun and air I'reely among the branches. 



5. The laterals should be rubbed out of the wood 

 branches six or eight eyes high, and those that are 

 permitted to remain should be pinched into one 

 bud. The laterals on the fruit branches should be 

 rubbed out from the insertion of the shoot to the 

 uppermost fruit inclusive, and the others pinched 

 in as above. If the shoots are very strong, the up- 

 per laterals may be allowed to grow, to take up a 

 greater portion of the sap ; but this should not be 

 done unless there is danger of the eyes bursting in 

 the main shoots. Be careful always to keep the 

 shoots tied up near their top. 



6. Never leave more than five good eyes on a 

 fruit bearing branch, unless your vine is confined 

 to a narrow space, and you are obliged to preserve 

 only two or three fruit branches ; iii this case the 

 length of the braucli must correspond to the nour- 

 ishment it will receive from the plant. Select the 

 roundest and fairest branches for fruit, and the 

 lowest v:;!d most feeble for wood. The closer the 

 buds are together, or the shorter the joinU of the 

 branch, the better they are for fruit ; these may 

 in general be cut to three, four, or five eyes ac- 

 cording to their strength. But in vineries cover- 

 ed with glass, where two fruit bearing branches 

 only are left on strong vines ; — twenty, thirty, and 

 forty buds are sometimes left on fruit branches. 



The foregoing rules will be suflicient for any 

 one to build up a vineyard sufficiently large to 

 supply himself — his friends, and the market with 

 grapes. But to promote and forward their matu- 

 rity and size, the following course may be pursu- 

 ed. 



The first of July you will be able to see the 

 state of your fruit, w hich will be just formed. At 

 this time select the highest fruit branches and 

 those which have the finest appearance of fruit 

 upon them, and perform the following operation on 

 the two years old wood, from wdiich these branch- 

 es proceed, taking care not to cut below any of 

 the wood branches. 



Take a pruning knife with a smooth edge, and 

 hawk's bill, and pass it round the branch where 

 the bark is clear from knots, cutting deep enough 

 to reach the sap wood of the plant ; at a quarter 

 or 3-Sth3 of an incli below the first cut make an- 

 other, running parallel with the first ; then make 

 a perpendicular cut through this section of the 

 bark the same depth, and you may take out the 

 ring of bark clear from the branch. This will not 

 prevent the sap rising into the upper part of the 

 branch, but it will prevent its descending below 

 this cut, by whieli jjieans it will be retained in, 



