458 



FARMERS' REGISTER— NATIVE AND FOREIGN GRAPES. 



grafts. Not unfrequently are seen a great many 

 large, flourishing, worthless vines, near buildings, 

 that could be so easily converted into profitable 

 ones, that it is a pity they should be suffered to re- 

 main as they are. At a farm I have, within two 

 hundred yards of the buildings is an old grave- 

 yard, in which no person, I belie\ e, has been buri- 

 ed for the last fifty years; but not wishing to culti- 

 vate over it, and as it had grown up in trees and 

 vines, and looked unsightly, a few years past I liad 

 the large trees cut down, the small ones topped, 

 and the vines ingrafted. The spot now adds to 

 the beauty of the farm, and is becoming profita- 

 ble. 1 have found no advantage from ingrafting 

 the foreign grape on the native: (he first ones in- 

 grafted grew off finely, and the prospect was truly 

 flattering; but the winter killed them. They 

 were again ingrafted as before; the weeds and 

 grass were kept from shading the grafts, and the 

 leaves of the graft, for several feet from the ground, 

 were stripped off, so as to let the sun mature tlie 

 wood as much as possible. The growth proved 

 luxuriant, the wood soft and spongy, and they Mere 

 again mostly killed during the winter. Those 

 that lived were seriously injured, and killed nearly 

 down to the ground, since which, they have con- 

 tinued very unpromising. "With respect to the 

 future management of native vines, after they are 

 planted or ingrafted, it is unnecessary to say much, 

 as they require but little care or attention compa- 

 red to foreign ones; and I must refer those who 

 wish to cultivate the foreign ones, to those who 

 have written on the subject. The ingrafted root, 

 as I have stated, must have the sproufs pulled oft' 

 the first year, to prevent their over-running the 

 grafts ; and if the ingrafting be done several inches 

 below the surface of the earth, and the sprouts 

 carefully pulled off from the old root, (and not 

 broken off" near the surface of the earth,) and the 

 grafts should grow off finely during the year, the 

 old root will seldom if ever throw forth another 

 sprout. Those intended to run on living trees, 

 should have the trees topped to ten or twelve feet 

 in height, so as to give tiie vine a chance to overrun 

 them. If the root be vigorous, several years will 

 elapse before the vine will require trimming. 1 

 have none that I think yet require it ; but when 

 they do, I think it probable I shall make short 

 work of it, by cutting off some of the largest and 

 oldest branches, with a saw or hatchet. Vines 

 planted in a garden should receive more care and 

 attention than those planted at a distance from build- 

 ings. Probably it would be as w ell for me to state 

 how I have managed mine; others can adopt a dif- 

 ferent plan if they think best. My garden con- 

 tains one acre of land ; it is divided into six squares 

 of equal size, through the middle of Avhich is the 

 main Avalk, ten leet w ide, opposite to the south door 

 of my house. Along this walk I determined to 

 plant my vines, and after some reflection, I came 

 to the conclusion to plant them fourteen feet apart, 

 across the walk, and to have a post on the inside of 

 each vine one foot, making, from the outside of one 

 post to that of the other, twelve feet, and to have 

 them apart, the other way, eight feet. After fixing 

 the distances, a great difliculty presented itself I 

 had ordered the finest varieties, both of the native 

 and of the ibreign ones, sui>posed in our country ; 

 but the order in w hich the dillerent varieties should 

 stand along the walk, and the number of each va- 

 riety, was far^ very far_, beyond my sight ; but one 



thing was full in view — any vines proving worth- 

 less would have to be dug up, which would destroy 

 the beauty of the walk for years. The nature of the 

 didicidty was such as not to be overcome Init by 

 exiicrimcnt ; and to relieve myself from a state of 

 pcr|)lexity and vexation, 1 came to the conclusion, 

 as tlie native grapes were said to be the most flour- 

 isiiing, to begin with them next to the house door. 

 The Catawl)a was first planted on each side of the 

 walk, opposite to each other : after the Catawba, 

 the Isabella in the same way ; after which the other 

 varieties. 



After a few years, the Catawba and Isabella pro- 

 ved so much more i)roductive than the others, that 

 I had all the others, except a lew at the Air end of 

 the walk, dug uj), and the Isal)ella planted where 

 liiey stood. They are now becoming very pro- 

 ductive ; but as yet no frame for some of them has 

 been erected. The Isal)ella and Catawba that 

 were first planted, have an excellent frame, ex- 

 tending in length about one-third the length of 

 the walk. It is supported by cedar posts, from 

 eight to ten inches in diameter, the ends of which, 

 previous to their being planted, having been suffi- 

 ciently charred to destroy the sap, without which 

 the saji would have soon rotted, and the posts would 

 have become loose. The charring will probably 

 also add to their durability. The plates are made 

 of chesnut, and five I)y seven inclies square, and 

 run lengthwise of the walk. The cross pieces 

 are also of chesnut, three inches square, and twelve 

 feet long, and are nailed to the plates at each end, 

 two feet from the centre of each other, making 

 twenty-one inches apart. Across these pieces, 

 lengthwise of the walk, on the upper side, were 

 nailed cedar poles split in half, at the same distance 

 apart as the cross pieces. The poles selected were 

 those that had the most heart, and about three inch- 

 es in diameter. The height of the frame is seven 

 feet to the top, so that a person standing on the 

 ground, can select any bunch he desires. I would 

 recommend to any person erecting one like this, to 

 place their cross pieces each way six inches nearer 

 than I have mine, as I find that heavy rains are apt 

 to beat some of the ends of the branches through. 

 The fi-ame, or trellis, if desired, can be (en feet 

 wide, instead of twelve ; but less in width would 

 not look well, nor would it give sufficient room for 

 vigorous vines unless planted further apart than I 

 have recommended. A flat frame, I think, should 

 he preferred to one raised in the middle, ihr it is 

 more easy to make ; the fruit is more convenient to 

 get, the free circulation of the air in the garden is 

 not so much obstructed ; the vines are not so easily 

 injured by the winds; and it looks as well or bet- 

 ter, as it has fewer naked places, and those few not 

 so much exposed to view, and the vines are more 

 easily trimmed, and do not require one half as much 

 tying to keep them in their places. In trimming, 

 we o^et upon our frame or trellis in the winter, and 

 walk all over it, and cut out as much of (he old 

 wood and the immature shoots as possible, but ta- 

 king care to leave as many of the finest shoots of 

 the growth of the preceding season as will do to 

 tie down to (he frame from twelve to eiglfteen inch- 

 es apart, which shoots we generally shorten (o ten 

 or fifteen eyes ; but sometimes Ave are compelled to 

 have more, sometimes less, so as to fill up inter- 

 vals. 



As the frame or trellis which I have described, 

 may not suit the convenience of all, I would sug- 



