672 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



development of the Chautauqua Grape zone is that some 

 of the so-called poor land has given vineyards as pro- 

 ductive as any, land that previously had been given 

 over to sheep pasture, briers and mulleins. This land 

 was poor in nitrogen, but no doubt had a fair supply 

 of available potash and phosphoric acid, which Grapes 

 most require. 



In preparing land for vineyard planting, it is necessary 

 to lay great stress on the importance of first removing 

 all trees, stumps and large rocks, for when the trellis is 

 put up all tillage of the soil will be in a straight line and 

 one way. A favorite way of disposing of boulders is to 



967. One-year-old No. 1 



Grape vine. 

 Showing how it should be pruned. 



bury them about twenty inches deeper than one thinks 

 necessary, for they have a vexatious way of overcoming 

 the power of gravitation and creeping out of their 

 graves. The real reason for this apparent freak is the 

 compacting of the soil in later years. If any open ditches 

 should cross the line of the Grape rows, they should be 

 supplied with tile and the ditch filled so as to make long 

 "bouts" possible. Short rows and frequent turning 

 should be avoided as much as possible. Turning at the 

 end of a row is lost labor, and the time it occupies 

 would enable a team to cultivate over a hundred feet 

 straight ahead. 



The rows in nearly all the commercial vineyards are 

 9 feet apart, and the vines are planted 8 feet apart in 

 the row. This makes 605 plants per acre. If the land 

 is sod, plow into narrow lands, so that the center of the 

 dead-furrows are 9 feet apart, and plant in the bottom 



of the dead-furrow When the plow is set to cut a fur 

 row 8 to 9 inches deep, the dead-furrow will have abou 

 the required depth for planting. If the ground is stubble 

 plow the whole field, and then lay out rows by strikini 

 a double-furrow. Much care should be exercised to haV' 

 the rows perfectly straight and to plant the vines straigh 

 in the row. This has a practical use, besides appealin; 

 to the professional pride of all good farmers. If th< 

 plants are not straight in the row, the posts cannot b 

 set straight; and if the posts are not straight the wire 

 composing the trellis will bind on the posts which ar 

 out of line, and they cannot be easily tightened ij 

 spring. 



No. 1 vines, of one season's growth from cuttings 

 are much to be preferred to No. 2 vines of the sam 

 period of growth. A young plant, stunted in growt] 

 either by constitutional reasons or accident, has 

 handicap that usually follows it all through life. Po 

 the same reason, avoid planting 2-year-old plants, a 

 often they are the second season's growth of what wa 

 a cull the year before. Cull plants and cull men are sel 

 dom worth the cost of reformation. Spring planting i 

 universally followed in the North. It should be com 

 pleted by the last of May. Some vineyards plante* 

 during the last half of June have developed into gooi 

 production, but it was due to the grace of favorabl 

 weather and soil. Fig. 9G7 represents a fair No. 1 Grap 

 vine. The few roots at d c should be trimmed, as well a 

 the main body of the roots shown by segment of circle e i 

 The pruning facilitates planting, and the removed part 

 would make no root growth of value if retained. Th 

 stem of the vine can be cut back to two or three buds, a 

 shown by a &. Six quarts of well pulverized fertile soil 

 well packed about the roots, will hold the plant in plac 

 and keep it moist until the furrow can be filled by plow 

 ing, if on stubble, or by frequent harrowing and culti 

 vating if on sod. During the first season, all cultivatio: 

 necessary for conservation of moisture should be giver 

 If no tilled crop is planted, this tillage can be done by cul 

 tivating or harrowing crosswise alternately. But'littl 

 hand-work in weeding will be required. "Whether som 

 hoed crop be planted between the row r s the first seaso: 

 is a question of profit for each vineyardist to decide. 1 

 adds something to the expense of cultivation. It is ger 

 erally no detriment to the growth of the Grape vines 

 After the first season, the ground should not be plante 

 to other crops. 



The general appearance of an infant vineyard at c 

 about the middle of the first season's growth is show 

 in Fig. 968. Lay great stress upon the importance of 

 vigorous and even growth during the first and secon 

 years. If such is not attained, many years will b 

 required for the vines to recover, and sometimes the 

 never reach the standard of a good vineyard. Even vine 

 planted after the second year to fill vacancies requir 

 constant coddling to bring them up to the average. ] 

 the spring of the second year the shoots or canes of th 

 previous season's growth should be cut back to three c 

 four buds, and the canes should be thinned out accorc 

 ing to the vigor of the vine one cane for a feebl 

 growth, and three or four for a decidedly vigorou 

 growth. In all other respects, the second year's mar 

 agement should be a repetition of the first. 



In the spring beginning the third year will come th 

 most considerable expense of the undertaking- thf 

 of putting up the trellis. There are many forms ( 

 training Grapes, and some of them so peculiar tl 

 special trellises must be constructed. There are thre 

 popular styles of Grape train ing in the commercial Grap 

 fields of the North: Kniffin system, as practiced in th 

 Hudson river valley; the High Renewal system, a 

 practiced along Lakes Keuka, Canandaigua and Seneca 

 and the Chautauqua system, as practiced along the La 

 Erie valley. It is impossible to say which of the th 

 is preferable. A man's preference usually depends < 

 how he was brought up like his politics and religior 

 In horticultural meetings, advocates of the various si 

 terns argue the merits with much partisan fervor, 

 clear to me that the essential point to be attained in ai 

 system is to hang up the vines so that fruit and foliaj 

 can obtain the greatest amount of air and sunshine, a 

 of which can be secured by several methods, 

 common form of trellis may be illustrated by a big 



