November, 1908 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



249 



I 



Grape Culture Again 



Editor. The Canadian Horticulturist:— 

 In last August number appeared an article 

 entitled "The Summer Care of Vineyards" 

 by G. H. Carpenter, Fruitland, Ont., upon 

 which I would like to offer a few friendly 

 thoughts. First, he says, "The great point 

 in summer cultivation is to keep down every- 

 thing but the grape vines." The deduction 

 seems to bo that the grape vines must be en- 

 couraged to spread sprawling over the 

 ground in obedience to their own sweet will. 

 Is this Mr. Carpenter's method? If it is, 

 we would like to say that there is a abetter 

 method and that Mr. Carpenter has scarcely 

 touched grape vine culture. 



Again, under the heading of "Summer 

 Pruning," he says: "All sprouts should be 

 kept down. Summer pruning is advocated 

 by some growers but we have not followed 

 the latter practice." From this we would 

 gather that Mr. Carpenter is a long way 

 off if he has not followed this practice. He 

 is scarcely in a forward position to figure 

 as a teacher in grape vine culture but 

 judging from the samples of grapes we 

 sometimes get from that region and knowing 

 something of their method of culture, I 

 suppose that Mr. Carpenter would be con- 

 sidered not far astray. But allow me to 

 say that the laxity and carelessness of some 

 grape growers so called should be a crying 

 shame on the industry. 



As Mr. Carpenter knows, or should know, 

 the highest and best results cannot be 

 obtained in the vineyard without a thorough 

 and most complete and most persistent 

 system of summer pruning, no matter what 

 the other conditions may be. What, for in- 

 stance, is the value of grapes grown upon 

 vines completely let alone and allowed to 

 run over the entire ground as they may 



incline? The better the enviroment, the 

 worse the results. The grape vine is a most 

 tractable and flexible thing of life and can 

 be made to do and be almost anything that 

 one may desire. 



Grape vines should be intelligently pruned 

 summer and winter. Practice the most ad- 

 visable, careful and persistent system of 

 training and pruning possible to be had at 

 any price. See that your bunches are full 

 and perfectly developed and your berries 

 completely filled with the best and most 

 nutritious and tasty juices of the highest 

 value to be had, which is aided by good 

 Canadian soil and climate. If you cannot 

 do this, be willing to retire from the busi- 

 ness and admit others who will minister 

 willingly to the growing wants and needs 

 of the intelligent people of this great and 

 growing country, who know a good thing 

 when they see it. — B. Gott, Strathroy, Ont. 



MR. carpenter's reply 



Editor, The Canadian Horticulturist :— 

 There are some expressions and statements 

 in an article by me on grape culture that 

 appeared in the August issue of The Canad- 

 ian Horticulturist that apparently are 

 unintelligible to Mr. Gott of Strathroy. At 

 least, judging from his criticisms of the 

 article in question, that appear elsewhere 

 in this issue, such would seem to be the 

 case. 



In the first place Mr. Gott has put upon 

 my expression, "keep down everything but 

 the grape vines," a construction that for 

 a novice in grape culture would perhaps be 

 pardonable. Coming from Mr. Gott, how- 

 ever, who I believe has been an enthusiastic 

 horticulturist for years, the criticism is 

 rather superfluous. He fears that if this 

 were carried out to the letter that the 

 vines would have a tendency to spread 



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