POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED. 305 



think a good grape-layer is better than a oue-j^ear-olcl vine. 

 I think if a grape-vine is properly taken up when it is two 

 years old, a cutting is better than either, and there is no rea- 

 son why it cannot be properly taken up ; and with a proper 

 growth for two years it ought to produce a cane of good size, 

 so that the third year it should bear a crop. 



I am not so clear upon the point of planting vines in rows, 

 runuino; north and south. Dr. Fisher has told us that the 

 very best position for grape-vines is on a hill-side, sloping 

 south. Now, if this hill-side is somewhat steep, and if the 

 vines run north and south, it is inevitable that we get a good 

 deal of wash. I do not see how it is to be prevented with 

 this culture, of which Dr.. Fisher has told us. With surface- 

 culture, pulverizing the surftice-soil so much, it is inevitable 

 that there should be a good deal of wash, and these surface- 

 roots will be laid bare and will suffer during the winter. 



The method of pruning, which Dr. Fisher has recom- 

 mended, is very simple, and the pruning is also very simple, 

 and seems to be admirable. One objection, however, occurs to 

 me. I think that the arm will grow weak, with all the growth 

 of these laterals upright, and carrying a considerable crop. 



Dr. Fisher has said that if we allow one arm to bear from the 

 point which he indicated, we shall not get, the subsequent year, 

 six pounds from the other arm, as we ought to. My own expe- 

 rience leads me to think that we should not train one arm on a 

 level with the other, because one arm will take all the strength, 

 and, consequently, the other will not produce so large a crop 

 the following season. In my own experience, I have not sup- 

 posed it desirable, and I doubt the necessity of renewing the 

 main every year. It seems to me that one arm will produce 

 within one year, and that, consequently, the method of cut- 

 ting off so much growth is rather wasteful than otherwise. 

 I do not speak of this as saying positively that I differ 

 with Dr. Fisher, but because these points have occurred to 

 me. But as regards the matter of planting north and south, 

 it seems to me there is a serious difficulty, and there seems to 

 be advantages in running the rows east and west. The morn- 

 ing sun and the afternoon sun strikes into the rows, and you 

 have an early morning sun and a late evening sun, so that I 

 am not so clear on that point as Dr. Fisher seems to be. 



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