ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS. 119 



until it has shown its capacity of producing abundant crops of 

 good fruit. 



Respectfully yours, 



John B. Mooee. 



Statement of Edvnn Wheeler. 



"Wishing to compete for your premium " for the best vineyard 

 of not less than one-half acre, which shall have been set or planted 

 since the year 1863, and which shall be in the best and most 

 productive state in the year 1869," I herewith present the fol- 

 lowing report : 



The piece contains about one acre of good plain land, or corn 

 ground, underlaid with sand and gravel, and is situated on the 

 east bank, and within ten rods of the Sudbury River, lying from 

 fifteen to twenty-five feet higher than the ordinary level of the 

 water, sloping gently to the north and east. It had been used 

 as a pasture for six or eight years previous to 1864, when it was 

 ploughed about ten inches deep, and manured with about twen- 

 ty-five horse-cart loads of compost manure per acre, and planted 

 with potatoes. In 1865 it was ploughed, manured the same as 

 the year previous, and planted with corn. 



In the fall of 1865 and spring of 1866 I planted about two- 

 thirds of the piece with Concord grape-vines, which I grew 

 from cuttings the previous summer. They were set in rows 

 eight and ten feet apart, alternately, for the purpose of better 

 passing between the rows with the team, the rows averaging 

 nine feet apart, the vines seven feet in the rows. The ground 

 between the rows, for two years, was planted with early potatoes, 

 white beans, and for setting carrots and parsnips, for seeds 

 (manuring them lightly in the drill) , thereby receiving a paying 

 crop from the ground, while the vines were unproductive. The 

 third year I set between the rows yearling vines, a part of which 

 you saw when you examined the vineyard. 



The first year after planting the vines, only one cane was 

 allowed to grow ; these were trained to small poles, and the 

 laterals pinched off at the second leaf ; in the fall the canes 

 were cut back to two buds ; and the second year two canes or 

 arms were grown and trained to poles, and the laterals pinched 

 oflf as the year before ; these, in the fall or early winter, were 

 cut back, leaving the canes or arms from two to five feet long. 



