THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 173 



them. Some of tliem, however, were left till March before 

 grafting, but I did not perceive any difference in their 

 growth. As soon as the eyes had pushed enough to be tied, 

 I pulled out the scion which had the weakest shoot, and 

 trained the other up under the rafters. They all grew that 

 season to the top of the roof, fourteen feet, and were there 

 stopped. In the fall, there were ten of them which I judged 

 to be stout enough for fruit, and I cut them down to five buds 

 each. They bore, and ripened their fruit well, and have con- 

 tinued to bear, more and more, the two seasons since. I al- 

 lowed one, the past season, to bear twenty pounds, which was 

 too much, and it was not well colored. The rest bore about 

 twelve pounds each, and ripened it well. Two of them made 

 rather long-jointed wood the first season, and were cut down 

 to one bud in the fall, and the next season one of the shoots 

 from one of these buds got broken off by accident, and I im- 

 mediately cut off the stem, under ground, and grafted a sec- 

 ond scion into the first. This was in June. It grew perfectly 

 well, and has fruited for two seasons past. The kinds I en- 

 grafted were the Black Hamburgh, Victoria, Black Prince, 

 and White Sweetwater. I have been unable to perceive any 

 difference between the size, color, or flavor, of the fruit, from 

 that of vines on their own stocks. 



" The insects which breed in our light soil, are a great 

 trouble here. The rose-bugs attack them while in blossom, 

 and, unless a direct attack is made upon them, they soon de- 

 stroy a large crop of bloom. I have boys, with tin cups, with 

 a little spirits of turpentine in them, who go through the vine- 

 yards every morning, during the three weeks or thereabouts, 

 that this bug exists, collecting them into these cups, where 

 they are instantly killed. I have been troubled with a worm, 

 which gets in the grape when ripe, and often destroys a w^iole 

 bunch, boring from one berry to another. It is a little grey 

 maggot, about one eighth of an inch in length. In the vine- 

 yard formed last spring, I planted three thousand vines, all 

 Isabellas. Formerly, I used to be careful in my summer 



