198 OPEN- AIR GRAPE CULTURE. 



!N"either can we enter npon a discussion of the 

 claims of tlie rival tlieorj of Yan Mons. We shall 

 therefore rest content with a few practical directions. 



Speechlj, who was probably the first to attempt 

 the improvement of vines by cross-breeding, directs 

 us to bring the flowering branches of the two kinds 

 of vines into close proximity — they being, of course, 

 in the same stage of maturity. 



ISTo very superior varieties followed his attempts, 

 however ; and this is not to be w^ondered at, as it is 

 probable that branches might be entwined a thou- 

 sand times without effecting the result aimed at; 

 for no means are taken to bring the pollen of the dif- 

 ferent jlowers into contact w^ith the stigma of the 

 others, and although we have no reasons to doubt the 

 possibility of super-foetation, (seeing it is well-known 

 to occur in the higher animals) yet no means are 

 here taken to produce even this. 



J. Fiske Allen, one of our most successful grape 

 growers and*the originator of some new and excel- 

 lent varieties, gives the follow^ing directions upon this 

 point. 



^' The applying the pollen, or farina of one variety 

 to the pistil, or stigma of another, is the surer method 

 of proceeding to obtain new sorts in the shortest 

 time ; and this is called hybridizing. 



To do this properly, the bunch should be thinned 



