12 



THE QUALITY OF PLANTS AS AFFECTED BY AGE, ETC. 



public, it was necessary that something as to the quality of the plants 

 ihoulil be fciken, with no better proof of my statements as to their 

 value than couKl be shown in my own grounds. Now I have not only 

 the te?ti;:Mny of all of the best cultivators in my favor, but nlso that of 

 hundreds of thousands of vines, all testifying to the same truth. 



There are two kinds of No. 1, first those intended for Extras, and come 

 short of It, and those grown specially for that designation. 



It should be borne in mind that the numbers of one person's cata- 

 logue hare reference to his own vines, and not the least regard to those 

 of any otiier. Purchasers will seek in vain to find elsewhere vines 

 that have been produced with the care, attention, and cost of my No. 

 1, and my No. 3 challenge comparison with the best No. 1 of any other 

 catalogue. 



I The actual cost of vines of best selection has been well stated by Mr. 



I Mead at not less than one dollar each. I may also say that they havo 

 not been produced by any person except myself at any price. I do 

 not say that as large vines have not been produced ; for by growing 

 them in manure or beds of muck, very large size may be veiy cheaply 

 obtained, but only one or two years of trial is necessary to show that 

 Buch vines or trees are of little or no value. It has been tried with 

 apples, pears, and other trees, and after a short apparent success, aban- 

 doned as a dia:iStrous failure. The full discussion of this subject would 

 require a volume, but the well-ascertained facts thai are chiefly of in- 

 terest to purchasers may be stated in a few words. All propagation of 

 vines from wood i» artificial, and that method which produces the best 

 plants, as shown h^ thalr hardiness and the excellence and quantity oi 



Plate No. 9. 



Plate No. 8, 



Plate No. T. 



Plate No. 6. 



Plate No. 10. Plate No. 5. 



produce, is the best. Propagating houses are not used because they pro- 

 duce plants more cheaply, for they do not, but because they make bet- 

 ter ijlants than can be made except by layering, when it is properly 

 performed. Mr. Barry truly stated that one plant from a single eye, 

 well produced by the aid of a house, is worth more than si.K grown 

 wholly in the open ground without such aid. 



I would not state that because plants are grown in houses they must 

 be good, for the most worthless plants in countless thousands have been 

 thus produced, and will continue to be while cheapness is accepted 

 irrespective of quality. 



This matter has been fully discussed by Mr. Mead in an excellent 

 lecture on the subject, which he has prepared in answer to the wants 

 of this particular time, when it is cf groat importance that the condi- 

 tions of success in vine-planting should be known. 



The conditions of success are well known and easily furnished, and 

 tha cultivation of the vine, wlieu well managed, offers a more speedy 



and abundant reward than any other fruit, and is less complicated in 

 its management, but its requirements are imperative. 



Although the interest that attaches to the grape in vineyards has be- 

 come very great, and is very rapidly increasing, it is very small in com- 

 parison with that which belongs to the vine in the yard and garden for 

 the full supply of the family; not for furnishing grapes by tens of 

 pounds for a few days, but by hundreds of pounds for half of the 

 year. 



Good Delaware grapes may now, in their season, be bought in mar- 

 ket, but only at very large prices — as forty cents a pound and upwards; 

 but the difference in the benefit and enjoyment afforded by tliose 

 grown for market and those obtained from the owner's well-managed 

 vinee is so great, that it can not be fully credited except from trial. 

 Many have lcari;eil this, and are now planting vines by the hundred for 

 family sup)ily. Those who have a surplus of best quality arc obtaining 

 much higher prices for them than that just named. 



