Grafting. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Planting. 43 



mission of reconstituting tlie Phylloxera — de- 

 stroyed French vineyards, and by his practical 

 example as well as by his writings he has con- 

 tributed a large share to the great success of that 

 mission. His unsurpassed work on grafting, 

 which we mentioned before, will stand as a last- 

 ing monument to his name. 



PLANTING (Coutinued). 



But now let us return to themodus operandi 

 of planting. Take your vines, in a pail with 

 water, or wrapped in a wet cloth, from the 

 place where they were heled-iu,* to the 

 holes ; when planting, let one person shorten 

 the roots-f with a sharp knife, then spread 

 them out evenl}^ to all sides, and let another 

 fill in with well pulverized earth. The earth 

 should be worked in among the roots with the 

 fingers, and pressed to them with the foot. 

 Lay the vine in slanting, and let its top come 

 out at the stake pre^iously set. Then, with 

 your knife, cut back the top to a bud just 

 above, or even with the surface of the ground. 

 Do not leave more than two buds on any one 

 of the 3'oung vines which you are planting, 

 however strong the tops, or however stout and 

 wiry the roots ma^' be. One cane is sufficient 

 to grow, and merely to be prepared for pos- 

 sible accident, both buds are allowed to start. 

 The weaker of the two shoots may afterwards 

 be removed or pinched back. 



When planted in the fall, raise a small 

 mound around your vine, so that the water 

 will drain off, and in sections where the win- 

 ters are very severe mounds should be 

 made a little higher, even covering the upper 

 buds, and a covering provided that will col- 

 lect and hold the snow, which will be a 

 warmer and better protection than manures ; 

 these should not be used on newly planted 

 young vines. In spring the mounds should 

 be carefully levelled down. 



* On receiving your vines from the nursery, they 

 should be taken out of the box, without delay, and 

 heled-in, which is done as follows: In a dry and well 

 protected situation, a trench is made in the soil 12 to 15 

 inches deep, wide enough to receive the roots of the 

 plants, and of any requii'ed length, the soil being 

 thrown out upon one si^Ie. The plants are then set 

 thickly together in the trench, with the tops in a slop- 

 ing direction and against the bank of soil thrown out 

 of the trench; another trench is made parallel to the 

 first, and the soil taken from it is thrown into the first, 

 covering the I'oots carefully, filling in all of the inter- 

 stices between them. Press down the soil, and smooth 

 off the surf!»ce, so that water shall not lodge thereon. 

 \Vhen one trench is finished, set the plants in the next, 

 and proceed as before. When all this is completed, dig 

 a shallow trench around the whole, so as to carry off 

 the water and keep the situation dry. 



"•■ If the roots are not too long, say not over 15 to 18 

 inches, they do not need shortening, merely trimming 

 off any ragged or broken ends. The holes should be 

 dug large enough, however, to accommodate the roots 

 without twisting or crowding. 



It is a well-authenticated fact that, under 

 the action of nitrogenous agents, the grape 

 grows more luxuriantly, its leaves are larger, 

 its product increases in quantity. But over- 

 feeding produces a sappy growth of soft and 

 spongy wood, with feeble buds or eyes, whi?li 

 are in far greater danger of being winter- 

 killed. Moreover, nitrogenous substances 

 exclusively used hasten the decay of vine- 

 yards and the exhaustion of the soil, and even 

 those authorities who favor manures in j>re- 

 paring certain grounds, or long ajter plant- 

 ing, mean a compost made of old barnyard 

 manure, leaf mould, broken bones, etc., laid 

 up to rot and frequently turned ; but do not 

 allow any decomposing organic matter to 

 come in contact with the newl}^ planted vine. 

 Yet, a favorable climate, a suitable soil and 

 situation, sound, strong, well-rooted. No. 1 

 plants, properly planted, are not sufficient for 

 success in grape-growing — the vine must have 

 besides proper treatment and cultivation ; 

 and there is perhaps no fruiting plant that 

 bears skillful training more kindly, or which 

 responds more abundantly to the attention of 

 the careful grower. And the fact that al- 

 most equally good results appear to be ob- 

 tained, for particular purposes and varieties, 

 under various different methods, caused a 

 great diversity of opinion as to the proper 

 system or greater advantages of any method 

 of training and pruning the vine. 



The value of removing a portion of the 

 wood of a grape-vine was brought to notice 

 by observing the effect produced by the 

 browsing of a goat. American grape culture 

 is 3'et in an experimental stage. Half a cen- 

 tury ago, European methods were the only 

 ones practiced ; and though the fundamental 

 principles are alike for both European and 

 American grapes, our l)est viticulturists 

 gradually recognized that widely differing 

 varieties require different treatment, and that 

 American species of grapes l)eing widely 

 different and distinct from the European, 

 l\xQy demand also different methods of treat- 

 ment in some important details. The evolu- 

 tion of American grape training — say^s Prof. 

 L. H. Baily of Ithaca, N. Y., (in the preface 

 to his excellent treatise on American Grape- 

 Training, 1893) is one of the most unique 

 and signal developments ( f our modern horti- 

 culture and its very recent departure from 

 the early doubts and trials is a fresh illustra- 

 tion of the youth and virility^ of all horti- 

 cultural pursuits in North America. 



It would be impossible to describe all the 

 variations in grape- training in the space of 

 this brief manual : no hard and fast lines can 

 be laid down, either for anj' sj^stem or any 



