GROWING FROM SEED. 15 



Some of the individuals of this group possess excel- 

 lent qualities, which, when properly developed, and their 

 defects remedied, will make the most valuable wine 

 grapes of the country. 



CHAPTER II. 



GROWING FROM SEED. 



Gather the grapes when fully ripe, and either dry 

 them in the sun or in a dry room, until they appear like 

 raisins, and keep them in this way until spring, or, 

 when they are gathered, the seeds may be separated from 

 the pulp. Put in pots or boxes, mixed with pure sand 

 or sandy loam, and set away in the cellar, or bury in the 

 open ground, until spring. Mice are very fond of grapes 

 and grape seeds, and they should be placed where these 

 pests can not reach them. No matter whether the seeds 

 are frozen or not, all that is requisite is, that they shall 

 not get too dry ; if they are kept cool and moist, their 

 germinating powers will remain unimpaired. 



The soil for a seed bed should be light, moderately 

 dry, and thoroughly pulverized to at least two feet in 

 depth. If not naturally very rich, it should be made so 

 by adding a liberal quantity of old, well-decomposed 

 manure from the barnyard, and incorporating it well 

 with the soil. The whole success often depends upon 

 getting a good, strong, healthy growth the first season. 

 So soon in the spring as the weather will permit, sow 

 the seeds in drills about a foot apart, and not too thickly 

 in the drills one or two inches apart will do; cover 

 about three-quarters of an inch deep, and give a liberal 

 supply of water, if the weather is dry. When the plants 

 first appear above ground, they should be partially 



