254 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



1. Place yourself in a positiou to be kept 

 advised dally as to the needs and tone of 

 any market you intend to supply. To this 

 end find a reliable commission man and 

 follow his directions. 



3. Ship only the very largest and best 

 specimens of fruits in neat and attractive 

 packages. The " Standard one-third bushel 

 fruit crate," is most desirable, and well 

 known in the Northern markets. 



3. Let the contents of each package be of 

 the same size. The price is based upon the 

 smaller samples of the fruit. 



4. Do not be too hasty in shipping fruit 

 that has not attained proper size and color. 

 Unripe fruit if sold at all, is sold 

 usually at a price barely sufficient 

 to cover freight. 



5. Do not mix several varieties of 

 Peaches, Pears, Apples in the same 

 package. Mixed lots are difficult to 

 seU. 



6. Follow the suggestions of your 

 commission man as to packing, etc. 

 He is better able to judge of the 

 needs of his market from his end of 

 the line than you are. 



Commission men have as much 

 interest in securing good prices for 

 the produce consigned to them, as 

 you have, hence a mutual under- 

 standing will always make the best 

 of friends. As the tone of a market 

 fluctuates daily, it is obvious that 

 the fruit grower should keep in daily 

 correspondence with New York, 

 Philadelphia, Richmond, Chicago, 

 Cincinnati, etc., and act according 

 to best reports he may receive. 



Method of shipment is a question 

 that must be left to each individual 

 to solve. To avoid as much as pos- 

 sible any delay that may injure the 

 condition of the fruit and reduce its 

 selling value, it is always advisable 

 to ship fruit by express. 



I have thus far referred only to 

 the disposal of the higher grades of 

 fruit. The question of utilizing the 

 second and third grades is more difficult to 

 solve. 



Evaporating fruit pays only when a suffi- 

 cient supply is assured. To erect an evapo- 

 rating plant requires a certain capital which 

 one must be assured of being productive of 

 a fair interest before the venture is made. 

 Let fruit growers of a given neighborhood 

 combine either in the purchase of an evapo- 

 rator and work it upon the co-operative plan 

 or let them enter into an agreement with 

 some enterprising man to supply him with 

 a sufficient qu-antity of fruit of a price stated 

 before hand, and thus induce him to erect 

 the necessary buildings and apparatus. By 

 these means over-ripe or small fruit which 

 would not pay to ship to a distant market 

 can be utilized at a fair return to the grower. 



Evaporating fruits like other pursuits, re- 

 quires experience in order to bring success ; 

 generally, except where the quantity of 

 available material is too small to warrant 

 establishing a large evaporator, it would pay 

 fruit-growers better to sell their second and 

 third grades of fruit to an evaporating es- 

 tablishment rather than to undertake to 

 work it up themselves upon a small scale. 

 There are other ways of utilizing inferior 

 fruits which will occur to some of our in- 

 ventive fruit-growers. 



I picked out two good fence boards six 

 inches wide and 14 feet long for risers. At 

 the top short bolts were inserted to hold the 

 boards close together at this point. Then 

 the other ends were spread to two feet and 

 one-half apart and a temporary prop in- 

 serted to keep them so. Next rungs and 

 bracers were provided of pieces one inch by 

 2J^ inches. The former were let in to 

 gains on the front of the ladder with a space 

 of 1.5 inches between them from center to 

 center. On the back two similar pieces 

 were let in for permanent braces. All 

 were well nailed. 



My ladder thus made is stanch and coh- 



SECOND YEAR GROWTH BY LATERAL RENEWAL SYSTEM 



THIRD YEAR GROWTH BY LATERAL RENEWAL SYSTEM 



venient especially among fruit trees. It 

 should be added that the bottom of the 

 uprights, instead of being cutoff square are 

 slightly sloped so that the ladder rests on the 

 f ul I width of the board as it leans somewhat. 



An Easily Made Ladder. 



CHAS. QArLORD, MIAMA CO., OHIO. 



One often sees fruit growers, farmers and 

 others suffering endless inconvenience for 

 want of a ladder, or else assuming risks in 

 using a poor one, in a manner wholly un- 

 justified in view of my simple plan for 

 making and easily adopted by anyone. 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE THIRD 

 PAPER. 



The Lateral Cane Horizontal, Re- 

 newal Sy.stem. 



DR. .1. STATMAN, LEAVENWORTH CO.. KANSAS. 



In our introductory article on Grape cult- 

 ure we gave our manner of preparing the 

 soil and planting the vines with a few pre- 

 liminary remarks upon pruningand training 

 on stakes the first two years. So far we 

 differ but little from experienced vlneyard- 

 ists except in training up a few more canes, 

 if the vines are strong. Any system of 

 training must be based on the following 

 fundamental principles : 



(1). It is as natural for a Grape vine to 

 trail low as to climl) high. 



(2). Whatever gives an undue length of 

 growth without corresponding stockiness, 

 makes the vine less hardy and more subject 

 to disease attacks. 



(3). The tendency of the sap is always 

 towards the highest bud; therefore an up- 

 right position increases the length of 

 growth, while a horizontal position tends 

 to check it. 



(4). The laterals are shorter jointed and 

 have better developed buds than the primary 

 canes, hence their wood is firmer, and their 

 buds more suitable for fruiting. 



(.5). The leaves require light; the fruit 

 shade; hence their leaves should be fully 

 exposed to the sun, and cover the fruit. 



(6). Grapes are only produced on the 

 current year's shoots from wood from the 

 previous season's growth; hence to produce 

 yearly fruit the wood must be renewed an- 

 nually. 



(7). The health and hardiness of a vine 

 is in proportion to the dark green color of 

 the foliage (chlorophyl). Whatever adds 

 to the size, substance and color of the foliage 

 gives size and quality to the fruit. 



To train the Grape in conformity with 

 these fundamental principles I use a trellis 

 made as follows: The posts are of durable 

 timber, as for instance Bass or White Oak, 

 six feet long and about three inches in di- 

 ameter, sharpened or pointed at 

 one end, and driven into the 

 ground two feet deep, and sixteen 

 feet apart in line with the vines 

 midway between every other vine. 

 The end posts are firmly braced. 



Now procure No. 11 or 13 wire, 

 the latter is generally used, and if 

 galvanized it will be better, but 

 will cost about one third more. Put 

 up but two wires, the first about 

 two feet from the ground, and the 

 second about eighteen inches above 

 it. Fasten the wires on the posts 

 with staples or wrought nails, and 

 bore holes through the end posts 

 and put the wires through them, 

 and at one end through a round 

 cross piece about two inches in di- 

 ameter and ten long, by which you 

 can wind up the wires in warm 

 weather and slacken them when 

 cold. They may be kept from un- 

 winding with a nail. 



If your trellis was erected the 

 second year, then use this for tying 

 the vines to, instead of the stakes 

 as advised in my second paper. 

 Train the two strongest canes from 

 each of the spurs on the lower wire, 

 and tie as seen in upper Fig.; then 

 train up two other canes to the 

 upper wire, if too strong pinch 

 them back at or near the lower 

 wire. Keep off all strong growing suckers 

 which would have a tendency to rob the 

 canes, cultivate the grounds, keep free 

 from weeds during the season. In the fall 

 of the year your vines will have the ap- 

 pearance as shown in upper Figure. The 

 horizontal canes may now be pruned to 

 about ten buds each and the upright canes 

 to two spurs of two buds each as seen in 

 the cross marks in same B^igure. 



In the third year if your vines are Concord, 

 strong and vigorous, you may let them bear 

 about 20 to 30 bunches of Grapes to a vine. 

 They should now be tied firmly to the trellis 

 with willow, or otherwise, in a horizontal 

 position as seen in lower Figure. From each 

 well developed bud on your vines there will 

 be a shoot and on each of these new vines 

 there will be from two to three bunches. 



In the spring when the buds first burst 

 open, you may see the small embryo of Grapes 

 on delicate shoots which push forth as the 

 season advances. They are seldom beyond 

 the third joint. When these shoots from 

 the arms or horizontal canes have made 

 about eight inches of growth, and have fully 

 shown all the embryo fruit, pinch off all 

 the ends of the strongest leaders just beyond 

 the last bunch. If they are not fully de- 

 veloped go over them again and if any of 

 the buds have produced two buds rub off 

 the weaker. Also pinch off the ends of the 

 leaders of the weakest shoots from each 

 spur, but the strongest shoot from each spur 

 train up without pinching back till about 

 twenty inches high, then pinch it back to 

 lower wire, (see lower Figure.) From the 

 axils of these two upright canes other shoots 

 or laterals will start. Train up but one 

 from each to the upper wire and as they 



