98 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



ments. Later teachings in regard to the use of fertilizers are : 

 That the quantity of mineral food in a soil may be of far less 

 importance than the quantity of water, and that the cultivator 

 should make certain that there is sufficient moisture in his 

 land so that the mineral salts may be readily dissolved and 

 so become available as plant-food; that far too much im- 

 portance has been attached to putting chemicals in the soil 

 and too little to the physical condition of the soil, whereby 

 the work of bacteria and the solvent action of organic acids 

 may make available plant-food that without these agencies is 

 unavailable. 



These brief and simple statements introduce to grape-growers 

 some of the problems with which they must deal in fertilizing 

 grapes, and show what a complex problem of chemistry, physics 

 and biology fertilizing the soil is ; how difficult experimental 

 work in this field is ; and how cautious workers must be in inter- 

 preting results of either experiment or experience. An account 

 of an experiment in fertilizing a vineyard may make even more 

 plain the difficulties in carrying on experiments in fertilizing 

 fruits and the caution that must be observed in drawing con- 

 clusions. 



AN EXPERIMENT IN FERTILIZING GRAPES 



The New York Agricultural Experiment Station is experi- 

 menting with fertilizers for grapes at Fredonia, Chautauqua 

 County, the chief grape region in eastern America. The ex- 

 periment should be of interest to every grape-grower from 

 several points of view. It not only shows that there are many 

 and difficult problems in fertilizing grapes, but also the results 

 of the use of manure, commercial fertilizers and cover-crops in 

 a particular vineyard ; it suggests the fertilizers to be used and 

 the methods of use ; and it furnishes a plan for an experiment 

 by grape-growers who want to try such an experiment and 



