EUROPEAN GRAPES IN EASTERN AMERICA 189 



six inches above this wire, they are pinched off just above the 

 wire and any which have not already fastened themselves are 

 tied to prevent the wind breaking them off. At the same time, 

 if any of the axial buds on the shoots have begun to form second- 

 ary shoots, they are rubbed off, beginning with the node next 

 above the upper cluster and going down to the old cane. This 

 gives the cluster more room and better light. Soon after the 

 first heading-back, the upper buds of the young shoot start 

 lateral growth. The secondary branches usually grow upright 

 and when they are several inches high they are topped with a 

 sickle. This heading-back results in stockier and more mature 

 canes for the following year, and if properly done adds to the 

 fruitfulness of the vine and the fruit matures better. 



General considerations. 



The grower of European grapes grafted on American vines 

 may be prepared to be surprised at the growth the vines make. 

 At the end of the first season, the grafts attain the magnitude 

 of full-sized vines ; the second season they begin to fruit more 

 or less abundantly, and the third year they produce approxi- 

 mately the same number of bunches as a Concord or Niagara 

 vine ; and, as the bunches of most varieties are larger than 

 those of the American grapes, the yield, therefore, is greater. 

 The European varieties, also, may be set more closely than 

 the American sorts, since they are seldom such rampant 

 growers. 



It is too early to reason from this short experiment that we 

 are to grow varieties of European grapes commonly in the East, 

 but the behavior of the vines under discussion seems to indicate 

 that we may do so. At the New York Station, the European 

 varieties are as vigorous and thrifty as American vines and 

 quite as easily managed. Why may we not grow these grapes 

 if we protect them from phylloxera, fungi and cold ? In Europe, 

 there are varieties of grapes for nearly every soil and condition 



