1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



21 



the jars corked or sealed and placed iu the 

 ground a considerable depth, to preserve an 

 equable temperature. This method could be 

 employed with many fruits, as well as vege- 

 tables. Pears, the (inest kinds of wliich are 

 apt to rot immediately after maturity, were 

 found capable of preservation for months by 

 being closely covered in stone ja.is and kept in 

 a cool place. Similar expiTimcnts revealed 

 the fact that an evenly colli temperalurc was 

 a reliable preventive of decay iu fruit, and 

 have led to the construction of the modern 

 fruit house. 



The value and convenience of this quite 

 recent improvement will be apparent when 

 we consider the ijreat advantage in keeping 

 fruit until the next ripening season, thus en- 

 abling us to get the very highest prices for 

 what we have' to sell, after the market has be- 

 come bare of such fruit as has been kept in 

 cellars, or shipped from other localities, be- 

 sides the advantage of having it for family 

 use all year round. I may say without fear of 

 contradiction that fully thirty-three per 

 centum of all fruits stored iu the ordinary 

 way annually go to waste ; this would of itself 

 more than pay the interest upon the cost of a 

 modern fruit house. This is true of the apple 

 crop of itself, and the same may be said of 

 Vears. I am satisfied that if pears are prop- 

 erly handled and put into the fruit house until 

 the market becomes bare of those varieties 

 sold out of the orchards, twice the amount of 

 money can be made out of them. They 

 should be carefully picked when matured, but 

 before too ripe, and they will improve in 

 flavor when allowed to ripen fully in the fruit 

 house. 



In this way such varieties as the Buerre 

 Easter, Columbia and Vicar of Winkfield will 

 keep until the following April. That many 

 kinds of vegetables, berries and stone fruit 

 can be preserved a greater length of time than 

 in the ordinary way, has been demonstrated 

 by the use of the fruit house. Cider will also 

 keep sweet much longer than when kept in 

 cellars, where the temperature is constantly 

 varying. The temperature iu a well cou- 

 structed fruit house can easily be kept within 

 a variation of eight degrees, say between 32^ 

 and 40 . and proper care should always be 

 taken in regard to ventilation, as it is to this 

 that we can attribute the main success in pre- 

 serving the fruit. A refrigerator or fruit 

 house can be constructed at a very little cost, 

 say from $250 to $.500, that would admit of 

 storing one thousarid bushels of fruit ; this 

 would accommodate a half dozen neighbors, 

 who might club together and erect one at their 

 joint expense, or one of their number might 

 build one, and by a charge for storage, of ten 

 or twelve cents per bushel, receive more than 

 the interest upon his investment, beside the 

 cost of stocking it with ice. 



I will now describe a fruit house built on a 

 larger scale, having a capacity of 4,000 bushels, 

 which has been "in very successful use for 

 twelve years. It is fifty feet square and built 

 of stone and is twenty-eight feet high. The 

 fruit room is on the first floor and is eight feet 

 high with an enclosed space four feet in width, 

 on the four sides filled with ice from above. 

 The ice house proper is on the second story 

 and is eleven feet high which, with the spaces 

 referred to, is filled with ice. There should 

 always be at least one foot of sawdust or .some 

 other non-conductor of heat between the i-;e 

 and the outer walls. The floor must be water- 

 tight with pipes or some other means of con- 

 veying the accumulating water to the ground 

 beneath the building. The third story lloor is 

 about three feet below the square ; this room 

 in intended to secure ventilation, and should 

 be covered with some non-conductive material 

 to prevent any heated air from entering the 

 building from above. Tiiere is a room or 

 space about three feet deep below the floor of 

 the fruit room, which is filled from the surplus 

 of unmelted ice that remains in the second 

 story, and this must be done before stockins; 

 with fruit in the fall, ^'entilation is secured 

 through four box ventilators twelve inches 

 square, leading from the fruit room through 



the ice room and extending into the vacant 

 space above tlie third floor. These box venti- 

 lators are providi'd with valves or stops by 

 means of wliich the temperature in the fruit 

 room may be easily regulated. The fruit is 

 stored in common boxes containing two 

 bushels each, the bottom of one box forming a 

 cover of another, and these boxes are piled" in 

 tiers or sections with spaces between to admit 

 of passage and free circulation. Access to the 

 fruit room is secured through a kind of vesti- 

 bule with outside and inside doors, both lined 

 with non-conductive material — halters' waste 

 wool has proven an excellent non-conductor 

 for this purpose. The two doors, an inner 

 and an outer door, are necessary to prevent 

 the admission of air when persons pass in and 

 out. 



The cost of this building when erected was 

 about S2,000, and it requires about one thou- 

 sand tons of ice to fill it properly, about two- 

 thirds of which is annually consumed by the 

 heat. Ever since the completion of this build- 

 ing it has been used for the storage of various 

 kinds of fruits, and has proven an entire suc- 

 cess, and the owner has realized a handsome 

 profit upon his investment. 



There is another large refrigerator or fruit 

 house in Reading, that is constructed upon a 

 somewhat similar plan which has been used 

 for preserving tropical fruits and storing eggs, 

 etc., for which purpose it has proven very 

 successful. 



There is still another large refrigerator or 

 fruit house in this city, quite recently com- 

 pleted and stocked with ice, which will be 

 ready for the storage of fruits, etc., the coming 

 season, and which will prove a great conve- 

 nience to fruit growers as well as consumers 

 of this place. 



CULTURE AND TRAIMING OF THE 



VINE.* 



So much has been written upon this subject 

 as to almost confuse the novice and contem- 

 plative planter into inactivity, for fear of 

 doing more injury than benefit in attempting 

 to follow the teachings of books which treat 

 on vine culture. Between the close pruner 

 and non-pruner lies so wide a field, with in- 

 numerable methods of training, that it is not 

 surprising that there is so much confusion 

 relative to the growing of this important fruit. 



Important, I say, because there is no fruit 

 in the Xorth Temperate Zone that can be 

 made more a certainty, or will yield more 

 weight from the same area, and upon almost 

 any soil. The special advantage it possesses 

 over all other fruits, however, is that it can be 

 planted close to any building or wall, and 

 trained up against it to any reasonable height, 

 and where no other fruit can be grown. It 

 can be trained over arbors, where it will 

 answer for shade also. Grapes grown in such 

 situations, when properly trained, are gener- 

 ally more certain than vineyard culture. 



The grape is a great feeder and will repay 

 proper fertilizing very well. Young vines can 

 bs grown from single eyes, or with two to 

 half a dozen eyes ; also by layering, but those 

 from single are preferable, as they contain but 

 little old wood, and have the roots started 

 from one point. For a vineyard the ground 

 should be well prepared as for any other plant- 

 ing. The vines may be planted from six to 

 twelve feet apart, according to variety and 

 vigor of vine. Depth of planting should not 

 be more than six inches, and with a little 

 mulch added is better than a foot deep of soil. 

 Cultivation should be as for all other plantings; 

 the ground kept mellow and clean of weeds 

 for three or four years at least, after which it 

 is a mooted question whether to cultivate it 

 or run it into grass. I am, however, on the 

 side of continued cultivation, but shallow 

 only. Good, well-iueiiared soil will require 

 no manuring' until a crop or two has been 

 taken off; after which don't expect to take 

 more out of the soil than there is in it. I 

 shall not discuss manuring now, as every 



planter should know what his soil and his 

 crops reipiire. 



At planting cut the vine to a few eyes, and 

 after it starts to grow, pinch or rub all off but 

 the strongest, which train to a stake 4 to C feet 

 high, but do no cutting or pinching the first 

 season. For the second .season cut the vine 

 to 15 or 18 inches above ground, set two 

 stakes, G to S feet high, one on each side of the 

 vine ; set obliquely, leaning apart, and train 

 two of the highest and be.st shoots, one to 

 each, and keep off all other shoots from the 

 main vine. Vines growing obliquely will form 

 shorter joints and develop the eyes more uni- 

 form than when growing ui'righl. They will, 

 however, forces stnui.ncr lalerals, which must 

 be pinched oil' liiyoiid tlie first eye, and if 

 growing too strong Ihereaf'ler pinch off again, 

 but do not break off the lateral altogether, as 

 it often causes the eyes to push which are in- 

 tended for next year's fruiting. 



Trellises should be made for the third sea- 

 son. Posts driven in along the rows, about 

 five feet high, after being set, with a horizon- 

 tal rail over the tojis, and one about 18 inches 

 above ground to nail on slats or wire vertical- 

 ly, is the best form of trellis of which I know. 

 These uprights shoulcV Ije 7 or 8 inches apart. 

 I know of nothing equal to galvanized wire 

 (about No. 1()), which is not only exempt 

 from corrosion, but the vines can be trained 

 to it without tying. The trellis bein'; ready 

 for the third season, prune off all laterals 

 from the vines to a length that will reach half 

 way to the next vine, and cut it off and tic to 

 lower rail ; bring the nearest cane from the 

 next vine and treat the same way, and thus 

 continue to the end of the trellis. You have 

 now a basis upon which to grow your first crop. 



Training will now be in order as .soon as the 

 young shoots attain the height of 15 to 18 

 inches. Secure the nearest to each wire and 

 break off all the rest. As soon as all the 

 flower clusters are fairly out pinch the shoot 

 off, leaving one joint beyond the last cluster. 

 This will check the strongest shoots and give 

 the weaker a chance to get even. The stronger 

 should be pinched in during the season when- 

 ever they show too rampant growth. 



I am well aware that this early pinching is 

 contrary to the teaching of books, but experi- 

 ence has taught me that it is preferable to let- 

 ting them grow until the grapes are as large as 

 peas, and then pinch to three joints beyond 

 the last bunch, as the books say. Early pinch- 

 ing checks the rapid upward growth, and 

 causes the development of larger foliage, 

 heavier vines, and fuller eyes near the base, 

 which is an important point gained, as we 

 shall see by and by. It must not be forgotten 

 that the bearing eyes are on last season's 

 growth only. For this reason it is important 

 that with all the methods of training, the ob- 

 ject should be to have the eyes intended for 

 next season's fruitin;; as well developed as 

 possible. Each eye will, as a rule, produce a 

 cane bearing three bunches of fruit, conse- 

 quently the upright vines are now bearing a 

 crop and at the same time forming eyes for 

 next (4th) season's crop. The laterals should 

 be treated as directed iu second year's growth. 

 Toward the close of the season the vines may 

 be left to grow as they will. If we have now 

 a well developed cane to each upright the 

 vineyard is fully established. 



For the fourth .season we cut back all the 

 upright canes to two eyes. At this point the 

 books teach us to cut to one eye, but let us 

 compare. Any practical vintner knows that 

 the lower eye on a vine is always least de- 

 veloped, consequently by cutting to two eyes 

 we have some choice. The shoots growing 

 from the lower eyes arc trained to the wires 

 and treated the same as those of the previous 

 year were treated. Those from the upi)cr 

 eyes are also pinched to one joint above the 

 latter cluster, as early as it can be done con- 

 veniently. These are trained to incline down- 

 ward, by twisting the young cane and bend- 

 ing it downward, wliich, with the gradual 

 increase of the clusters thereon, will prevent 

 their nprisiht tendency; these are also kept 

 closely pinched in and laterals kept down, 



