V1HE YARDS 



61 



that the longer I put off the sacrifice; the geater it 

 would be. 



I think it is an erroneous idea that a grape vine 

 necessarily requires a very rich soil for its successful cul- 

 ture. My vineyard has had no manure other than the 

 bones before mentioned, for four or five years, and is now 

 too rich for the Concord, which comprises ninety-five per 

 cent, of my vines. Some of the slower growing varieties 

 require a considerably better soil. A soil too rich in 

 fertility, forces an enormous growth of wood, every 

 shoot of which must be pinched back, thus vastly 

 increasing the labor without any compensating result. 

 If this pinching is neglected the succeeding crop will 

 be more or less a failure. A rather poor soil is prefer- 

 able for this reason, and if too much so to produce satis- 

 factory growth, a top dressing will be a sufficient means 

 of obviating that difficulty. In view of these consider- 

 ations, I would not trench or plow the land for a vineyard 

 of Concord grapes more than twelve inches deep. I 

 prefer that in this latitude, where the heat of the five 

 growing months, from May 1st, to Sept. 30th, averages 

 only 64.11 degrees, that the great majority of the roots 

 should lie near the surface. A dry bottom however, 

 either through natural or artificial drainage, is essential 

 to the seasonable maturity of both wood and fruit. 



It may be proper to state that although the vineyard 

 is now of four summer's growth, yet it was planted 

 with vines one year younger than are ever purchased 

 for that purpose. 



