84 



ROEDING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



A two-year-old Muscat vine under the 

 old method. 



the full benefit of the sun, and the raisins cure quickly, 

 which is not the case where vines are closer together. 

 Table grapes should not be planted closer than 8x10 

 eet, with the wide rows north and south. The grapes 

 then have more exposure to the sun and mature more 

 uniformly. This rule applies more particularly to the 

 varieties which ripen rather late, like Cornichon, Em- 

 peror, Gros Colman, Black Morocco, etc. 



PREPARING FOR PLANTING 



All rootlets, excepting those starting from the base of 

 the vines, should be cut off. Next shorten in all the 

 roots radiating from the base of the cutting from two to 

 three inches. 



Then prune the top of the vine, leaving only one 

 spur with from one to three buds. The vines should be 

 pruned a day or so in advance of the planting, and the 

 work should be entrusted to careful men. As soon as 

 pruned, the vines should be heeled in and the soil 

 either wet or tamped down to prevent the roots from 

 drying out. The heeling-in ground should be centrally 

 located, so that it will not be necessary to carry the 

 vines too long a distance to the planters. 



HOW TO PLANT 



Each man should be provided with a bucket or five 

 gallon coal-oil can. A small quantity of water in the 

 bottom will keep the roots moist. Each bucket should 

 be filled with vines, and replenished from time to time 

 with vines as they are needed by the planters. 



The planting wire should be stretched across the first 

 check to two stakes, which should be directly opposite 

 each other. Each planter should have charge of two 

 marks on the wire. As an illustration, figure on a basis 

 of planting the vines eight feet apart each way and leav- 

 ing out every thirty-first vine for an avenue. It would be 

 necessary to have a wire chain 250 feet- long over all, 

 including a two-foot link at each end for the ring to 

 permit drawing the chain taut. To such a chain it 

 would be necessary to have seventeen men, two to 

 stretch the chain across the field between the two stakes 



A three-year-old vine under the methods 



formerly recommended with the head 



started from a central point; no longer 



advocated. 



set opposite each other in the check and fifteen to dojthe 

 planting. The marks eight feet apart in the chain in- 

 dicate where the vines are to be set. In planting, the 

 vine should be set so that the collar will be level with 

 the top of the ground when it is settled, except with 

 grafted vines, which will be referred to later. The soil 

 in the bottom of the hole should be loosened up, and 

 that used to fill in should be top soil, the first few 

 shovels of which should be well tramped in, the top be- 

 ing left loose. Having set this line of vines the chain 

 is carried to the next two line stakes, and so on until 

 the check is planted. Within one week after planting 

 the earth should be settled around the vines either by 

 hauling water to them or by irrigating, running the 

 water in furrows along each row. This is important, 

 for even with a good field boss over a crew of men, some 

 of them will be careless, fail to tramp the soil around 

 the roots, and unless a timely and heavy rain should 

 cause the soil to settle, the vines will dry out and die. 



CARE AND PRUNING THE VINES 

 The training of the vine should be given careful 

 attention the first year of its growth. In order that the 

 plant may not form a head close to the top of the ground 

 a short stake allowing it to be a foot above the ground, 

 should be driven beside each vine. These stakes should 

 be one inch square and two feet long, as they should be 

 taken out the first winter. Any cheap stake, provided 

 it will support the growth of the vine, will answer. In 

 July, before the growth of the canes has become ligni- 

 fied, they should be tied with three- or four-ply baling 

 rope to the stake, and about one-third of the top growth 

 cut off. This shortening in of the canes causes them to 

 become stocky, and as a result of the tying up there are 

 a number of straight shoots, the strongest of which 

 may be selected the following winter, the others being 

 removed. 



The most serviceable permanent stakes are the split 

 stakes made out of Coast redwood. These stakes should 

 at least be 2x2 inches. Their length will depend largely 

 on the variety of grape to be trained to the stake. For 



