30 Planting. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Seed Culture. 



in the rows varies somewhat 

 with the growth of the different 

 varieties and the richness of the 

 soil. Most of our strong vigorous, 

 growers, the Concord, Ives, 

 Hartford, Clinton, Taylor, Nor- 

 ton, Herbemont, will need 8 to 

 10 ft. in the rows ; Scuppernongs 

 are planted 20 to 80 feet apart ; 

 while the Delaware, Catawba, 

 Creveling, lona, may have suffi- 

 cient room when planted 6 feet 

 apart. The dwarfing treatment practiced with 

 European varieties, especially by German vint- 

 ners, will not do for American vines, which 

 must have ample room to spread and a free cir- 

 culation of air. The number of vines required 

 to set an acre (containing 43,560 square feet) 

 will be 



One acre = 41 ares French measure, or one hectare 

 nearly equal to two and a half acres. 



Having determined the distance at which you 

 desire to plant the vines, mark off the rows, 

 running them parallel, and with the most level 

 lines of your slope or hillside, so that you may 

 easily plow between the rows and that the 

 ground may not wash. (On an eastern slope 

 the rows will therefore run in a direction from 

 north to south, which most vine-dressers pre- 

 fer.) Be careful, on sloping ground, to leave 

 spaces for surface drains ; the steeper the hill- 

 sides the more frequent must these surface 

 drains be. Then divide the rows into the de- 

 sired distances by the aid of a stretched line, 

 and put small stakes where each plant is to 

 stand. Now, if the ground is sufficiently dry 

 so as to pulverize easily, make the holes to re- 

 ceive the vines as shown in Fig. 44. The depth 

 of those holes must necessarily vary somewhat 

 with the nature of the soil. On very steep hill- 

 sides, and especially on southern slopes, with 

 naturally warm, dry soil, you must plant deep- 



Fig. 44. 



er than on gentle slopes with deep, rich soil,, 

 or on bottom land and rich prairies. Eight 

 inches will be deep enough on the latter*; on the 

 former we should plant from twelve to fourteen 

 inches deep. 



Having made the holes and it is best not to 

 make too many at a time, as the ground will 

 dry out too quickly you can go to planting. In 

 planting it is important to give the roots their 

 former position, and to have them each and all 

 firmly surrounded with good fine soil, press- 

 ing it down with the hands or foot ; then fill up 

 the hole with earth, forming a very small hill 

 over the head of the plant, so that no part of it 

 may dry up, yet so as to permit the young ten- 

 der shoot to penetrate easily. 



Every beginner in Grape culture knows that 

 young rooted vines are used for planting, wheth- 

 er it be for whole vineyards or merely for the 

 garden or arbor, and that such young vines are 

 usually raised in the nursery from cuttings or 

 layers. But the reason why they are not grown 

 from seeds is not generally so well known, and 

 even among old experienced grape- growers 

 some erroneous ideas prevail with regard to 

 seed culture and questions connected with this, 

 now more than ever important and interesting 

 subject. It is scarcely necessary to mention 

 that the wild grape grows and propagates itself 

 from seed only. This wild grape constant- 

 ly reproduces itself ; i. e., its seedlings do 

 not materially differ from their parent vines. 

 Transplanted into richer soil, and receiving 

 care and cultivation, its berries may increase 

 in size, and in the course of years may some- 

 what improve and change its character ; if, 

 then, we take the seed of this cultivated vine, 

 especially if it was grown in proximity to other 

 different grapes, the seedlings of these will 

 more materially differ. So great is this tend- 

 ency to variation, that of a hundred seedlings 

 of one cultivated vine scarcely two will be 

 found exactly alike ; some will differ widely ; 

 nearly one-half will be male plants and will not 

 produce any fruit at all, while most of th& 

 others will retrograde to their wild origin, and 



