GRAPE SEEDLINGS. 87 



pose of thinning. I would rather cut off close to the ground 

 some of the most vigorous, if thinning should appear indis- 

 pensable. If the young plants grow well they may be shifted 

 two or three times into larger pots, being careful not to break 

 the ball of earth, nor let the rootlets become dry. Some time 

 in winter, when the seedlings are in the house again and 

 have lost their leaves, they should be taken out of their pots 

 and planted separately in pots corresponding to the size of 

 their roots. 



Should their number be larger than I might wish to keep, 

 I would select the moderate growers, with their short wood, 

 and reject the longer and thinner ones. The second year or 

 summer, two shiftings may again be necessary, and, if well 

 attended to, they may be strong enough to be planted in the 

 open ground in the spring of the third year. Staking, mulch- 

 ing, and, perhaps, shading will be necessary at first ; but 

 after being established, they may be treated like other vines 

 in the vineyard. 



In the fall of the fifth year, most of these seedlings will 

 bear fruit, and a number of them will give certain evidence 

 of being inferior and poor, which may then be discarded. 

 The doubtful and promising ones should be kept two or three 

 years longer, before deciding upon their merits. 



In judging the qualities of the grapes, we must not ask 

 too many good qualities of one and the same plant. A grape 

 may be small and tough-skinned, and nevertheless make 

 excellent wine ; and a very poor wine grape may be a deli- 

 cious and beautiful table grape. In fact, the finest European 

 table grapes for instance, the Chasselas de Fontainbleau 

 among others is nowhere grown for wine ; and the grapes 

 which furnish the best wine, like Tokay and Auvergnes, are 

 never seen in market nor presented on the table, when others 

 can be had. Nor should the experiment be made on too 

 small a scale. The attending of four or five hundred pots 

 does not require so much labor. They may be put under 

 8 



