862 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



It is generally done late in the fall or in the winter, when the ground is 

 damp and soft. Great care must be taken to remove all stones, roots, 

 and other hard substances. The ground is then ready to receive the 

 tender shoots, which are generally planted 3 feet apart. Then begins 

 the long and unprofitable period, during which the vines must be 

 tended with unremitting care in order to bring them to maturity and 

 fruitfulness. 



Many open and hidden enemies threaten the life of the young vine, 

 and it is only by resorting to methods which are sometimes elaborate 

 and expensive that it can be safely reared. 



While the grower in Turkey has no such pest to contend against as 

 the deadly phylloxera, he has several species of vine-fretters, including 

 the aphis or puveron, the vine saw-fly, the grub, and numerous other 

 small insects which infest both the young and the old vines, to tax his 

 patience and science. 



The most dangerous enemy of the vine-grower is the vine mildew, a 

 fungus of the genus Oidium, which forms a white, delicate, cottony layer 

 upon the leaves, young shoots, and fruit of the vine, causing brown spots 

 to appear on the green parts, and finally a hardening, and the destruc- 

 tion first of the surface, and, if not taken in time, of the whole vine, 

 root and branch. A rusty or moldy vine if left to itself soon becomes 

 worse than useless, because it not only cumbers the ground, but com- 

 municates its deadly taint to its healthy neighbors. The Oidium, how- 

 ever, can be easily kept down, and if taken at its first appearance is 

 generally stamped out by one or two applications of sulphur. 



Concurrently with these elaborate precautions against the numerous 

 dangers which threaten the safety of the whole vineyard, other duties 

 claim the constant attention of the grower. The growing plants must 

 have the earth continually hoed around them, special care being taken 

 not to disturb their feeble roots ; in seasons of drought each plant must 

 be carefully watered, and when its leaves and tendrils begin to shoot, 

 the vine must be continually trimmed, dressed, and pruned, so as to in- 

 duce a strong growth without reducing its productiveness. 



During the first year the grower does not, of course, expect to gather 

 grapes, nor even in the second year, but he considers himself fortunate 

 if at the end of that time all has gone well. He may hope for a few 

 grapes the third year, but it is not until the fourth year that he has a 

 real crop to reward him for all his pains and outlay. 



When properly cultivated, the vine blossoms from about the 25th of 

 May to the 5th of June. The flowers are small, of a greenish-white 

 hue, and fragrant. Seventy to seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit gen- 

 erally suffices to ripen the grapes, and they mellow between the end of 

 August and middle of September. The vine comes into full bearing in 

 its fourth or fifth year, after which it continues very fruitful up to its 

 thirtieth or thirty-fifth year. Its stem sometimes attains a diameter of 

 eighteen inches, and it is said that in certain instances the vine has 

 lived upwards of three hundred years. 



