1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



19 



say that the seeds have lain in the ground for ages, 

 ready to grow when they liave a clumce. Who 

 ever saw an acorn or a chestnut in such a place ? 

 If the seed be said to he too deep to he turned up 

 by the plow or the spade, how comes it that a seed 

 which never sprouts except when near the surface, 

 will grow from so great a depth ? And how comes 

 it that a seed, which like the acoru or che"^tnut, is 

 certain to sprout or rot the first year it lies on the 

 ground, can remain so long without either ? 



In regard to the ([uestions as to how it comes : 

 Our reply would be, that it does not come at all. 

 We have endeavored to follow up some of these 

 cases, and find no evidence whatever of it. In 

 some cases, .where a forest has been supposed to be 

 wholly of one kind, there have been a few trees of 

 something else mixed with the other, whjch few, 

 to the ordinary observer, were not noticed. The 

 aaeds of these few trees matured annually ; but the 

 crowds of other trees produced circumstances unfa- 

 vorable to their germination. The seeds thus annu- 

 ally produced died. But when these obstructing 

 trees has been cut away, the seeds which fell the 

 year before had a chance to grow. The whole 

 mystery has been just here ; and we see there is no 

 mystery after all. 



We have little doubt l)ut that all of the wonderful 

 cases out of our observation, have been of the same 

 character as these which were within it. If ever the 

 doctrine of spontaneous generation is to be believed 

 in, it will have to be sustained by some facts which 

 will better accord with common sense than such as 

 the speculations above noted." 



Grape Vines on the Stump. 



Dr. Channing gives, in the Providence Journal, 

 an interesting resume of William J. Plagg's book, 

 "Three seasons in European Vineyards," recently 

 published by the Harpers. The object of Mr. Flagg 

 is to awaken an interest among our grape-growers 

 in the new method of training vines, which is prac- 

 ticed in Europe. We do not know how far this 

 system may be adopted with advantage in this 

 country. It is important that the method is under- 

 stood, and the system thoroughly tjied by competent 

 vine cultivators : 



The Doiiehe culture of the vine converts it into a 

 shrub in summer, and into a stump smaller than a 

 cabbage in winter. No stake or trellis is ever re- 

 quired. Two or three shovel-fuls of earth, in the 

 autumn, cover out of sight a vine twenty years old. 

 Three-fourths of the labor and expenses of the 

 present method are saved. 



Souche training is no mystery. At the end of the 

 first year, the young vine is cut back to a stump 

 about nine inches high, leaving at its top, if possi- 

 ble, two canes reduced each to two eyes in length, 

 which are to become permanent arms of the future 



wueTu: At the end of the second year, the pruning, 

 is so performed as to give to this stump of nine 

 inches from three to six short arms. At the end of 

 the third year, the souelwis so trimmed as to increase 

 the number of short arms to six, if that number has 

 not been previously obtained. The pruning is 

 subsequently uniform, year by year, leaving one or 

 possibly two canes of the preceding year's growth 

 (cut back to one or two eyes each,) at the end of 

 each arm. Care is taken to balance the soucJie on 

 all sides by symmetrical arrangements of the arms. 

 When too much old wood accumulates upon them, 

 they are carefully cut back- so as to restore the 

 original compact form. 



The greatest product is obtained from vines en 

 souche when they are set out five feet apart in each 

 direction (GOO plants to the acre.) This allows the 

 plow and cultivator to be used in field culture. One 

 precaution needs to be observed. This is seasonably 

 to cut off the suckers which spring up around the 

 stump. The ground should be kept clean of weeds. 

 The winter trimming is rapidly done by shears. 

 The European practice of progressively stripping 

 the vine of leaves to aid the ripening of the grape, 

 is not adapted to our climate. Even the pinching-in 

 the growing canes and laterals has been probably 

 carried to excess in New England. 



The grape vine on the stump can be cultivated in 

 the garden, wherever a blackberry or raspberry can 

 be set. Mr. Flagg especially recommends for the 

 souche our short jointed varieties, carrying stiff 

 canes. The trimming and perhaps height of the 

 stump will probably vary within certain limits with 

 different varieties. 



In New England and the north of the United 

 States, souche culture promises the means of easy 

 winter protection for our best varieties, which we 

 have long needed. A mature vine, reduced to such 

 dimensions in winter, that a stove pipe hat can 

 cover it, can be buried out of harm's way by plow 

 and spade with the greatest ease. The compactness 

 of the grape, en souclie, in summer, makes it easy to 

 apply the sulphur cure (fully illu.strated in Mr. 

 Flagg's book,) at the first approach of mildew or 

 friditim. The protection from extreme cold and from 

 disease thus afforded makes it at once practicable to 

 cultivate en souche in our fields many of our early 

 ripening European varieties. Undoubtedly our 

 Allyn's hybrid is better than the European Sweet 

 Water or Chasselas, and the Delaware is not ex- 

 celled in its class. The Creveliug and Adirondac 

 rank high among black grapes. But all of these, 

 and even the hardiest of our native grapes, arc much 

 benefitted in this latitude by winter covering. 



The vineyards of the south of France, now occu- 

 pying a million and a half of acres, have been kept 

 from time immemorial en souche basse. This is true 

 also of much of Burgundy, of Cognac, Medoc and 

 Sauterne. 



