PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 175 



growing' sorts, like the Delaware, was to graft it, and that the best time to 

 perform the operation was before the full flow of the sap in the spring, or 

 after tlie full flow has ceased, say in May, and that the scions should be 

 set four inches below the surface of the ground, leaving a small space 

 around the grape, which miglit be covered with a pane of glass to facili- 

 tate the growth of the stock. 



Dr. Trimble. — The greatest success I have ever known in grafting grapes 

 was by a man in Pennsylvania who set Delaware grafts in Isabella and 

 Catawaba layered vines, by splitting them with a chisel and inserting the 

 grafts cut in wedge form. It appeared tliat the stocks sustained the grafts 

 until they struck roots, but that no union took place between the wood of 

 the graft and stock. 



Mr. R. S. Williams. — Is there any change in the Delaware grape by 

 grafting it on the Isabella ? 



Dr. Grant. — There is not. 



Mr. R. S. Williams. — This is an important subject, and I hope it will be 

 further discussed. It has been thought by some that both the Isabella and 

 Catawaba are suffering under some form of disease. Now is it advisable 

 to graft a healthy grape upon the roots of such vines. 



Col. Harris. — I shall not argue whether this plan of propagating the 

 Delaware vine is the best, but in raising vines from the eyes it is necessary 

 to give them a little bottom heat. Mr. Mottier, near Cincinnati, sacrificed 

 his crop of Delaware's one year by laying down his vines in March for the 

 purpose of making strong layers. Vines that never knew a hot house 

 grow very vigoi'ous. 



Adjourned. John W. Chambers, Secretary 



November 3, 1863. 



Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter — I am pleased to see with us to-day such a num- 

 ber of practical fruit growers, especially those who have made the grape 

 vine their study during the past season. I have changed my views in 

 relation to a character of a number of the new kinds that have been intro- 

 duced within the last few years. The Concord has exceeded ray most san- 

 guine expectations. The Delaware, with me, has borne good crops, and 

 the fruit is increasing in favor with purchasers. 



Lectures on the Grape. 



Mr. H. P. Byram. — It can no longer be doubted that the culture of the 

 vine in the United Stales is destined to become one of the most important 

 and remunerating of any department of horticulture. The cultivation is 

 now rapidly extending, and yet there is no branch of cultivation in which 

 so much error is dessemiDated by horticultural writers as that which 

 relates to the vine, consequently there is none so little understood by cul- 

 tivators generally. Not one in twenty, hardly one in a hundred, possesses 

 any correct knowledge of the training of the vine in any stage of its pro- 



