40 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



last of February ; would not recommend summer pruning in this locality. A 

 trellis with two wires, one eighteen inches from the ground and the other one 

 foot higher, I think best. Cut the grapes off the vines ; the home market takes 

 all we have to spare. I consider them profitable and the best fruit crop for this 

 part of the country. 



A. D. ARNOLD, Longford, Clay county : Have 250 grape-vines growing on 

 sandy loam with clay subsoil sloping south. Varieties are Concord, Niagara, 

 Pocklington, Agawam, and Dracut Amber; Niagara and Pocklington died. 

 Would recommend Concord for general use. Plant two-year-old vines, ten feet 

 apart. Till with a one-horse hoe and a five-tooth cultivator. Prune in February 

 and March; do not summer prune. I think posts and wire make the best trellis. 

 Have never bagged grapes. Market at neighboring towns ; but the most of the 

 crop is used at home and given to friends. I think they pay. Seventeen years 

 ago I set 200 Concord grapes, and have had fourteen crops from them; they 

 were once burned by fire from passing trains, and one year the frost killed them. 

 My grapes have been the best investment in fruit I have made in central Kansas, 

 the hot winds, terrible droughts and sun affect them least of any fruit. 



I. N. MACY, Longford, Clay county: I have about 100 grape-vines, on valley 

 land; they are Concord and Moore's Early. I prefer two-year-old vines, set 8x8 

 feet; cultivate with the hoe; then mulch; prune in winter. My trellis is made 

 of posts and wire. Have never bagged the fruit, and don't know whether it is 

 advisable or not. We always have a good home market, as we raise only for 

 family use. I think them a paying crop, as the demand exceeds the supply, for 

 there are so many who are unwilling to take the care which is necessary for suc- 

 cess. I consider the Concord a sure cropper ; nearly all others are uncertain. 



S. H. DOMONY, Aurora, Cloud county: Have about thirty grape-vines, set on 

 limestone soil, sloping north ; they are Concord and Moore's Early ; both these 

 varieties are hardy and do well here ; plant one- and two-year-old vines, eight feet 

 apart; till with a cultivator, and then mulch with coal ashes or cinders; prune 

 with a knife. My trellis is of hedge posts and wires. Gather as we need them ; 

 use all at home. I think they would be a paying crop if planted more exten- 

 sively, which I think ought to be done, both for family and market purposes. 



H. A. DAVIS, Concordia, Cloud county: I_have seventy-five grape-vines grow- 

 ing on black loam; they are Concord, Moore's Early, and Niagara; they have 

 been planted but two years, and have not yet fruited. I prefer one-year-old 

 vines, planted four feet each way ; cultivate them with a one-horse cultivator. 



A. MUNGER, Hollis, Cloud county : I have one acre of grape-vines growing on 

 sandy loam. They are Concord, Elvira, Clinton, Niagara, and Worden. Have 

 discarded Moyer and Delaware, as they winter-kill. Would recommend Elvira, 

 Concord, Niagara, Delaware 'if protected), and Clinton, in the order named. I 

 have, experimentally, tried Moore's Diamond, which winter-killed. I prefer one- 

 and two-year-old vines, set six feet in the row, and the rows eight feet apart; 

 cultivate with a small shovel cultivator. Prune in late winter or early spring. 

 My trellis is of posts and wire. I prune some in summer, but care must be had 

 to allow sufficient leaves to shade the fruit and ground. Have never bagged my 

 grapes, but have seen some good results in other places, and can see no objection 

 except the labor involved. Cut the grapes from the vines with scissors. I con- 

 sider grapes a light-paying crop. In my first experience, or rather I mean my 

 lack of it, I mulched my vines; this induced a growth of roots under the mulch- 

 ing on top of the ground. Cultivation then threatened the life of the vines, 



