56 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



Delaware, Moore's Early, Niagara, Worden, Agawam, Ives, Dracut Amber, 

 Duchess, and some others (names lost). I would recommend Concord, Moore's 

 Early, Niagara, and Worden, also Delaware; but the latter must be protected in 

 winter, as it is somewhat tender, but bears well every year. I have experimented 

 with Wyoming Red, Catawba, and Goethe, and find them fairly good. I prefer 

 one-year-old vines, set eight feet apart in the row, and the rows ten feet apart. I 

 cultivate with a team and plow. Prune in February with pruning shears. My trel- 

 lises are good hedge posts and two No. 9 wires. Do very little summer pruning, 

 as it does n't pay for the labor. Have never bagged my grapes, and would not ad- 

 vise it, as I do not think it would pay here. Market my grapes in ten-pound 

 grape baskets, mostly at home. Sometimes I ship them South. I realize about 

 seventy-five dollars per acre. I consider them profitable. The soil should be of 

 ordinary fertility, such as would raise a fair corn crop. Rich, loamy lands are 

 objectionable. Soils retaining a surplus of water should have drainage both of 

 the surface and subsoil. High lands are preferable, as such often escape late 

 spring frosts, and receive a circulation of air among the vines, which is very 

 necessary to the grape, and will to some extent avert the tendency to rot. On 

 such lands the wood matures best, and the fruit is of fine quality. Windbreaks 

 are detrimental, because th.e grape must have all the light and air it can get, in 

 order to be of the very best quality. I prefer a western slope; a southern slope 

 is too dry and hot. A northern or eastern slope is not good, as it affects the fla- 

 vor and quality of the fruit. The grape does best where the ground is cultivated 

 and kept clean of weeds and trash. The new wood, or last year's growth, should 

 be cut back to one or two eyes where the vine is over three years' old and well 

 tied up to the trellis. As the fruit will keep but a short time, it should be 

 packed in the common grape baskets and marketed as soon as ripe. Before 

 packing, all defective berries should be removed and the clusters placed with 

 the stem downward. If for a distant market, they must be picked before fully 

 ripe. 



C. H. LONGSTRETH, Lakin, Kearny county: I have 150 vines, planted on 

 level land; they are Concord, Worden, and Niagara. I would recommend these 

 varieties. I prefer good one-year-old vines, planted in rows eight feet apart, eight 

 to ten feet in the row. Cultivate shallow, in the early part of the season; prune 

 closely during the winter, when there is no frost: my trellis is made of posts and 

 three wires two, four and six feet from the ground. I do not prune in the sum- 

 mer, as I do not think it beneficial to the growth of fruit. Have never bagged 

 any. Market my grapes at home, and consider them profitable. 



W. R. COLEMAN, Kingman, Kingman county: I have five acres of grapes, 

 planted on black, sandy loam. A northeast elope is preferable. Set good, strong 

 two-year-old vines, eight feet each way. Prune from January 1 to March 15 to 

 spurs, on the renewal plan. I also prune three times during summer, leaving 

 three leaves beyord the last bunch on each cane; last pruning not later than 

 July 1. I use a trellis of good posts, twenty-four feet apart, and a single No. 12 

 wire. Cultivate in March with a turning plow, and the remainder of the season 

 with a one-horse, five-shovel cultivator. Do not stir deep enough to tear the 

 roots. I would prefer a one-horse disk, if I could get it. Do not mulch, as it en- 

 tices the roots too near the surface. I have tried thirty or forty varieties, and 

 have discarded all but six of the most profitable. Thoee which do best and that 

 I would recommend are: Moore's Early, Concord, Niagara, Catawba, and Lady 

 Washington. Market in ten- and twenty-pound baskets; sell in local market, re- 



