THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 83 



would not advise extensive planting. Growing grapes has a great fascination for 

 me, and I regret that the profits are not greater. We have put up unfermented 

 grape juice for family use; take the juice from good, ripe grapes from which all 

 green and otherwise bad berries have been picked; strain it, heat to the boiling- 

 point; skim thoroughly, and seal in bottles resting in a vessel of hot water. 

 Glass fruit-jars may be used instead of bottles. Everything that comes in con- 

 tact with the juice must be scrupulously clean, and the juice should be sealed as 

 soon as possible after being expressed from the grapes. 



A. H. BUCKMAN, Topeka, Shawnee county: I have 2500 grape-vines growing 

 on soil which would be good corn land. It slopes only enough for water to run 

 off without washing. Have tried fifty varieties; have discarded forty of them, 

 because of tenderness, poor quality, rot, etc. There are six varieties which I 

 would recommend; they are Moore's Early, Concord, Worden, Green Mountain, 

 Woodruff Red, and Goethe. I prefer choice one-year-old vines for setting home 

 grown, if possible; set them eight feet apart in the rows, and the rows ten feet 

 apart. Cultivate shallow, with a five-hoe or harrow-tooth cultivator. Prune in 

 February, while they are dormant. My trellis is made of hedge posts, sixteen to 

 twenty feet apart, and three No. 12 wires. I do not summer prune, but pull off 

 all useless sprouts, as it appears to weaken the vitality of the vines. Have never 

 bagged my grapes; I would advise it for exhibition purposes, but I do not grow 

 grapes for exhibition. Market in five- to ten-pound baskets, in Topeka. I rea- 

 lize from forty to fifty dollars per acre. I consider them a paying crop for the 

 amount of labor required. 



S. B. JOHNSTON, Wakarusa, Shawnee county: I have 110 grape-vines, planted 

 in sandy soil having a clay subsoil. I do not think slope makes any difference. 

 Plant two-year-old vines, eight feet apart. Prune closely in the fall ; do not 

 prune during the summer. My trellis is made of hedge posts and wire. Till 

 them with a plow and spading-fork. I mulch in the fall, and scatter the mulch 

 in the spring. I have tried Concord, Niagara, and Pocklington; have discarded 

 Niagara, which winter-killed in 1898. The Concord does best with me, which I 

 would recommend for this locality. I gather and market in twenty-five-pound 

 baskets; sell at four cents per pound. I think they pay, and would advise 

 planting extensively. Have never tried bagging the fruit. 



T. J. BBEWSTER, Lucerne, Sheridan county: I have thirty-six grape-vines, 

 planted on upland loam having a hard subsoil. A northeast slope is preferable. 

 Set yearling vines, 3x8 feet. Prune in February. I have used a wire trellis, 

 but think a roof [three parallel wires above the vines] trellis six feet high would 

 be more satisfactory. I cultivate by turning the soil over with a fork. I do not 

 mulch, but irrigate my vines from a well. Have tried Concord and Clinton ; dis- 

 carded the Clinton, because of poor fruit and numerous sprouts from the roots ; 

 would recommend Concord and Worden, as they are the most satisfactory in 

 this locality. I think they would be a paying crop, and believe, if the people 

 understood growing them, they would be planted extensively here. 



M. E. WELLS, Smith Center, Smith county : I set 300 grape-vines in 1883 on 

 an eastern slope of yellow clay having a silt subsoil ; they lived six or seven years, 

 then commenced to die out, and in ten years they were all gone. A twig-borer 

 that works in the joints apparently used up many ; some died with scabby roots. 

 The Catawba grew best, bore best, and lasted the longest. I set two dozen this 

 spring (some new-fangled varieties that I bought of a tree pedler the first bill 

 of goods I ever bought of a tree agent). I have mulched, but don't think it best. 

 Shallow culture, keeping the ground clean and nearly level, is the best treatment ; 



