126 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



at bottom, which is covered with three inches of soil, and the 

 roots set, and the trench filled gradually during the summer. In 

 cultivation we plow off the earth and put manure in the furrows 

 abundantly. My bed is so near the level of salt water that the 

 tide rises upon it at very high water. Our beds yield $300 an 

 acre. We do not cut it much, if any, the first two years. We 

 put fifty loads of manure per acre, and five hundred pounds of 

 guano. Some growers use 1,500 pounds of guano per acre. The 

 branches of sixteen stalks weigh four pounds. The best aspara- 

 gus is that which grows above ground. The white is always 

 tough. We sometimes have bunches that are eight inches of ten- 

 der green. 



WHAT IS A MERCHANTABLE GRAPE-VINE? 



Solon Robinson read a letter from Ira Brown, of New Haven, 

 Vt., who asks the club to give an opinion as to what shall be con- 

 sidered a fair, merchantable, grape-vine ; that is, the thickness 

 of the main stem, the number of eyes it should have, and what 

 length and thickness the roots should be, " because," he says, 

 " at present there is no standard, and some nurserymen send out 

 plants to fill orders, the stems of which are no bigger than rye 

 straws, and roots very diminutive ; others, with larger stalks — 

 cuttings from older vines — have scarcely the beginning of roots. 

 Sometimes the wood is all cut away but a single eye, to propagate 

 other vines from ; and in this way the people in the country are 

 cheated until they have lost confidence, and some have lost 

 patience, after repeated losses of money and vines. I think the 

 American Institute Farmers' Club would do the community a 

 favor — it certainly would me — if it would express an opinion upon 

 this subject as to what should be considered a good vine. I 

 know you have no legitimate authority to determine for others, 

 but you can say for yourselves, and that alone would carry almost 

 undisputed authority to the community ; at least, Ave could appeal 

 to you for authority as to what you consider fair. I believe 

 you owe to the community this influence, and hope you Avill not 

 withhold it, as thousands of dollars are paid for worthless grape- 

 vines every year, for want of some authority, above that of the 

 vender, to determine v/hat constitutes a good vine." 



Mr. Robinson — I think so too, and I hope gentlemen will ex- 

 press themselves freely. For my own part, I freely say that a 

 vine with a stem no bigger than a straw is not a fair merchant- 



