NINE] TONS OF GRAPES 
I shall not undertake to expound the systems of 
trimming grapes, because for the most part these 
systems are puzzles. Experts quarrel over their 
favorite methods. I will refer you to Bailey’s Cy- 
clopedia of Horticulture for a description of the 
systems most in favor. A still better way will be 
to visit a good vineyard —in the Chautauqua sec- 
tion, or Hudson valley section, or in Northern Ohio, 
or in Missouri, and see the work in operation. 
There is, however, nothing more important in grape 
growing than thorough trimming. This should be 
done in late autumn, or winter, or very early in the 
spring, before the sap starts. All vines, of all 
varieties, will be better for being laid down in the 
winter. ‘This is all that I do with my varieties, ex- 
cept the Duchess, Iona, Goethe, and Delaware, 
which are carefully covered. Concords and Dela- 
wares are too poor for the time spent on them. 
If you grow them at all in the North, you will get 
the sweetest from vines that climb hand over hand, 
in a wild way, up the trees. A few of the late- 
ripening grapes, such as Jefferson and Iona and 
Goethe and Pocklington, may be grown on the 
south side of the barn, in a glass house, but the 
vines carried up through the roof and trained on 
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