The way many backyard grape vines look— a tangle of canes. Such vines 

 bear small bunches of inferior quality. Get a few strong canes, and reduce the 

 number of buds to 25 to 50 



The grape arbor. Put only strong growing varieties like Concord, Herbe- 

 mont or Scuppernong upon it. A judicious thinning of crowded canes and 

 renewal would help to distribute the vines over the arbor more evenly than this 



Superior Home-Grown Grapes— By s. w. Fletcher, 



Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College 



WHY THEY SHOULD BE THE PERFECT GARDEN FRUIT, BUT NEVER ARE— PRUNING AND TRAIN- 

 ING RULES THAT RESULT IN A TABLE TRIUMPH— FEWER BUNCHES BUT BIGGER AND BETTER 



USUALLY there is little or no choice 

 about the place to plant, for the site 

 of the home fruit garden is determined by 

 the site of the house, and the vines will natur- 

 ally be planted close to the house. How- 

 ever, if there is an op- 

 portunity to choose be- 

 tween several sites, give 

 preference to one that 

 is sunny and well 

 drained. It need not 

 necessarily be the south 

 side of a steep hill, as 

 many people still sup- 

 pose. However, it 

 should have sufficient 

 slope to provide good 

 air and water drainage. 

 If the land is not well 

 drained naturally, tile 

 drain it. Flat lands 

 are apt to be poorly 

 drained, and even some 

 slopes need it. Grapes love warmth, and 

 are impatient of wet soil. 



While preference should be given to a 

 southern or eastern exposure, it makes no 

 great amount of difference whether the 

 grapes get the "morning sun" or the "after- 

 noon sun." 



There is also much latitude possible in the 

 selection of soil. If possible, put the home 

 vineyard in a warm and porous soil, rather 

 than on a cold and heavy one, but any soil 

 of moderate fertility and fair texture will 

 grow good grapes under careful manage- 

 ment. Avoid a soil rich in nitrogen, such as 

 deep, black bottom land. If this stimula- 

 ting plant tonic is near in large quantities, 

 grapes are apt to "run to wood." 



On left, short cut- 

 tings of one joint. On 

 right, long cutting of 

 short jointed variety. 

 Single eye cutting in 

 middle 



Put the land in mellow condition by deep 

 and thorough plowing and fitting. If only 

 a few vines are to be planted, it will pay to 

 dig a very large and very deep hole for each 

 one — four feet each way is none too much. 

 A half-peck of old bones in the bottom of the 

 hole will make rich feeding for the vines 

 later on, and the hole filled with compost, or 

 rich soil. If there are to be several rows of 

 vines trained to a trellis, run the rows north 

 and south, as the foliage then shades the 

 stem and roots. 



The distance between the plants depends 

 upon the variety grown, the location of the 

 garden, and the strength of the soil. Strong- 

 growing varieties, like Concord and Niagara 

 are commonly planted in the North in rows 

 nine or ten feet apart, with plants eight feet 

 in the rows. In the same region, for short- 

 growing varieties, such as Delaware and 

 Elvira, seven feet apart each way is sufficient 

 on light soils. In the South grapes are com- 

 monly planted farther apart than in the 

 North. The Herbemont and Post Oak 

 grape hybrids usually need to be twelve to 

 fifteen feet apart in the row, with rows 

 ten feet apart. In California, the vinif- 

 era varieties are planted about eight by 

 eight feet. 



VARIETIES 



In selecting varieties remember that those 

 which have sprung from species native to 

 your section will be most likely to succeed 

 best. Thus, for the North, varieties of Vitis 

 Labrusca; for the South, the muscadines, 

 varieties of the native V. rotundifolia; and 

 in the Gulf states the Post Oak hybrids. 

 Hybrids between the native and the Euro- 

 pean grapes are especially interesting to the 



amateur because of their very high quality 

 and he can forgive their weak growth and 

 susceptibility to disease. (See March Country 

 Life in America for recommendations on 

 varieties.) 



BUYING AND PLANTING THE VINES 



Grapes can be propagated at home easily 

 and cheaply, but young nursery plants cost 

 so little — not over 10 cents each, for stan- 

 dard varieties — that it is better for the aver- 

 age man to buy them ; and they are apt to be 

 more thrifty than those propagated at home, 

 unless the home fruitgrower is an adept. 

 Buy first-class — not second-class — one-year- 

 old plants. In buying two-year-old plants, 

 you are liable to get the culls left over from 

 last year, and very little is gained in earlier 

 fruiting. 



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In summer, rub off suckers that start from the 

 roots or main stem. Train the renewal canes for 

 next season, pinch back others. Keep canes from 

 dragging on ground by tying 



