April, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



153 



aroma of a Niagara vineyard in late September 

 is perceptible for a long distance. Every 

 grape has its champions, but I have yet to find 

 a person who does not like the Niagara. It 

 will hang on the vines until frost and its 

 amber color, aroma, and honey-comb flavor 

 increase with every day. It must have good 

 soil, sweet and well drained, plenty of fer- 

 tilizer, and thorough spraying. Given this, 

 it makes grapes like the Martha, Pocklington, 

 Empire State, etc., sink into utter 

 insignificance. 



RED GRAPES 



Among red grapes the Delaware is the best 

 known and most widely grown. Like the 

 Niagara it must have good cultivation and 

 when given this it is a heavy bearer of tender, 

 delicious grapes. It has large, handsome 

 bunches with very small berries and tender 

 skin. The foliage is luxurious and requires 

 careful spraying. 



Wyoming Red is a large grape with a 

 strong foxy flavor. 



Brighton is also a large grape, tender, 

 insipid, with a most unpleasant color. 



Salem, in some localities, makes a good 

 late grape. 



The famous Catawba is a late grape and 

 has a strong, piney flavor. 



The Vergennes is a late red grape, enor- 

 mously productive of big solid bunches, and 

 has a very tough skin but a most individual 

 flavor that some people like better than that 

 of any other grape. 



Gaertner is the handsomest and highest- 

 bred of any of the red grapes, forming 

 enormous bunches of the most brilliant ruby 

 red. The flavor has a suggestion of cologne 

 and is liked by everyone. It is, unfortu- 

 nately, one of the most difficult of all grapes 

 to grow. Unless you have good soil and 

 expect to give your grapes good care you 

 should never set out Gaertner. When 

 grown to perfection it creates a sensation 

 whenever shown. 



Where properly grown and fertilized a 

 hundred grape vines will yield nearly a ton 

 of grapes year in and year out. Were I to 

 set a hundred vines I would set 50 Niagara, 

 2 Diamond, 3 Green Mountain, 10 Camp- 

 bell, 5 Worden, 5 Herbert, 5 Mills, 5 Dela- 

 ware, 5 Gaertner, 5 Vergennes. 



This would leave room to try some of the 

 other kinds. The Gaertners should be 

 scattered among the other vines. If you do 

 not care for grape juice, omit the Herberts. 



GRAPE CULTURE IN BRIEF 



Grapes require a southern exposure and 

 good, sweet, well-drained soil. Loam and 

 shale agree with them best. Concords can 

 be grown, sometimes, without spraying, fer- 

 tilizer, or clean cultivation; but to grow large, 

 handsome and well-flavored grapes you must 

 give each vine every year a pound of fertilizer, 

 careful spraying, pruning, trimming, and 

 clean cultivation. 



The care required for grapes is insignifi- 

 cant compared with that required for straw- 

 berries, and unlike small fruits grapes yield 

 every year and continue to bear from the same 

 vines on the same soil for a hundred years. 



'Niagara is the best all'round grape." It requires a deep, rich, well-drained soil 



One part of muriate or sulphate of potash 

 with two parts bone meal, also a little stable 

 manure or a leguminous cover crop, make the 

 best and cheapest fertilizer for grapes. If 

 the soil shows any tendency to get sour add 

 lime. Wood ashes, if used to excess, cause 

 the young wood to grow tender and break 

 badly in June winds. Subsoil drains should 

 be dug before setting out the vines. Get 

 the best vines of a good nurseryman and 

 plant them in the fall or early spring. Set 

 them deep, spreading the roots carefully 

 and covering with surface soil. Put a hand- 

 ful of fertilizer under the roots. 



The first year tie the young shoots to a 

 short stake (never grow field crops among 

 grapes). In the fall cut back to the ground, 

 set posts and string wires. 



The next summer the best young shoot 

 should be trained up to the top wire and the 

 four arms established. 



This is called the Kniffin system of training. 

 Really good grapes were never yet grown on 

 an arbor. 



The third summer a very few grapes may 

 be gathered. After that the regular routine 



of winter trimming, spring tying, summer 

 pruning, spraying, plowing, and cultivating 

 goes on. 



The tying should be loose enough to allow 

 for the summer growth. Bordeaux mixture 

 should not be made too strong, must be kept 

 stirred, and not put on while the grapes are 

 in bloom. The June pruning must not be 

 too severe, simply enough to prevent the 

 shoots from entangling and running from 

 one vine into the next. 



The plowing must not be too deep, four or 

 five inches being enough. Never girdle. 



Young vines must not be allowed to over- 

 load. I have often cut off three-fourths of 

 the green grapes on a vine and found even 

 that not enough. The Campbell is especially 

 prone to overload and must be "scissored off" 

 unmercifully. This is also true of the Mills. 

 The best time to take off the extra load is in 

 July. Leave from one to three bunches on 

 a shoot, according to the size of the bunches 

 and age of the vine. Twenty pounds of 

 grapes is a good load for any vine. The 

 poor, ill-formed, and straggly bunches should 

 be, where possible, the ones dropped. 



Campbell 

 Concord 



Gaertner 



Niagara 



Mills 



Delaware Worden 



The best seven varieties of grapes for the home fruit garden, according to Mr, Burroughs 



