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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



December, 1909 



Tit 



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A Hobby in Grapes 



IN selecting grape vines one should have a 

 special object in view. For table use select 

 the King Philip, Delaware, Iona and Worden; 

 for unfermented grape juice, plant Munson's 

 Clinton or, what would be better (if they could be 

 had), some new ones I have originated that are 

 especially adapted to that purpose, being very 

 juicy and productive. If a jelly grape is desired, 

 the pure native Labrusca is the best that grows, 

 and of that species the Red Giant is the best variety. 

 It is early, hardy and very productive, but any of 

 that species are better than the best table grapes. 



The above must be taken as a general application, 

 but as a matter of fact, there is no one grape that will 

 succeed everywhere, and there is no one place where 

 all grapes will grow. In Europe there are some 

 1,500 different grapes grown, and but three or 

 four kinds grown in the same locality; in one town 

 there will be a difference in situations and I have 

 even noticed a difference on a half acre. So those 

 that plant grapes must study their situation, find 

 out what kinds are best adapted to their exact 

 locality, and also the various methods of training. 

 For vineyards the trellis is probably best, but for 

 the home garden I think it preferable to grow to a 

 stake. It is more convenient to prune and to work 

 around the vines. I like the plan of growing up a 

 new cane every year to fruit the next, and to cut 

 away the one that fruited the year before. By 

 that method more vines can be planted on the same 

 ground. 



I am often asked if a renewal system is best. 

 Now, any pruning is a renewal, and the first sug- 

 gestion of pruning at all was caused by a goat's 

 browsing a vine, which caused it to bear more and 

 better fruit. A one-year old vine is the best to 

 plant, as the roots are young and will throw out new 

 rootlets, while a two-year-old or older vine will 

 only push out roots where the old roots were cut off. 

 Many old worthless vines, if grafted, will pro- 

 duce fruit much sooner than a young vine. 



But the grape has always been considered a 

 difficult plant to graft. Having had considerable 

 trouble myself in that work, a new method sug- 

 gested itself to me. As the grape cannot easily 

 be grafted on the top, and as the crown where most 

 grafting is done is cross-grained, or winding, it is 

 very difficult to get the stock and scion to form a 

 union. That being the case, it occurred to me that 

 it would be much easier to graft the root. The 

 experiment proved a great success. I cut out the 

 crown, turned up the roots, and grafted them. A 

 union was as sure to form as corn is to germinate. 

 I have grafted six roots of an old vine, and every 

 one formed a union and each made a growth of 

 fifteen feet the same year. If a grower wishes to 

 grow grapes in a commercial way, I think there is 

 the most profit in putting them into unfermented 

 grape juice. It is easily and quickly done, and the 

 crop is put in shape to handle at leisure. 



The crossing and hybridizing of a grape is very 

 interesting to one that has a taste for it. To select 

 grapes having desirable qualities and cross them, 

 plant the seeds and watch their development is very 

 interesting and fascinating, and after one has been 

 at it long enough to have new ones coming on 

 every year, it is doubly so. From one of my com- 

 binations I have what I call my Delaware group. 

 Believing, as I do, that the Delaware is made up 

 from Labrusca, riparia and vinifera, I started 

 in to make a white Delaware. I selected as the 

 mother vine the Taylor, a white hybrid of Labrusca 

 and riparia, the seedlings of which are usually white. 



I pollenated that grape from my International, a 

 grape that is of the same makeup (I believe) as 

 the Delaware, with the White Frontignac as its 

 vinifera element. This combination I thought 

 would be quite sure to give me a White Delaware. 

 The result is many red and white fruit, and some 

 black or blue; all very much resembling the Dela- 

 ware in style and size of cluster, usually somewhat 

 larger, although there are some very much smaller. 

 Two white ones are very choice, one is very early, 

 of high flavor and delicious. 



One word about the breeding of the Delaware. 

 Its exact breeding is absolutely unknown and 

 always will be, and our only guide in forming an 

 opinion is combinations that produce grapes nearest 

 like it. I am aware that Professor T. V. Mun- 

 son, of Texas, holds that there is the blood of 

 Bourquiniana in it, but until a combination pro- 

 duces offspring more nearly resembling the Dela- 

 ware than the above-mentioned combination, I 

 shall hold to my present views. 



METHODS OF HYBRIDIZING 



As some readers of The Garden Magazine 

 may wish to try hybridizing the grape, perhaps I 

 had better state my method of doing it. I watch 

 the blossoms of the intended mother vine and when 

 they seem about ready to throw off the cap I select 

 a cluster that is convenient to get at. Remove 

 all the buds except a few that seem the nearest 

 ready to open, then take a blossom between the 

 thumb and finger and with a sharp toothpick (a 

 pin or needle is more likely to injure the stigma) 

 remove the cap and the anthers; have ready a clus- 

 ter of blossoms from the vine that is to furnish the 

 pollen and tap the stigma with the anthers until 

 the pollen is plainly seen adhering to it. After 

 operating on all the blossoms, take a large-mouthed 

 bottle, tie two strings to the neck, draw it up over 

 the cluster and tie it to the branch high enough to 

 completely enclose the cluster. Then tuck cotton 

 around the stem in the mouth of the bottle to pre- 

 vent other pollen from entering. 



Massachusetts. N. B. White. 



Blackberries Grown on a Trellis 



ONE OF the most practical and artistic suc- 

 cesses of my garden this year, are four black- 

 berry vines trained against a dividing property fence 

 of chicken wire. In the spring of 1905, they were 

 little wandering shoots handed over from a neigh- 

 bor's yard. Now they reach the top of this six-foot 

 fence in places, making it lovely in every season. 

 Moreover, the size of their berries surpasses that 

 of the untrained bushes of blackberries which I 

 have in another part of my garden. 



The quantities of fruit borne by my trained and 

 untrained bushes seem about the same, but the 

 great difference is in the ease of picking. 



Train against a fence by tying the main stalks 

 and runners to the wires with inch wide strips of 

 cotton cloth. Brown is a good, inconspicuous 

 color as it blends with the stems. 



After the young blackberry plants are set out 

 and started they take care of themselves, but be 

 sure to trim out all old wood and fertilize with 

 manure each fall. They are great wanderers, 

 however, and all unnecessary shoots must be quickly 

 pulled up. 



This year my blackberries yielded from one to 

 three quarts daily, beginning about July 20th 

 and continuing till August 12th. I shall never 

 forget as long as I live the beauty of those abundant 

 clusters of berries clinging to the wires, as they 

 gradually changed from green to red, and then 

 to black. 



New Jersey. Laura B. Carpenter. 



In the Strawberry Patch 



A YEAR ago one of my neighbors plowed up a 

 strawberry patch, the plants in which were 

 two years old. Knowing but little of berry culture, 

 I took a bushel basketful of these old plants and 

 made a bed in my own garden, expecting to have 

 quantities of berries this summer. We did have a 

 few, but I soon learned that the best berries grew on 

 the young plants — those having good root develop- 

 ment when reset. 



My first bed was made by placing the plants in a 



number of single rows running across the bed the 

 short way, the rows being twenty inches apart and 

 the plants standing twelve inches apart in the row. 

 For cultivating I use a two-forked onion hoe, which 

 keeps the soil loose and cuts out the weeds. In the 

 fall leaves were placed on the bed and in the spring, 

 when this mulch was lifted, well-rotted manure was 

 worked in between the plants. After the fruiting 

 season was over, the patch was mowed to get rid 

 of the old leaves, and new leaves and runners were 

 soon taking their place. 



When the new runners were well rooted, the old 

 bed was spaded up, the new plants being thrown 

 in a pile at the side. After raking and leveling the 

 bed I was ready to make an entirely new and better 

 one than that of last year. This time the rows were 

 made the long way of the bed to make cultivation 

 easier and quicker. Instead of being single they 

 were double, the plants being placed eight inches 

 apart each way, the double rows being twenty-four 

 inches apart. As the runners developed, they were 

 kept within the double rows, leaving the space 

 between the rows open for cultivation. 



This bed was made the last of June; the weather 

 was such that no watering was necessary. On 

 September 10th, we had as fine a prospect for next 

 year's crop as others who set their plants out in early 

 spring. We have covered the bed with clean straw, 

 not too thickly spread, through which the plants will- 

 grow next spring and bear berries which we hope 

 will be free from grit and dirt. 



Ohio. H. F. White. 



Points About Dwarf Trees 



THE great advantage of dwarf fruit trees is 

 that they occupy less space than standard trees 

 and can be given more careful individual attention. 

 The fruit does not differ from that produced by 

 a standard tree of the same variety. Any tree can. 

 be reduced to dwarf form by pruning and training. 



Apples and pears are the best fruit trees to set out 

 as dwarfs. They are usually had by inserting buds 

 of the desired variety into a slow-growing stock. 

 Practically all dwarf apples are budded on a small- 

 fruited, wild European apple called the Paradise. 

 Half dwarfs, which are budded on Doucin stock, 

 come into bearing later than dwarfs, require more 

 room but ultimately bear larger crops. Dwarf 

 pears are budded on quince stocks. Plums have 

 been usually put on myrobalan roots, but Professor 

 F. A. Waugh believes that the best stock is the 

 sand cherry. 



Peaches, when worked on a plum stock, make a 

 shorter growth; they are also much better adapted 

 to growing on wet or heavy soils, and are longer 

 lived than if worked on peach seedlings. Cherries 

 are usually grafted on mahaleb stock, but some 

 varieties do not succeed well when worked directly 

 on it. In this case they are double grafted. 



Connecticut. C. E. S. 



The Pekin Duck in the Garden 



IN ONE of the early numbers of The Garden 

 Magazine I read about keeping Pekin ducks 

 in the garden for the purpose of eating bugs. The 

 idea struck me as being good, so a farmer friend and 

 I bought some large eggs. 



Out of the dozen eggs we managed to get seven 

 mammoth ducks. They grew about twice as fast 

 as chickens — indeed, at such an astonishing rate 

 that one could almost see them grow! 



When they were four weeks old we put them in 

 the vegetable garden. And instead of going for 

 the bugs, we found that the lettuce and other greens 

 suited their fancy much better. But they did not 

 enjoy the feast long. I then put mine in the front 

 yard! The next morning I found that we were to 

 do without poppies and morning glories for the 

 season of 1909. But the ducks proved to be 

 unusually fine birds! 



People told me that six of them would eat as 

 much as a horse, and many more told me that there 

 was no money in them. However, I sold them at 

 100 per cent, profit. I received even better offers 

 after they were gone. 



The birds are soon to be exhibited at a local fair 

 and I am confident that they will take all the prizes 

 in sight. 



Illinois. O. L. Jordan. 



