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W. F. ALLEN, Strawberry SpecialisU SALISBURY, MARYLAND 



GRAPES 



The Grape is probably the most important of the smal' 

 fruits, not only commercially in various sections, but for 

 the home garden. There is no fruit more easily grown in 

 any soil and any climate in the country. It is particularly 

 the fruit for the sandy and gravelly soils of free and open 

 texture and good drainage. It takes little room in the 

 home garden, for the garden fences can be transformed 

 into trellises, and not only answer their purpose as an 

 enclosure, but will be made more beautiful and attractive 

 when covered with vines. This is especially true where 

 woven-wire fences are used. Then, too, the walks of the 

 garden can have arbors built over them and the vines 

 trained overhead and take room that would otherwise 

 produce nothing. 



All the varieties of Grapes grown in this country, except 

 in California and Arizona, where the European varieties 

 thrive, are of native origin, and most of them belong to 

 the order Labrusca, though some are claimed to have a 

 cross of the European Vinifera. The great difficulty 

 with the Vinifera class of Grapes in this country has been 

 that they are destroyed by the Phylloxera insect on the 

 roots, and are very subject to mildew. Our native vines 

 are resistant to the Phylloxera, and of late years many 

 of the European vineyards have been renewed by grafting 

 their vines on American Grape roots. Now that we have 

 the spraying mixtures for the mildew, it may be that some 

 of the foreign varieties of Grapes can be grown here if 



grafted on our native varieties. This, however, is the 

 work for the experiment stations, and planters for market 

 or home use had better adhere to the species that have 

 been successful in this eastern part of the country. 

 Planting ^^ planting Grapes always use strong 



and Training one-year-old vines. The previous pre- 

 *• paration of the soil is of importance, 

 for the Grapes are long-lived and need a deeply prepared 

 and well-enriched soil. Good drainage is essential, for 

 the Grape-vine will not thrive in a wet soil. The best 

 soils generally are those of a sandy or gravelly nature, 

 with a subsoil easily drained. Deep and thorough pre- 

 paration should be made before planting, and the soil 

 well-enriched. In garden soils, where stable manure has 

 been used for years, it is best to use a heavy application 

 of raw bone-meal. In fact, there is nothing that the 

 vines like better than a bone, and any waste bones about 

 the place will be usefully buried under the vines in planting. 

 When planting on a commercial scale, the first thing to 

 consider is the distance apart for the varieties. This will 

 depend largely on the mode of training and pruning. In 

 the old method of training to stakes and pruning to single 

 stems that are spurred closely every year, the vines could 

 be planted more closely than is now practised when 

 trained on a trellis. Many plans have been devised for 

 trellises, and innumerable and intricate modes of training 

 and pruning. Books on Grape culture abound in cuts 



