396 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



rot, has been tested several years by Mr. Van Buren, and 

 was very naturally suggested by the fact that grapes 

 trained to a piazza or a house, when sheltered by the pro- 

 jecting roof, are generally free from decay. Vines planted 

 for experiment, with one half under a coping, and the 

 other half exposed, have ripened perfectly where protected, 

 and rotted badly where exposed. Vines are thought not 

 so liable to rot when allowed to run high. 



The Scuppernong Grape never rots, being protected by 

 its thick skin ; hence for our climate it is the most valuable 

 of all grapes. It likes a good dry soil and plenty of room. 

 The vines should be, at least, thirty feet apart. It bears 

 better when trained over an arbor. It seems to need lit- 

 tle pruning — the only care required, is to add to the scaf- 

 folding, year after year, as the vine extends. The vines 

 should be trained evenly over the arbor, and not allowed 

 to run together in a mass. Vines covering one or two 

 thousand feet of scaffolding, and increasing in productive- 

 ness and extent, every year, are not uncommon, and the 

 quantity of grapes such a vine has produced, has been 

 nearly thirty bushels. This vine will not readily grow 

 from cuttings, but is propagated solely by layers, which, 

 put down in the winter or spring, may be taken up 

 safely the ensuing winter. Stake them the first year and 

 begin to make the arbor the second. Fruit will be borne 

 the third year after planting. 



Ashes, lime, rubbish, and its own leaves, are the best 

 manure. The fruit of the Scuppernong is in fact almost too 

 luscious, and hence is not as wholesome as the other culti- 

 vated varieties. All the culture this Grape requires is to 

 keep soil free from weeds, until the vine begins to cover the 

 arbor, when its shade and droppings will kill everything 

 beneath it. 



Wine. — The best wine produced in this country is that 



