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FRUIT GARDEN COMPANION. 



CHAPTER V. 



CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



Art. I.— Remarks on the Culture of the Vine. 



In ray remarks on the culture of the grape, I 

 shall principally confine the subject to the ill effects 

 of bad management, in order to throw some light 

 on a more correct method of culture. In the first 

 place, the grape vine is subject to many casual inju- 

 ries when in a growing state, owing chiefly to the 

 very porous nature of the wood and leaves, which 

 render it susceptible to the mildew, red spider, &c, 

 by which many crops of fruit are totally lost. What- 

 ever food, impurity of air, or epidemical disease is 

 present to the grape vine, it is readily imbibed by 

 it, and the vine either flourishes or sickens, accord- 

 ing to the presence of such food or disease. The 

 roots also quickly convey any matter in a liquid 

 state to the branches and most minute part of the 

 vine ; hence the vine has often been resorted to by 

 phytologists to investigate the circulation of sap, 

 which has given rise to many useful facts, by charg- 

 ing the sap-vessels of the w 7 ood with colored fluids, 

 which have been traced through the different chan- 

 nels, to the leaves and most minute parts. 



The mismanagement of the grape vine may be 

 frequently traced to the neglect of summer pruning, 

 particularly in city gardens, where it generally is 

 cultivated on arbors or trellis ; for when the vine is 

 allowed to grow without any restraint, or summer 

 pruning^ it seldom brings its fruit to any perfection, 



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