

GRAPES 



When it comes to selecting a fruit that will grow anywhere, and is of the greatest general value, you 

 will have to choose Grapes, we believe. They make the finest bunches in rich soil, and they well repay 

 fertiHzing and all kinds of good care; but they will thrive among rocks on the driest, steepest hill you ever 

 saw, or will do fairly well in a place too wet for any fruit tree. You can plant a Grape vine wherever there 

 is a foot square of surface not occupied and it will thrive and yield well. 



Before we consider what Grapes are good for in the country, let us say this about their use in towns. 

 Passing by a crowded residence block in a city, we glanced down a narrow alley, and were surprised to 

 notice the whole back yard filled with several Grape vines. One climbed over the porch, two other vine^ 

 were seen covering the end and the side fence — all the boundaries there were — and there were four on stakes 

 occupying the center at one end. It was near ripening time, and the owner had bagged the bunches. We 

 counted 210 bunches in sight, and the space wasn't over 10 by 12 feet. Think what an addition to the fall 

 menu those vines would produce for that family. Few homes lack the space for at least two vines, and few 

 families move so often that Grapes would net produce fruit for them, as they bear in two or three years. 



On a farm there always is plenty of space. Ground room is the cheapest thing in all creation to most 

 farmers in this country. We sometimes think that if it cost them more it would be better, for then they 

 would study up intensive methods. An easily made trellis will support a dozen vines — costing a dollar or 

 so — that will bring five or six bushels of Grapes every year. Properly stored, ripe Grapes will be available 

 from the first of August till after Christmas. The right selection of varieties will ripen the Grapes over 

 two months. The vines make great summer screens; the broad leaves hide everything behind them, and, 

 while the bunches are on, the berries peep out from among the leaves like the blossoms of a climbing rose. 

 There are many ornamental vines that cost a lot more and that are not half so handsome as Grape vines. 

 In a few sections Grapes are grown for market. That is a simple statement, but if we could take the 

 farmers from the other localities to any of the Grape-growing sections — say in northern Pennsylvania and 

 southern New York — there would be a sudden and great increase in the number of Grape vines planted. 

 In those sections. Grapes practically are the only money 

 crop raised. Farmers have found out that they can pro- 

 duce Grapes enough on their land to justify entirely ne- 

 glecting everything else. They market them in the basket- 

 carriers, in hampers similar to those used for peaches, and 

 in half-barrels. Some are used, also, for making the "Grape 

 Juice." There is a well-established market for all the 

 Grapes you can grow. You should have several hundred 

 pounds in order to sell them to advantage. But you will 

 not have to beg for a market if you have the right kinds 

 and give proper attention to growing and packing. 



We never have been able to understand why other 

 sections did not take up Grape-growing on a commercial 

 scale. It must be that people don't know they can grow 

 Grapes cheaply and find a high-priced market for them. 

 It is not because Grapes require special soils, or other con- 

 ditions, for they will grow anywhere. Also, there are varie- 

 ties which ripen at any season, and berries of every color 

 and size. Spraying and cultivating will pay; but you will 

 get lots of Grapes even though you never cultivate the 

 vines. To us it certainly looks foolish to see so many 

 farmers struggling over steep hills with teams and tools 

 trying to grow corn or wheat or buckwheat that can not 

 possibly yield more than ten or fifteen dollars an acre, 

 when those same hillsides would yield Grapes woith 

 hundreds of dollars an acre. 



Plant Grapes in commercial vineyards from 6 by 8 feet 

 to 8 by 10 feet apart. It is the same problem as with fruit 

 trees — the richer soils and lower elevations produce the 

 biggest vines, while in thin soils on the higher land less 

 wood growth will be made. You must decide, when you 

 plant, on the system of care you are going to adopt — whether 

 stakes or trellises, and put the vines in accordingly. Ten 

 acres is not too much tor ea<h farm. Have you your quota? 

 Grapes are marketed in baskets, largely. In Michigan 

 the growers usually haul their crop to a central packing- 

 house, where skilled sorters put them into the baskets of 

 various sizes. Elsewhere growers do the packing them- 

 selves. Two-, three-, five-, seven-pound, and larger baskets 

 are used. Where the orchards are located at a long dis- 

 tance from markets, the bunches are packed in barrels 

 and half-barrels, with cork sawdust between. This method 

 will carry the Grapes well and keep them perfectly. Any- 

 one who has a few hundred pounds to sell can do it easily 

 by looking up how to pack them, and communicating 

 with any wholesale fruit house or commission firm. 



Grape trellises and method ot bagging buncnes 



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