GOOD THINGS TO EAT 



149 



afflicted with root-knot and other diseases, and at 

 any rate the hillsides near were being cleared of 

 them for real-estate development purposes. Most 

 of those on my two acres were torn out, but I 

 reserved two rows to experiment with. The first 

 fall Old William got rid of most of these by way of 

 a trash-fire that escaped him, and there were left 

 but twelve of the venerable vines. These I worked 

 over, trimming, spraying, cleaning, fertilizing, 

 tying-up; and they are now the determining points 

 in my two-row vineyard. All but two were Con- 

 cord, and the one Delaware gave up the ghost the 

 first winter. To complete the rows, I planted 

 fine three-year-old vines from Fredonia, of such 

 sorts as I wanted. They have flourished and fruited, 

 so that this year I have enjoyed splendid Concord 

 grapes from vines side by side, the one fifty-six years 

 planted, and the other four years planted — and no 

 one could tell the fruit apart ! On some of the vet- 

 erans the rugged stems are three to four inches 

 through above the ground; yet they do their 

 appointed work quite as well as their youthful 

 associates. 



As I have before mentioned, the best of the 

 bunches on the grape-vines are given the pro- 

 tection of a paper bag, applied in July, in which 

 they come to a more perfect and unscarred matu- 



