MAKING A VINEYARD. 



CSS^SSHE SET of questions giv 



E\V-VORKER 



belo 



SYMPOSIUM OF FACTS AND EXPEKIENXE 



i n as i 



repeatedly asked by amateur growers 

 of the grape. These questions have 

 been well answered in The Rural 

 .^'<■^c'- lorA'cr, from time to time, by 

 veteran vineyardists of established rep- 

 utation. Their methods of culture 

 and propagation will be of interest 

 even to experienced cultivators. 



1. How do you prefer to propagate grape vines ? 



2. At what season do you make cuttings ? 



3. Of what length do you make them, and when and how do you 

 plant them ? 



4. Do you prefer fall or spring planting for vineyards ? 



5. What kind of trellis do you prefer? 



THE WHOLE STORY WELL TOLD. 



I. I prefer grape vines grown from mature or ripe 

 wood, the cutting being 6 to 10 inches in length, accord- 

 ing to the length of the joints, including not less than 

 three eyes. Such cuttings are better than one or two- 

 eyed cuttings or grafts from layer-grown soft wood, be- 

 cause they give stronger, more symmetrical plants having 

 both deep anchor-roots and feeders above ground. In 

 this climate (Grayson county, Texas) a vine with only 

 the surface feeders, such as most Labrusca varieties 

 make, is feeble and short-lived. 



In the picture, fig. i, the comparative character and 

 relative strength of plants grown from different cuttings 

 are shown by the figures i, 2, 3 and 4 : a four-eye cut- 

 ting of mature wood at i ; a one-eye cutting of mature 

 wood at 2 ; a green-wood slip started with bottom heat 

 at 3, and at 4, layer-plants, to be cut apart at a, b, c, d. 

 It is clear that plant i, with its anchor-roots, has a de- 



MuNSON's Method for Grape Cuttings. 



I. Four-eye cutting of mature wood. 2. One-eye cutting of mature 

 wood. 3. Green-wood slip, started with bottom heat. 4. Layer 

 plants— to be cut apart at A, B, c, D. 



cided advantage, especially in a hot, dry climate, o\'er 

 the others, with only small shallow roots. 



It is a well-known fact that a vineyard set with strong, 

 deeply-rooted plants of any variety, when all other con- 

 ditions are the same, stands a far better chance for profit- 

 able aftergrowth than one set out with small or stunted 



plants. Plants that are grown as in the left-hand cut of 

 fig. I (at i) are, in my estimation, worth more than twice 

 as much as those shown at 2 and 4 ; while those grown 

 from soft wood, as at 3, are scarcely worth the setting. 

 The layer-plants at 4 are worth more than such as are 



•S'JB-SOIL 



1 - I 



Fig 2. — Anchor and Surface Roots. 

 Vines trained on two parallel wires, A and B. 



seen at 2 — single-eye plants — especially if the plants 

 are set deep, say down to the third or fourth eye on the 

 shoot, when put in the vineyard. The French consider 

 no plants good unless grown from very long cuttings, 

 say 12 to 16 inches. 



The distinction between feeding and anchor-roots is an 

 important one, on which the manner of propagation has 

 an essential bearing ; for in the growing season the feed- 

 ing-roots work throughout the surface-soil, consuming 

 about all the assimilable grape-food, and when the 

 ground is plowed or spaded over and fertilizers are 

 worked in, the feeding-roots are greatly mangled and in- 

 jured ; and if the vines have no anchor-roots they suffer 

 greatly both from disturbance and in severe droughts. 



The most successful vineyardists in hot climates each 

 year, at pruning-time, trim away all the last year's feeding- 

 roots, as well as superfluous bearing-wood. Then the 

 surface-soil should be thoroughly pulverized several 

 inches and fertilizers be mixed in, so that each year the 

 ground affords a fresh pasturage for the young thrifty 

 roots that start from above the anchor-roots. If the 

 subsoil has not good drainage, and is neither rich nor 

 porous, trenches should be dug two feet or more deep, 

 with slopes to drain off the excess of water, and the bot- 

 toms should be filled with bones, rotting brush or logs to 



