GRAPE VINES FROM GRAFTS AND CUTTINGS. 



535 



EVERYTHING DEPENDS UPON THE EFFICACY OF SPRAYING. 



Somewhat careful observation in this Hudson River 

 grape-region leads me to conclude that there is danger of 

 over-production, and that even now there are more vine- 

 yards in this, our immediate region, than can be made to 

 pay. Of course, this opinion is based upon the assump- 

 tion that the rot can be controlled by spraying. Whether 

 this is absolutely certain, as has been generally supposed, 

 is, however, a matter of some question, in the light of re- 

 cent developments here. A prominent grower of Milton, 

 who markets about 20 tons of grapes, told me a few days 

 ago that he never sprayed a single vine, but raised just as 

 good grapes and as many as his neighbors, who, though 

 they spray carefully and profusely, had just as much rot 

 as he did. Other growers here say that this year some 

 of the sprayed vineyards seem worse affected by the rot 

 than those that were never sprayed at all. I thought we 

 had found the trump-card for this grape-rot trouble in 



the copper solution. It will be most unfortunate, indeed, 

 should we find our vines to be still at the mercy of this 

 dreaded disease. If so, then all danger of over-produc- 

 tion vanishes at once, and we must battle for grapes. 

 But continued heavy planting does not seem wise unless 

 this fact is established, and even then grape-growing 

 would be a precarious business, requiring great capital 

 and patience. At the present prices, even with the deci- 

 mation from rot and disease, how could a full crop of 

 fruit be marketed with profit to the grower, when his 

 partial crop scarcely nets a paying price ? 



Too much care can hardly be used in packing and mar- 

 keting grapes. The fruit should be in the best condition 

 possible— the baskets clean, bright, new, tasteful, and 

 sold with the fruit in every case. Inferior fruit should 

 be sold by itself, and on its merits. In my opinion, hold- 

 ing shipments for a good price is a dangerous and uncer- 

 tain business under ordinary conditions. — H. Hendricks. 



GRAPE-VINES FROM GRAFTS AND CUTTINGS. 



FURTHER NOTES ON VINEYARD-MAKING. 



RAPE-VINES are usually prop- 

 agated from cuttings. Some 

 vineyardists make these cuttings 

 from six inches to a foot long ; 

 others use 18-inch cuttings, con- 

 tending that these make the best 

 plants, end I think that in the 

 long run they are right. An 

 intelligent French engineer told me that in France they 

 lay a cutting three or four feet long in a furrow, bend- 

 ing the top end up so that the upper eye is just even 

 with the surface of the ground. These cuttings are put 

 down a foot or more deep. That shallow roots will not 

 hold out in the dry seasons that we have here at times, is 

 well krown. 



When I was superintending the Bluffton Wine Com- 

 pany's outdoor department here, 25 years ago, the land 

 was in pretty heavy timber. All trees and roots were 

 grubbed out 18 inches deep, and the land then plowed 

 and subsoiled to that depth. The result was an astonish- 

 ing growth of vines and immense crops of fruit. Some 

 of these vineyards are still in good condition, but most 

 of them have been grubbed out on account of the cheap- 

 ness of wine and the rot of the grapes. The first year 

 I grew 75,000 plants from cuttings, and I am satisfied 

 that not five per cent, of the cuttings put in failed. 

 They were taken from the vines early in the winter and 

 cut in lengths averaging about 10 inches, some longer 

 and some shorter, according to the length of joints of 

 the different varieties. 



My plan of setting cuttings was, and is yet, to mark 

 out the ground, previously well prepared, with a marker 

 of my own make — a tool like a little sled-runner with a 

 handle six or eight feet long, so that when held in the 

 hand at a convenient height, the runner lies flat on the 

 ground. With this I can run a line 100 yards long as 



the 



straight as an arrow, using three stakes as guides. I 

 have not used the old-fashioned reel and line for 50 

 years Now with a big, broad-bladed hoe, or a spade if 

 one prefers it, cut a trench along this line down as deep 

 as the cuttings require it at an angle of 45°, making a 

 100th edge along 

 One man 

 comes along with 

 the cuttings which 

 are laid two or three 

 inchesapart with the 

 upper eye just even 

 with the top of the 

 \ ( ground. Then an- 



1:1 |lM other man follows 



[ ' |« with a hoe and draws 



down earth enough 

 to cover the cuttings 

 half way up, walk- 

 ing in the furrow 

 and treading the 

 ground firmly down 

 upon the lower part 

 of the cuttings. He 

 then goes over the 

 row again and draws 

 more earth over the 

 cuttings, making the 

 surface level and 

 firming it lightly. If 

 the ground is in good 

 condition, I can put 

 in 5,000 cuttings a 

 day myself, and if they are sound and taken from an 

 easy-growing variety, I will not lose three per cent, of 

 them. Clean culture and mellow soil are essential. 



Grape-Root Grafts. 



