GRAPE EXPERIEXCES IN SOUTHWESTERN MICHIGAN. 



335 



pointed in the result. Tlie bone is still in the ground. The 

 grape roots have clustered around it more or less, and 

 perhaps benefit may come in the future. Nitrate of soda 



vineyard I opened a separate account with it. In these 

 figures no estimates have been made. Every item of 

 expense and every hour's work has been charged up. 

 Of course it would be impossible to enter into details in 

 a short article like this. To make it brief, I have pre- 

 pared a table giving the total annual yield and sales, ex- 

 pense and profit of the 2,000 vines. 



The land (2I acres) cost $175 ; the vines $100.64 (vines 

 cost more ten years ago than now); and the cost of plow- 

 ing, setting, cultivating, etc., was $42.94, making a total 

 of $318.58 the first year. The expense for the second 



year amounted to $74.25, making the cost 



.83 to 





^ Januar 



y ist, 1882, 



and no receipt 



s. 





■ 



1 

 1 



Yield 

 g rapes, lbs. 



Ael sales 

 grapes. 



Cosl of prun- 

 iitg, cullivating , 

 hat vesting, etc. 



Profit. 





1 1S82 . . 



. . 4,400 



f 195 99 



$132 73 



$63 26 





1S83 . . 



. . 4.50° 



218 72 



97 29 



121 43 



1S84 . . 



■ ■ 8,750 



312 36 



117 77 



194 59 





1885. . 



■ . 7,875 



245 62 



122 09 



123 53 



/ 



1886 . . 



■ • 6,050 



182 71 



135 60 



47 II 





1887 . . 



. . 20,655 



621 63 



251 28 



370 35 





1888 . . 



. . 9,180 



27S c6 



140 14 



137 92 





1889 . . 



■ ■ 4.255 



137 70 



114 28 



23 42 





1890 . . 



. . 18,000 



559 93 



207 14 



352 79 







83,663 



S2,752 72 



fi,3iS 32 



$1,434 40 



and muriate pf potash were applied in portions of the 

 vineyard last spring, but with questionable results. I have 

 used wood ashes more or less at different times, and have 

 about come to the conclusion that the soil does not need 

 potash. A cat-hole near by had filled up with the wash 

 from the adjacent hillside. This dried mud was drawn 

 up the hillside on a stone boat and spread among the 

 vines, with the best results. When the wood growth is 

 deficient there is nothing like barnyard manure, 

 well rotted, but it will be a year from time of ap- 

 plication before you will get any benefit 

 much manure is a detriment. Stakes last It n 

 three to six years. Every spring, in prun- j.^ 

 ing, stakes which will push over or break 

 off are removed, and new ones take their 

 place. I cut stakes eight feet long ; when 

 they rot off they are still long enough to 

 set again. After a hard wind, just before 

 the grapes ripen, many vines will blow 

 down, and if not picked up the grapes 

 seldom ripen up well. 



With me Champion, Hartford and Ives 

 yield about the same quantity as Concord, 

 but the quality, especially of Champion, is 

 inferior. Moore's does not yield paying 

 crops. Worden is almost like Concord, is 

 sweet as soon as colored, but will not keep 

 so long. Brighton is the sweetest grape, 

 but an uncertain cropper. Martha and 

 Lady have usually borne fair crops, and 

 are of good quality. Salem, Wilder, 

 Agawam and Lindley I usually put away 

 in the cellar for winter. They have never 

 paid as market grapes. 



[ am naturally fond of figures, and when planting this 



In the spring of 1885, I planted 1,000 Concord vines 

 with a view of seeing how cheap I could grow grapes. 

 The location was high and free from frost, but not steep 

 enough to wash ; soil a strong gravelly loam, which 

 would produce 25 bushels of wheat or 100 bushels of 

 corn to the acre. A clover sod was turned under and 

 fitted as for corn, marking 4x4 feet, and one-year vines 



set at every alternate 

 mark, making them eight 

 feet each way. Two 

 weeks later, corn was 



except at the 

 lere vines had been set. 

 field was kept thoroughly culti- 

 vated and hoed the rest of the 

 season, and the corn gathered 

 more than paid for the cultivation. The second spring 

 the vines were staked, and corn again planted. In 



Fig. 8. Tsuro-no-ko. 



