1882.1 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



2 I 



PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 



THE FULLER SYSTEM. 



Editor of American Garden: — Your Janu- 

 ary issue, containing Mr. Fuller's criticism 

 on my article on pruning and training the 

 Grape in the October number, is just at hand, 

 and it seems proper that I should say a few- 

 words in self defence. 



Mr. Fuller is a modest man, and I am not 

 surprised that he demurs to having any system 

 of training and pruning the vine imputed to 

 him as his invention. I was aware he never 

 pretended to have invented the system gen- 

 erally known by his name, but this much 

 he did do, he popularized the horizontal 

 arm and vertical cane system through the 

 medium of his Grape Oulturist to such an 

 extent that hundreds and thousands of people 

 learned it, and know it only as his system — a 

 perfectly natural result — and when the "Fuller 

 system" is referred to they know what is 

 meant, which they would not know if called 

 by any other name. He says: "I may have 

 expressed my preference for certain systems of 

 training vines, etc.," — (this' is rather equivo- 

 cal, to say the least,) — "but I never claimed to 

 have invented them, but, on the contrary, 

 stated (page 129) that the main features of the 

 system of training which I preferred had been 

 in uninterrupted practice for more than a hun- 

 dred years." 



This is true. He says distinctly it is not a 

 new system. The opening sentence of the par- 

 agraph above quoted reads thus : 



"The following system of pruning and train- 

 ing I believe to be one that may be applied to 

 all the different varieties in cultivation with 

 the best results." 



He then proceeds to describe and illustrate 

 this system, devoting ten pages and employing 

 ten cuts to illustrate the text, the very best 

 and most effective method of teaching, and 

 concludes as follows : 



" There are several reasons why I believe the 

 foregoing method is one of the best, if not the 

 best system for general vineyard culture. 



1. The horizontal is the best position that 

 can be given to the vine to develop its fruiting 

 powers — the main object in all the various 

 methods of pruning and training. 



2. The upright bearing canes being equally 

 distributed on the arms, no one portion of the 

 vine has any advantage given it over another, 

 the flow of sap being equal to all parts. 



3. The equal distribution of the fruiting 

 canes not only allows a free circulation of air 

 among the leaves, put insures an equal distri- 

 bution of fruit. 



4. While the vine is restricted within certain 

 limits it is not dwarfed, as some might sup- 

 pose, for a vine with two arms, four feet long, 

 with ten upright canes on each, making twenty 

 canes three feet long, has sixty feet of wood to 

 be grown and pruned off each season. This 

 quantity is certainly abundant to give the most 

 vigorous growers sufficient expansion to insure 

 a healthy action of root. Some cultivators 

 suppose that because a vine will grow long and 

 occupy considerable space, if allowed sufficient 

 time and furnished with plenty of nutriment, 

 that it cannot remain healthy if it be restrained 

 within moderate limits. But this is a great 

 mistake, and the sooner such ideas are aban- 

 doned the better it will be for the vine and for 

 the cause. 



5. The vines being trained low, the fruit re- 

 ceives a greater amount of heat than if more 

 elevated, because it gets not only the direct 



rays of the sun, but also the heat reflected 

 from the earth. This last is quite important 

 in a northern climate, where there is little dan- 

 ger of getting too much heat. 



6. The mode is so simple that the most inex- 

 perienced may understand it. and when the 

 vines are once put into shape, the pruning ever 

 after is so nearly the same there is scarcely any 

 danger of going wrong." 



illustrations and emphatic endorsement, can it 

 be possible that Mr. Fuller can say he " may 

 have expressed a preference for certain systems 

 of training vines," and plead a Inhtl ignorance of 

 what is meant when the " Fuller system " is 

 alluded to? 



Are not the people justified in calling it the 

 "Fuller" system under the circumstances V He 

 was its sponsor and god-father, so to speak (in 

 this country, at least), and but for him thou- 

 sands of people to-day would have been totally 

 ignorant of any such system. 



Does such designation necessarily imply that 

 he was the author, or inventor, or that he 

 claimed to be ? 



We speak of the Lawton Blackberry, and 

 all know what is meant without implying that 

 Mr. Lawton originated it. When we mention 

 the Wilder Grape or the Downing Strawberry, 

 we do not imply that they were originated by 

 the illustrious gentlemen whose names they 

 bear, and it would be a poor compliment to the 

 intelligence of the people if those honored men 

 should confess ignorance of what was meant, 

 or deny having originated them. 



Being unconscious of any injustice to Mr.' 

 Fuller by the use of his name to designate a 

 certain system of training the vine, I have, 

 since becoming aware of his objection to such 

 use, asked every grape grower I have met if he 

 knew what was meant by the " Fuller system," 

 and I have yet to find the first one who gave a 

 negative reply. If I find him I shall regard 

 him as a curiosity. 



But since Mr. Fuller takes exception to such 

 use of his name he will please "arise and ex- 

 plain " to me and thousands of others how he 

 would have us designate the particular system of 

 training and pruning the vine he so fully de- 

 scribed? It takes a long time for the people to 

 unlearn a thing or adopt new habits for old 

 ones, and in this utilitarian age I fear they will 

 be slow in accepting or substituting any other 

 term for the short and expressive one of the 

 " Fuller system," to which they have become so 

 accustomed, the meaning of which they are not 

 too ignorant to comprehend. If it is true that 

 " Error will travel a league while. Truth is get- 

 ting on his boots," we have a formidable pe- 

 destrian task before us; but if Mr. Fuller will 

 only set us right we may make haste slowly. 

 Respectfully yours. 



E. Williams. 



NEGLECTED GRAPE VINES, 



In pruning old, neglected vines, which are 

 found far too often in farm and village gar- 

 dens, the aim should be to induce new, vigor- 

 ous growth to take the place of the old and 

 useless wood which has to be cut out gradually. 

 In the majority of cases, the wisest plan would 

 be to plant young vines of newer and improved 

 kinds, to take proper care of them, and, as 

 soon as they come into bearing, to dig up and 

 burn the old ones, and scatter their ashes 

 around the young vines, that what good there 

 is left in them may benefit the young and bet- 

 ter generation. 



FRUIT NOTES. 



At the last meeting of the Illinois Horticul- 

 tural Society the following subjects were among 

 the most important topics discussed. Many 

 leading fruit-growers participated in the dis- 

 cussions and related their experiences. 



Curculio-Proof Plums. — Absolutely curcu- 

 lio-proof Plums were regarded as fiction. 

 Hard-skinned varieties are not much disturbed 

 by the beetles as long as they can find more 

 delicate ones, but when the latter are gone and 

 later in the season the so-called curculio-proof 

 Plums are as liable to attack as any. 



Blooming of Fruit Trees in the Fall proves 

 generally injurious to the tree, but the crop of 

 the following year is not materially lessened 

 thereby. 



Girdling Trees. — Girdling trees to increase 

 their fruitfulness was by many considered of 

 no value, and in several instances no difference 

 was found in bearing between those girdled and 

 those not so treated. 



Canker Worm. — Burning is still considered 

 the most effective remedy. A solution of Lon- 

 don purple is also recommended, and has the 

 additional advantage that it is not injurious to 

 the foliage. 



Russian Apples. — Some valuable varieties 

 for the northern states have been found among 

 the imported stock, and as a general rule they 

 are free from blight, at least more so than 

 other kinds. 



CHANGING STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 



An English nursery man makes in his cata- 

 logue the following astonishing statement: 

 "Strawberries like Potatoes are always more 

 fruitful when given a change of soil, conse- 

 quently success largely depends on having run- 

 ners from a distance." This may^be comfort- 

 able intelligence to nurserymen who have a 

 large stock of plants to sell, but fruit-growers 

 will be slow to accept this new theory. Some 

 varieties succeed better in sandy soil, and 

 others in clay, and in such cases a changing of 

 plants, that is of varieties, will naturally prove 

 advantageous. It is also well known that some 

 varieties cannot be made to grow well in cer- 

 tain localities, and that such may be induced 

 to do better by procuring plants from a dis- 

 tance, we are not ready to believe, before seeing 

 convincing evidence. 



SELECTION OF VARIETIES. 



generally not the best place to make a selection 



fruits of exhibition varieties, raised by experts, 

 and grown under the most perfect systems of 

 culture and petting, will seldom prove satisfac- 

 tory under ordinary cultivation. The prize 

 quart < if Strawberries may lie the tidbit of a 

 four-acre field, and the premium plate of Pears 

 the result of most watchful care and systematic 

 and unprofitable thinning out. To judge in- 

 telligently about the relative merits of different 

 varieties, they have to be seen growing and 

 bearing in the fruit-garden or field. 



Phylloxera. — The loss in the vineyards of 

 France, caused by the ravages of the Phyl- 

 loxera, is estimated at six hundred millions of 

 francs per annum, and thousands of grape 

 growers have been ruined by its prevalence. 

 Grafting of the French varieties upon our own 

 phylloxera-proof kinds has so far proved the 

 most effective remedy, and millions of grape 

 cuttings have been sent from here to France 

 for this purpose. 



