1882.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



53 



" GRAPE .CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA, 



Southern California, a region where the sky 

 is cloudless for eight months in the year, where 

 rains occur only during the winter season, and 

 where soil and climate present conditions for 

 the open air culture of the choicest foreign 

 Grapes, unequaled by any other State, offers 

 unsurpassed facilities for the production of 

 wine and raisins. The latter industry especial- 

 ly attracts much attention at the present time. 



The cultivation of the vine for raisin pur- 

 poses differs somewhat from that for wine 

 making. For wine, small, thin skinned, aro- 

 matic Grapes are preferred, and the vines may be 

 planted as close as six by six feet, while for 

 raisin making a distance of eight feet each 

 way, and large, thick-fleshed varieties with an 

 abundance of sugar, and few seeds are more 

 desirable, such as Muscat of Alexandria, Mus- 

 catel, Seedless Sultana and Gordo Blanco. 



In laying out a vineyard, the facilities for 

 irrigation, without which no tillage is possible 

 here, are necessarily of first consideration. The 

 land must be carefully prepared so as to insure 

 an equal flow of water from the distributing 

 ditches all over the cultivated portions. The 

 tract is then thoroughly and deeply plowed, 

 carefully leveled and laid off lengthwise in 

 rows eight feet apart. A wire chain about 

 five hundred feet in length and with links 

 just eight feet long is used for this purpose, 

 it is stretched along the outside line and 

 firmly secured at both ends. 



At the connection of each link a cut- 

 ting from one year old wood, of about fifteen 

 inches in length is then planted. To do ^ 

 this expeditiously two men are necessary, 

 one pushes a spade in the ground to the 

 full length of the blade, and pressing for- 

 ward makes a wedge-shaped opening into 

 which the second man places a cutting, so 

 that only two buds remain visible above 

 the surface. After removing the spade 

 the earth is crowded back firmly against the 

 cutting, care being taken that the hole is 

 filled completely and that every part of the 

 cutting below ground comes in contact with 

 soil. After the entire row is planted, each 

 man takes his end of the chain and by a dex- 

 terous swing deposits it in place for the 

 next rows, parallel with and eight feet from the 

 preceding one, repeating the process till the 

 work is completed. After each days planting 

 a shallow furrow is made on both sides of the 

 rows in which water is allowed to run until the 

 ground becomes, thoroughly soaked and settled 

 around the cuttings. 



In from six to eight weeks the buds will 

 make a fine start and, if the ground is suffi- 

 ciently irrigated and cultivated once a month, 

 produce a strong vine the first season. 



.The following spring missing cuttings have 

 to be replaced and the vines pruned with a 

 view to forming proper supports for future 

 fruiting. The strongest cane selected for the 

 main stem is cut off at fifteen inches from the 

 ground and tied to a stake, all other shoots 

 being removed entirely. Only the two upper 

 buds of the main stem are allowed to grow, 

 those below have to be cut off with a sharp 

 knife, as soon as they start. Cutting is prefer- 

 able to pulling or rubbing off these buds, as 

 , there is less danger of tearing the bark, and 

 when a knife is used the buds start seldom into 

 a second growth, the removal of which causes 

 much extra labor. The stakes are placed about 

 three inches from the vines in such a position 

 that the prevailing winds blow the stem against 



the stake ; care must be taken not to tie the 

 vines so tightly as to impede the free expan- 

 sion of the stem which grows rapidly during 

 early summer. 



The third season's pruning consists in cutting 

 back to about two buds the main branches and 

 other shoots which have been forming around 

 the head and are deemed desirable for the for- 

 mation of a round, tree-like vine. A well 

 pruned vine should resemble an open umbrella, 

 the frame work being formed of the gracefully 

 spreading branches under which the delicious 

 clusters hang in dense masses, shaded from 

 direct sunlight by its luxurious foliage. All 

 subsequent prunings are made with a view to 

 preserve the shape of this frame-work and the 

 renewal of the old wood with new growth. 



Many of the stronger vines present a fair 

 showing of fruit as early as the second year, 

 but a profitable harvest is not counted upon 

 until the third season, while the best results 

 are not obtained before the sixth or eighth year 

 when each vine produces from thirty to forty 

 pounds of grapes. Arlington. 



LARGE STRAWBERRIES. 



THE PRESIDENT LINCOLN STRAWBERRY. 



In speaking of the size of Strawberries a 

 distinction should be made between varieties 

 producing the largest single berries, and those 

 which average the greatest number of large 

 berries. When the object to be obtained is to 

 compete at an exhibition for the largest berry, 

 regardless of other qualities, different varieties 

 will have to be selected than where a large yield 

 or a profitable crop is desired. 



The above illustration is a correct, actual 

 sized representation of a President Lincoln 

 Strawberry, exhibited last year at the New 

 York Horticultural Society. It measured 

 nearly three inches in diameter, and was of 

 good, full, regular shape. We have seen ber- 

 ries of the Great American measuring even 

 more in circumference, but they were irregu- 

 larly shaped and prongy, and of poor flavor, 

 while President Lincoln is of good quality. 

 For the production of exhibition berries the 

 latter is one of the best. 



Sharpless also yields very large single berries, 

 and many of large average size. 



THE CANKER WORM. 



The New England farmer and fruit grower 

 have long known the Canker Worm as one of 

 our worst insect pests. The people of the West 

 know less of its ravages, but as the years pass 

 by, it may be expected that all parts of our 

 country will suffer from its destructive work. 



ITS NATURAL HISTORY. 



The female insect is wingless, while the 

 male is provided with four large wings, and 



is a fine looking moth of more than an inch 

 across. The Canker Worm insects, that is, 

 the perfect state, come from the ground in 

 early spring. The showy males are frequently 

 seen flying in warm winter days. Their favorite 

 food is the leaves of the Apple and other fruit 

 trees, and in cities the "worms" do great 

 damage to the Elm and other shade and orna- 

 mental trees. The females, being wingless, 

 are obliged to climb the trunks of the trees, 

 upon which they desire to deposit their eggs. 

 The eggs, which are of very small size, are 

 laid in clusters of a hundred or more. If the 

 insect fails to make the ascent of a tree, she 

 may, as a last resortj deposit the eggs upon a 

 fence or other object. 



The "worms" begin to hatch out about the 

 time that the leaves of the Apple trees are 

 unfolding. These "worms" or larva?, when 

 full grown, are striped with black and yellow 

 and ash color, and average not far from an 

 inch in length. The legs are ten in number, 

 six (three pairs) near the head, and the other 

 four far to the rear. In movement the larva 

 is a measuring worm, that is, it makes a loop 

 of its slender body by bringing the tail near 

 the head, when the head is projected for- 

 ward the length of the "worm," — an opera- 

 tion that is so familiar as not to need further 

 explanation. They have also received the 

 name of " drop worms " from the habit of 

 swinging themselves from their support, by 

 means of a fine thread, when in any way dis- 

 turbed. This habit is not one of the least 

 disagreeable features of the Canker Worm. 



The larva? feed with great voracity, until 

 early summer, when they go to the ground, 

 either by means of the silken thread or the 

 trunk of the tree. They burrow to the depth 

 of a few inches, and form an earthen ease or 

 • cocoon, when they pass the inactive or pupa 

 state, to come forth perfect, sexual insects. 



REMEDIES FOR THE CANKER WORM. 



As with most pests, weeds as well as insects, 

 prevention is better than cure. The fact that 

 the females are wingless, and must climb the 

 tree, in order that they may deposit their eggs 

 in a favorable place, permits of a ready and 

 effective preventive. Any barrier that will 

 intercept the insect in her ascent, will prevent 

 much harm being done by the "worms." 

 The simplest method of doing this, is to put 

 some adhesive substance around the trunk of 

 the tree, and so long as this is fresh, the wing- 

 less female moths are caught and retained. 

 The old way was to coat a band of paper with 

 printer's ink, and bind it close to the tree. 

 Care must be taken that the band fits at every 

 point, and the ink must be renewed from time 

 to time, so that no dust blown on may make a 

 bridge for the insects to pass over. A number 

 of Canker Worm protectors have been secured 

 by patents. A form that is familiar to the 

 dwellers in eastern cities, consists of a trough 

 of tin, so made as to fasten closely around the 

 tree, and into which the ascending insects can 

 crawl, there to find an oily bath and death. 

 Any work of intercepting the females, should 

 be done before they begin their ascent, which 

 is very early in the spring. 



When the moths reach the tree, and the 

 worms hatch and begin their work, something 

 may be done by jarring and collecting them, 

 sweeping the threads with a pole, and burning 

 the larvae. But the best way is to keep the 

 eggs out of the trees, by cutting off the ascent 

 of the wingless females. 



Dr. Byron D. Halsted. 



