ON THE CULTIVATION OF GKAPES IN DAULATABAD. 673 



good soil and manure (generally farmyard manure), in equal quantities. 

 The sprouting cuttings, sometimes in duplicates, are planted in these pits, 

 firmly set into their places with plain earth, and watered every alternate 

 day for a couple of months, after which time the waterings are reduced to 

 once every six days. As the shoots grow, four small stakes are placed 

 round each cutting and the shoots are trained from one to the other, tying 

 them in their places but keeping each vine separate. In five months they 

 grow to the height of a man, when thick stakes of the coral tree, Erythrina 

 indica (locally known as "Pangara "),are planted near them as permanent 

 supports, the top shoots of the vines are nipped off, and they are trained 

 on the coral trees. The coral tree is often a growing stump about five 

 feet high and pollarded. For twelve months other garden produce such 

 as the Egg-plant, the Onion, and the Pumpkin are raised in the vineyard, 

 care being taken to water the vines once a week unless the rainfall is 

 heavy. In the following October all the branches are pruned to three eyes 

 from the stem, the prunings being available as cuttings, and the flower 

 soon appears. It seems that the gardeners do not consider it worth their 

 while to thin out the berries or to pick out the diseased parts of the 

 vines. 



A vineyard is calculated to yield a quarter- crop at the end of the 

 second year, a half -crop at the end of the third year, and a full crop at 

 the end of the fourth year, and with a moderate amount of care lasts for 

 about twenty years, giving a full crop each year. The vine is also some- 

 times trained on a strong open trellis, which is set over the vineyard about 

 six feet from the ground. The pollarded plant is said to give the best 

 yield, but the rich prefer the trellis training both on account of its appear- 

 ance and its shade ; it is also said to keep the vine in strength to a 

 greater age. The vines yield a crop of sweet Grapes in February and 

 March and a crop of sour Grapes in August. The sour crop is large, but 

 the gardeners do not encourage it, as it is of little value. The sweet crop 

 receives all their attention and care. After each crop the vines are 

 pruned, and after the sour crop they are manured with poudrette and 

 farmyard manure. The various forms of phosphatic and nitrogenous 

 manures are highly valued and well understood by the Daulatabacl 

 gardeners, but with the scanty means at their disposal they find it im- 

 possible to procure them for their vines. Once every five or six days the 

 earth is loosened round the roots and the vines are flooded. When the buds 

 appear the vine is often attacked by a blight which proves very injurious 

 to the vineyard, entailing a heavy loss to the grower. Unfortunately the 

 gardeners are not aware of any remedy with which to combat the several 

 diseases, such as mildew and anthracnose, and other parasites. The 

 Agri-horticultural School has adopted the American system of preventing 

 some of the more formidable kinds of vine diseases, but the experiment 

 has not yet had sufficient time to show any results. 



It is within the memory of the present generation that the vine crop 

 used to be so abundant that the local bazaars could supply any quantity 

 of this delicious fruit at such a low price as three pies to one anna 

 per seer. The fruit was moreover largely exported to distant places ; in 

 fact it was often found in the fruit markets of Gujarat and Hindustan, 

 and fetched a good price in foreign markets. An idea of the production 



