1S67 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
143 
from as near the ground as possible, and in the 
fall these canes were cut back tojbur feet each, 
the vines were not in the least injured by the 
following winter, and in the spring of 1866 set 
a very large number of bunches, many of which 
I removed. They ripened their fruit August 
24th, though they were eatable ten days earlier. 
There was no disease of any kind about them. 
And this season there was none on any va- 
riety except the Rebecca, which has never failed 
to mildew badly. The quantity of fruit produced 
by the Iona was about ten pounds per vine; the 
quality was superior to all other varieties. A 
small quantity of expressed juice or must from 
fruit fairly ripe, and no more, weighed 120°. I 
know that others have found it to weigh 130" 
from fruit not more thoroughly ripened than 
our Catawba grapes usually are when intended 
for wine. The very best Catawba must I have 
ever seen weighed 87°. I am satisfied from my 
own experience that there is no grape now be- 
fore the people possessing so many good quali- 
ties and so few, if any, bad ones as the Iona. 
I have fruited the Israella two years, and find 
it all that has been claimed for it. It is our best 
early grape, bearing large crops of excellent 
fruit. It will be the very best early market 
grape we have. Its beauty, size and goodness 
will commend it to buyers, while the compact 
bunch, the berries of which never drop, even 
when more than ripe, will cause it to become a 
favorite with those who grow grapes for market. 
It is in all respects as healthy, hardy and as 
large a grower and bearer as the Concord. 
Starting Sweet Potato Plants. 
J. "W. C, Lower Pennsneck, Salem Count}', 
K. J., Who last year grew 170,000 hills of sweet 
potatoes, gives the readers of the Agriculturist 
his method of raising the plants for setting: 
Select a high piece of ground, sheltered from 
cold winds by a fence or bushes, and dig a pit 
fifteen inches deep, five feet wide, and two feet 
in length for each bushel of tubers — ten bushels 
requiring a trench five feet wide and twenty 
feet long. Upon the margins of the pit, set on 
edge boards, six inches wide, and hold them in 
place by driving stakes inside of the pit, and 
banking earth against them on the outside. Fill 
the pit twelve inches deep with coarse hay or 
cornstalks, or other litter, and dampen it by the 
use of one pail of water to every three feet iu 
length of the bed. Upon the litter place four 
inches of good horse manure, level ofF well 
and then put on four inches of light sandy soil, 
and it is ready to receive the seed potatoes. 
Wc differ here in one practice. As to time of 
planting, some plant immediately, and otbei'3 
wait for the heat to rise in the bed. I prefer to 
plant the day the bed is made, as there is no 
delay nor loss of heat in case a cold storm should 
come. Lay in the whole potatoes as close as 
may be, without their touching one another, and 
cover them with light soil about two inches 
deep. "When this is done, the bed will be filled 
to within two inches of the top of the slats on 
the edges ; now cover the whole with hay, al- 
lowing it to be one foot high on the edges, and 
four feet high in the center. After the bed has 
been prepared thus it may be left to itself for a 
few days, but in three to five days it must be ex- 
amined; make a hole in the hay and thrust in 
your arm ; if the temperature is more than 
blood heat, leave holes open here and there in 
the hay. If the heat increases, turn the hay 
•over and air it; and if this does not moderate the 
heat sufficiently, remove the hay altogether. If 
the sun shines hot after the hay has been re- 
moved, we put rails across the bed and throw 
on a little hay, to prevent damage from too great 
an increase of heat. In eight or ten days after 
the heat starts, the hay may be left off entirely in 
the middle of the day, as the plants will need 
airing, and to be covered up at night. "When the 
nights become warm, the covering is left off en- 
tirely. In this neighborhood we make the 
beds from the first to the middle of April. 
Grape Culture and Vine Training. 
BY DR. C. J. MAT, WARSAW, ILL. 
The following synopsis of vine culture is well 
put and seasonable, and the method of training 
is worthy the attention of those who find it 
necessary to protect their vines during the win- 
ter. The caution not to allow the vines to bear 
too large a crop cannot be too often repeated, as 
much of the failure of certain varieties is due to 
over cropping. We know of several large vine- 
yards on their road to ruin from overbearing : 
The conditions of success in vine growing 
are few and simple. First, a situation should be 
chosen that either needs no artificial draining, 
or that can be thoroughly drained; the ground 
for the vineyards should incline enough to run 
off all surface water, or wet ground will cause 
the fruit to rot, and the vines to kill in winter. 
The ground should be prepared to the depth of 
at least twenty inches ; two feet will be found 
better yet. Good strong health)'' vines must be 
procured for planting. The vines should be 
staked and tied up, and the laterals pinched out 
even the first season. The vine should be 
trained so as to bring the fruit as near the 
ground as possible, and keep clear of it, the 
earth reflecting back the heat absorbed during 
methods. Any one who will choose a reasona- 
bly favorable location, and take interest enough 
in his vines to try and see hoio much lie can do for 
them, and yet do all things understandingly, can, 
be successful in grape culture, and can grow such 
varieties as Delaware and Iona, and also Ca- 
tawba, where the season is long enough to ripen 
it, as well as he can grow the Concord. In all 
cases the vines should be laid down and covered 
with earth in winter to insure the best results. 
The experience of the last fifteen years has at 
last convinced our vine growers that, by cover- 
ing their vines in the fall, they are as certain of 
a large crop of grapes every year as of a crop 
of corn ; for, with the exception of an occa- 
sional winter so cold as to injure, and sometimes 
entirely destroy the fruit buds of the vine, there 
is, nineteen years out of twenty, no danger to 
be feared. By covering the vines, even this un- 
certainty is removed, and it has been found that, 
even in years when we have no severe cold 
weather, covering the vines causes them to pro- 
duce better fruit and more of it, thus paying for 
the expense of covering, though the winter 
may have been in all respects most favorable. 
That the vines may be covered easily, they 
should be trained with that purpose in view, 
although almost any vine may be covered with- 
out injury if care is used in bending down the 
canes. My method of training is the arm and 
spur system, the only difference being that in 
place of growing up a single cane, and taking 
the two arms from it at one foot from the 
ground, I grow each arm from as near the 
ground as possible, and train them at an angle 
up to the first wire, which is one foot from the 
ground ; then along the wire. These arms, 
when untied from the trellis, readily go to the 
ground their whole length, and, of course, are 
easily covered. This is done by one man bend- 
Fig. 1. — VINE TRAINED WITH TWO ARMS. 
the day, and thus keeping the surrounding air 
at a more even temperature. The vine grower 
should be as careful not to let his vines bear too 
large a crop as to get a good crop from them ; 
and to secure this I know of no better method 
of training than the double or single arms. 
ing down the arms, while another, with a spade, 
throws on enough earth to hold the arm iu its 
place; then, with a plow, throw a furrow on it 
from each side, continuing the plowing until all 
the ground is turned, leaving a dead furrow in 
the middle between the rows. This is all done 
Fig. 2. — VINES TliAINEO WITn ONE ARM. 
No one who has once thoroughly tried these 
will train his vines in any other way. These 
are the most simple and the most easily under- 
stood, and less troublesome thau any other 
very rapidly, two men covering one thousand 
vines per day ready for the plow, so that 
covering is, after all, but a small matter, com- 
pared with the value of the crcp, which is ren- 
