338 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
For the AriHrican Agriculturist. 
How I Raise Grapes—Grapes in Cities 
and Villages—Farmers Read. 
It is surprising, Mr. Editor, that so few farm¬ 
ers raise grapes, even for home use. The Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist has said a good deal on the sub¬ 
ject, but not enough yet, I find; for only last 
week some of my friends living on a farm of 
100 acres were in ecstasies over a nice basket of 
grapes, received from my three-year old vines 
growing on a city lot of only 25 by 75 feet, and 
having only 20 feet square for a garden. They 
had grown no such luxury, and yet they sub¬ 
scribe for the Agriculturist! The fact is, they 
confessed that they had always skipped over all 
the grape articles as something for amateurs or 
horticulturists, and not for farmers. I showed 
them how easy it is to get good grapes in abun¬ 
dance, and at little cost and trouble, and they at 
once decided to put out a few vines without 
further delay. They thought I ought to tell the 
readers of the Agriculturist just what 1 told 
them; so here it is: 
Three years ago last Spring I built, at odd 
hours, a rude frame-work against the south-west 
side of my house, whicli answered not only as a 
trellis for grape-vines, but also as a screen against 
the sun on hot afternoons, when covered with 
foliage. Six posts, six feet above the ground, 
were set five feet apart, and ten feet from the 
house. Strips were nailed across, and small 
rafters run from the tops of the posts slanting- 
up against the side of the house, with strips 
across them also. Such a frame work, though 
convenient, is not necessary, as the vines may 
be trained up against the side of a house, or on 
a fence, or almost anywhere else that any thing 
can be found for them to run on. 
Now for the vines. Four holes, 3 feet across, 
. and 3 feet deep, were dug at the outside of the 
frame, and one at each corner of the house. 
These holes were filled with good surface soil 
obtained from the top soil of a cellar being dug 
near by. Some bones from the butcher’s, and 
some chip manure from the wood shed were 
mixed in with the soil; also a barrow load to 
each hole of well-rotted manure—the sweepings 
from a livery stable near at hand. A moderate 
quantity of soap suds and dish water applied 
from time to time since, is all the fertilizers 
given. After the holes were dug and filled as 
above described, I obtained six Isabella grape 
vines, two years old, and well rooted, at a cost 
of 37£ cents each. These were carefully set, 
spreading the roots. The first year about six 
feet of vines were made. In Autumn I cut them 
down to within two feet of the ground. The 
next Spring a single shoot from the bottom eye 
of each stalk was trained up the frame, and 
grew about 12 feet. About 4 feet of the tops 
were cut off in Autumn, and the remaining 8 
feet simply laid down upon the ground at the 
bottom of the trellis, out of the way. 
In the Spring, when the buds began to swell, 
the canes were tied up on the frame or trellis. 
All the eyes sent out one or more side bearing 
shoots, but where more than one shoot start¬ 
ed from the same eye, it was rubbed off. The 
others mostly set fruit, of which only one clus¬ 
ter nearest the main stem was allowed to grow 
on the same side shoot. When the fruit was 
about the size of peas, I stopped the further 
growth of the side shoots by pinching them off 
two leaves beyond the cluster. The result was, 
fine large bunches of grapes along the whole of 
the 8 feet of the previous year’s growth. In the 
mean time the vines extended upward over the 
trellis, and enough side shoots were allowed to 
grow to partly cover the trellis or frame. In 
November I cut off about 2 feet of the ends of 
the main stems, and of the leading side shoots. 
The bearing side shoots were cut back to one 
bud from the main stem. The whole vines 
were then coiled up and laid down for Winter 
on the ground. In Spring the vines were tied 
up, and the same course pursued with the main 
stems and branches as with the main stems last 
3 r ear. This year I have had about 15 pounds 
of fine grapes on each vine. If all had grown 
without pinching off, I should have had 50 
pounds to the vine, but I am seeking to get good 
strong healthy vines. The two crops have paid 
all trouble and cost thus far, and I shall here¬ 
after have a large crop annually, with little fur¬ 
ther care or expense. Crvis. 
---o --■=©!=--. - 
Tilling Orchard Lands. 
It is doubtless well to cultivate the ground in 
which young orchards stand. By this, we mean 
that the land is to be manured and worked, as 
well as cropped. It is supposed, also, that in 
plowing great pains is taken to guard against 
barking the young trees by the whiffie-tree, or 
having them gnawed or broken down by horses. 
But when the trees have arrived at bearing age, 
it is better to suspend plowing among the roots. 
The loss will be greater than the gain, for it is 
impossible to avoid loosening and breaking the 
roots ; and if this be done, it is sure to engender 
disease, stint the growth, and lead to premature 
decay. When an old orchard, having long stood 
in sod, gets napping, moss-grown, and scantily 
fruitful, the best way is to scarify the surface 
with a harrow, and afterward apply a good 
dressing of manure. 
Wounds in Trees. 
The best waj r to manage them is to trim the 
edges smootli with a sharp knife, and then ap¬ 
ply grafting wax, or clay, or dissolved shellac. 
The latter we have used for many years, and 
value it highly. Get about four ounces of the 
gum at an apothecary’s, break it up fine, and 
put it in a bottle. Then pour in a quart of al¬ 
cohol, and shake the whole vigorously together. 
It will be of the consistence of cream, and may 
then be applied with a brush. It soon hardens, 
and forms a varnish which protects the wound 
from air and moisture, and permits the bark to 
heal over before the wood beneath has decayed 
at all. Whenever a tree is pruned, all limbs 
larger than one’s finger should be at once cov¬ 
ered with this or some similar preparation. 
Feeding Trees. 
A friend asks what he shall do to make his 
lawn trees grow more vigorously. They have 
been ten years planted, yet do not grow as rap¬ 
idly as they ought, and the foliage does not 
look bright and green. 
For all ordinary purposes, it is sufficient to 
spread old manure on the surface of the ground 
over the roots in the Fall oftlie year, raking off 
the coarser parts in the Spring. A large part of 
the virtue of the manure will find its way into 
the soil between November and May. 
But where this does not suffice, one can adopt 
the plan often employed by arboriculturists in 
Europe, viz.: of feeding the trees in trenches. 
It is, substantially, as follows : Ascertain by a 
little examination where the main roots of a 
tree lie, and, having followed each one out to its 
extremities, open trenches there, say two feet 
wide, throw out the poor soil, and fill its place 
with rich virgin mold from an old pasture. Or 
any common garden soil will do, enriched, per¬ 
haps, with a little old manure. Fill up the 
trenches, and cover the same with the sods first 
taken off'. In doing this, however, great care 
will need be taken, to avoid mangling the small 
fibers. Better not undertake the work at all, if 
it can not be done leisurely and carefully. Where 
the operation has been well performed in the 
writer’s own grounds, the trees so treated have 
started into fresh luxuriance, making rapid 
growth of wood, and putting on new richness 
and beauty of foliage. 
— ■ ■ -efr—4 — — > O — 
Making the Kitchen and Fruit Garden 
Ready for Winter. 
1. This is the great month for pruning grape¬ 
vines. Do you prefer the spur method ? Then 
cut back the laterals to two buds. One bud 
would be enough to leave, were it not possible 
that the Winter would kill it, and so leave you 
nothing to depend on. If the canes have been 
spurred many years, and lost a good portion of 
their eyes, it will be well to cut down a part of 
them every year, and train up new canes, until 
the whole vine is renovated. Or, perhaps you 
prefer the renewal mode ? Then cut down all 
the canes that bore fruit the present year, and 
train up the new canes of this year’s growth. 
Distribute the canes as evenly as possible over 
the trellis. When the pruning is done, let the 
vines rest for ten days or so, and then lay them 
down for the Winter. All tender grape-vines 
should be loosened from their trellises, laid 
on the ground, and covered with a few inches 
of soil. Fasten them to the ground with short 
stakes, or a few old boards laid over them care¬ 
fully, so as not to break the canes or injure 
the buds. Use no straw in covering them, as 
it is apt to attract mice. If you have some 
of the newer varieties which it would be de¬ 
sirable to propagate, now is the time to save 
the trimmings taken off in the Fall pruning. Cut 
them into pieces a foot or eighteen inches long, 
with two or three buds on each. Lay them 
away in moist sand in the coldest corner of your 
cellar; or they may be buried a foot deep in the 
dryest part of the garden. In Spring, the ends 
of the cuttings will be firmly calloused over, and 
will emit roots at once. 
2. Raspberries should now* go into their win¬ 
ter quarters. Bend the canes carefully to the 
ground, fasten them there with short stakes, 
throw on a light dressing of garden litter, such 
as carrot and beet tops, or old tomato and po¬ 
tato vines, then put on a covering of common 
soil two or three inches thick. They will come 
out in Spring with every bud fresh to the tips. 
3. Strawberry vines will sometimes winter 
well without any artificial protection, especially 
if snow lies on the ground all through the cold 
season. But to make sure work, the best way 
is to cover the vines on the approach of cold 
weather. Some use spent tan-bark or saw-dust; 
others use leaves, preventing their blowing off 
by the winds, by laying a little brush upon 
them; others use long manure from the barn¬ 
yard. We have tried each of these methods 
successfully, but prefer the tan-bark when it can 
be obtained. Where this is used, a part of it 
should be removed on the opening of Spring. 
4. If there are rows of dwarf pears in some. 
