AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
65 
planted. Here is one of the great mistakes that 
is often made. The grape-vine has a large vol¬ 
ume of root, all of which is required to support 
the extensive development of the upper growth, 
consequently it is easily seen that, unless the vine 
be established in the earth, and there is a corre¬ 
sponding amount of feeders, the fruit and branch¬ 
es must lack nourishment. For the vineyard, 
either cuttings or one year old plants are best, and 
for the grapery such plants should always be pre¬ 
ferred. It is batter to have an abundance of 
healthy roots, with a small well-ripened stem, 
than the reverse. For out-door culture, the plants 
may be arranged at the distance of five feet each 
way ; and for the grapery three feet, in a row, and 
along the inside front of the house. In the former 
case, when cuttings are used, or if the plants have 
been raised from cuttings, there will be roots 
emitted along the buried part of the stem, and the 
planting should be equally deep for the sake of re¬ 
taining the whole of them, and also enabling the 
vine to have a main reservoir to feed from in dry 
weather; but in the latter, deep planting should 
always be avoided, and more particularly if the 
borders be not raised above the ground level, or 
if they are made of over rich materials, for the 
roots, under such circumstances, are very sub¬ 
ject to rot. The annexed three illustrations will 
show our meaning in this respect: 
'a) The rooted plant, for the vineyard, or out-door culture. 
(b) A cut ting prepared and planted for the same. 
(c) The rooted plant raised from a bud, as it should be planted 
in the grapery. 
It is expected that pruning has been completed 
before this time; if not so, do it without delay. 
When pruning is deferred until late, the vines will 
“ bleed ” freely, and, although this does not al¬ 
ways materially injure them, it nevertheless pre¬ 
vents a vigorous burst of the foliage and young 
shoots, which retards the ripening and injures the 
quality of the fruit for the season. 
COLD GRAPERY. 
The vines may remain covered until the latter 
part of the present, or, in late situations, the be¬ 
ginning of next month. The house should be 
kept cool by having the ventilators and doors open 
at all times, except during severe frost. After 
the covering is removed, clean the house and make 
all neat. Fork the inside beds, and give a thor¬ 
ough syringing over the whole house. 
FORCING HOUSE. 
This is the mo6t trying month in the season 
where grapes are being forced early, as, generally 
speaking, the roots are in a cold bed, and, not¬ 
withstanding there may be a sufficient covering 
on the surface, still the soil lacks the genial heat 
which a summer sun imparts to it, while at the 
same time the branches are exposed to a temper¬ 
ature and atmosphere suitable to their healthy 
action. This difference of condition and artificial 
position, tends to the development of the plant, it 
is true, but the expanded leaves have not the re¬ 
quisite supply of organic matter flowing through 
them, which causes them to remain more than 
usually thin and watery. The weather too, at 
this time, is fickle, one day being mild, cloudy 
and moist, while the next may be dry, cold and 
windy, with severe frost. These sudden differ¬ 
ences require the greatest care and watchfulness, 
else after a day of severe weather the leaves will 
suddenly wilt and be destroyed when the sun’s 
I powerful rays strike them. During these cold 
days do not open any but the top ventilators, and 
these no more than is necessary to keep the ther¬ 
mometer at 85° ; dampening the floor, sides and 
ends of the house, so as to secure a humid atmos¬ 
phere, which will assist the circulation of the sap 
in the leaves by absorbing the moisture through 
the stomata, or breathing pores, on the under side. 
Be careful to keep a steady range of temperature, 
from 55° to 60° at midnight, and 70° in cloudy, 
with a rise to 85° on sunny days. Break off all 
superfluous growing shoots, and pinch out the 
overplus bunches of fruit blossoms, leaving only 
one bunch on a spur, unless the number of bunches 
are deficient upon the vines. Tie all needful 
shoots to the wires in regular order, and in a neat 
manner, as fast as they attain a sufficient length, 
but not sooner, as they are very brittle at the 
first start. 
SECOND EARLY HOUSE. 
We will presume that the forwarding of this 
house has only been going on some two weeks. 
Proceed as advised for commencement last month. 
And here I wish fo correct an error which oc¬ 
curred in the last number. In the advice for for¬ 
cing, and the house in leaf at the time, the sen¬ 
tence reads: “Where forcing is just commen¬ 
cing, 60° is quite enough.” This was intended 
to apply to the highest range of the ther¬ 
mometer at midnight, when the vines are in a 
growing state :—such a night heat would ma¬ 
terially injure any crop, if long continued at the 
commencement of forcing. The right tempera¬ 
ture will be found at the bottom of the same par¬ 
agraph. Do not be afraid of using water freely 
over the vines, and all the inside surface of the 
house. There is no danger of the inside bed be¬ 
coming too wet if the water be distributed judi¬ 
ciously. So soon as all the buds are well and 
equally burst, tie the vines in their proper position 
for the season, and do not be in too great a burry 
to increase the heat, but let nature have her own 
way without undue excitement. 
RETARDING HOUSE. 
This part of grape culture has not yet become 
as general as it ought to be. The intention is to 
keep back or retard the ripening of the fruit, so 
as to have it fit for use during the winter months. 
This is a great desideratum, as during the winter 
a higher price is obtained for grapes than at any 
other season of the year. Those who can afford 
to keep their own competent gardener, and have 
the conveniences for the purpose, can enjoy this 
luxury individually, but there are many others in 
all our large cities, to whom cost is no object, 
providing such rarities are to be had. At present 
the demand far exceeds the supply. Instead of 
fine black Hamburghs, or others of like quality, 
there is nothing for sale but the White Lisbon and 
Black Portugal, two inferior kinds, which are ren¬ 
dered still worse by long keeping, and the sea 
voyage lrom Portugal and other parts of Southern 
Europe. It is to the commerical grower that we 
would more particularly speak in this case, for 
there is a fine chance for those to make money 
who will take it up. Those who may wish to have 
a house of this kind will do well to choose a west¬ 
ern aspect, as the object is to prevent the vines 
from commencing growth early, and the advan¬ 
tage of this position will be recognized, as the sun 
will not have much influence until the beginning 
of summer. As we proceed, hints will be given 
for this specialty. In the mean time, keep the 
atmosphere dry and cool, but if there be any 
grapes still hanging do not let the frost in. 
OUT-DOOR CULTURE. 
If the vines have not beep neatly tied to the 
trellis or stakes, do it at once. When the branch¬ 
es are left to be dashed about by the equinoctial 
gales, or even handled when the buds are swelling, 
they are usually injured. Remove all the really 
loose bark and examine if there be any chrysalis 
or eggs of insects in the crevices, if so, destroy 
them ; and when there is only a limited quantity 
of vines, and time can be spared, it makes sure 
work if both branches, and trellis should be 
washed over with the mixture mentioned last 
month. Near a dwelling-house or other building 
this ought to be done every season, for in such 
places the insects are often more numerous, and 
have better chances of protection through the 
winter. Have an eye to 
neatness and finish, and as 
soon as the weather will per¬ 
mit fork over the surface, 
working in the manure applied 
in the Fall as a mulch, or 
other dressing as is necessary 
at the same time. 
The accompanying figures 
show two other methods of 
training for the hardy kinds. 
No. 1 is best adapted for vine¬ 
yards ; (a) the bearing branch¬ 
es ; (b) shoots of the present year, and intended 
for fruiting the next season ; (c) stakes. 
No. 2 makes a neat form along the sides of a 
a path. The branches may be increased in length 
from year to year, the lateral growth being cut 
into two eyes at pruning time. 
PLANTING AND GRAFTING TREES. 
RAINY-DAY RAMBLES NO. III. 
As I walked through the orchard with neigh¬ 
bor Thomas, he called my attention to some 
straight and symmetrical apple trees, that were 
indeed beautiful. He said, “ we cannot take too 
much pains with our trees, in forming their heads 
and trimming out all unnecessary branches. I 
go over mine every year and cut out the useless 
shoots, before they grow large and make a bad 
wound in removing,” Well neighbor, how are 
these trees set out, I queried 1 “ In the first place, 
get the most thrifty trees you can procure. I do 
Hot like them less than one inch, nor much ovei 
two in diameter, near the ground. Larger trees 
are difficult to transplant without injury, and the 
growth is more retarded. I have known much 
smaller trees to exceed them in size, in five 
years. We have numberless varieties, and with 
careful selection, thriftiness of growth, excellency 
of quality and productiveness may be united in 
one. Many of our best varieties for the dessert 
are such slow growers and shy bearers that it is 
best to reject them. In setting them, don’t do 
as my neighbor William who had a man hold the 
tree while another marked the circumference 
around the roots with a spade, and crowded in the 
tree after the fashion of a post. Don’t be afraid 
of digging the hole too large. Take the surface 
soil, or sod, and put it in a heap, then dig out a 
foot or so of subsoil, unless it be a hard pan which 
will hold water, and cart it off, or throw it away. 
Then replace the surface earth or sod to form a 
bottom for the tree to rest on. Plant so that the 
tree will be of the same depth, after the earth has 
settled, as in the nursery. Now if there is a well- 
rotted compost prepared beforehand, or any wood- 
