1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
25i 
downward  flow  of  sap  and  aids  fruit  development.  The 
arms  should  not  be  so  long  as  to  touch  those  of  adjoin¬ 
ing  vines,  as  this  would  cause  a  mass  of  tangled  growth 
at  that  point,  unless  the  buds  or  shoots  were  pruned 
away.  A  space  of  a  foot  is  not  too  much  to  leave 
between  the  tips  of  the  arms.  One  or  both  of  these 
arms  may  be  brought  down  to  the  lower  wire,  as  shown 
at  Fig.  131  ;  but  this  would  detract  from  the  conven¬ 
ience  in  spraying,  with  no  corresponding  advantages 
of  an  increased  yield  even  of  an  inferior  quality  of 
grapes.  Let  me  say  here  that  a  theoretical  objection 
to  this  system  'advanced  by  some,  viz.— that  after  a 
few  years  the  vine  would  become  worthless,  for  the 
reason  that  the  arm  left  for  fruiting  would  necessarily 
be  further  removed  from  the  main  vine  each  year — ‘has 
tio  foundation  in  practice,  as  new  shoots  are  produced 
near  to  or  out  of  the  main  vine,  sufficient  for  this  pur- 
pose.  But  a  greater  consideration  than  convenience 
in  spraying  is  the  fact,  amply  demonstrated,  that 
better  grapes  are  produced,  with  less  work  in  trimming 
and  tying,  by  this  system  than  by  the  “four-arm” 
plan.  WARD.  D.  GUNN. 
From  a  Hudson  River  Grower. 
1.  Where  a  large  vineyard  is  to  be  set,  I  believe  it 
is  far  cheaper  for  the  average  grape  grower  to  pur¬ 
chase  his  vines  from  some  one  of  the  many  reliable  nur¬ 
serymen  than  to  propagate  them.  I  have  always  done 
so.  But  when  I  have  in  my  trial  rows  a  variety  of 
which  I  would  like  to  have  more  specimens,  and  the 
nurserymen’s  price  is  high,  I  increase  by  layering  or 
by  cuttings.  As  the  latter  method  requires  less  time 
and  attention  to  secure  the  same  number  of  vines,  I 
prefer  it,  although  ordinarily  a  few  stronger  ones 
may  be  obtained  by  layering. 
2.  Cuttings  may  be  taken  at  any  time  during  the 
late  fall  or  winter  months — preferably  just  before  the 
ground  has  frozen  hard  in  November  or  December. 
3.  Without  allowing  the  wood  to  dry,  after  it  has 
been  pruned  from  the  vine,  it  should  be  cut  in  lengths 
of  from  seven  to  ten  inches.  This  will  leave  two  or 
three  buds  on  each  cutting.  Just  below  the  lower  bud 
the  cut  should  be  made  square  across,  and  at  the  upper 
end  it  should  be  made  an  inch  or  two  above  the  top 
bud.  By  this  means  it  is  easy  to  tell  which  is  the 
upper  end  of  each  cutting.  For  a  small  quantity  the 
cuttings  may  be  tied  in  bundles,  placed  in  a  box  (an 
empty  raisin  box  is  suitable)  and  buried;  in  doing  this 
a  dry  place  should  always  be  chosen;  the  north  side 
of  a  fence  or  building  is  preferable,  as  the  swelling  of 
the  buds  in  the  spring  will  be  there  retarded.  Put  dirt 
enough  over  the  box  to  make  a  small  mound,  to  shed 
off  water.  It  should  not  be  disurbed,  until  the  buds 
on  growing  vines  have  swollen  as  large  as  peas.  By 
this  time  the  ground  will  have  settled,  and  be  in  good 
condition  for  working.  A  rich,  mellow  piece  of  soil, 
free  from  stones  is  best.  This  should  be  plowed  or 
spaded  deep  and  made  as  fine  and  mellow  as  possible. 
The  cuttings  should  be  placed  in  a  straight  row,  with 
the  top  buds  even  with  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
the  earth  be  pressed  very  firmly  around  them.  The 
best  way  I  have  found  to  do  this  is  to  lay  a  board  on 
the  ground,  so  that  one  edge  will  be  a  guide  for  mak¬ 
ing  the  row.  With  a  spade  throw  out  a  narrow  V- 
shaped  trench.  The  box  containing  the  cuttings  is 
then  taken  from  the  place  where  it  was  buried,  and 
its  contents  are  emptied  on  the  bed  near  the  board. 
It  will  be  found  that  the  buds  on  the  cuttings  have 
grown  larger  than  on  growing  vines  in  the  open  air. 
In  handling  the  cuttings,  be  careful  not  to  loosen  or 
break  off  any  of  the  buds.  Place  each  cutting  in  an 
upright  position  in  the  trench,  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
board.  If  care  be  taken  the  row  will  be  perfectly 
straight,  and  the  top  bud  of  each  cutting  will  be  even 
with  the  surface  of  the  ground  when  the  trench  is 
filled.  Haul  in  the  loose  earth,  so  as  to  fill  the  trench 
and  tramp  it  hard,  taking  great  care  not  to  disturb  the 
top  bud  on  any  cutting.  Then  carefully  fill  the  trench, 
so  as  to  nearly  cover  each  bud;  the  inch  or  two  of  wood 
left  above  the  top  bud  on  each  cutting  will  mark  the 
row.  The  surface  of  the  ground  should  be  kept  clean 
and  mellow  during  the  season.  Until  each  bud  has 
made  a  growth  of  two  or  three  inches,  great  care  is 
needed  in  hoeing  and  weeding,  lest  the  upper  bud 
should  be  broken  loose,  which  would  destroy  that  cut¬ 
ting.  If  well-ripened,  healthy  wood  has  been  used, 
every  cutting  should  not  only  live,  but  make  a  growth 
of  two  or  three  feet. 
4.  Here  in  Orange  County,  New  York,  I  prefer  spring 
planting. 
5.  This  depends  on  circumstances.  If  grapes  are  to 
be  grown  for  market,  on  hilly  land  like  most  of  that 
in  the  Hudson  River  Valley,  two  wires  at  the  heights 
of  3  and  5%  feet  make  the  best  and  cheapest  trellis. 
If  on  level  ground,  where  a  vineyard  may  be  cultivated 
both  ways,  the  arbor  style,  made  by  spiking  cross-bars, 
to  support  three  wires,  on  the  top  of  posts  set  about 
20  feet  apart,  6)4  or  7  feet  from  the  ground,  has  many 
advantages,  and  some  disadvantages;  while  for  family 
use  only,  any  style  of  trellis  that  suits  the  owner’s 
fancy  is  admissable.  w.  d.  b. 
Geo.  W.  Campbell’s  Choice. 
1.  Personally,  here  in  Delaware  County,  O.,  I  prefer 
to  propagate  grape  vines  from  single  eyes,  and  grow 
them  in  cold  green-houses  the  first  season.  For  my 
own  use  I  prefer  vines  so  grown  to  any  others.  The 
objection  to  this  mode  is  the  expense.  It  does  not  pay 
to  grow  any  except  the  new  and  high-priced  varieties 
in  this  way.  2.  I  have  cuttings,  both  for  out-of-doors 
and  under-glass  planting,  made  in  autumn,  soon  after 
the  fall  of  the  leaves  and  perfect  maturity  of  the 
wood.  3.  For  single-eye  cuttings,  one  and  a  half  to 
two  inches,  planted  in  sand  beds  with  artificial  bot¬ 
tom  heat,  early  in  April.  For  open-air  planting,  nine 
to  ten  inches  in  length,  with  two  or  three  eyes,  the 
bottom  cut  just  below  the  lower  bud.  These  are 
planted  in  spring  as  early  as  the  ground  can  be  put  in 
good  condition.  4.  Fall  planting  for  the  South,  or 
wherever  the  winters  are  mild  ;  spring  planting  for 
Northern  or  cold  regions.  5.  My  choice  has  always 
been  a  wire  trellis  of  three  wires,  galvanized ;  height, 
from  4 y2  to  5  feet.  geo.  w.  Campbell. 
From  a  Veteran  Expert. 
1.  By  cuttings,  if  many  plants  are  needed,  or  by 
layers,  if  only  for  a  plant  or  two.  For  rare  or  very 
costly  varieties,  by  single  eyes,  with  bottom  heat.  2. 
Preferably  in  autumn,  after  the  foliage  has  fallen.  3. 
I  make  the  cuttings  six  to  eight  inches  long,  with  not 
less  than  two  eyes  apiece.  Here,  in  Van  Buren  County, 
Mich.,  I  plant  them  in  spring,  after  they  have  been 
callused  by  being  buried  through  the  winter  and 
early  spring,  with  the  butts  upward,  in  a  warm  ex¬ 
posure.  We  open  a  trench  east  and  west ;  slope  the 
north  side  facing  the  midday  sun  ;  lay  the  cuttings 
against  the  slope,  with  the  upper  buds  at  the  surface  ; 
cover  with  an  inch  of  earth  ;  partially  fill  the  trench 
with  well-rotted  manure  ;  if  the  weather  is  too  dry, 
we  cover  to  the  level  of  the  surface  with  earth.  4. 
Preferably  early  spring  ;  in  mild  seasons  early  fall. 
5.  Where  laying  down  and  covering  are  necessary,  I 
prefer  an  upright  trellis  with  three  wires ;  in  climates 
where  laying  down  is  unnecessary,  a  horizontal  trellis 
with  four  wires  will  answer  best.  t.  t.  lyon. 
1.  I  prefer  to  propagate  vines  from  cuttings  in  case 
of  such  varieties  as  will  grow  in  this  way,  otherwise  by 
layering.  2.  From  November  to  February.  3.  From 
two  to  three  eyes,  according  to  the  distance  between 
them— generally  about  10  inches.  I  plant  the  cuttings 
about  April  1,  or  when  the  ground  is  in  tillable  condi¬ 
tion.  I  prepare  the  ground  and  work  it  to  the  depth 
of  12  to  15  inches,  and  place  the  cuttings  three  or  four 
inches  apart  in  rows.  4.  I  prefer  April  to  any  other 
time  for  planting,  as  everything  is  then  in  the  best 
condition  here,  in  Jefferson  County,  Ky.  5.  A  three- 
wire  trellis,  with  posts  24  feet  apart,  or  to  every  three 
vines,  set  straight  in  the  row,  with  good  heavy  wire, 
No.  11  galvanized  steel  preferably.  geo.  r.  wood. 
Manure  vs.  Chemicals. 
JOSEPH  HARRIS. 
I  have  shown  in  a  late  issue  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  that  by 
properly  fermenting  manure  we  lose  nothing  of  value 
and  gain  much  in  availability.  The  value  of  “avail¬ 
ability”  in  plant  food  is  not  generally  understood. 
What  are  called  chemical  fertilizers  owe  their  popular¬ 
ity  to  their  availability.  They  act  at  once.  You  put  a 
little  soluble  phosphate  of  lime  or  superphosphate 
under  the  seed  of  a  row  of  turnips  and  leave  the  adjoin¬ 
ing  row  without  any  and  in  two  or  three  days 
after  the  plants  are  up  you  can  see  a  striking  differ¬ 
ence.  On  the  one  row  the  strong,  vigorous  plants  will 
be  in  the  rough  leaf  and  ready  to  hoe  while  the  others 
are  weak,  and  nothing  but  timely  rain  and  a  growing 
season  can  enable  them  to  escape  the  attacks  of  “Jump¬ 
ing  Jack.”  The  farmer  or  gardener  who  sees  this 
effect  of  a  small  quantity  of  soluble  phosphate  for  the 
first  time  has  learned  something  he  will  never  forget. 
And  so  with  nitrate  of  soda :  you  sow  a  little  on  a 
young  tomato  plant  or  on  grass,  wheat,  barley,  oats, 
onions,  beets  and  other  crops  and  in  less  than  a  week 
the  dark  green  luxuriance  of  the  leaves,  which  are 
full  of  sap,  tells  the  story. 
There  is  nothing  new  about  this.  We  have  wit¬ 
nessed  these  effects  for  many  years.  It  is  45  years 
since  I  saw  superphosphate  applied  to  turnips  with 
precisely  the  effect  I  have  tried  to  describe  above,  and 
nitrate  of  soda  was  used  on  the  old  Moreton  Farm  in 
Shropshire,  England,  over  50  years  ago.  If  I  were  40 
years  younger  I  could  write  with  more  enthusiasm 
about  “chemicals.”  I  will  not  say  that  they  are  all 
that  is  claimed  for  them,  but  I  am  safe  in  saying  that 
they  often  produce  most  remarkable  results.  Why, 
stable  manure  contains  precisely  the  same  ingredients 
of  plant-food.  We  have  nitrogen  and  phosphates  in  the 
manure  and  the  only  difference  is  that  the  nitrogen  in 
the  nitrate  of  soda  and  the  phosphate  in  the  super¬ 
phosphate  are  more  available  than  in  the  manure.  Am 
I  wrong  in  calling  attention  to  this  important  point 
and  suggesting  that  we  shall  sooner  or  later  be  able  to 
readily,  easily  and  cheaply  make  our  manure  more 
available?  Instead  of  sending  to  Chili  for  nitrate  we 
can,  I  feel  confident,  mak;  it,  at  least  in  part,  on  our 
own  farms.  I  was  sorry  to  see  the  author  of  “Chemi¬ 
cals  and  Clover”  throw  a  stone  at  those  of  us  who  have 
faith  in  barnyard  manure.  But  I  agree  with  him  that 
it  does  not  pay  to  keep  animals  merely  to  make 
manure.  We  should  make  the  animals  pay  for  the 
food  they  consume  and  have  the  manure  thrown  in.  I 
am  very  fond  of  lamb  chops  and  good  beefsteak. 
A  well-known  nurseryman  in  Wisconsin  wrote  me  a 
few  days  ago  asking  what  fertilizers  he  could  use  on 
the  nursery  rows  of  apple,  pear,  cherry  and  plum 
trees  to  make  them  start  early,  grow  as  large  in  one 
year  as  they  now  do  in  two,  and  mature  their  buds  in 
the  fall  early  enough  to  stand  the  severe  winters.  He 
also  wanted  to  learn  what  to  use  on  currant,  goose¬ 
berry  and  strawberry  young  beds  to  get  the  quickest, 
earliest  and  strongest  growth  the  first  year.  He  was 
strongly  inclined,  he  said,  to  try  “  kainit  and  rotten 
bones.” 
Except  the  cost  of  hauling  a  quarter  to  three-quar¬ 
ters  of  a  mile,  he  can  get  all  the  stable  manure  he 
wants  for  nothing.  And  yet  he  wants  to  try  chemi 
cals  !  If  he  can  afford  to  use  chemicals — and  I  am  in¬ 
clined  to  think  he  can — it  is  very  certain  that  their 
value  does  not  depend  merely  on  the  plant-food  they 
contain,  but  on  their  availability.  If  this  nursery 
ground  is  not  full  of  every  element  of  plant-food,  my 
correspondent  is  not  living  up  to  his  privileges.  He 
can  get  manure  for  the  hauling,  and,  of  course,  this 
manure  contains  all  the  elements  of  plant-food.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  kainit' and  rotten  bones  that  he  pro¬ 
poses  to  use  that  is  not  in  the  manure.  There  is  noth¬ 
ing  in  any  of  the  so-called  complete  fertilizers,  under 
whatever  name  they  are  sold,  that  is  not  in  the 
manure.  There  is  nothing  in  superphosphate,  sulphate 
of  ammonia,  dried  blood,  fish,  cotton-seed  cake,  nitrate 
of  soda  or  potash  that  is  not  in  the  manure.  Why  should 
we  use  any  of  them  ? 
It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  there  are  but  two  things 
that  can  be  used  in  such  a  case  with  any  prospect  of 
advantage,  and  these  are  superphosphate  and  nitrate 
of  soda.  [Suppose  the  soil  needs  potash  ? — Eds.] 
Superphosphate  favors  early  maturity,  and  nitrate  of 
soda  will  stimulate  growth  early  in  the  season,  and 
will  be  all  gone  before  fall.  This  is  what  this  corre¬ 
spondent  wants.  He  says  he  could  have  saved  thousands 
of  dollars  if  he  could  have  secured  a  strong,  vigorous 
growth  in  the  early  summer,  and  fully  matured  wood 
and  buds  in  the  fall  that  could  withstand  severe  win¬ 
ters.  If  anything  will  do  this  it  must  be  superphos¬ 
phate  and  nitrate  ;  ordinary  manure  as  now  used  will 
not  do  this.  It  will  not  furnish  nitrates  early  in  the 
spring,  but  will  do  so  in  the  summer,  and  especially 
in  moist  weather  in  autumn.  This  is  precisely  what 
the  nurseryman  or  fruit-grower  does  not  want.  He 
wants  all  the  growth  he  can  get,  but  he  does  not  want 
the  trees  to  keep  on  growing’  till  stopped  by  frost. 
He  wants  them  to  grow  rapidly  early  in  the  spring 
and  summer,  and  become  thoroughly  ripened  in  the 
autumn.  Both  these  objects  can  be  attained.  But  we 
cannot  get  them  on  naturally  rich  alluvial  soil  abound¬ 
ing  in  organic  matter,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  we  can  get 
them  on  land  made  very  rich  by  ordinary  manure. 
At  any  rate,  in  either  case,  we  run  the  risk  of  having  a 
too  succulent  and  immature  growth  in  the  fall. 
Fighting  Frost  With  Smoke. 
Can  damage  to  crops  from  frost  be  averted  by  means  of 
smoke,  or  is  the  idea  that  it  can  a  scientific  theory 
never  carefully  and  practically  tested. 
Last  season  my  strawberries,  here  in  Garrett  County, 
Md.,  were  on  a  hill  generally  free  from  late  frosts. 
The  land  is  rolling,  the  field  having  two  slight  hol¬ 
lows,  perhaps  15  feet  in  depth,  which  crossed  the 
patch.  I  had  given  the  plantation  good  care  to  that 
late  date— the  middle  of  May— and  when  on  Saturday 
night  frost  was  threatened,  I  worked  hard  till  daylight 
on  Sunday  morning  with  a  good  assistant  in  the  at¬ 
tempt  to  avert  harm.  Most  of  the  night  the  air  moved 
but  slightly  and  the  range  of  temperature  was  close 
about  the  freezing  point.  The  weather  varied  from 
entirely  clear  to  cloudy.  We  had  the  best  of  material 
for  making  smoke,  the  land  being  newly  cleared  and 
the  margin  of  the  field  being  covered  with  roots,  rub¬ 
bish  and  leaves  on  the  windward  side.  Fires  were 
kindled  15  to  20  feet  apart  for  about  45  rods.  We  had 
two  good  tested  thermometers  and  each  change  was 
carefully  noted. 
Every  time  a  cloud  passed  over  or  whenever  the  sky 
became  cloudy  the  temperature  would  rise  three  to 
four  degrees,  but  we  could  produce  no  such  result 
with  our  smoke  and  in  the  morning  we  parted  uncer¬ 
tain  whether  our  smoke  had  done  one  atom  of  good, 
as  we  hadn’t  a  particle  of  reason  for  thinking  so. 
Scientific  theories  having  become  unsettled  in  my 
