EXCELSIOR 
83.00 PER VEAR. 
Single No., Eight Cents 
j 41 Park Row, New York 
( 82 Uull'nlo St., Rochester. 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MAY 15,18B9 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year by D. D. T. Moore, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court »f the United States for the Southern District of New York.) 
later—earlier than the Catawba; vino as 
healthy as Catawba, next to Concord. 
At Sheffield and Avon Point, It was re¬ 
ported the Catawba set a moderate crop, 
though some vineyards suffered from rot; a 
portion ot the fruit ripened uo us to he mar¬ 
ketable, but the greater part was overtaken 
by frost, as elsewhere. Air. Terrell, on 
clay ridge, four miles from the lake, had a 
fair Crop of Isabella, Delaware, and Iona; 
Catawba seldom ripens with him. lias frost 
earlier than on Hie lake shore. 
At Dover Bay, Mr. Mottier and others 
said the crop of Clinton, Concord, Ives, and 
Delaware was quite good; Catawba rotted a 
little; did not ripen perfectly. 
A t. Rockport, Capt. Spa muni; said, on his 
driest clay land, Catawbas ripened fairly, 
though not as sweet as usual. Concord and 
Norton's Virginia ripened a fair crop. Iona 
bore too much fruit, and foliage failed he tore 
it ripened; Delaware much the same—both 
should have been thinned. Roger's numbers 
3, 4, and in did pretty well, but foliage mil¬ 
dewed somewhat. Adirondac and Lsraolla 
had grown poorly with him. 
Dr. Kirtland said he was much pleased 
with the Rogers grapes; had various num¬ 
bers, all of them good. No. 8 was quite 
rare, and was u good fruit, not tested in 
many localities; it had done well with him 
until the past season, when it. mildewed 
badly, perhaps owing to pretty severe sum¬ 
mer pruning, which he would not practice 
again. Lie has found advantage from thin¬ 
ning his Catawba and othur grapes when set 
at all full; and he practices manuring all 
the moderate growing sorts, with very good 
results. He astonished his friend Carpen¬ 
ter, at the State Fair last fall, witli his 
bunches of Mottled — the results of thinning 
and manuring. 
J. A. Harris of Cleveland, lias a vine¬ 
yard on the lake shore ui Rockport, soil a 
sluiley clay. Catawba promised pretty well, 
but did not ripen perfectly, and wus injured 
by frost. Delaware, a good crop and healthy 
vine. Iona, very good crop and better foliage 
than Delaware; prefers it, to all others for 
his own and family use. Gathered the lonas 
after the first, frost; the fruit was so ripe it 
was not injured. Rogers’ 15 ripened well; 
did not thin his fruit nor summer prune 
vines. Rebecca hud done well with him; 
Adirondac rather a poor grower. 
At East Cleveland the Catawba had not 
ripened well, especially on level or sandy 
soils. On dry, clayey lands the crop was fair. 
Concord and Delaware ripened a good crop. 
GRAPE GROWING 
BY P. R. ELLIOTT. 
[Concluded from page 393, last number.] 
Figure 10 shows a Concord at its first year 
of fruiting—third year. I give these figures 
to show how relatively different the appear¬ 
ance on paper, as well as in the vineyard, are 
vines from which the laterals have been re¬ 
moved, as compared with those where they 
are left to grow. Let us now go to the 
Fonrlli Seaaou, 
in which Figure 11 shows the vine from 
which fruit has been kept, as it should be 
pruned in November of the third year. Fig¬ 
ure, 12 shows the pruning back of Figures 8 
or 9, which have been shown, not because 1 
believe in fruiting vines, as a rule, thus early, 
but having been done the vines must be 
pruned. These canes are tied down to the 
lower wire in spring, and canes for another 
year’s fruiting grown from the lower buds. 
Many a vineyard has been Injured for 
years by too great cropping the first season. 
During this summer the laterals are to 
be pinched hack or stopped when titty have 
made a growth of three, four, or five buds, or 
leaves. Afterward these laterals will again 
grow, and if by this menus the vine is getting 
too thick so that the sun and light do not 
reach all the foliage, they may again be 
pinched hack; but if the sun and light reach 
all clearly, it is as well to let them alone. 
The fruit bearing canes are to be stopped 
at from three to five buds, or leaves from the 
last hunch of fruit. If there are two bunches 
of fruit on the stem, then leave five buds; if 
only one bunch, then shorten to three buds. 
The main canes should never he stopped un¬ 
til after the fruit has become colored ; then, 
if they hang over the trellis too heavily, they 
may have the end pinched, but not to the 
destruction of a single or even half-fonucd 
leaf. If this is done too early, or about the 
time that the fruit commences to color, the 
last buds on the main shoot commence to 
grow, and the sap is expended in the forma¬ 
tion ol new leaves and wood, instead of per¬ 
fecting buds and fruit already formed. 
During this summer, canes from dormant 
buds will start from the main stem, (A. fig. 
13.) These should be permitted to grow 
from two to four buds and then stopped, un¬ 
less they are wanted for the purpose of re¬ 
newing the vine. In sucti case, which does 
not often occur, three or four are permitted 
to grow full length, and in autumn the 
strongest only retained for the next year’s 
work, all the old wood above being cut en¬ 
tirely away. Wherever a vine can be re¬ 
newed from strong, healthy buds, above the 
line of these dormant, buds, it is always best 
to do so. Figure 13 shows the vine as grow¬ 
ing during this, the fourth summer, and fig¬ 
ure 14 (see next page) shows the same pruned 
hack in autumn for the coming year, when 
a full crop may be obtained. 
From this time onward the process, as 
here described, is to be continued and re¬ 
peated, each year seeing that strong, new 
canes are found starting at, or below, the 
lower wire, and never leaving more wood 
at the autumn pruning than exhibited in our 
drawing. 
As a rule, it may be said that when a vine 
does not ripen its wood well, it has been per¬ 
mitted to bear more fruit than it was capable 
of maturing without loss to its regular, 
healthy system. 
Never strip the leaves from a vine. Some 
do it under the impression that the sun 
ripens the fruit. The leaves are essentially 
requisite to the ripening of the fruit, and the 
Catawba a general failure; Hartford, Con¬ 
cord and ivea rotted some, but ripened 
a small crop; Delaware set pretty well 
and escaped rot, but foliage not very 
good and fruit ripened poorly; Iona and 
Rogers’ Hybrids rotted considerably, and 
leaves suffered. Weather of June very had. 
At Vermillion, Mr. Summers said the Ca¬ 
tawba ripened a fair crop on dry clay soils; 
but generally failed to ripen, and Buffered 
injury by frost the 17th of October. Dela¬ 
ware, Isabella and Concord, produced a fair 
crop, and the Iona, where fairly treated, 
proved quite satisfactory. All suffered more 
or less from the storms of June, but not as 
much as at Sandusky and the Islands. 
At Berlin, Mr. Lowry said, there was a 
fair crop of Catawbas on the elevated lands, 
and some of the fruit ripened so as to be 
saleable, though not very sweet; and a good 
deal was injured by frost before ripe. Dela¬ 
ware, Iona and Israel la produced fair crops. 
Mr. PuiLLirs of Berlin Heights, had a good 
crop of Concord, Delaware and Iona. 
At Brownhehn, Mr. Hopkins had a good 
crop of Delaware, Concord and Iona. Ca¬ 
tawbas looked well, but did not ripen per¬ 
fectly on sandy ridge, three miles from the 
lake. The Iona held Its foliage well—better 
than the Delaware; fruit ripened a little 
Figure 13. 
GRAPES—EXPERIENCE IN 1868 
At the late meeting of the Lake Shore Grapo 
Grower’s Association In Cleveland, 0., reports 
were given respecting the conduet of the dif¬ 
ferent varieties of grapes in the localities 
named. The following 
abstract of these reports 
may be of use to the mul¬ 
titude of readers who are 
still asking the question, \y 
“What grapes shaU we _ 
plant?” — m. b. a. *" /yAiJ 
On Kelley’s Island, vby 
Air. Huntington said, (* 
the vineyards are nearly 
all Catawba, and the^C^TYvj OAV 
crop was the poorest ^ y 
ever known there; fail- \ Pftii 
ure mostly owing to the \ 
rotting of the fruit just —w-— rfr— 
after the blossoms had y~~7^ 
set, in consequence, no /’A ' 
doubt, of the excessive > 
rains in the latter part offrjQ t p 
June. What little fruit Vafrjtw. 
escaped the rot, tailed to IQ/ r*r\ v 
ripen well, owing to the jrywj 
cool autumn and unusu- 
ally early frosts. Other - ' - ^ o _ 
varieties, as Concord, 
Delaware, etc., fared lit- Wm) V 
tie better than Catawba, u/' 
and ripened a scanty r\ 
crop. v 
Around Sandusky . -, _ 
Air. Richmond said the 
grapes fared about tho 
same as on th« Islands. 
Figure 11.— Vinb as Fall Pruned Third Year. 
Figure 13.— Growing Vine, Fourth Summer. 
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