Vol. LXV No. 2930. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 24, 1906. 
WEEKLY. *1.00 PEtt VtiAK. 
SAVING AN OLD VINEYARD. 
We have about 50 Concord grapevines 25 to 30 years old 
on an old wooden trellis in a thick .Tune-grass sod. The 
vines have not been pruned for several years, and last year 
the grapes nearly all rotted. How should these vines be 
treated to bring them back to a good bearing condition? 
I have thought of taking the old trellis out and cutting the 
vines all away, and plowing and cultivating thoroughly. 
How near the ground should they be cut, and at what time? 
Ohio. READER. 
Cut the vines off level with the surface of the ground 
with a saw. New canes will grow from the crown, 
starting just below the surface. Allow only enough of 
these to grow to furnish the requisite number of canes 
to train on the trellis, rubbing off all the others as they 
appear. Tie the new canes to the trellis as growth 
advances, pruning the following year as with new vines. 
Plow and cultivate the ground thoroughly. In this way 
the vines may be brought back to good bearing condi¬ 
tion in one year. We have done this twice in our own 
experience, once with the vines in 
just the condition described by your 
correspondent. e. h. pratt. 
New York. 
The idea of removing trellis, 
breaking up the sod and cultivat¬ 
ing thoroughly is a good one, plow¬ 
ing and cultivating rather shallow 
so as not to break too many of 
the roots. Cut the vines off at the 
ground; before the buds start is 
preferable. Keep all sprouts down 
but one or two as preferred, so as 
to get a strong growth. I use posts 
about six feet high with three No. 
12 wires; the lower one about two 
feet up from the ground. Keep 
them pruned so the sunshine gets 
at them, and you ought not to be 
troubled with rot. A. e. griner. 
Missouri. 
Thirty years ago I had charge of 
Mr. Ryckman’s vineyards and 
t rounds at Brocton, Chautauqua Co. 
1 his was the old homestead of 
Deacon Fay, the pioneer of the 
grape industry in this belt, and 
Mr. Ryckman’s grandfather. Near 
the house was the original first Ca¬ 
tawba vine that was transferred 
from Georgetown, D. C., to Chau¬ 
tauqua Co. This vine had sheltered 
many generations of chickens, had 
not been trimmed for many years, 
and was just like any of his breth¬ 
ren growing wild upon the banks 
of the Catawba River. When the 
lawn around the house was graded it was decided that 
for sentiment’s sake this vine must be saved and put 
in shape so as to be an ornament instead of an eye¬ 
sore. I he shortest branch of this vine was nearly 100 
feet bare to first new canes. This one was selected, 
all the rest cut away to the base. The bare part was 
buried six inches deep in a circle starting and ending 
at the root-stool, leaving a trunk eight feet high; tying 
it to a post with a cross at the top and keeping it 
pruned and trained in the shape of a Kilmarnock wil¬ 
low, and to-day this trunk is self-sustaining; so much 
for sentiment. Now for the practical view. If your 
reader wants to retain the old grapevines they ought 
to be cut back to within one foot of the ground, thor¬ 
oughly cultivated, the earth removed around the trunk, 
down to the crown of the root, and this place mulched 
with some loose material of any kind. That crown of 
the roots is full of dormant buds, and here he must 
begin to get good vines. I would find some other 
location to start, and plant one-year vines, and be 
sure that in three years I would have good vines and 
fruit for some time as the result of this additional work. 
New York. g. schoenfeld. 
If the vines are in poor condition only, and not dis¬ 
eased, three things, if rightly done, will bring them 
almost at once into good, thrifty, bearing condition—■ 
prune, fertilize, spray. Prune off an amount equal to 
two-thirds or three-quarters of last season’s growth. 
Do this at once, before sap flows much, or if too late 
for that wait a while till new growth is four to six 
inches long. Leave canes of last year’s, growth two to 
four feet long for bearing wood this year. A good 
strong vine can stand three to ten such canes. Do 
not cut old stocks off at the ground unless one or more 
new sprouts have started from this point. If one or 
more sprouts have started here it is often well to save 
the best one and train it for two or three seasons, so 
that it may take the place of old stock. Sometimes 
vines do better when renewed in this way. Fertilize 
with ground bone and muriate of potash, one pound 
of each per vine, scattered evenly as far as roots are 
liable to reach. Keep grass and weeds cut close. If 
growth of vine is not vigorous scatter two or three 
forkfuls of stable manure about each vine. If vines 
make a strong, vigorous growth do not use either 
bone or manure, just muriate of potash. If the grapes 
have rotted all this will avail nothing if spraying is 
neglected. Good treatment, bad treatment, or no treat¬ 
ment at all, all seem to have no bearing on the rot 
proposition. Spray with 4-6-50 (four vitriol, six lime, 
50 water) before blossoms open; spray again as soon 
as blossoms fall; again 10 days later. After this Bor¬ 
deaux will color fruit, so use six ounces blue vitriol to 
50 gallons of water. Spray twice or three times more 
at intervals of 10 days or so. If insects trouble vines or 
fruit add Paris-green or arsenate of lead to first two 
sprayings. If the work is thoroughly done your grapes 
will not rot. Any cheap hand pump will do the work as 
well as the most expensive outfit, but be sure that a 
thorough job is done. a. i. loop. 
Pennsylvania. •> * • 
PLANTING APPLES ON ROUGH LAND. 
I want to ask the Hope Farm man about planting Ail 
orchard this Spring. The location is on a hillside which 
slopes to the south and west: the southern slope is gentle, 
while that to the west is quite steep, so steep as to make 
it unadvisable to plow it very often. It used to be in pas¬ 
ture, but about It) or 12 years ago it was plowed and put 
into grass for cutting. The Timothy has ail run out, and 
there is now mostly June-grass and sometimes some clover. 
The land is, I think, a heavy loam underlaid with clay, 
at how great a depth I do not know. On the south side 
of hill, where the bank was cut into by a railroad company, 
it is said they found good brick clay. Farther back on 
the northerly and westerly slopes it is too wet at times for 
the growth of potatoes. On this particular field I think it 
is dry enough not to need draining. Must I plow this field 
and work it for a year or two before setting out to apples, 
or can I hope for good success by planting in sod, or can 
I cultivate for a few feet about each tree? I want the fruit 
for peddling in our local markets, where I peddle regularly 
twice a week. Of course an orchard is a somewhat per¬ 
manent thing, and should not be laid out simply with the 
present or near future only in mind. I propose to set a few 
trees of the various early and medium 
varieties, with an occasional tree or 
two of sweet apples, but the bulk of 
the orchard, which contains three to 
four acres, I desire in standard Win¬ 
ter varieties. I am situated in the 
very northeast corner of Connecticut. 
This hillside is back from the low 
lands and river about 100 rods, and 
there is a long, wide, open valley to 
the west, so there Is plenty of air 
and sunlight in the location desired. 
Can I do better in selecting varieties 
than to choose such kinds as I know 
grow here in this vicinity? Can you 
suggest a suitable list? J. B. 
We can only state what we shall 
do on similar land this Spring. We 
have just cut the brush and small 
trees off. Rows are marked out 32 
feet apart. This distance is taken 
because the field joins another in 
which are peach trees planted 16 
feet each way. We shall put the 
t .pple rows in line, skipping one 
row of peaches. The trees w.’U 
stand 30 feet apart in the row. 
Stakes are set now so as to be all 
ready for planting when the trees 
come. The trees will be cut back 
top and root—the latter so as to 
go into a hole a little over one 
foot in diameter. They are plant¬ 
ed about as Mr. Hitchings de¬ 
scribed on page 147 with the earth 
packed hard around the roots. 
Whenever possible about three 
furrows with a light plow are 
turned to the trees on either side, 
and this smoothed down with 
cultivator or hoe. If you had manure we would 
throw it around the tree—not close up to the trunk— 
but leaving about a foot of cleared space around the 
tree. This can be kept clean by scratching it over with 
hoe or rake, or a dust of lime over it will help.. Weeds, 
grass, trash or brush can be put around the trees. We 
use young cedars for this purpose. If you want to force 
the growth use a quantity of fertilizer scattered around 
the trees. 
While we believe that a better growth can be obtained 
by plowing and fitting the land beforehand it is not 
absolutely necessary to do so. We know that trees 
planted in sod and either well mulched or plowed for 
a narrow strip on the sides of the row, will make a 
fair growth of strong, solid wood. They will not be as 
large as the cultivated trees, but they will make a low. 
spreading head, come into bearing earlier and give fair 
crops of solid, high-colored fruit. At least that is our 
experience on rough land, and we would not go to the 
expense of fitting such land for the requirements of 
thorough cuture. As to varieties we would plant well 
SPECIMENS OF YORK IMPERIAL APPLES. Fig. 100. See Page 250. 
