Grape: Growing. 5 
growth. And since we must check growth later in the season, that 
the fruit may ripen properly, it is important that we get as large a 
growth of both vines and fruit as early in the season as possible. 
The vineyard will profit by an occasional plowing, and if the land 
is not stirred well during the process of covering and uncovering 
it should be plowed some time during the fall or early winter. It 
may be plowed in the spring, but it will be more difficult to irrigate 
the first time. If the land is plowed from the time the vineyard 
is set, deep plowing will not injure the vineyard in any way. Early 
surface cultivation should be made to take the place of irrigation as 
far as possible. If the vines are not trellised the vineyard may be 
cultivated both ways to good advantage. One of the A-shaped 
single-horse cultivators will be found most convenient for vineyard 
word. After the first of August surface cultivation should be dis¬ 
continued and the soil allowed to dry out. 
Irrigation .—Really the irrigation of the vineyard is one of the 
most important operations in its management. The injudicious 
use of irrigation water is responsible for a greater part of the grape 
grower’s grief. The tendency among growers is to use far too 
much water. The excessive use of water, although it may not be 
sufficient to actually injure the vines, is largely responsible for the 
loss from attacks by mildew and, more than anything else, for the 
poor shipping qualities of Colorado-grown vinifera grapes. One 
does not realize the importance of having the ground dry during 
the ripening season of the fruit until he has seen the grapes ripen¬ 
ing in the California vineyards. Here the vines are robbed of half 
their foliage by the drought of late summer and, as a result, the 
flavor of the fruit is far superior to that of Colorado-grown grapes. 
The drought prevailing during the ripening season is at least par¬ 
tially responsible for the high sugar content of many California- 
grown grapes. A grape must carry a high per cent, of sugar to ship 
well; in other words, it must be well ripened. Still the Colorado 
grape grower is not altogether to blame, for if he were to allow 
his vineyard to dry out to the extent that the vines should begin to 
drop their foliage, his over-solicitous neighbors would go out of 
their way to advise him that the vines would surely die. 
Two points should be observed in the use of water with ref¬ 
erence to its relation to the growth of mildew. In the first place, 
the old system of running irrigation water near the rows and under 
the vines is a mistake. This plan wets the surface of the ground 
under the plants where it is slow to dry out and creates a moist at¬ 
mosphere conducive to the growth of mildew. The grapes also 
drop down in this furrow and are covered with mud, which induces 
cracking and decay. A better plan is to run one furrow midway 
between the rows, make this furrow deep and avoid flooding the 
