332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[September, 
Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 
The Grape Vine—How It Grows and What 
to Do with It. — 8t7i Article. 
A notice of the more common systems of 
training the vine requires a mention of tlie Bow 
system, as it is one practised in a large number 
of vineyards, especially at the West. This meth¬ 
od is a favorite one with the Germans, and 
though it is not to be advised where a better 
plan can be followed, it has the advantage of 
requiring but little outlay. The vines are train¬ 
ed to stakes, and being but little extended, may 
be planted closer than when some of the other 
systems are adopted. In starting the bow, a 
vine with two strong canes is first established 
in the manner heretofore described. The canes 
being strong enough to bear fruit, one of them 
is cut back to two or three buds, and the other 
is pruned longer, leaving eight to twelve, as in 
Fig. 21. 
figure 19. The longer cane is made to form the 
bow, and' is tied to a stake, as in figure 20, or the 
eud is brought around so as to make a more or 
less complete circle. The shoots from the buds 
on the short arms are trained upright to the 
stake, to form canes for another season; while 
the buds upon the bow will throw out fruit-bear¬ 
ing shoots, which are pinched at two or three 
leaves beyond the last bunch of fruit, as shown 
in figure 21, in which the leaves are omitted, to 
better show the arrangement of the vine. After 
the bow has fruited, it is cut entirely away at 
pruning. One of the upright canes is taken to 
replace it, while the other cane is pruned to a 
short arm of two or three buds, to supply up¬ 
rights another year. The resemblance of the 
bow training to Guyot’s system will be seen 
by a comparison of the figure given in July 
last with the one here shown. In both, we 
have a vine with one long and one short arm, 
the short one being intended to furnish a yearly 
supply of fruiting canes; and the main differ¬ 
ence is that in the case of Guyot the long arm 
is kept horizontal, while in the other it is curved. 
The bow system is sometimes practised upon 
trellises, with the advantage that the vine is less 
liable to be beaten about by the winds. An 
illustration of this kind of training, as followed 
by Mr. Iiusmann, is seen in figure 22, taken 
from his work upon the grape. The right-hand 
vine is represented as it appears in autumn. A 
and C show where the cuts are made at pruning, 
and the cane B is shortened to a proper length 
to form the bow, as seen in the left-hand vine. 
The thinning of the fruit upon the bunches 
should not be neglected if the habit of the grape 
demands it. Most of the varieties grown in the 
open air do not require it, but a few make the 
bunches so compact that it is impossible for the 
air to circulate freely among the berries. These 
must be thinned, sometimes repeatedly, to secure 
the best results. The thinning should be done 
with a pair of sharp pointed scissors made for 
the purpose. From one-fourth to one-half of 
the berries should be taken out from different 
part£ of the bunch, so as to leave it of symmet¬ 
rical shape, and give each berry room to fill. 
Greens in Summer. 
One accustomed to a good variety of vege¬ 
table food is struck with the paucity of this he 
meets in traveling about the country, not only 
at the tables of farmers but at the hotels in 
small towns. Potatoes, beets, onions, peas and 
beans in their season, make up a larger variety 
than is usually to be found. To add to these a 
frequent dish of greens would be an easy mat¬ 
ter. The variety of bt-et known as Chard or 
Swiss Chard is most excellent for this purpose, 
and we wonder it is so little cultivated. It is a 
beet, the root of which is worthless, and it is 
grown only for the leaf. The leaf-stalk is broad 
and thick, and the leaf itself llesliv, tender, and 
succulent. There is a red and a white variety. 
The cultivation is the same as that of the com¬ 
mon beet, but the plants should not stand nearer 
than a foot apart. A rich, moist soil is best. 
In gathering, the outer leaves are pulled off, 
leaving the inner ones to develop and keep up 
a supply. The leaf and leaf-stalk may be cook¬ 
ed together, or the stalk may be separated, 
boiled, and dressed like asparagus, and the leaf 
cooked like spinach or other greens. A single 
trial will commend this to every lover of greens. 
■- -- — - -- 
The Saving of Garden Seeds. 
Many of the seeds are sufficiently matured 
this month, and the work of saving them should 
be begun before they burst their pods, and are 
lost. It is quite possible to save better seeds 
than we can buy, and the habit of carefulness 
in studying the habits of plants secured by 
growing our own seed will be worth nfuch 
more to us than the value of the seeds. All 
our garden plants have been greatly improved 
from their originals, and none of them probably 
have reached the limits of their perfection. 
They can be made to mature earlier, and to 
produce more abundantly, as those who have 
made experiments have learned. If the first 
well-developed seeds of a plant be selected and 
sown for several years, the offspring will mature 
J earlier, and eventually a new variety will be 
secured with a fixed early habit. 
If we select the longest pods of a 
bean and plant the seed, we shall 
find the crop true to its parentage, 
and a more prolific sort will in 
time be established. It will take 
time and patience to secure desir¬ 
able changes, but there is very 
great satisfaction in seeing our la¬ 
bors result in permanent improve¬ 
ments in our vegetables. It is a 
little more trouble to save the first 
mature cabbage, turnip, or beet 
seed, and to keep it bjr itself, but 
it will pay if one can get a variety that will ripen 
a week earlier. It is particularly important to 
hasten the maturity of plants of tropical origin, 
melons, squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg¬ 
plants, etc. Select seeds from the earliest per¬ 
fect specimens and mark the result. Ex¬ 
perimental plants should have the advantage of 
good soil, a southern exposure, and frequent 
cultivation. A plant with a predisposition to 
ripen its fruit early would not have a fair chance 
in a cold claj r soil, or upon a northern or west¬ 
ern exposure. If we mean to fix the habit of 
early maturity, all the circumstances must 
favor the growth of the plant. Aside from 
the influence which the saving of our own 
garden seeds will have upon the improvement 
of fruits and vegetables, the habit in itself is a 
good one. It is exceedingly convenient in the 
hurry of the spring gardening to know just where 
you can find every package of seed you want 
to plant, securely tied and labeled, with the 
name and date of gathering. For this pur¬ 
pose let the good housewife make up a few 
dozen paper bags, and have the packages stored 
away in the seed box as fast as they are secured. 
-. t c -. 1.----- 
Lilies. —A bed of hardy lilies is about as 
satisfactory as any thing one can have in the 
garden. The Japan Lilies are now quite com¬ 
mon, and we have sent them far and wide as 
premiums. The grand Golden Banded Lily, 
which at first sold for $40 a bulb, is now to be 
had for less than a dollar. Besides these there 
are varieties of Lilium umbellatum, all quite 
early; L. excelsum , with its crown of flowers so 
