206 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
A sunny situation should be selected. A dry, well drained 
piece of land or hill side is best. The ground should be deep¬ 
ly trenched, and thoroughly mixed with well rotted manure 
and bones, if at hand. The roots of the young vine should be 
trimmed to about twelve or sixteen inches in length,and then set 
about the same depth as in the nursery. They mav be planted 
eight feet apart and trained to a trellis, or six feet apart and 
tied to a stake. Cultivate and keep the ground clean. In the 
fall, before very cold weather sets in, they should be trimmed, 
laid down and covered with potato vines, corn stalks, or some 
coarse material, and left until there is no fear of frost in the 
spring; then uncover and tie to stake or trellis. 
The vine is capable of bringing only a certain amount of 
fruit to perfection, proportioned to its size and strength. It 
usually sets more fruit than it can mature, and it is best to re¬ 
duce the crop early in the season to a moderate number of 
clusters, cutting off all small interior bunches. The remain¬ 
der will be worth more than the whole if left. If trained to a 
trellis, trim to two canes or shoots ; in February or March these 
canes are cut back to 4 or 5 feet each, and tied along the lower 
horizontal wire, or slat. There should be no upright cane or 
shoot left, as the upright shoot would rob the others on ac¬ 
count of the tendency of the sap to the highest shoots or buds. 
All bearing canes should be kept as near as possible upon 
the same level to secure uniformity in the crop. In spring 
the young shoots must be reduced by disbudding, so that they 
may stand about one foot apart on the cane, selecting strong 
healthy shoots. As these grow they are tied to the second, 
third and fourth wires and slats. 
All laterals from these upright shoots are to be removed, 
but the fruit bearing shoots are allowed to grow until Septem¬ 
ber, when they may be checked at the ends, to ripen the wood. 
The regular annual pruning should be done in November or 
December, when all the young wood of the previous year’s 
growth (except such shoots as may be required to extend the 
horizontal arms) should be cut back to within one or two good 
