548 WISCONSIN FRUIT-GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
clean and careful, and pruning so performed that a perfect ven¬ 
tilation is admitted. 
These are the only preventative and remedial measures that 
I have used or recommended, and for our region they seem to 
be sufficient. 
There are two other aspects of rot, or blight, that I have sat¬ 
isfactorily traced to causes beyond our control, or mitigation; 
one of them confined to the Catawba, which with us, never rots, 
and the other appearing upon the Isabella. As they do but 
little injury compared with the rot, we can safely, and thank¬ 
fully, trust them in the hands of Providence, and rejoice in the 
abundance we enjoy, notwithstanding their existence. 
BY, M C. KUSSELL, OF GENEVA, WIS. 
The Isabella and Catawba I think the best varieties we can 
raise in this latitude. 
I X3lant the vines four feet six inches apart each way, allow¬ 
ing only a single stake, about five feet high, for each vine. 
The most essential part of grape culture is proper pruning, 
which should be done mostly in the fall or early winter. I 
practice the renewal system—cutting away every year the pre¬ 
vious year’s growth— leaving only a single vine of the last 
summer’s growth, with as many leaf joints above the ground 
as the vine is years old from the planting of the scion ; or, if 
the vine is of a very strong growth, I leave more, say ten joints 
on a vine six years old, which will be about five feet long. 
For safety against winter-killing, I lay them on the ground, 
and place a stone or some weight to keep them down. I let 
them lie till the buds are quitelarge in the spring, as in this 
condition they are not so apt to be injured by frost, or by the 
