ANNUAL MEETING—1868. 
587 
Laying Dovm, —In connection with pruning there is a matter I would say a 
word or two about, for the benefit of beginners in grape growing, and that is 
on laying down the vine. Begin by laying down in the direction you mean 
to contine laying down, and you will find after the first year you will have lit¬ 
tle or no trouble in bringing your vine, however thick it may be in the stock 
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almost close to the ground. Lay down in the same direction every year. This 
to be done easily and without injury to the vine, or inconvenience to your¬ 
self from bad weather, should be done at the time of pruning. At such a 
time the vine bends more freely. With the stocky and older vines I some¬ 
times use forked sticks, which are driven into the earth, forcing down the 
vine as near the surface as possible, which practice saves both labor and ma¬ 
terial in covering. Winter protection is afforded, where there is plenty of 
space, by earth, and, where things grow pretty close to each other, by loose 
stable litter. I use the latter, putting it on from three to five inches, ac¬ 
cording to the exposure, or the more or less hardy character of the vine. 
Diseases. —With regard to the diseases to which the vine is subject, I know 
too little to be able to speak with authority. The little that I do know,how- 
ever, (for here we have not so much opportunity to learn, as we find so little 
of the disease that prevails in other states,) I say the little that I do know, 
has led me to|think*that rot, and mildew, and yellow leaf are not at all owing 
to our climate, but simply and certainly to the purchasing of vines propa¬ 
gated from single eyes by steaming and artificial heat, as is the case with 
nearly all the vines I have received from the East. In them, as I say, mil¬ 
dew, for the first year especially, generally shows itself, and sometimes yellow 
leaf, even when the vine is old enough to bear or is bearing, I have observed 
in similar vines in other gardens, but not in my own. The fruit too, I have 
seen become diseased from neglect at the right time to pinch off the laterals, 
letting them run until they were a foot or so long, and then stripping them 
off in a sudden and wholesale manner. After such treatment the grapes 
sometimes rot, at other times fall off singly or in bunches. These are dis¬ 
eases of debility, and time and care, the proper strengthining of the vine is 
all that is necessary to remove and prevent them. I have also reason to 
think that much disease is incited by over-manuring. For, reasoning from 
analogy, over-feeding should be as bad for vegetable as it is for animal life, 
and equally productive of disease, as is under-feeding. The only vines 
which I know that require a little good feeding are the Rebecca, Allen’s 
Hybrid and the Delaware. 
Again, disease has seemed to me to occur from over crowding. The heavy 
foliaged vine should be grown where the air can blow well through it, and the 
laterals in such vines should be kept well pinched off. A mass of foliage 
which neither wind nor sun can penetrate is sure to become diseased. 
Insects which prey upon the Vines. —Of these we have the thrip. I find it every 
year in abundance upon a Clinton that I grow for shade, but upon no other 
vine in my garden, and as I do not care for the fruit I let the thrip alone. 
