GROWING GRAPES QuUu^uil 
GRAPE VINES should be planted where they will have 
the sunshine to grow the vine, and to properly ripen the 
berries, thus developing the sugar content of the fruit, 
as they respond beautifully to warmth. 
No grounds are so small but that at least a few grape 
vines can be grown, permitting you to enjoy luscious 
home-grown grapes from your own planting. 
The vines need little care, pruning is the greatest 
though not difficult. They may be trained for ornamental 
vine effect, a rear porch or veranda, or in the commercial 
vineyard. 
Selection of Varieties 
How to Prune 
The popular method of training and pruning are: No. 1, 
the fan; No. 2, Chautauqua; No. 3, Kniffen. Each of 
these methods is somewhat different. The fan method 
is used largely when vines are planted near barns and 
fences; select two or three new canes near the ground. 
These canes must be last year's growth, spread them 
out in a fan shape and fasten to barn or fence. Trim 
these two or three canes back, so that about thirty buds 
remain (thirty buds are right for a good healthy vine 
pruned by this method). The number of buds left on 
vine can be varied so as to give more than thirty if good 
and healthy and less if vines are weak. 
In making a choice of varieties one must consider the 
climate, length of season, the soil and location. In the 
extreme North where season is short and winter severe, 
the earliest and hardiest varieties succeed best. In 
general sections where the grape grows naturally, only 
the best varieties should be selected. For the market 
and the commercial growers the most profitable are 
preferred. 
The most profitable in one location may be a different 
variety in other territories. For keeping quality and long 
hauls, tough skinned varieties should be selected. In 
sections where grapes mildew and rot, choose only the 
robust and healthy sorts. The best all-purpose va¬ 
rieties tested the country over include Agawam, Beta, 
Brighton, Concord, Delaware, Fredonia, Lucile, Niagara, 
Moore's Early. 
In mild climates the following varieties do their best, 
Caco, Elvira, Lutie, Goethe. The following varieties do 
best south of the State of Pennsylvania: Barry, Gaertner, 
Wilder. 
Planting 
While commercial plantings are laid out in a different 
manner, the following suggestions will be most helpful 
for the home garden. Grape vines do best in well 
drained soil. When planting dig the hole large enough 
to receive roots without crowding, viz.: 18 to 24 inches 
wide, 12-15 inches deep. Place vine in center of hole 
and fill in with rich top soil, raising the vine until the 
crown is level with the ground. Add some good fertili¬ 
zer such as rotted barnyard manure and then bone meal 
and cover level to the ground with soil. 
If vines do not grow strong enough, cultivate better 
and trim close. If too strong, and fruit yield light, give 
vines more room, either by building trellis higher, or 
cutting out every second or third vine. Prune the remain¬ 
ing ones longer so as to cover the space. 
REMEMBER THE FRUIT IS BORNE FROM BUDS ON 
LAST SEASON'S NEW CANES. 
Pruning 
Proper pruning is necessary for best quality fruit 
yields besides providing sufficient canes and no more to 
produce a good crop the following year. Insufficient 
pruning bears more fruit than the vine can properly 
make perfect. The result is they over-bear, often causing 
permanent injury. The fruit is often small, scraggly and 
late, and of poor quality, the canes fail to grow and 
ripen strong enough to bear next season's crop. By 
proper pruning, you concentrate the vigor of the vine 
into a smaller number of canes and clusters which it can 
"perfect." The berries and clusters grow large and ripen 
early, yielding a greater poundage of fruit of superior 
quality. Along with supplying strong well-ripened canes 
for next year's bearing. 
The other methods are used where a wire trellis is 
required—especially when there are ten or more vines 
to a row. The trellis is set up as follows: use one inch 
angle iron or four to five inch wooden posts about seven 
to eight feet long. Drive posts into ground 18 to 24 
inches. Posts should be placed every three vines (about 
24 ft.). Use No. 9 steel wire fastening two lines to post. 
First wire two feet from ground and second wire 2^2 ft. 
above lower wire. 
The Chautauqua Pruning Method 
Trim back the two canes, grown the first season; one 
to three buds, the other just long enough to tie up to 
bottom wire of trellis. During the second summer, twist 
one growing cane each way around the bottom wire, 
thus forming an arm each way. The third spring tie up 
three or four new canes from these arms (as the strength 
of vine will permit) to the top wire. These are your 
fruiting canes. Do this each year. It usually happens 
that the vine grows more new fruiting canes than are 
desired for the following year. Hence, some of these 
canes will have to be cut off close to the arms. It is a 
good practice to leave two or three spurs with two or 
three buds each in convenient places along these arms to 
produce new wood for the following year. 
Do not let wood accumulate on these arms. Renew 
arms by using a young cane growing near the old stem, 
twisting it around the lower wire once and tying it up to 
top wire. The whole vine may be renewed in a similar 
manner, using a new cane, starting near the ground. 
Renewing old canes occasionally is a good practice. 
The Single-Stem Four-Arm 
Kniffen Method 
This is similar to the Chautauqua method by forming 
arms on bottom wire. The next year a new cane grow¬ 
ing from below the lower wire or main stem is tied to 
top wire and two more arms are trained there. Each 
year all old wood is cut back as near to original stem 
as possible, new arms run out and are tied left and right 
on each wire. These fruiting arms should have six to 
eight buds each, depending on vigor of vine. One not 
accustomed to grape pruning may find it difficult to prune 
away so much new growth; you will be amply repaid 
by so doing with larger and better formed clusters. 
Special Equipment 
We welcome correspondence for special equipment of 
recent development covering special tools, viz.: cultiva¬ 
tors, horse hoes, pruning and picking shearers, tying 
wire and baskets. 
NEW GRAPES 
Try some of the magnificent new triumphs of horticulture, 
to older varieties. 
Many are far superior 
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