New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 499 
from the lakes equalizes the night and day temperatures during 
the growing season, preventing frosts and severe winter freez- 
ing. These influences, acting together, give to this district a 
long range of season, which ripens grapes one to two weeks 
earlier than in the Chautauqua belt. 
The soils of this district, being of glacial origin, vary much 
in composition and texture; though in general nearly all of 
the grape soils of the Chautauqua district are to be found, with 
probably the Dunkirk clay loam predominating. In many 
places along the lakeward slopes, on the hills and moraines, 
the land is rough and stony with a thin covering of soil. 
Different methods of pruning and training are used, but the 
high renewal system is used by most growers. In this system 
a trellis having three wires is used; the first is about 20 inches 
above the ground, with the others placed above it at intervals 
of 18 inches on the posts. The head of the trunk is twenty to 
thirty inches high above ground. New canes are brought out 
from renewal stubs or the head of the main trunk and tied 
to the wires above. This system is well adapted to the vine 
growth of the Catawba and Delaware. Thorough cultivation 
is practiced and fall cover crops are coming into favor. In- 
sects are less troublesome and fungi more so in this district 
than in the Chautauqua district. 
THE HUDSON RIVER DISTRICT. 
The grape region along the Hudson River forms the third 
largest district of New York. The vineyards are, for the most 
part, found in Orange, Ulster, Dutchess and Columbia counties. 
The first plantings in this district were made at Croton 
Point, in 1827, by Robert Underhill and his two sons, R. T. 
and W. A. Underhill. The varieties set were Catawba and Isa- 
bella; the vineyard was subsequently enlarged to cover about 
seventy-five acres and for some time practically supplied the 
market of this district. In 1829, Rufus Barrett of New Paltz, 
who probably received his inspiration from a colony of French 
Huguenots with whom he lived, began shipping Isabella grapes 
