Class £LZJA_^r2 SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY, ! UnitedStatesPatentOffice/^ Case Shelf | sav'^H33^^ S^EIE^^EZ^^^Z21^^EnE^> f /• THE GRAPE VINE A PKACTICALLY SCIENTIFIC TREATISE ON ITS MANAGEMENT. EXPLAINED FEOM HIS OWN EXPEKIENCES AND EESEAKCHES, IN A THOKOTJGH AND INTELLIGIBLE MANNER, FOR VINETARDISTS AND AMATEURS IN GARDEN AND VINE CULTITRE, BY FREDERICK MOHR, DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICINE, ETC. TRANSLATED EROM THE PROPAGATION AND AND ACCOMPANIED WITH HINTS ON THE TREATMENT OP AMERICAN VARIETIE8, BY HpRTICOLA NETV;,-yORK: ORANGK J TJDl) ifc iOMFAJS^Y. 41 r.^i^"K ito*:.,' ^^%^ IfiA ra. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by ORANGE JUDD & CO. At the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York. ^y transfer iroj* «^st. Oflla* Uk, LovzjOT & Son, ^ > < ■ £lBCTEOTTPEK3 and. ^TVUE9'rTrKR^ 15 Vandewater street, N. T.*^ PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR, To popularize the results of modern science concerning the cultivation of the grape-vine, is the object which I desire to accomplish by publishing this work. For this purj^ose the subject required to be reached from two direc- tions — the earnest study of the sciences, and the practical cultivation of the vine. Progress made by mere practice^ is slow and uncertain ; science is too far removed from life. Both must be united to produce a material benefit. In the works extant, generally but one of the two stand- points has been kept in view. My native city is so situate that I, with one hand, can dip the water of the Rhine, with the other, that of the Moselle— those two rivers, on the banks of which the noblest vines are produced. The exclusively practical works, so abundant in our literature, could not give me satisfaction. The connec- tion of cause and effect is not clearly understood; thus the explanation could not be otherwise than erroneous. What mere practice could effect, has been done long ago ; without the guidance of science, improvement had become impossible. I have cultivated the vine practically, following Kecht^ and I have reason to boast of my success. Kechfs ar- IV PEEFACE. rangement, however, and his manner of treating the sub- ject leave much to be desired. He distinguishes in a vine eleven different things, some of which are the natural products of the vine, viz. : shoots and tendrils ; others are the products of the hand of man, viz. : spurs and arms. This causes confusion. The explanation of the growth of the .vine, as well as its anatomy, as given in this book, is entirely new. The chapter on manuring has assumed a form altogether dif- ferent from that in other books. It was all-important to elucidate fully the causes for pruning, and to show why it has to be performed in the manner described, and in no other, because, without this example, custom and authority cannot be supplanted. PREFACE OF THE TRANSLATOR. The translation of the treatise which we o:Ser to the American pubUc, is the first part of Dr. Frederic Mohr'^s work 0)1 the Treatment of the Grape-vine and on Wine- making {Der WeinstocJc und der Wein^ The author is one of the greatest chemists of the age. That Justus JLieheg is one of his intimate personal friends, is Avell known, and evident from the fact that he wrote the second part of Dr. Mohr's standard work on Chemical Analysis by Measure {die TOr/r Jlfe^Aoc?e), detailing the analysis of soils. It has not often been the case that scientific qualifi- cations and practical skill have been so happily united as we admire them in Dr. Mohr, whose preface explains his stand- point as well as the object he seeks to accomplish, that is, the explanation and practical application to viticulture of the results of modern science. His book does not in- terfere with any work extant ; it is rather a complement to all of them, as its object is to explain the principles of viticulture, and describes only a few methods of training for the sake of illustration. In Germany, it is considered as the best and most thorough book on the Culture of the Grape vine among their many works on the same subject. In a recent letter to me. Dr. Edw. Lucas, the great Pomologist, whom I had requested to give me a list of 5 VI PEEFACE. tlie best books on viticultare, says : " Dr. Mohr's book is tjie most thorough and best of all." It does not need my praise ; it Avill speak for itself Although the second part of the original Oji Wine- niaklng is as important as the first, yet I concluded to separate the two, as there are many more persons inter- ested in the cultivation of the vine than in making wine. I shall, however, commence the translation of the second part very soon. In regard to the hints on the j)i'opagation and the gen- eral treatment of American varieties which I have added, I hope to meet the wants of many readers. Being very far from assuming the task of giving instruction, I wish only to encourage such as may feel disposed to devote part of their leisure hours to a branch of horticulture which is as pleasant as it is useful. I cannot let this occasion pass, without expressing my admiration of the great zeal and enthusiasm with which viticulture is pursued in this country at present. The names of Longworth and Underhill will, in the history of American Grape Culture, never be forgotten. But it is chiefly due to the indefatigable exertions of Dr. C. W. Grants of lona, that, especially at the East, the love for viticulture was awakened, and is now so irresistibly spread- ing. The labors of the editors of the Horticultural Maga- zines, Messrs. Mead, Woodward, Meehan, Hovey and Tilton, and those of the editors of the Agricultural Peri- odicals, such as the America^i AgricuUwist, the Country Gentleman^ and others, can not be too highly appreciated. Dr. Grant's Illustrated Catalogues and Manual of Grape Culture^ have had the most happy influence on spreading sound views on the treatment of the grape among large numbers of people. Andrew S. Fuller's Grape Culturist appeared at the right time. It is a full, clear exposition of all that is needed for practical success. The author treats the sub- PBtFACE. Vn ject ill so lucid and comprehensive a manner, that his book will be used for a long time to come. The works of Ernst, Muench, Strong, Husmann, and others, will continue doing good wherever they are known. I have abstained from interrupting Dr. Mohr's text by inserting remarks except in one or two places; the chapter on mildew I shortened, omitting what relates to arrange- ments to be made in towns and villages against . the Oidium, because those arrangements are utterly impracti- cable in this country. I am in the habit of contributing occasionally some trifles to several of our Horticultural magazines under the nom-de-plume Horticola. They have been received by the horticultural public in the spirit in which I wrote them ; to collect and establish facts^ is tlie only aim I have in view. I hoj^e some may profit by my little success, and be saved from disappointment by my lailures ; for I state both, frankly and candidly. In order not to mislead any body that knows me under my nom-de-plume, I retain it on the title of this translation. The praise this little book merits, belongs to Dr. Mohr; all I claim for my hints is the indulsrence of the readers. o' Charles Siedhof, Weehawken, N'. J. CONTENTS The Grape Vine 9 Development and Structure of the Vine 12 TheNode 12 The Branch 15 Reasons for Pruning 21 Pruning the Vine 25 Training on Trellises 26 Treatment of the Vine in Summer 32 Grape Vine Plantations 39 Vines Trained along the Garden Walk 39 Trellises on Walls 42 Free Trellises 44 Vines Trained to Trellises 48 Bronner's Method '. 49 Time Required for Covering a Trellis 55 Manuring the Vine 57 Age of the Vineyard 69 The Rising Sap in the Vine 73 The Grape Disease 76 Treatment of Vines Injured by Frost 83 Implements 86 Proper Time to Perform Work on the Vine 90 Constituents of the Vine and their Distribution 94 Propagation of the Vine 99 " By Layers 100 " By Cuttings 102 By Grafting , Ill " By Inarching .113 By Seeds 115 Hybridization 117 American Varieties — General Management 119 Planting 119 " " Prmiing 129 " " Pinching 125 *' " Covering in Fall 126 8 THE GRAPE ^^XE. The grape vine is, among the plants, iv^liat the horse is among animals, — one of the most precious boons nature has given to man. It follows him to climatef:. of a very different character, and admirably rewards him for all the trouble devoted to it. As in the horse, everything in the grape vine is beautiful and noble. The delicately shaped leaves, the fragrant blossoms, the delicious grapes, extend their development over the whole year, except during the severe months of winter, and require uninterrupted and careful treatment by the hand of man. The grape vine grows on the rocky hill, and in the fertile garden, trails on the ground and climbs to the roofs of houses. By training it may be kept as a small shrub, or made to cover a surface of a thousand square feet. The grape vine changes its character, and adapts itself in a wonderful manner to every country, that affords it the necessary warmth. With facility it produces, in the hand of man, new varieties, which conform themselves to all circumstances. The difference in the varieties is as great as in the various races of dogs. The berry varies in size from that of a large pea to that of a cherry ; its color is green, yellow, flesh color, red, blue, and black. Sweetness and acidity are mixed in the most varying pro- portions ; its aroma is unsurpassed. The grape is decidedly the most noble of fruits ; it is sweeter than any other, and the admixture of a little acid 9 * 1* 10 THE GEAPE YIXE. renders it exceedingly delicious. The liquid contents of the grape elevates it above the hard apple. It is the only- fruit of our climate which is drunk, rather than eaten. Fi- nally, the fermented juice of the graj^e, the wine, prolongs the time of the enjoyment of it for a series of years. For these reasons, the treatment of the grape A^ne and of wine have frequently been the object of human care, and even the poets have not felt ashamed to be inspired by it. The grape vine is a plant belonging to temperate cli- mates. It is found on the continent within a zone, the northern border of which extends from the British Chan- nel through Northern Germany, to the north of the Black and the Caspian Seas to China ; its southern border is the coast of Northern Africa to Egypt, where the line bends from Suez to the point of the Persian Gulf, not touching the sea coast any more. It does not grow in Arabia and Hindoostan. The northern border of the vine region commences at the mouth of the Loire, (47-^° N. L.) Receding from the Ocean, it suddenly bends northward, and exten-ds north of Paris to 50° N. L. ; it entei's Belgium between Maest- richt and Liege, and touches near Bonn, at the fifty-first degree of N. L. The line runs along the banks of the Rhine to Mayence, where it passes into the valley of tlie Maine. Thence it passes through Thuringia, touching the Elbe near Meissen. It reaches Greenberg, extending through Guben to Lau- satia, where it reaches the fifty-second degree of N. L. Thence the line bends abruptly towards the south, and in- cludes Bohemia. The borders of the wine region do not coincide with certain isothermal lines, so that not all countries of a certain average warmth are fit for the cul- tivation of the vine. It requires a long, warm summer, and is able to bear a considerable degree of cold in the winter. Although the winters of England are very mild, yet the grape vine does not flourish there, because the TUE GRAPE VINE. 11 summers are not warm enough. The hard frozen soil at Tokay, in Hungaria, does not prevent the product'.on of wine of the greatest excellence. A sea climate is flivora- ble to viticulture only in lower latitudes ; in Germany, it extends nearly two degrees further north than in France, situated nearer to the Ocean. Bordeaux, on the Atlantic Ocean, produces wines similar to those produced in Bur- gundy, which is considerably more northward, but inland. There are, without those borders, here and there certain places where the s'ine grows, yet it is, within them, con- fined to certain fovorable localities and cannot be grown everywhere. It is lemarkable that the most delicious and precious wines are produced almost exclusively near the northern border of ils cultivation. The noble Ahrbleichei-t, and the Walporzheimer, which rivals the wine of Bordeaux and Burgundy, grow immediately on the northern border of viticulture. Only a few miles further north, the cultiva- tion of the vine in vineyards ceases entirely, and the vine is only found growing on trellises and houses. The Johan- nisberg, Ruedesheim, Steinberg and Rauenthal, are grown on the northern border of viticulture in the Rhinegau, from east to west. Only a few hundred paces to the north, there are the Westerwald and the Taunus. The true poetry of wine, its beautiful fragrance, called the bouquet of the wine, is the exclusive propeity of the northern regions. The wines of the south, however rich in alcohol and sugar, are entirely destitute of that bou- quet; or they have a common odor, like Port, Madeira, Xeres, and Malaga, without any peculiarity. The differ- ence, produced by localities and years, disappears in the wines of those regions entirely, but it may be distinguished in those of northern regions with great accuracy. Viticulture has also its history; it is linked with that of man. The vine has perished in regions that are no longer inhabited ; and where it, at present, grows wild, there it was not originally at home. 12 THE GRAPE VINE. The Pramneic and Marseotic wine is only known from Homer ; and snch as was given by Ulysses to the Cyclopes, has disappeared. ( Vide Homer's Odysea, IX, 208). Wines, which can bear that poetical dilution, are unknown to us. Also the Vinum Ccecubfm, Massicum and Falermitn., of Horace, have disappeared from causes which we shall learn afterwards. DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE VINE. In order to understand the rules for the pruning and the treatment of the vine, it is necessary to study the very simple structure of that plant. Without this knowledge, all practical rules appear en- tirely arbitrary; their necessity can not be understood, nor can they be carried out with the proper enthusiasm. The rules for the management of the vine, derived from a long experience, are based on its peculiar structure, and are, as soon as that is known, intelligible in themselves. In particular cases, w^here horticultural books fail us, we are able to infer the true treatment of the vine fi'om the knowledge of its structure. We, therefore, premise an accurate explanation of the structure of the vine in a manner not before attempted ; then the practical instruc- tion will follow. THE NODE. That organ, by the repetition of which the vine is con- structed, is the 7iode in the branch. If we look at a fresh shoot of a vine, we see that it has nodes, (or joints,) from three to five inches distant from each other, and at these places all other organs of the vine are put forth nearly at the same level. These nodes are repeated on a shoot in a manner perfectly alike, only the organs grow in a re- versed position of right and left in each following node. THE GRAPE VINE. 13 We will now carefully examine tlic node. We take a branch which grew from an eye in the last spring, and is, in the course of the summer, still green. Fig. 1, represents such a node. Where the swelling has not quite reached its greatest dimensions, there is, in the branch, a joint. Fig. 1. — THE >or)E. A yomig branch breaks easily in this place when bent towards one side. On the lower side there is either noth- ing or only the leaf— rt^^ protruding organs grow on the upper part. This structure shows that the wood fibers do not, as yet, run through. While a branch cannot be broken oif smoothly in any other place, it is there very brittle. In the course of time this joint disappears ; the fibers run through, and in the latter part of the summer a node cannot be broken oflT in this place. Immediately above the place where it is broken, there is on one side, 1st, a leaf, the footstalk of which commences with a protu- berance. The leaf itself is connected with the branch by 14 THE GEAPE VINE. means of a joint. It is easier to break it off in this place than in any other, without protruding filaments. The joint does not grow over, and in the fall the leaf separates at this point. In the axil of the leaf, 2nd, one or two unequally large hudo grow, from which the so-called laterals proceed. Generally only one lateral grows ; should there be double buds, the Aveaker ones must always be destroyed. By the side of the lateral a new eye, the so-called dormant bud, forms in the course of the summei'. It is intended to re- main during the winter on the vine, and to furnish, in the next spring, a green branch. On carefully examining those buds, we find that on two nodes succeeding each other, the bud is in one of them to the right of the lateral, and in the other to the left of it. The branch growing from the bud is attached to the main cane by means of a joint, and can, as long as it is young, be easily broken off in this place. In the latter part of the summer, however, the Avood fibers grow through, and the secondary branch cannot then be broken off at the joint. On the opposite side of the leaf and bud, but at the same level with them, there is, 3d, a tendril or a cluster^ but without a joint. The fibers run through from the very beginning, there is no articulation, and the tendril or the cluster cannot be broken off at the place of its origin. The tendril, or the peduncle of the cluster, dries up in the fill, but never drops ; they are separated from the cane in the following year by motion and wind, because they are brittle. Tendril and cluster are identical organs. There are tendrils with some few berries on them, and clusters with a piece of a tendril without berries. Tendril and cluster never grow^ by the side of each other. One proof of their identity is to be found in the fact that they grow from the cane without a joint, and that they dry up in the fall, and do not drop. If there are tendrils on two successive nodes, the third THE GKAPE VINE. 15 node is always without them, and the place of the node opposite the leaf, and the bud presents a roundish protuber- ance without any branch. A node destitute of tendrils is succeeded by two nodes with tendrils, and so in regular order to the end of the branch. As tendril and cluster are identical organs, it follows that three successive nodes never bear clusters ; if more than two clusters proceed from one bud, then the third and fourth clusters are separated from the first and second by a node destitute of tendrils. Recapitulating briefly, we find that the organs on a node are distinguished by the following peculiarities : 1. The leaf is connected witli the branch by a joint, through which no fibers grow, but from which it drops of itself'' 2. The bud is connected with the branch by a joint, through which the fibers grow and harden. It does not drop. 3. The tendril or cluster is connected with the branch without a joint. Tlie place of the connection dries up, and it does not drop of itself THE BRANCH. The branch originates in the repetition of the nodes. The distance of two nodes front each other is smaller on the lower part of the cane, greater on the upper part, gen- erally from three to five inches, but oftentimes more, or less." On each of the succeeding nodes the organs are found alternating with the preceding and following. In the place where there is a leaf on one node there is a ten- dril, or a bunch in the preceding and following one. The number of the nodes on a branch is very large, commonly from 25 to 30. I have counted sometimes as many as S3 on strong growing varieties. The number is, properly speakijig, unlimited, for in the fall the growth of 16 THE GRAPE VINE. the brancli terminates, as is shown in figure 2, exactly with the same fan-like structure, vf ith which it commenced in the spring. Fig. 2.— THE BRANCH. In this lie enclosed innumerable nodes, the development of which is only prevented by the ending of the season of growth, and the exhausted vigor of the plant. In a warm summer and climate, therefore, many more nodes will grow than in a cold one. On a shoot grown in the spring, there is only a limited number of blossoms or bunches. They are produced only on the lower part of the green shoot, almost without any THE GRAPE VINE. 17 regularity. The shoot commences with three or four nodes, Avhich are either without blossoms or have only small tendrils ; then two clusters follow ; then a node without a tendril, (as in fig. 2) ; then the third cluster ; then again tendrils, which grow the larger the nearer they are to the top of the shoot. The number of clusters on a green shoot depends on the variety of the vine. The rule is two clusters from one hud, sometimes from three to five ; I have never seen more than five clustei's. If the latter part of the winter and the forepart of spring are warm, oftentimes three clusters grow from one bud, even if the variety bears gen- erally but two. If we recollect that an eye pi-oduces, on the average, three bunches, but that the shoot may pro- duce from thirty to seventy nodes, it is obvious that a grape vine can produce a large quantity of wood and leaves which are useless for the production of grapes. The clusters grow especially from the lowermost nodes. The longest tendrils are found on the uppermost nodes, where the plant needs the most support. If a tendril touches a solid body only slightly, it bends towards it, coils several times around it, and holds to it firmly. The cause of this must lie in the structure of the tendril, which is different from all other parts of the vine, in the fiict that it dries up in the fall without dropping. The ten- drils seem to be endowed with vision, as it Avere, because they grow towards any solid body near them. The eyes of the shoots are all of the same nature. TAere are neither wood nor fruit buds exclusively. After an unfavorable, cold season, the eyes show in the next spring no blossoms ; after a very warm season, they nearly all produce blossoms. This proves that the blossoms are a higher development of the bud, because greater heat was necessary for it. The blossoms are, therefore, always formed in the preceding year, and they appear in the fol- lowing, however unfavorable the weather may be. Thus 18 THE GEArE VINE. two years are required for the production of a heavy crop of grapes. At the base of the leaves on the green shoot, there, al- ways grow two eyes. One of them pushes during the summer, and forms what is called the lateral. It has been already mentioned that, alternately, the right and the left eye push or remain dormant on two successive nodes. This lateral has all the organs like every other shoot, and a whole vine may be grown from each of them. Generally, the word lateral is believed to convey the meaning of a sui^erfluous organ, which nature has care- lessly produced. This view is entirely erroneous, and experiments will prove that the lateral is capahle of producing as heavy crops as the most vigorous cane. If a lateral is broken off, the other eye pushes, and a new eye commences to be formed. If the second lateral is also broken off, the new eye j^ushes, and another dormant eye is formed. This may be repeated six or seven times during a warm summer. If, on the contrary, the first lateral is not removed, the dormant eye does not push, and it is changed, in the course of the summer, into a fruit bud for the next year. Should, however, the last formed eye not have originated until midsummer, it cannot be so developed that it be- comes a fruit bud, and it produces in the next year noth- ing but leaves and wood. Hence it follows that, if we wish a certain eye to be- come a fruit bud for the next year, we must not remove the lateral growing beside it. If the laterals, in a warm summer, are broken off, and the dormant eye pushes, it often shows blossoms in August, which cannot mature their fruit on account of the season being so far advanced. This shows conclusively that the formation of blossom buds takes place in the course of the summer preceding that of the production of fruit. In the year 1858, winch was unusually warm, the fruit of the second blossoms also THE GRAPE VIXE. 19 matured, so that two crops, only a month distant from each other, were obtained from Burgundy vines. The second croj) was less abundant, and not so good as the first. When a person, without any knowledge of the manage- ment of the vine, breaks off the end of the shoot without any deiinite plan, in order to diminish the quantity of the foliage, not unfreqnently blossoms appear a fortnight after that operation. The eyes which are forced in this way to produce blossoms are those that ought to have been de- veloped in the following year. The eyes formed after- wards cannot mature their blossoms on account of the lateness of the season in which they are formed. It is absolutely necessary to understand fully this mode of the growth of the vine, because all the rules for grow- ing it, so as to obtain the largest quantity of fruit in a given place, are based on it. Towards the close of the season, the following changes take place in the shoots that have grown from an eye : 1. The leaf turns yel- low, and drops from the joint of itself 2. The jDcduncle, or the tendril correspond- ing to it, dries up, but does not drop of itself o. The green shoot is changed into wood and remains permanent, the joints becoming united with the shoot by the two oTowino; toorether. 4. The green color of the shoot is turned brown. The wood matures. 5. The eye remains dormant until the following spring. The new branch has now the form of fia:ure 3. Fig. 3. — THE NODE IN ATJTUMN. 20 THE GRAPE VINE. At A, below the eye, the place is visible where the foot stalk of the leaf was attached ; above, there is the eye, JB^ which is going to push in the following year, and to bear fruit. A second eye does not exist during the winter ; it is developed in the next spring. Beside the eye, JB, the lateral, C, is visible. It is to be removed entirely in the fall. On the opposite side there is the tendril, D, or the peduncle of the bunch, dried up. The first period of the life of the shoot terminates by chano'inoj its succulent nature into wood. In the first year it bears clusters attached to it with their peduncles ; in the next year no cluster grows immediately on it, but on the green shoot which pushes from the eye perfected in the preceding year. Consequently the shoot bears clus- ters only once in its life ; in the next year they appear on the shoot from the eye ; in the third year on the shoot that grows from the shoot; in the fourth year on the shoot of the shoot which grows from the shoot, and so on, ad infinitum. It is noAV necessary to introduce, instead of the generally used expression branch, those terms which are made use of in viticulture. As soon as the green shoot has changed its color and turned brown, and the clusters growing immediately from it have been harvested, it receives the name of eat^te ; it retains this name a whole year, until the clusters have been gathered from its side branches, when it becomes part of the ste7n. Durino; the time the cane was 2:reen it was called a shoot. We distinguish, therefore, in a grape vine, the following three parts, viz. : 1. The shoot, of green color, grown in this year from the eye, bearing the grapes immediately on the peduncle. Its course of life lasts from May until October, or half a year ; it was an eye from October until May, also half a year. THE GRAPE VINE. 2! 2. The cane^ of brown color, and of smooth bark, bear- ing the clusters on a side branch, tbe shoot. Its course of life is from October to October, or a year. 3. The stem^ of black color, the bark separating from it, bearing the clusters with the shoot on the cane. Its course of life embraces the age of the grape vine, of from 800 to 1000 years. The grape vine, therefore, is progressing reguliirly ; the shoot is changed to a cane, and the cane to a stem. The stem enlarges more and more as the canes of the preced- ing year are added to it. The necessary consequence of this process is that the stem, which does not bear grapes, increases more and more in extent, and that the clusters cannot grow but on the extreme ends of the stem, because they are the product of the green shoots proceeding from the eye. It follows from these facts that we have to re- sort to a method to com^Del the vine to produce new canes over its whole extent, lest the greater part of the available space would be occupied by the never-bearing stem. This method consists in pruning or training, that is, an inten- tentional and artificial removal of some parts, to compel others near them to push. Pruning the grape A'ine has, from time immemorial, been considered necessary in its cultivation, although the true connection between cause and efi*ect has not been suf- ficiently well understood. The vine, however, is capable of so much development that even faulty pruning always accomplishes a part of its object. Before we proceed to show practically the true way of pruning, we must study the reasons which render it efiicient. THE REASOIS^S FOR PRUNING. In the course of the year the movement of the sap in the grape vine is subject to great differences. In the spring, when the temperature rises, the sap begins to rise 22 THE GRAPE VIXE. also. The eyes swell and produce green shoots. If a cane is cut, drops of water flow out — it bleeds. Tlie power with which the vine forces the sap upwards is so great that we shall devote to it a particular chapter further on. In no jDlant is the water flowing out so copious as in the vine. If we look at a growing grape vine atten- tively, we observe that the development of the eyes is the greater the nearer they are to the top of it. The length and size of the shoot increase toward the top of the canes, and decrease toward the stem. We do not know the cause of the movement of the sap ; we cannot explain it as satisfactorily as we can the cause of the movement of the blood in the animals, in which it origina-tes from the contraction of the heart. We infer from the fact that the develojmient of the eyes increases toward the tojD, that the cause of the move- ment of the sap is active over the whole length of the cane. This violent and enormous movement of the sap lasts but a short time, and soon ceases entirely, so that a cane may be cut, and not lose a single drop of sap. If we cut off" the uppermost node of a cane, the node preceding it, being now the uppermost, shows a powerful growth ; if we cut ofi* a longer piece of cane, the most vigorous growth always takes jjlace at the then uppermost node. From this fact arises the possibility of inducing develop- ment on any place by cutting above it. The pushing sap, not any more required for the nourishment of the portions cut off*, is compelled to contribute to the growth of the eyes below the cut. We have seen in the above, that if we remove a green shoot, the dormant eye beside it pushes immediately. This is a fact similar to that explained. If we cut back to the stem, so that no canes are left on a part of the stem, the rising sap causes the stem to produce new eyes on its nodes. As these did not exist in the spring, they are not sufficiently developed to produce flowers ; the eyes, THE GRAPE TINE. 33 therefore, pushing from the stem, are necessarily wood eyes, but they are capable of producing fruit eyes during the summer. This iact enables us to shorten the stem and ts make it produce canes. We cut it off, therefore, in a cer- tain place, so that nodes are left below it. If the wood eyes which are then formed, and have pushed, are per- mitted to grow undisturbed, they can bear fruit the next year. The poAverful development of the stem, described m the above, which all canes a year old have also, com- pels us to keep the enlargement of the stem within bounds, and to force, by pruning, the nodes below to produce shoots and canes. The natural development of a cane wliich is permitted to grow undisturbed, and without any check, has the fol- lowing result : Supposing we have a cane of ten nodes, ten shoots will grow in the spring, each of which may bear three clusters, i. e., thirty clusters on the whole. If all the shoots are permitted to grow, each may have produced in the fall ten nodes, that is, a hundred nodes on the shoots which will became canes in the fall, and these may bear in the follow- ing year three hundred bunches. In the third year, the hundred nodes would produce a thousand eyes, and would consequently bear three thousand bunches^ Xature has circumscribed such a development, which is only imaginary; for the root would hardly be able to furnish, in the three succeeding years, food for the three hundred, certainly not for the three thousand bunches. It is evident, at all events, that a vine, not restrained in its growth, would spread so enormously that any given place would become too small ; the stem would, at least every year, increase in its height as much as one node is distant from the other. This is plain from figure 4, in which only the lowest shoots on each cane are shown. The cane, 1, which grows immedi- ately from the stem, would, after the lapse of a year, be- come a part of the stem. After two years more the cane 24 THE GKAPE VINE. 2, after three years the cane 3, and so on, so that after five years the stem would reach to nine. It is a most fa- vorable circumstance that we have chosen every year the rig-. -1. — PLAN OF GROWTH. lowermost shoot to bear next year. Should it be neces- sary to choose a cane growing higher up, the stem would lengthen in height much more rapidly. The stem increases every year one node in height. If we further assume that there, where the cane, 1, bears fruit this year, is room only for one cane, the existing space being occuj^ied exactly in the same manner, we see the necessity of cutting off, in the fall, the cane, 1, above its lowermost eye, that is, at M, after it has borne fruit. In the following year the shoot, 2, pushes and bears fruit. After the expiration of the second year it must be cut at THE GRAPE VINE. 25 iV! Now the shoot, 3, pushes, which must be cut at after the third year ; in hke manner the shoot, 4, grows in the fourth year, and must be cut at P ; the shoot, 5, at §, and so forth. This is the foundation of the pruning of the vine, ac- cording to which the stem increases one node in each year, and only one cane is expected to grow in the place of an- other cane removed. After a series of years the stem has necessarily increased in height, and must be shortened. The method to accom- plish this object will be explained in that part of the work which treats of pruning practically applied. THE PRUNIXG OF THE GRAPE YIISTE. The necessity of pruning has been explained in the pre- ceding chapter. We wish now to show the practical application of it in a vine fully grown, and occupying the whole space allotted to it. This is the most frequent of all cases, because it takes only a few years to train a vine ; it will last, when properly managed, for centuries. The propagation and management of young vines will be treated of in another jolace. There is a classical work on the j^runing of the vine by J. S. Kecht, the seventh edition of which was issued in 1853. As Kecht's method is based on the nature of the vine itself, no improvement on it has been made in any of the more recent horticultural books. If we follow his di- rections as laid down in the book, we are easily convinced of the correctness of his teachings, and success is certain. The experience of many j^ears has proved the advantages derived from Kecht's method. In pruning a grape vine, we wish to accomj^lish two object, viz. : 1. To obtain for the current year as much fruit as pos- sible. 2 26 THE GRAPE VINE. 2. To produce vigorous canes for bearing the next year. The first pruning of the vine ought to be done in the fall, commencing in the middle of ISTovember, after the fall of the leaf; it may be continued during the winter when the weather is favorable. The advantages of fall pruning are very great. It is easier to manage a pruned vine during the winter than an unpruned one ; no sap is lost in the next spring by bleeding; the pieces cut oflf can be buried in a compost heap and converted into manure. The pruning of the vine is modified by the system of training preferred. By this we understand the manner in which the vine is to be extended. The vine is either trained on Avails, (trellis,) or on j^oles, (common vineyard traming,) or on wires, Avhich may be stretched high or low. For each of these modes of training, the pruning is a little difierent, but not much, as the principle remains the same. TRAINING ON TRELLISES. In order to prune a grape vine, trained to a trellis, it is necessary to loosen the vine by cutting the osiers, or other material with which it was tied, either with a knife or gar- den shears. Then the canes for bearing must be selected, and also those which are to be spurred for the production of new canes. The strongest are chosen for bearing ; they must be entirely brown, having been changed from shoots to canes during the summer and fall just passed. Their tops are generally not ripened, and are consequently green. The green part must be entirely cut away, because it would be killed in the winter. The cane is so much shortened that it reaches, in the position in which it is to be tied, about one-third to the top of the Avhole trellis. One-third must remain unoccupied, because it is required for tying the shoot to it that pushes from, the last eye of the cane. If we suppose that the trellis is from six to seven feet high, and that six feet of its length on each side is THE GRAPE VINE. 27 to be occiii3ied by the vine, the canes in the middle are pruned to the length of four feet, those on each side sj^reading, in the shape of a fan, to the length of five or six feet. Therefore from eight to fourteen buds will re- main on each cane, promising an abundant crop. Such canes are to be preferred as grow lowest on the stem. JS'o old wood ought to be found beyond the middle of the height of the trellis. After the selection and pruning of the canes, the stem, (that is, the cane which bore fruit in the preceding summer and fall,) is cut off immediately above the place where the new canes grow ; tlie canes themselves must be cut off an inch above the bud, as, if cut close, this would be apt to dry up. It is true that a cane having from ten to fourteen buds can bear from twenty to thirty clusters ; yet it is not probable that it will make strong shoots. To remedy this, some weaker canes are selected in the fall for the production of bearing canes, by cutting them back to two buds each. A cane so pruned is called a spur. This spur receives, when the vine grows, as much sap as a cane having ten or twelve buds ; but as this sap serves for the development and pushing of only two buds, the shoots proceeding from them are very vigorous and of strong growth. Each of the two shoots may bear from four to six clusters, yet the spur is not intended for bear- ing. If the blossoms on them are removed, the cane growing from the spur will be so much the stronger. Should both buds of the spur be equally vigorous and strong, they may be left ; but if they are feeble, one is to be removed, which makes the remaining shoot very much stronger. The place for the spuro ought to he as low as possible on the stem, so that the canes proceeding from them may bear fruit along the whole height of the trellis. Also wood buds, pushing from the old wood, may be cut to spurs in the fall. The shoots pushing from the spurs in the following spring must not be interfered with/ 28 THE GEAPE YIXE. they must he permitted to grow undisturhed. Also, all weaker canes not intended for bearing, and growing very low on the stem, must be cut back to spurs of two buds each. Should there be too many shoots in the next year to serve as canes, some of them are pinched in, and may be permitted to bear fruit. A little higher up on the stem, some canes are pruned to four or five eyes. Canes so pruned are called lo7ig spurs. They bear fruit, but not so much as the canes, and are therefore able to produce stronger canes. In this Avay the vine is compelled to produce strong bearing canes all over, which is the condition of fruitfulness every year. So the stem is also kept within certain bounds. If these pre- cautionary measures are neglected, the grape vine may bear for one year a large quantity of fruit ; the next year there will be many, but feeble, canes, all growing high up on the stem. The height of the stem will have considera- bly increaed, and will show no fruit below. Should the trellis be much higher than twelve or sixteen feet, as on walls of houses or barns, it is impossible to reach this height with a single cane. In this case a part of the stem is carried up to half the height of the trellis, and canes are grown from it to cover the upper part of the trellis ; the lower part is covered with canes proceeding, near the bottom, from side branches of the stem, which are then treated exactly as described above. It is almost impossible to keep vines, trained on such trelHses, in order, because it is impracticable, by means of a ladder, to j^er- form the labor needed by the vine. [It is a much better plan to plant more than one vine, when, for instance, the first is trained low, the second high, the third low again, and so on alternately. — Remarh of the Translator.'] The pruning of a vine trained to a post is much simpler. The best developed canes are pruned to eight or ten buds, and also some of the lower ones to spurs. The manner of THE GEAPE VINE. 29 tying the canes, either more horizontally, or at certain angles to the horizon, as well as the length to which they are pruned, varies very much in all regions where vines are grown. None of those methods can be considered as ab- solutely the best ; for each of them is recommended as the best in the region where it is practised. Some do not wish to grow many clusters, in order to obtain fruit of the highest character; others prune their canes long, to obtain a large number of bunches. Aside from the different opinions and views of the people, the character of the soil exerts so powerful an influence that the little changes de- manded by each locality are gradually understood by those inhabitants of it who cultivate the vine. The principles of pruning are the same for every mode of training : the most beautiful and strongest canes are selected for hear- ing^ while the weaker canes are^ by short priming, forced to produce strong shoots. If, however, in consequence of an unfavorable spring, no blossoms appear, or if they have perished by late frosts, rains and other accidents, the first of the ends in grape culture, namely, to grow clusters for the current, and canes for the following year, cannot be accomplished, so that tlie second must be kept in view exclusively. In this case the canes that had been grown for fruiting are pruned back to two eyes, and the shoots proceeding from them are per- mitted to grow undisturbed. In like manner, all shoots of a cane without fruit may be removed, so that only one leaf near the bud remains. The bunches, as well as the shoots intended for canes, will in this way be much better developed. There exists a mutual action and re-action between the canes and the leaf and the root and the stem. A strong root is able to produce many canes and rich fo- liage, which latter tends in its turn to enlarge the stem and' the root. All carbonaceous formations in the vine, as well as in every other plant, are the result of the fact that the leaves, under the influence of heat and light, decom- 80 THE geApe vine. pose carbonic acid, set oxygen free, and deposit carbon in connection with the elements of the water for the produc- tion of organic matter in the vine. The so-called hydrates of carbon are grape sugar, starch, wood fibre, and also the other formations like tartaric acid ; the green of the leaves, oil, and so forth, originate under the same conditions. If there are many leaves on the vine, large quantities of oxygen are given ofi" to the air, and so corresponding quan- tities of grape sugar and wood fibre are formed. . Hence it follows that the foliage must be ample to develop many bunches, the number of which is different every year ; the foliage is needed to nourish the fruity and to render it sweet. If, for the sake of experiment, all the leaves of a cane are removed, the berries and clusters growing on it remain small, sour and hard, and the wood does not ripen. Rich foliage tends to ripen the fruit as well as the wood. The growth of the wood and of the root depends, there- fore, chiefly on the quantity of the leaves, especially when the leaves have not to furnish nourishment. From this circumstance results the practical rule not to remove any leaves., if we wish to make the vine grow strong. Al- though the rich^iess and sweetness of the fruit depend on the foliage^ yet this is also owing to the extent and ac- tivity of the root. A young vine, with a comparatively small and weak root, can furnish sap for a small number of clusters only, even if all the leaves remain on it. The extent and power of the root increases every year, so that the vine will bear and ripen larger quantities of clusters annually. If the proportion of the root, the foliage and the fruit be right, a large and old vine will bear several thousand of clusters, which will be as mature and sweet as twelve or twenty would be on a small vine, the root of which is yet feeble. The nourishment is taken by the root and conducted to the plant. It is elaborated in the leaf, where oxygen is THE GRAPE VIXE. 31 eliminated, and where the inorganic carbonic acid is con- verted into an organic compound ; then the nourishment is deposited and collected in the berry. The true growth of the vine lies, therefore, in the surface of the leaves dis- played in the sunlight, while the clusters on a vine which is growing naturally are protected from the direct rays of the sun. It is sufficient when the sun shines on the leaves, and the clusters are growing in diffused light. This is the true and natural condition. It is now not difficult to un- derstand how great a mistake is made when the leaf, grow- ing near a cluster, is removed for the purpose of admit- ting the rays of the sun directly to the cluster. No sugar can be formed in the berry, because no oxygen can be eliminated by it ; the berry only collects the sugar, or it prepares it from an organic substance formed by the leaf. The berry is apt to be injured by the direct rays of the sun during the hot days of summer, (sunstroke). The development of the vine may, therefore, take place within limits that may either be very small or very large. In the steep vineyards of the Moselle, where vegetable mould and loam are wanting, so that frequently the neces- sary soil must be carried up in baskets from the valley, a vine cannot gjrow to a larsje extent. The canes are as thin as a lead pencil ; the stem is as thick as a finger ; the clusters are few, but excellent, pro- vided there is the right proportion between the foliage and the fruit. The circumstance that the vines are planted very near each other, and that the soil is very shallow, prevents the extension of the root, so that the whole plant is crippled during its term of life. It cannot, however, be otherwise under the existing circumstances. A vine, growing in rich garden soil, produces canes twenty feet long, studded with from sixty to eighty nodes each. A vine, four years old, can, in such soil, bear four hundred clusters. In the year 1826, Kecht counted on a 32 THE GRAPE VINE. vine of the Frueh-Leipziger 4,500 clusters ; in other years, generally from two to three thousand. This was at Berlin, the capital of Prussia. The celebrated Hampton Court vine, near London, planted by Cardinal Wolsey, and still growing in a large glass house, bears every year more than a thousand excellent clusters. TREATMENT OF THE VINE IN THE SUMMER. When the vine is pruned before winter, it is not tied, but permitted to swing in the air, or to lie on the ground. It suffers less from the cold by being moved by the air, than when it is fixed to a certain place where it must lose a great deal of heat by radiation. It is a well known fact that solid bodies lose, in clear nights, much more than aeriform bodies ; consequently the vine will be colder by radiation than the surrounding air. If it moves freely in the air, it comes constantly into contact with new strata of air which are warmer than itself, and is, in this way, protected fi-om being killed by the frost. The vine suffers from the frost when the thermometer is about at zero, [though many American varieties can stand much more cold. — Translator.'] In Western Germany, on the Rhine, the Moselle and the Saar, the vines are left on the ground in winter ; in the east of Germany, they must be covered with soil, to protect them against being killdd by the frost. Every one has, in this resj^ect, to do what the climate of the country requires. During the whole winter, changes are constantly going on in the vine. Should it come to a stand still, the jjlant must die. These changes take place in accordance with the warmth of the winter, so that in mild winters the eyes begin to swell in January and February. That the vine is dormant in winter, shows that it belongs to the tem- perate zone. It is not the cold which causes this dormant condition, but the natural desire for rest, to pre^^are itself THE GKAPE VINE. 33 for new exertions in the next year. In the island of Ma- deira, f. i., the vine drops its leaves in October, after it has ripened its fruit, and remains dormant during the winter months, the warmth of which is equal to that of our summers. Surrounded by evergreen native plants, the vine is there as leafless as with us ; it remains in this dormant condition for one hundred and sixty days, until it awakens in March to commence life anew. As soon as the heavy frosts are over, which is, with us, (on the Rhine) after the middle of February, the vine may be tied to its post or trellis. Usually this is done a little later, i. e., in the course of March, and in the first part of April. As at the time of tying, some little prun- ing will frequently take place, it is advisable to commence it as early as possible, so that the wounds may dry up again, and may not bleed afterwards. The remaining canes are equally distributed all over the trellis, to cover the space, and are tied with osiers or bast matting. The necessary manipulations can be easily learned from any gardener or vineyardist ; without this, they are so obvious in themselves that a trial will be all that is needed to un- derstand them. The eyes of the vines commence pushing and are devel- oped into green shoots, on which, |i-omthe middle of April to the middle of May, the blossoms appear, but only as blossom buds. [The blossom buds are called, in German, Schei7ie or Gescheine, for which expressions the English language has as yet no correspondmg words. — Tra7islator.'] We know from the process of the development of the vine, that from each eye a shoot will push, and that we need every year the same number of canes. If all the shoots should be sufiered to grow, the vines would have in the next year as many canes as there were eyes in the pre- ceding year ; the vine would, in the summer, be nothing but a confused mass of wood and leaves. To prevent this, the pushing shoots are in a certain manner either ruhhed 2* 34 THE GRAPE VINE off ov pinahed. In these operations two objects are kept in view, viz. : to obtain the best possible fruit, and to de- velop only as many canes as are actually on the vine. The honor of the discovery of the method to accomplish this is also due to Kecht ; in it, his teachings have reached their culminating point. According to the opinion of all those who understand viticulture, nothing that is either better, or even as good, has been brought to light ; the method is so simple, and in accordance with the laws of nature, that we may consider it, without hesitation, perfect. We 'do not wish to grow more canes than the vine is bearing. It follows that only one eye on each cane must be used for a new one. The eye to he used for a cane must he necessarily the lowermost. The sap has a strong upward tendency, and causes the uppermost canes to grow strongest ; the growth of the shoots proceeding from the higher part of the cane must, therefore, be restrained. On them the clusters, in which the object of growing the vine centers, are produced. The restriction of the upper shoots must be so managed as to conduce to the best growth of the clusters. The two following rules unite everything that is needed : 1. The lowermost eye on each cane must he suffered to grow at will without hei^g checked or interfered with. 2. The tops of the shoots, pushing from all other eyes, are pinched two leaves above the uppermost hunch, not counting the leaf near the hunch. These golden rules contain a wisdom which cannot be valued too highly. The shoot, being pinched, cannot con- tinue growing ; consequently there will be an abundance of sap for the nourishment of the clusters. The tv.'o leaves are needed, and sufficient to make the grapes sweet. As the upper eyes of the shoot cannot push, the eye of the lowermost node grows the more vigorously, and makes a strong cane for the next year. The spurs, may they be short or long, are likewise intended for strong canes, hence THE GRAPE VIXE. 35 it follows that one shoot, if possible the lowermost on each cane, must not be pinched, but must grow undis- turbed to the end of the year, when it is to be pruned as a cane. The first pinching of the vine may be performed before it blossoms, as soon as the buds are distinctly visible. The earlier the vine is pinched, the less nourishing sub- stance it loses. However easy the above rules appear to be, yet their practical application is not quite so easy. There are one or two eyes in the axil of the foot stalk on the green shoot ; those eyes which are green and soft, ought also to he removed. This can easily be accomplished with the nail of a finger or the thumb ; for they push, if not re- moved, and absorb a part of the sap, destined to nourish the bunch, and lessen the vigor of the lowermost eye of the cane which is intended for a cane the next year. It is therefore advisable to perform these two operations simul- taneously; after the top of the shoot has been pinched two leaves above the uppermost bunch, all eyes in the sinuses of the foot stalks of the leaves must be destroyed ; only the lowermost shoot must be left to grow at will. Pinching, during the time of blossoming, is not to be re- commended, because the blossoms are easily injured. There exists no other reason for it, although some think it is indispensable not to do anything to the vine during the time of blossoming, as though during tliat time it were more sensitive to bear external influences than at any other. I have also, during blossoming time, carefully pinched shoots, and have never found any difierence from what it would have been, or was, when it was performed before or after that time. After blossoming, the vine grows more vigorously. The eyes, remaining on the shoots, push and form little shoots, which are called laterals. In the axil of the leaf stalk there are always at least 36 THE GEAPE VINE. two eyes, of Avhicli alternately the left, the next time the right eye pushes and forms a lateral. If the laterals that have been produced are removed, the other eye soon com- mences pushmg ; if the lateral of the second eye is rubbed off, a third dormant eye is formed, etc. This shows that the laterals perform an important service in regard to the dormant eyes. As long as the lateral is growing, the eye at the base of it remains dormant ; if it is removed, it receives an abundance of sap and pushes. This is the reason why no laterals on the shoot intended for a cane^ that is, on the loioermost shoot, should he ruhhed off. Although soon after the removal of the shoot a new eye is formed, yet this takes place later and later, and tbe eye does not last so long as that which has pushed in the spring, and, therefore, in the course of the summer, is not fully developed for producing a blossom. It is one of the commonest mistakes made by vintners to remove these laterals without any discrimination, because they consider them to be robbers of strength. The laterals of the shoot to be preserved for a cane are destined to receive the sap and preserve the eye, growing at its base in its dormant state. The laterals continue pusliingfrom the canes during the Avhole summer ; it is, therefore, necessary to have a certain and infallible criterion, in going over a vine, to know which laterals must be removed, and which must remain. This is contained in the folio wins- rule : 3. It is useful to remove the laterals of the shoots that have been pinched ; they must remain on the shoot not pinched, i. e., on the lowermost. The remaining leaves of a vine, regularly pinched, grow large and very solid in a short time, and the lowest shoots not pinched grow with great vigor. The pinched shoots soon attain the size, beyond which they cannot increase in length, as they cannot grow at the top, and the laterals are removed as soon as they appear. The shoots, on the con- THE GEAPE VINE. 67 trary, not pinched or interfered with, because intended for bearing the next spring, grow in the course of the sum- mer from eight to ten, and sometimes even twenty feet long. This does not create any diflSculty when the vines are grown on treUises, because there is room enough to arrange and tie them. If the strips of the trellis are in a vertical position, projecting above, those shoots are carried behind them, where they are permitted to grow. If the trellises are made of horizontal wires, the shoots in ques- tion are tied to the uppermost, on which they are suffered to grow in a horizontal position. In vineyards where posts are used, tlie shoots are tied to them as far as their length goes ; the upper ends of the shoots swdng either in the air or they are tied to the post of the next vine. I anticipate that I shall get in conflict with many practical vignerons who are in the habit of cutting off the shoots in August as far as they think proper, to re-establish order and to obviate and further confusion. This practice, how- ever, is altogether erroneous, because, after the shoots in- tended for canes have been shortened, the dormant eyes commence pushing ; so a part of the eyes desthied to bear the next year is lost, and the crop is lessened. Those la- terals, although developed so late, grow so large that they must be pinched again. A shoot not pinched is some- times difficult to manage on account of its length, but those pinched, much more so, on account of the number of their laterals. If the principle is correct that the shoots intended for canes must not be injured, it is necessary to provide means for their support. A vine may be groicn as large or as small as it is convenient; vet the length of the shoots destined to hear next year cannot he arhi- trarily reduced to a certain measure. Even in the smallest vine they wdll be from «x to eigh- teen feet long, and they must, at all events, be provided for without shortening them. When I was riding, in the fall of 1862, through the Rheingau, I saw the vines kept 38 THE GEAPE VINE. neatly about four feet high; the shoots, however, which were to hear uext year, had produced many Literals. The yellowish-green color of the young shoots shows this ; they have not been long enough exposed to the light to be as green as older leaves. These young laterals are especially liable to be attacked by the grape disease. In the second part of the summer, no such yellowish-green shoots must be found on the vine. It is true that they continue push- ing from the pinched shoots, but they must be rubbed off as soon as they appear ; they do not push from the shoots intended for bearing next year, if the error of shortening them is avoided. Where, in the second part of the summer, yellowish-green shoots aj^pear on a vine, regularly pinched, then they may be removed unhesitatingly. The confusion of a vine, treated in the right manner, Avill never be so great as many believe ; for the bearing canes are pinched and re- main small, and there are but a few long shoots destined for bearing the next year; their number is not much greater than that of the canes which bear fruit. It is judicious to grow a few more shoots than are to be retained for canes ; this has the advantage that the best may be selected in the fall, and that those that are weaker may be removed by pruning, in order to restore the proper number. The shade from these long shoots is of no ac- count, because the rays of the sun, falling upon the leaves of the long shoot, have the same" effect as if they had struck the vine itself It is necessary that the long shoot should vegetate and develop in the light of the sun, so that the cane itself, of course, must produce shade. If a part of a vine is in the shade from a shoot growing on a vine before it, the shoots of that vine are exposed to the full rays of the sun, and it receives from above the light in- tercepted from below by the vine before it. In planting grape vines on a plain, or on a gentle declivity, shade can- not be avoided ; if one part of a vine is entitled to the sun, the other must be contented to be, for a certain time, in THE GRAPE VIK'E. 39 tlie shade. Moreover, only the leaf of the vine ought to be exposed to the full light of the sun, while the cluster is to develop and to ripen in the diffused light of day. GRAPE VINE PLANTATIONS. There is hardly any otber plant so well adapted to varia- tion of management as the grape vine. It is not our purpose to give here detailed directions concerning the ar- rangements of plantations, but only hints which may be useful, where a skillful gardener can be consulted. There exists no system of cultivating the vine which could be called absolutely the best for all regions ; the climate, as well as the nature of the variety of the vine, requires particular attention. All methods are successful to a certain degree, and there is none not considered the best by some. So much is true — that, of all plants, the vine gives the most ample reward for the care bestowed upon it, and that many a vacant spot of a garden may be used for planting a choice variety, so that it may be turned to account. VINES TRAINED ALONG THE GARDEN WALK. By this, low, horizontal branches of grape vines are meant, growing at considerable distances from each other, the canes and foliage of which do not occupy any useful space.* They are trained above edgings of box and strawberries without interfering with their growth. For this arrangement, such walks in the garden are selected as are parallel to the longest extent of it. The whole length is divided into equal parts of five or six feet each, and those places are marked by small sticks. Supposing the distance of six feet is preferred, a hole is dug at the first stick, or six feet from the end, then at the third, fifth, seventh, etc., skipping the equal numbers two, four, six, etc. If each vine sends out on the two opposite sides a 40 THE GEAPE VINE. cane of six feet each, the whole length will be covered by the vine, and, therefore, the two last vines are planted six feet from the end or beginning. A vine is now planted, either a cutting or a root, in each hole, in a straight line along the margin of the walk ; the roots mnst be so ar- ranged and so disposed, that they must grow into the beds where they find better soil and can be manured. They are protected by sticks against injury from footsteps, and are watered during the summer, if necessary. In the fall, each young vine is cut down to two eyes, from which two shoots are suffered to grow the next year. As they do not bear, they may be feid on the ground behind the edgings. In the third year, a strong iron wire, at least one-twelfth of an inch in diameter, is stretched between the first and the last post ; the wire is supported by a thin post near each vine. The wire ought to be stretched at the height of eighteen or twenty inches above the ground. In this way, the bed remains open to the view, and the edg- ing plants, growing under the canes, are not injured, as they receive sufficient light. The two posts at the extreme ends ought to be made of oak wood three inches square ; their ends ought to be also square, not round. If they are three and a half feet long, each two feet will be ^/^, and a foot and a half above the ground. They are strong enough to bear the stress of the wire. !N"ear the upper end each of the two posts receives towards the middle a strong iron hook, with a screw cut at its end ; it is screwed into the pcist, so that the oiDcning of the hook is on the upper side. A hole of a quarter of an inch in diameter is bored through the other post, through which a strong piece of iron wire is put, being bent in the form of a hook on the inside, and having a screw with a four-cornered nut on the outside. The small posts, set to each vine along the whole side of the walk, are also of oak, and if they are a foot and a half deep in the soil, they will have strength enough. In order to stretch the wire, an eye is made on one of its ends, THE GEAPE VINE. 41 through which the hook passes ; it is then hooked into the wire of the second end post, which terminates in a screw, so that it touches the tops of the intermediate small posts. Then it is stretched by means of the sci-ew and nut as much as possible. The wire is kept in position on the tops of the intermediate posts by small staples or rings with wood screws. If the stress or the heat lengthens the wire, it is stretched again by turning the nut of the screw. Even without such an apparatus, the wire maybe stretched by wooden wedges and stones driven into the soil by the posts, in order to straighten them. As the wire is short- ened by the cold of the winter, it is advisable to loosen it a little, and to stretch it again when the vines are tied up in the next spring. Others recommend to use strips of wood instead of wire ; they must be nailed on the tops of the posts. Strips are less durable and more expensive than wires ; for the place where they are nailed is apt to rot, owing to the oxide of iron produced by the rusting nail ; and if the strip breaks there, and is an inch too short, it must be re- placed by a new one. Wires have httle body, and the tying to a wire is easier than to a thick, clumsy strip. The durability of the wires is increased by giving them a coat of oil paint. The color is given by mixing it with pure red lead. This color shows the place of the wire, and prevents occasional visitors from injuring themselves in stepping over a place not yet filled with canes of the vine. The canes, growing in the second year, are tied in the third, riorht and left to the wire, and are suffered to bear. It is necessary to pinch and remove shoots, if this method of training is adopted. One of the lowest shoots on each side must not be pinched or interfered with, as it is to be used as a cane forbearing the next year ; all other bearing shoots, when pinched just beyond the second leaf above the last cluster, cannot grow longer. The shoots for canes 42 THE GEAPE VINE. are tied to the same wire, but below it, wMch compels them to lengthen in a straight line. The canes which have borne fruit are cut off in the next autumn ; the new canes are pruned to twelve or fourteen buds, and also some spurs are provided for, so that it is possible, after the lapse of some years, to shorten the stem and to go back again, nearer to the first starting point. It is very easy always to have two strong canes covering, with the exception of the extremities, the intervals of twelve feet of the wire, except at the end. That space is needed for tying the shoots of the uppermost buds. If a post, seven feet high, is set to each vine, two additional fruiting canes, as well as the shoots for canes, may be tied to it ; so the crop may be very much increased. On such a cordon, eight hundred feet long, I have grown, in the fourth year after planting, so many bunches, that I made from them one-half awme (30 gallons) of excellent, red wine, without using a single square foot of the surface of the garden for it. Only here and there some plants of the box, which formed the eds-ino;, were taken out to make room for the vines. The rays of the sun, intercepted by the vines, would have fallen during one-half of the day upon the walks, during the other upon the box and other worthless plants, which attained, however, their perfect develop- ment. The variety was of the early Burgundy variety. TRELLISES ON WALLS. A wall, exposed to the sun during one-half of the day, towards the east, south or west, or intermediate between them, may be used for a trellis. A southern or south- westerly is the best ; early ripening sorts succeed also when exposed to the east or west, provided the climate is not unfavorable. The walls for trellises are generally whitewashed, be- cause it is cheapest. Yet it is better to add something to NHE GEAPE VINE. 43 it that makes the wash darker, to absorb more heat. For this purpose, any brown coloring matter, mixed with white- wash, will answer to make a dark-colored wall. Without the mixture of whitewash, the pulverized coloring matter is washed off by the rain from the walls. Umber and lampblack may be used, yet Manganese is much to be preferred. A wall, covered with blue slate, absorbs the greatest amount of heat ; the cheapest kind of slate or refuse of slate answers a very good purpose. Bkie slate, exposed to the full sun, is heated to fifty to fifty-five degrees Reaum. (to 145 o.r 156° Fahr.) The wall, not shaded by the foliage, is heated by the rays of the sun, and imparts warmth to the currents of rising air, which give off their warmth to the vine. A great amount of heat is accumulated in the wall from the sun, the effect of wliich is felt even at night. In pass- ing by a wall, shone upon by the sun during the day, af- ter sunset the undulations of the warmth are distinctly felt in the face. This advantage of being heated for a longer time can be given to the vines by painting the wall dark. Wire trellises are now preferred to wooden ones, not only on account of their durability, but also on ac- count of their greater cheapness. They can, besides, be erected and arranged in a very short time. The wire must be at least one-twelfth of an inch thick, and annealed, so that it may be bent without breaking. It is be'st to stretch the wire in a horizontal direction. In this case, there are not many places where the vine is to be tied, nor can a vine which has been tied, slide down. A trellis five or six feet high requires but three or four wires, the lowest, a foot from the ground, the others, in distances of sixteen inches from each other. Strong pieces of iron are fast- ened to the extreme ends of the wall, in order to stretch the wire ; every twelve feet, the wire must be passed through a thinner piece of iron, in order to keep it in 44 THE GEAPE VIXE. place. It is necessary to mark first the places at the ex- treme ends with a cross, the middle of which, where the two lines intercept each other, indicates the place where the iron has to be fixed. As such a trellis lasts a long time, it is advisable to measure the distance with a rule, carefully. After the strong pieces of iron at the two ends of the Avail have been fastened, the whole length is divid- ed into equal parts of ten or twelve feet each, and there a perpendicular line is made with a piece of charcoal or a carpenter's lead pencil. Then a piece of cord or twine is stretched between the two strong irons, which crosses the black lines at right angles ; the j^laces where the cord crosses the black lines are 'to be marked red. Here the thinner irons are fastened, which are to serve to keep the wire in place. To drive a j^ointed iron in mortar or brick walls is easy enough, but stone w^alls cause a great deal more trouble. Frequently it is necessary to try to the right and left, till a place is found w^here two stones are put together ; for it is unpossible to penetrate into the stones themselves. In order not to spoil many points of the pieces of soft iron, a four-cornered punch of steel, which has been tempered blue, and has a handle, is used. Should the hole become too large by this oj^eration, a piece of pine Avood is driven into it wdth a hammer, and then the iron is driven into the pine wood. It is left to the judgment of the person who makes the trellis, whether he will make use of an apparatus to stretch the wires by means of screws and nuts. The wires receive a coat of red paint ; they last, so painted, much longer, and are ahvays visible. A wire trellis well arranged and firm will likely last longer than the hfe of him who has made it. FREE TRELLISES. It is much more profitable and adA^antageous to erect grape trellises on gentle declivities than to plant smgie THE GRAPE VINE. 45 vines. The number of posts required is mucli less, and the greater extent of the root in vines growing strong will involve less expense, and give a greater produce. A vine trained on a trellis ten or twelve feet wide, and four or four and a half feet high, bears as many clusters as eight or ten vineyard vines trained to posts. Also the labor of pruning, tying ^nd manuring is much simpler and easier than in a larorer number of sino^le vines. As regards the direction of the trellises, practical men differ. Kecht advises the direction from north to south, that is, parallel to the meridian. This arrangement has the disadvantage that in the hottest part of the day, the sun shines into the spaces between the rows, heating the ground, while the rows are in their own shade. It is, how- ever, much more important that the vine should be warmed than the ground. I have, therefore, chosen just the opposite direction, that is, from east to west, in a plan- tation of vines. As the line of the rows is a little inclined towards the meridian, it so happens that the sun at one o'clock, p. ra., shines vertically upon the rows. Conse- quently my plantation enjoys the sun in the following manner : Before seven o'clock, a. m., the sun shines on the back part of the trellises ; at seven o'clock it shines between the rows from east ; from seven o'clock, a. m., till seven o'clock, p. m., the front part of the trelhs enjoys the sunshine ; at seven o'clock, p. m., the rays of the sun strike the spaces between the rows, and after seven o'clock the back part of the trellises agam. In the hottest part of the day, from ten o'clock, a. m., till three o'clock, p. m., the sun is almost vertical above the rows, and they are then in the condition of trellises made on walls with a southern exposure, which exposure has always been preferred to all others. In the hottest part of the day, the ground is shaded so that it does not dry so rapidly. ^ly aim was to intercept all the rays of the sun, that would fall upon that piece of ground, by the 4:6 THE GEAPE VINE. plant itself, as this would insure the best success. It is true that I have no experience yet, but the arrange- ment was planned with so much care, that I am confident of a favorable result. A little deviation from this direc- tion may be desirable if the natural condition of the situa- tion of the ground is difierent. Should it be so situated as to receive the shadow from a near mountain in the af- ternoon, it will be advantageous to turn the whole ar- rangement a little eastward, and plant the rows so that the sun shines into them in the morning and in the even- ing at five o'clock ; it will then, at eleven a. m., be verti- cally above them. If the ground lies open in all directions, it is better to deviate a little towards the west, because the afternoon is always hotter than the forenoon. If the shadow of a mountain falls from the east upon the plantation, it maybe so arranged that it has the sun vertical at two o'clock, p. m., but always so that the sun does not shine into the spaces between the rows during the hottest time of the day. If the direction is ascertained, the east and west sides of the ground are to be divided into equal parts, each four feet wide ; this is the distance of the trellises from each other. Then the north and south sides of the piece must be divided into parts of ten feet each. Each vine is to cover five feet of trellis on each side, consequently ten feet in the whole. No vines must, there- fore, be planted at the east and west terminus of the rows, but five feet from it. The last post, however, is to be planted at the terminus itself. Now the holes are dug in the places indicated, and the plants or cuttings are so placed that they are in straight lines ; this may easily be accomplished by another pei'son sighting at the last hole, marked by some prominent object, along a straight pole, placed horizontally. In the first year, the green shoots may lie and grow on the ground ; in the second, they may be tied THE GEAPE VINE. 47 to sticks, and the S23aces between the rows may be used for cultivating vegetables. In the third year, the trellis must be erected. For this purpose strong posts, three inches square, the points of which are four cornered, are driven into the ground at the east and west side of the rows ; if they are two and a half feet in the ground, and five feet above it, they are long enough. Between them, thinner posts two inches square, but equally high as the larger ones, are driven into the ground near every vine, i. e., in distances of ten feet from each other to support the wires ; the two last rows east and west may, of course, be skipped. Instead of oaken posts, which are expensive, round, pine saplings may be used, but they must be im- jjregnated with sulphate of copper. This can be done by dissolving ten or twelve pounds of sulphate of copper in an old hogshead, by pouring hot water on it, stirring it frequently. Ten or twelve posts are put in it, and remain five or six days, when they are to be replaced by others, while the first set is dried. So much water is to be added that the hogshead with the posts in it is full. As long as sulj^hate of copper remains undissolved at the bottom, the absorbed or evaporated water must be re- plenished. Of all tlie materials used for impregnating wood to make it durable, (kyanizing,) sulphate of copper is one of the cheapest and most effective. To give a good coat of coal tar to the part impregnated, after the posts are dry, will protect them still more effec- tually. To stretch the wire, strong conical pieces of iron may be used, similar to those used for stretching piano strings. They must be made to fit holes bored with a tapering bit, flattened at the top, and pierced with a hol6. The iron must be driven into the hole, so that it bears the stress by friction alone. The force applied in stretching is so great that the posts may yield and turn a little. To prevent 48 THE GKAPE VINE. this, the lowest wire is fastened to the front part (south side) of the post, the second to the back side The lowest wire is to be stretched about a foot from the ground; the others at distances from twelve to sixteen inches. Four wires will make a trellis five feet high. We will now compare such an arrangement with a vine- yard of single vines trained to poles. Supposing the piece of ground is eighty feet square, there will be twenty-one trellises, if the rows are four feet distant from each other. As each vine covers ten feet of the trellis, there will be eight vines in a row, consequently 168 in the whole. If a vineyard is planted of single vines three and a half feet apart each way, there will be 24 vines in a row, that is, 576 vines in the whole. But if the vines are planted three feet apart each way, as it is usually done, there will be 729 vines and posts. Although it is impossible to estimate the first cost of each of these arrangements, even approx- imately, as the prices of the posts, as well as those of the wire, vary very much ; yet trellised vines cover the whole space, and consequently bear much more abundantly than vines trained to posts, so that trellises are proper and more profitable than posts. VINES TRAINED TO TRELLISES. The bearing canes of vines, occupying a trellis ten or twelve- feet wide, or five or six feet high, may be grown in the middle, and evenly destributed over it, in the shape of a fan. From eight to ten canes are sufiicient, and they may be easily grown on a stem only a few feet in extent. Figure 5 represents such a vine, immediately after pruning in the fall. The canes which have borne have been al- ready removed, but the places of the cuts of the shoots, intended for canes, are only indicated. Also some spurs are to be seen at A and ^/ the shoots which will start from THE GRAPE VINE. 49 their buds will enable the vine dresser to reduce the heiglit of the stem in the following year. If only two branches Fig. 5. — VINE ON TliELLIS, PRUNED. of the stem are sliortened every year, the vine will always be kept within moderate bounds. J. P. BRONNER'S METHOD. According to this method all branches and shoots form right angles with the stems and canes from which they grow. [Whether Bronner had any knowledge of Speech- ly's and Hoare's plan I cannot tell, although it is hardly probable. — Translator.'] It is very similar to the methods adopted at Thomery and Fontainebleau, where nearly all the grapes are grown which are consumed at Paris. It is the special object of this method to cause an equal distri- bution of the sf^p, and to cover the whole trellis equally with bearing canes. It is adapted to free trellises, as well as to such as are arranged on walls. The form of the right angle is especially adapted to walls with windows and doors, as it is in conformity with them. The dis- 50 THE GRAPE VINE. tances between the vines, trained to a free trellis, may be- eight or ten feet ; for those on walls, twelve feet and more. All strips and wires must run in a horizontal direction ; the unequal numbers, three, five, seven, etc., according to the height, must be preserved. The first w^ire must be stretched a foot from the ground ; the others at distances of sixteen inches each. A single trellis consists of three wires ; the two arms are tied to the lowest, and the bearing canes are tied in a vertical direction to the two next wires. A double trellis consists of five wires, and has horizontal arms tied to the first and third; the canes from the third wire are to be tied to the fourth and fifth. A trellis of three stories consists of seven wires, having arms on the first, third and fifth ; the canes of the fifth are to be tied to the sixth and seventh. We will now consider the management of a single trellis with tliree wires. Be- fore the vine can be trained to it, it must have attained vigor and a good size. A vine, two years old, when planted in the fall, must be cut down to one eye. The shoot, pushing from it, must not be interfered with ; it must gro^v undisturbed without pinching and stopping. This treatment will tend to j^ro- duce fibrous roots. In the following year, the vine is to be cut down to two buds, and should, in the next year, the two canes not be so thick as a child's finger, they must be cut down again, and treated as described. If a cutting is planted, it will require at least three years to make it strong „. „ enousfh for traininor. The third Fig. 6.— FIRST PRUNING. * ^ year of the growth of the young vine is, therefore, the first of the training. The two years' plant, having grow^n a year in the place assigned to it, THE GEArE VIXE. 51 makes in the summer a shoot to be pruned to two eyes in the fall. Figure 6. These two buds will produce two shoots in the follow- ing (the second) year, figure 7, which are left four feet long at pruning, and are changed to brown canes in the fall. There will be a great many buds on them, which Fig. 7.— SECOND PRUNING. will all push in the next spring. Four are selected on each arm, on the upper side of it, and distributed as equally as possible, (figure 8) ; the green shoots proceeding from them must be sufiered to grow undisturbed, while all the other buds must be rubbed ofi*. In this way, eight shoots will be obtained at nearly equal distances from each other, which are to be tied vertically to the two upper wires as Fi2:. 8. — PRUNING THE CANES. soon as they reach them. In the (third) fall the unequal numbers one and three of the shoots, being now canes, are pruned back to two buds, but the equal numbers two and four to three buds. Figure 8, THE GKAPE VINE. In the following (the fourth) year one shoot of the spurs, corresponding to the unequal numbers, and pruned to two eyes, is suffered to grow, but the other is rubbed off, because it was only left on account of the possibility of an accident to either of them. The shoots, pruned to the three buds, (the equal numbers,) will bear fruit ; they must be j^inched, as exj^lained, and no green shoot must Fig. 9.— FIRST TEAR OF FRUITING. be permitted to grow. The lowest buds of a c?ine being mostly wood buds, only the third buds will show blos- soms. Figure 9. This will not weaken the vine. In the fall of the fourth year, the canes of the unequal numbers are pruned to five or six eyes, as shown in figure 9, but the equal numbers, having borne fruit, to two eyes. In the following (the fifth) year, the canes of the une- qual numbers will bear along their w^hole length for the first time, figure 10, and each of the spurs of the equal numbers will produce a strong shoot for a bearing cane. Now everything remains in the same order, the equal and unequal numbers alternately bearing or making shoots. As the shoot on the strong arm retains but one bud in the year in which- this is to be grown for a cane, it receives an abundance of sap to make the canes strong ; and as the THE GRAPE VINE. 53 bearing canes on the same arms are not permitted to make a single shoot, tliey are supplied with ample nourishment for perfecting fruit. The functions of all the parts of the vine are performed alternately, so that ngne of them is taxed too heavily. If a double trellis is to be covered, more time is re- (juired ; the upper story must not be made to bear in the same year as the lower, but several years later, and so on. Eacli branch growing from an arm must be regarded as an independent vine, as it were, which is prolonged every SECOND YEAR OF FRUITING. year by a joint. The same means which are employed to reduce the height of a vine, must be used in managing a branch. The shoots pushing from wood eyes on the old wood must be suffered to grow ; they are pruned in the fall to spurs from which a shoot is grown to replace the old wood above it. It is frequently necessary to train a vine so that the bear- ing canes are at considerable distance from the ground, for instance, in streets and yards where j^eople are going to and fro. A cane, tied in a vertical direction to the wall, must- then be grown as a stem, witliout any branches whatever. Only the leaves are left, as long as it is an object to 54 THE GRAPE VINE. Strengthen it. If the iij^permost bud is permitted to push, the height is soon reached where the horizontal arms are desired, which have to rest on wires. It is important not to reach the height too soon. If four feet are added annually to the height of the stem, the arms and bearing canes will be so high that they cannot be touched by a pei-son on the ground. The arrangement just described, according to which bearing canes and shoots are grown alternately along the horizontal wires, is very well adajDted Fig. 11. — ARCADE TRELLIS. for this purpose. The height of the space between two windows of a house affords room enough for a second wire to tie the bearing canes to it. Vines may be planted in a great many other places to make them profitable, and to embellish them, as near the columns of a verandah, to cover the wire roof of a poultry yard, etc. If the princi- ples of the management are understood, their application to a given case is not difficult. Arbors, covered with grape vines, ought, under no circumstances, to be clothed with vines on both sides and above, because it will make the inside moist and shady, so that the grapes will not THE GRAPE VINE. OO ripen perfectly. An excellent arrangement for growing table grapes is the so-called arcade arhor, of which only the outlines can be given here. The framework, made of wood, is indicated, figure 14, by straight lines. Strong posts are set at equal distances from each other, of seven or eight feet, on which two trellis strips or wires, a foot and a half or two feet distant, are arranged. A vine is planted to each post, trained up to the first strip, and two arms from it are laid in along the strip. A height of seven or eight feet from the ground to the lowest strip is suflacient, according as it may be desirable to have the clusters higher or lower. Roses may be grown between the vines, especially if the stem has no branches. Such an arcade is, as it were, a vineyard in the air, w^hich makes little shade, so that the beds below^ may be used for growing anything on them ; it is beautiful to look at, and yields large crops. TIME REQUIRED FOR COVERING A TRELLIS. This is the plnce to discuss the question how soon the space of a certain trellis may be covered. If the canes are pruned long, that is, to sixteen or twenty buds, a vine may be made to cover a large space in a few years, but so rapid a process has disadvantages peculiar to itself. The extension of the vine ought always to correspond to the probable development of the roots. As they are in the ground, not exposed to view, judgment must be exercised by taking into consideration the length of the time, the fertility of the soil, and the vigor, the length, and the number of the growing shoots. If the process is hastened, and numerous shoots are left in the third and fourth years, the root cannot furnish as much nourishment as is needed. Many shoots push, show blossoms, and remain feeble, and in spite of regular pinching, the lowest eyes do not push vigorously. They yield many bunches of small size ; they 1 / 5G TUE GEAPE VINE. will not be sweet, and will ripen late. In the next fall the canes are changes to stems ; there are no strong shoots to make good canes in the fall. The shoots grow very high on the stem, which has grown to an enomious extent. This results from pruning a vine too long. In this case it is necessary to prune down to the old wood, in order to produce few, but more vigorous shoots. The crop, after a rich harvest, will be small; the advantage, gained by the prematurely hastened production, Avill be lost, and the development of the vine will be put back a year. If this circumstance is always kept in view, the temptation to ob- tain an abundant crop by long pruning will be easily re- sisted. It is only tlie question whether the covering by a vine of a space twelve feet wide shall be accomplished two or three years sooner. A slower procedure is much prefera- ble, as it makes both the stems and the roots stronger. Hov^ long a vine ought to he pruned^ that is, how many eyes ought to he left, is different in different kinds of grapes. The cluster 7iever grows from the first hud of the shoot, and not lower than from the fourth and fifth' likewise the lowest huds of the canes rarely hear fruit. There are hi7ids lohich hear fruit on shoots from the seventh and eight hud y there are others, like the Chasselas, v^hich hear grapes on the lowest shoots. Should tlie former be pruned below the seventh eye, then all the fruit bearing buds would be cut off, and only wood buds would be left ; consequently they would not bear fruit. This explains the experience of all vinyard- ists that close pruning produces much wood and little fruit, because the eyes, organized for blooming, are cut off. The opinion is pretty generally prevalent that if the sup- ply of sap should be too abundant, only wood and no fruit would be produced, and that the fruit only requires a very moderate supply of sap. This opinion is, no doubt, erroneous, as the fruit demands more nourishment than THE GRAPE VINE. 57 any other part of the plant. This is sufficiently proven by the fact that an abundant crop prevents the vigorous de- velopment of the branches very much. The same takes pLace in regard to apples and pears. Too close pruning produces only Avood shoots, not, how- ever, on account of a super-abundance of sap, but because the fruit buds, which grow more towards the end of the shoots, have been cut off. On the other hand we find that our rule holds good, namely, that we have to prune very close, in order to obtain strong wood for the next year, even if the rich crops of the current year should be lost. It would be foolish to grow, as unskilled gardeners do, every year nothing but wood and very little fruit. A gen- eral Jcnowledge of the varieties, in regard to the eyes, which will he fruitful, is a sure guide. Varieties hearing higher up must he pruned to twelve or fifteen huds ; the lower hearing ones to six or eight eyes. To the former belong the varieties from the South, such as Malvasier and the like, often, also, kinds rij^ening late ; those that ripen early, and are accustomed to our climate, as the Chasselas, bear on the lower eyes. MANTJRING. The grape vine, like all other plants, takes from the soil certain constituents which must be replaced to grow them successfully. They are the so-called mineral ingredients which cannot be supplied by the atmos^^here. To them belong especially potash and phosphoric acid, combined with lime. If the culture of the vine could be so managed that only the alcohol and the sugar were taken from the vine- yard, and that all other things taken from the vine were given back to the soil of the vineyard, no other manuring would be needed. But along with the wine, also tartar, and in this the potash is sold, as well as phosphate of lime. All the tartar sold and bought is derived from wine, 3* 58 THE GEAPE VIXE. and contains potash, of which the soil of the vineyard has been robbed. If that is not restored, and if it does not exist in the soil in the greatest abundance, the growth of the vine must be impaired. It is a fact that in former years the vine was planted in plains to a much greater ex- tent than at present ; so, many places in the Margraviate Brandenburg designate some tracts of land by calling them vineyards, though not a single vine is now growing there. An animal cannot form bones except by such food as con- tains phosphate of lime ; a hen cannot lay eggs with hard shells, if her nourishment does not contain lime. The vine cannot form tartar when it is wanting in potash, and the tartar, as it appears, is formed like the bones and the shell of the eggs, because it is never wanting, and the plant ceases growing without a full supply of potash. For these reasons, the culture of the vine has ceased in regions with little potash in the soil, after it had languished for a number of years without giving any profit. In plains it is impossible to restore the potash, except by man itself; but who could be induced to supply it without knowing the cause of the failure ? In mountainous districts the cause is very different ; the soil near the Moselle, the Rhine, the Nahe, and the Ahr consists of argillaceous slate ; there the stones are spread all ove* the inclined plains of the vineyards, so that not a single square inch of the soil remains uncovered, and the vineyards look more like quarries than plantations of vines. During the whole winter the stones, containing frequently as much as three per cent, of potash, are disintegrated by the weather, and the little particles are washed down into the soil by rain and melting snow, and supply there the loss caused by the removal of the last crop. As long as stones of this are abundant in those vineyards, potash is not wanting ; therefore the softest of such stones are preferred ; and where they are not found in small pieces, they are severed from the rocks with sledge hammers, and even withpow- THE GRAPE VINE. 59 der, to cover the clean soil of the vmeyards with them, although this requires much labor. This is manuring with minerals in the best form, al- though it is the general belief that the stones serve only for warming the soil, and for preventing it from being car- ried oif by heavy rains. They are effective in this respect also, it is true, but they yield potash, and supply that which has been abstracted. It is the chief benefit derived from them. Should any one be skeptical, he can easily convince him- self by taking for tins purpose stones, destitute of potash. The experience of a few years will be suificient to show him the value of stones, containing potash. In Deides- heim, on the Haardt Mountains, disintegrated basalt is carried into the vineyards at great expense. There the soil in the plains contains but little potash, not enough to supply the vines in adequate proportions. Experience has taught people that stones carried into the vineyards from so great a distance yield the supply needed ; it is manur- ing with minerals. Basalt contains from two to four per cent of potash. But not only potash, but also phosphate of lime" must be restored, which is generally done by cow manure. It is true, cow manure contains phosphate of lime, and a sufficient quantity of potash. If we had al- ways a suff^ient supply of it, the potash, as well as, espe- cially, the phosphate of lime, carried off in the wine, would be restored to the soil. But cow manure is getting daily more expensive, and enough of it cannot be procured. When it shall have reached a certain price, vineyard cul- ture, which does not yield even now in our region a cer- tain crop every year, will not be profitable any more; we have nearly arrived at that point. Tlie cause why the price of cow manure is rising daily, lies simply in the fact that the potash and phosphate of lime have been abstracted from the fields to such a degree that they are exhausted. If the fanner cannot grow 60 THE GRAPE VINE. clover, he has no feed for his cows, and cannot sell manures The number of farmers whose fields are becommg unpro- ductive is rapidly increasing, so that the price of manure must rise rapidly, because it is getting very scarce. The fields of the formers are impoverished when they sell the manure, and do not use it for fertilizing their own fields. It is an incontrovertible fact that the land is impoverished by selling the products of agriculture, eve:i loitho^it selling manure ; how much more certain and rapid will be its ruin, if, in addition to the products, the manure also is sold. A farmer who sells manure is a prodigal living on his cap- ital ; he lights his candle simultaneously at both ends. For a man who cannot resist the temptation to sell his manure, the day is already appointed on which his field will come under the hammer, and which will make him either an emigrant or a beggar. Emigration is a proof of the exhaustion of the soil ; thus the culture of vineyards becomes a curse to an agricultural country. It hangs like a vampire on the neck of the country, sucking the potash and phosphate of lime. It is my intention to stir up the farmers not to sell any more (not even an ounce,) manure to the owners of vineyards, for the interest of both. If the land of the farmers is ruined by selling manure, the owners of vineyards cannot get from them what they need, so that they will be forced at last to become fndependent of them. It is my ardent wish that this may take place before the farmer is ruined. The vinyardist will buy manure as long as it is offered to him at a suitable price ; he can console himself, should a farmer be ruined, by buying his field at the sheriff's sale. As it is the farmer who is ruined first, he ought to commence resistance, and to refuse to sell manure, or to ask such a price that he can buy double the value of it in bone dust, guano and wood ashes. He must use the money received for the manure in buying the materials just mentioned, and give them back to his fields. THE GRAPE VINE. 61 Should the farmer get only sufficient money for his manure to buy an equivalent of bone dust, he has not sold at a profit. If, on the contrary, the yiuyardist has to pay double the amount for cow manure that he does for an equivalent in bone dust or leached ashes, he will cease buying manure, and will prefer to buy bone dust -for his money, of which he receives double the value as a manure for the same amount. If, liowever, the vinyardist con- tends that he cannot do without animal manure, which is not yet proven, he may then pvLj to the farmer the double price asked ; -for error must pay a tax. In this case the vinyardist receives what he wishes, and the farmer has his profit. If the same individual cultivates vineyards as well as fields, he may use his barnyard manure for his vineyards, and bone dust, guano, and leached ashes for his fields. It he cultivates only vineyards, he must become independent of the farmer, who will continue raising the price for manure, so that the vinyardist cannot buy it any more. As soon as the price for manure rises higher than that for an. equal quantity of fertilizing material in bone dust and guano, the vinyardist is forced to use them for fertilizing purposes. If a vineyard is situated in a re- gion of argillaceous slate, and if the surface of it is cov- ered with a stratum of this material, only bone dust is re- quired for manuring ; but if the vineyard is in a plain where disintegrated rock cannot be supplied, something besides must be used contahiing potash, for instance : wood ashes, leached ashes, dust from such roads and turnpikes as are covered Avith granite, syenite, basalt, and similar rocks containing small proportions of j^otash ; also soap- suds, chloride of potassium and sulphate of potash. It de- pends altogether on the price whether the one or the other of the materials mentioned deserves the preference. Of these manuring materials, leached ashes and road dust may be used immediately; those, however, which are soluble, for instance^ wood ashes, soapsuds, chloride of potasssiurn and 62 THE GRAPE VINE. sulphate of potash, requh'e some preparation. All mineral stuffs, fit for the nourishment of plants, become insoluble in contact with the soil ; to prevent them from reaching the roots of the vines in a soluble form, they must be mixed with large quantities of good soil. Sufficient water is then.poured on it to wet it thoroughly, and so it re- mains long enough for the chemical changes. The result is an insoluble compound of the soil and the salts of pot- ash, which may be used as manure. In the fall, some of the soil on the northern side of the rows is removed, and some of the above compound is laid there; rain and snow will wash the fertilizing material into the soil. It is true, this chemical combination is nearly insoluble in pure water, but the soil surrounding the roots of the vine has an affinity for these stuffs, and in virtue of it, the particles of the salts of potash continue spreading from grahi to grain of the soil until they are evenly dis- tributed. This process is similar to the cementation of iron, in which the molecules of carbon change their places without ever having been volatile or liquid. The carbon gradually penetrates the white-hot, soft iron bars, until they are changed into steel. Precisely in the same way mineral substances penetrate' in the exhausted soil from above downwards, and reach the roots in such a con- dition that they can be absorbed by them without injury. The roots of the vine are very sensitive to soluble fer- tilizing materials. Liquid barn-yard manure, incautiously used, may kill or make them sick. In the summer following the application of it, the leaves turn yellow, the shoots that push are feeble, and the fruit remains poor, and does not mature. Liquid barn-yard manure ought, therefore, never be brought in direct contact w^ith the roots. Urine, not decomposed, contains urea, and not yet carbon- ate of ammonia, and the urine of man, besides, has a large proportion of common salt. If tliis liquid manure is to THR GRAPE VINE. G3 be used for manuring purposes, it must be prepared in the same way. It must be mixed with sufficient soil to form a stiff paste, which is to be exposed to sunshine and rain. The heat decomposes the urea ; it is changed to carbonate of ammonia, and fixed and retained by the soil, while the undecomposed urea filtrates through the soil, and is carried down to the roots. The common salt is not fixed by the soil, and is washed out and carried off" by the rain. Liquid manure, so prepared, may, in a solid form, be unhesitatingly used as manure. The method just described, is nearly identical with that of the Japa- nese, and which that nation, during thousands of years, has followed in the management and preparation of manure, and which has reached us only by a very long and circuitous route. Our barn cellars, built at great expense, and re- warded by premiums as models, are, with exception of the water-tight floor, nothing but humbugs. Tiiey have been resorted"^ to through the error of the nitrogenous theory. We attempt to retain in force, what, in contact with the soil, remains of itself, viz.: the ammonia; we guard against sunshine and heat, and prevent thereby the de- composition of the urea; we keep what ought to be wash- ed out, the common salt. But to return to the Japanese method of preparing and managing manure. We must coU lect and preserve all the ofial obtained from our domestic life to be composted with soil, refuse of straw, etc., and to be exposed to sunshine and rain. Nothing useful is washed out ; that which is important and needed undergoes the necessary changes, and that which is injurious is remov- ed. There is, however, another reason why liquid manure ought to be subjected to the process of decomposition and condensation. It iscas^erVed th,i;. the disagreeable odor of liquid manure exeris tvn injurious inf.ueuce on the per- fume of the wine. I have jiot Jjad any ex]Derience of this alleged fact; but, I know fj:s)mmeneMC0_ that liqujd ma- nure makes vines ^Sickly. . , >' ' '^j"^,'' 64 THE GRAPE VINE. In Mulder's work, The Chemistry of the Wine, there is tlie following passage, (p. 13, of the German translation by Charles Arenz, Leipsic, 185G) : " It is remarkable that fetid manure, fecal matter, and the mud of large cities have an injurious influence upon the perfume of the wine, while, on the contrary, inodorous manures, which decom- ])0se slowly, for instance, wool, horn and bone-black, have a beneficial efiect upon the perfume. The fetid organic ingredients of the manure pass, therefore, over into the plants in such a quantity that they are perceivable in the fruit ; so is the fetid odor of decaying fishes easily distin- guished in the cauliflower when manured with them. It is not without danger to pronounce these facts aloud in a time in Avhich it is said of the plants that they do not take up the slightest particle from the soil ; I risk it, however, to mention the facts." This passage of Mulder has reference to the principles of agricultural chemistry established by Liebig to which Mulder is scientifically, and also personally, opposed, which is to be regretted. But Mulder could not have found a better proof for Liebig's pri^ciples than just that one be- fore us, which he uses as a weapon against them. If the odorous ingredients of the manure are such as are perceiv- able in the plant, they have not been received and assimi- lated by the plant. Liebig speaks only of the assimilation of certain bodies by the plant itself The sugar, the albu- men, the fibres in the fetid cauliflower, have assuredly their origin in inorganic matter ; the organic ingredients of the decaying fishes in it have not become parts of the cauliflower. The fact itself proves the necessity of de- animalizing all manure that is fetid, i. e., to change it as much as possible' t6 inorg'mip matter- by the aid of atmos- pheric influef'Cfes. • - 3< , .. In gdirden and fi/^ld cuHiri'e. large heaps of weeds are accumulating ; *they i?re e'xcfelknt 'for receiving liquid ma- nure, /'They are light and permeable, protlu'cing, by the aid THE GKAPE VINE. 65 of liquid manure, in a short time a mould, which retains with great tenacity all mineral ingredients. When expos- ed during the summer, and until January and February, to the influence of sun and rain, and dug over several times, they make a very powerful manure. Oflal of the house,' of wood stoves, and of bones, is also added. He who cannot obtain cow manure may buy, during the sum- mer, a sufficient suj^ply of horse manure, which can easily be got, because people do not attach much value to it. If managed in the right way, it serves a very good pur- pose. It is generally believed that horse manure is too hot. This is a belief not well founded in fact ; the assertion is with- out sense. Horse manure is too light and so much mixed Avith straw, that it cannot have the same fertilizing power in the same bulk as cow manure. If the horse manure is well prepared and managed during the summer, it can be deprived of its heating power and lightness. It must be comi^osted in alternate layers with garden soil and coal ashes ; all bones that have been collected must be put in the horse manure, but not too many in the same place ; liquid manure must then be poured over the heap, and this must be covered about four inches deep with garden soil. So prepared, it remains exposed to rain and sun ; should a long drouth j^revail, it must be s]3rinkled from the rose of a water-pot. The heaps shrink considerably, but lose not a particle of useful ingredients by evapora- tion. When dug over from time to time, they make an entirely homogenous and very powerful manure. Fre- quently this oj^eration is called composting, which, on the Vvhole, does not mean anything definite. It is paramount that the materials nsed for compost hea^^s should con- tain potash and phosphoric acid. Composting exists, then, in such operations as tend to render tliose mineral materi- als insoluble in connection with soil, warmth and moisture. Heat ofifers the conditions of decomposition, and moisture 66 THE GEAPE VINE. is instrumental in equally distributing and mixing soil and vegetable mould. How often manuring is needed, cannot be determined by a rule that will hold good everywhere and always. K many good years succeed each other, as was the case from 1857 to 1862, five times in six years, a more liberal and frequent application of manure is need- ed than in the bad years, from 1847 to 1856. This follows directly from the rule : If no fruit is taken from a vine- yard, the fertilizing mineral ingredients remain in it ; if, on the contrary, the crop is abundant, a very large quantity of potash and phosphoric acid has been taken from the soil. No attention has been paid as yet to this circum- stance, so that the application of manure after a bad year was the same as after a good one, as though the mineral manures were removed by the mere lapse of time. The application of manure ought, without exception, to take place soon after the fall of the leaf, as long as the weather permits it. Some of the soil at the back of the vine, consequently, according to our rule, on the north side, being removed by using the hoe, the manure must be put in the little ditch so made, and must remain un- covered during the whole winter. Rain and snow decom- pose and carry the manuring materials gradually down- ward. In the spring, the manure is lightly covered and mixed with the soil, but not so that the roots are injured. Every two, three, or four years, manure is needed. If the weather is favorable, and berries and clusters remain small, while they are abundant and of normal size in neighbor- ing plantations, the soil has not a full supply of mineral matter. If the crop is abundant, it indicates the necessity for manuring, because the mineral matter has been carried off by it. As the vine liberally repays all the care be- stowed upon it, there are always causes for better manur- ing, but not a single one for not giving enough. There is no danger from an overdose of well prepared manure; it will only assist in producing the best possible crops. TUB GKAPE VINE. 67 On declivities tlie manure must be placed above the vines in shallow ditches, crossing the vineya.-d. The so.l from them is heaped up on the lower side of them. This soil collects the rain water running down the hill, and keeps it in the ditches filled with manure. It penetrates the soil bv a force inherent in it. It is very wrong, as prescribed and taught in many books, to put the manure near the roots This cannot be effected without injuring them, the mineral manures reaching the roots by cementation and according to the law of gravity. If they are abundant above, they will not be wanting below, in the course of time. It is in the nature of things that a plant can he ma- nured with the offal from it. Rape may be grown on soil manured with oil cake, the refuse of making oil from rape ; -rape wood, leaves, tendrils, and skins will assist the arowth of the vine very much. It is, therefore, very im- portant to take from a vineyard or garden as lUtU as pos- sible, and to give back as much as possible or, m other words, nothing but the grape juice must be taken from the vineyard; everything else must be restored to it. ihe canes cut off in the fall or spring must be chopped into small pieces with a hatchet and mixed with manure. The pressed skins, either before or after distillation, i' brandy is made, must be thrown on the compost heap. If all the refuse parls of the vine are used for preparing manure, it reduces the purchase of manure to the smallest figure; it is as impossible to avoid it entirely, as it is impossible to invent a lamp that can be fed with the spare oil. What is sold in the wine itself must be restored to the vineyard from other sources; we lessen it by using the offal from the vine. If the pressed skins are boiled for distilling alcohol, they are of course nearly valueless for manuring purposes. It, however, Tartaric acid, (which does not cause a loss of the soil,) is made, part of the profit may be used for buying and restoring in a cheaper form the potash taken with 68 THE GKAPE YIXE. it. The liopes based on mfinnring vines by using the offal from them have, therefore, not been realized. SoEie- times another way of manuring, with green plants, is talked of; it is recommended to sow among the vines vetches, turnips, clover, cereals and the like, and to dig or plow them under as soon as those plants are fully devel- oped in their growth. This is manuring with the seeds alone. What those plants have taken from the soil was already in it, and can therefore not enrich it. Such seeds, however, are too expensive to use as manure, and the labor is too great. All such liopes, founded on imaginary effects of green manure, have disappeared before the light of exact science. For a long time an ill-founded importance was ascribed to digging the soil of the vineyard, and it was recom- mended to repeat this four or five times during the season. According to an old ^Droverb, to dig well amounts to slight manuring, ( Gut gegraben ist hcilb geduengt^ and the fa- ble of the vineyard, in which the sons are said to have found the hidden treasure in the abundant croj^s by fre- quent digging, bears testimony to such a view. It was the result of the opinion prevailing formerly of the inexhausti- bility of the soil, in which those who are in favor of im- moderate digging share yet. But as we know at present that this is not so, we find now that digging is not manur- ing, and that the story of the vineyard is but a story. The stirring of the soil is useful, as it permits the air to penetrate the soil and to assist in the formation of carbonic acid; it opens also the soil to a more thorough influence of the rain. In digging, the greatest care must be used not to go so deep as to touch the roots ; for, to remove the soil from the fibrous roots, would be equ^l to a destruction of the whole crop. In vineyards covered with debris of rocks, no digging can take place, except in the spring, when the vineyard is either manured or only stirred. Very frequently the vines are manured in the spring, in THE GRAPE VIXE. G9 order to make use of the manure collected during the winter. It would be better to manure in the fall, and to preserve the winter manure in heaps for the following- year. Bat at 2^1'esent manure is so scarce tliat such a course cannot be thought of. To pay people for digging, is an expense which does not enrich the soil. In a rational culture of the soil this expense will be reduced to that which is unavoidably necessary ; the money saved in thia way is better employed in buying fertilizing materials for improving the soil. In some books, nice distinctions are made in regard to different kinds of manures, such as hen, sheep, hog, pigeon, and other manures. Of one it is said, that it is too dry, another, again, too moist. All such distinctions amount to nothing and are meaningless. If the manures are " Japan- ized" before their application, they are all equally good, because all animals live on the same constituents of the plants. THE AGE OF THE VINEYARD. In our climates the age of the vineyard is, as a rule, twenty-five or thirty, and in some localities fifteen or twenty years ; then the vines commence to be unproduc- tive, and a new phmtation causes a loss of four or five years. Bronner describes, as early as twenty-six years ago, in his work " Viticulture on the Rhine," No. 3, p. 33, this gradual failing of the vine. He says : " The vines pro- duce but a few grapes ; although they bloom like other vigorous ones, yet they have not pow^r to make fine wood ; they turn yellow and sickly, and look at last as if their pith had been killed by frost. Many vineyards of this kind, especially towards Mentz, (he speaks of the vine- yards at Hochheim,) on the westerly side of the place, show such a sickly weakness; no stimulant nor any ma- nure can restore them to their former vio'or. Such enfeeb- TO THE GRAPE VINE. led vines may be considered as a cancer in the household ; they are a dead capital, the interest from which, the ex- pected crops, the owner loses, and on which he bestows besides, annually, unprofitable labor. Is not," Bronner con- tinues, " this short life to be ascribed to the fact that the soil has been used during many centuries for the same pur- pose, so that it is now exhausted ?" But what has been ab- stracted from it ? Hoerter thinks, that there is a want of humus, (vegetable mould, muck,) which is, according to him, the soul of the vegetable kingdom. If such soil is leeched out, and the liquid is a colorless fluid, then it is exhausted and unproductive. But Bronner observes cor- rectly that the vines do not grow better after an applica- tion of humus, and that they thrive luxuriantly on the other hand in pure argillaceous marl, which does not con- tain the slightest trace of humus. '* For," he says, " it is an established fact that vines grow best in soil on which vines have never before grown, in a virgin soil, never worked before; in such soil they reach also a greater age." "I," says Bronner, " have endeavored to investigate the matter in the vineyards ; I have called natural j^hilosophy and chemistry to my assistance ; I have conversed about it with scientific men ; but no explanation is satisfactory to me as yet without resorting to hypothetical phrases." This excellent man felt, twenty-six years ago, that all explanations then in vogue were unsatisfactory, and yet, on the folloAving page, he seems inclined to assent to the view that the roots of the plants excrete matter injurious to their own growth. What are the present teachings of science in this respect ? We know that no stimulants ex- ist for pUmts, hut only nourishment. We know that the plants do not excrete anything injurious to themselves, that cannot be changed again into carbonic acid by rot- ting. We know that the whole doctrine of humus is nothing but error and deception. The only cause of the premature death of the vines, which is true and perfectly THE GRAPE VIXE. 71 sufficient, lies in the exhaustion of the soil of mineral con- stituents, and in too short pruning. The reasons given by Bronner prove this. The soil may be rendered incapa- ble of producing vines as of producing clover. After a few years the roots of the vine penetrate the soil so deep that the manure cannot reach them, because it moves slowly and with difficulty in the soil. So their nourish- ment can only be taken from the mineral constituents in their immediate vicinity, ^y close pruning ice prevent roots from going deeper in quest of food stored up there. There exists a mutual action between the formation of leaves and wood. The wood fibres, oricrinatiu Co., 1867, from which I make an extract : " Before the ground freezes, the cuttings, from four to six inches long, are tied in bundles of about fifty each, and the lower ends puddled by dipping them half their length in mud, made of loamy soil, mixed with water to about the consistency of cream. They are then, lower ends down,^ put in cold frames, fine soil is sprinkled over them to fill the spaces between the bundles, and they are then covered about four inches deep with earth. After they have been THE GRAPE VINE. 105 rained upon, and it begins to freeze, they are covered with leaves or straw, and sheltered by boards. " In the spring, the mulch having been removed, sashes are laid on, but so that enough ventilation is provided ; water is given, when needed, and so they root in about five weeks. " Without sashes they will root, likewise, when treated in the manner just described. In this case they must be buried in an exposure inclined to the south. Should no roots have started in some of the cuttings, two pieces of bark, two or three inches long, on opposite sides of the lower ends of the cuttings, are taken oft' with a sharp knife. Treated and planted in this way, they make excellent plants. Cuttings of single eyes can be made to grow in the same way just as easily as longer cuttings. " This plan is especially adapted to cuttings from the Delaware and other hard-wooded varieties." Diel says in his well known and highly valued work, " Fruit Trees in Pots," third edition, Frankfort-on-the- Main, 1804, p. 212. "We had never succeeded in raising Paradise stocks for dwarfing the apple, from cuttings. By treating such cuttings as described in the above, I am raising hundreds of them every year. I keep the cuttings in sand during the winter, and bury them, in the spring, as soon as the frost is fairly out of the ground, in a sun- ny spot, the top ends downwards, and cover their lower ends, (which are, of course, up,) with moss three or four inches deep, sprinkling them, Avhen needed, with luke- warm water. This method is applicable in raising j^lants from a number of shrubs and trees. As it is not generally known or practiced, I deem it my duty to thoroughly recommend it." '' CUTTINGS MADE OF SINGLE EYES. They are made by cutting a cane into as many pieces as it has well developed eyes on perfectly ripe wbod ; when 5* 106 THE GEAPE VINE. an inch and a Imlf long, so that there is an inch of wood below, and half an inch of wood above the bud, they are of the right size. The cuts may be made by means of a knife or of good garden shears, which are now so made that they do not bruise, but make a clean cut. The eyes, so prepared, ought to be put in water and left there for ten or twelve hours. This will soften the remnants of the base of the leaf-stalk, so that it may easily be removed by scraping. If such cuttings can be made during the months of January and February, it is advisa- ble to pack them in moist, not wet, moss or sand, and to keep them there, free from frost, till wanted for planting. Hard wood varieties, especially the Delaware^ grow with certainty from single eye cuttings treated in this way. Cuttings of single eyes do not grow very easily in the open air, when planted in beds; either frames with a gentle heat must be prepared for them, or a propagating bench in a green-house must be " arranged for them. Although a tank, connected with a heating boiler, in which Avater, heated by the boiler, circulates, is, beyond question, the best arrangement, " yet a common flue, enclosed by two brick walls, three feet distant from each other, and covered by the propagating boxes, answers a very good purpose. The bottom of these boxes consists of slate or tin, resting on cross-strips, extending from one side-board to the other. If these side-boards are from eight to nine inches wide, and if the boxes are filled with w^ashed sand to the depth of four inches, there is room enough for tlie young plants to develop and grow sufficiently, before they are planted out. The distance of the bottom of the boxes from the flue must, of course, be so regulated, that the heat reaching the bottom shall not be too great. As such flues generally rise a little along their whole length, the top of the flue, near its inlet, is further removed from the bottom of the flue, than towards it outlet. The boxes, being -level, are, therefore, nearer to the flue towards its THE GRAPE VIXE. 107 outlet, than at the beginning. Besides, flat stones or bricks may be laid on the flue near the fire-place, and two open- ings ought to be made in the inside wall, closed with shut- ters. In this way the temperature derived may easily be regulated and maintained. To cover the propagating boxes either with sashes, or calico or paper frames, is a very good plan to regulate the moisture and to shade the cuttings. The cuttings are planted immediately in the sand, or in pots plunged into it. Some set them straight, others in a slanting position, but, at all events, deep enough to have the eye just at a level with the sand, or covered about a quarter or half an inch by it. Many lay them horizontally on the sand, pack them on, and cover them about a quarter or half an inch deep with it. There exists also a dif- ference of opinion in regard to the form of the cuttings ; but the method, detailed in the above, is certain in its re- sults, provided the right temj^erature and a proper degree of moisture are provided. The principle of the proper treatment of such cuttings is based on the laws of vegetable physiology. It is con- tained in the following : In order to facilitate the emis- sion of roots^ the lower ends of the cuttings must he kept during a certain period in a temperature that is several degrees higher than that which surrounds their tops. At the outset, a temperature of from forty to fifty degrees is sufficient ; this is to be raised gradually to seventy-five or eighty, still later, even to ninety degrees when the cuttings grow vigorously and are well rooted. In general, it is much better not to increase the bottom heat too much. At the time when the cuttings are placed in the sand, it is not difficult to maintain a temperature in the house which is lower than that in the propagating boxes ; later, a higher temperature of the house has no deleterious eflect. As soon as the cuttings are placed in the sand, they must be thoroughly sprinkled with water, so that all the 108 THE GRAPE VINE. sand is moistened. The sand must never become too dry. When the cuttings are watered once a day, or in the be- ginning even less frequently, it is sufficient. The condi- tion of the sand itself is a never failing guide in this sim- ple operation. It is hardly necessary to caution here against the use of cold water. It must be warmed a little, either on the fire, or by adding hot water. As to the best time for planting cuttings, it is advisable not to be in too great haste. For long cuttings to be grown out of doors, the middle, or even the end, of April or the beginning of May is the time most suitable ; for single eyes the begin- ning of March is best, although the process is often com- menced very early in the winter. Long cuttings remain in the place where they are planted until fall or even until the spring following, but in this case under sufficient covering. They are then taken up and heeled-in, if this takes place in the fall, or planted where they are intended to grow. Those not sufficiently well rooted are planted in fertile soil, after their roots have been shortened a little, to grow there another season before they are planted in the places assigned to them. Cuttings of one eye each are either taken out of the sand and planted in small pots, and frequently transplanted into larger ones, or into borders made in the open air, which is preferable. In the latter case furrows several inches deep are made, at the bottom of which the young plants are put, in little holes, so deep that the woody part of the cuttings is covered ; the roots, which are very brittle, must not be injured, but spread evenly, so that they retain their natural position; then the hole is filled with water that is not too cold, and the holes are filled with fine soil before the water has time to sink in the ground. The soil around the cuttings must not be pressed down, but they must be left in the condition in which water and soil placed them. To protect them during the first weeks by sashes, or calico frames, is deemed essential by some. THE GRAPE VINE. 100 Others assert that when planted as described, they never suffer from the sun or the weather. I always shelter them for several w^eeks, and sprinkle them w^ith water as often as required. When they are growing vigorously, the soil is to be drawn towards their stems by filling up the furrows in which they have been planted. It is astonishing to observe their growth when so plant- ed and treated. Last summer my cuttings made plants as thick as a goose quill, from twelve to fifteen feet long. I never tie them to sticks, but permit them to trail on the ground. This form is intermediate between cuttings made of old wood and those made of green shoots. Such cuttings, even of hard wooded kinds like the Delaware, root very easily. CUTTINGS FROM GREEN SHOOTS WITH A PIECE OF THE CANE (OLD WOOD) AT- TACHED TO IT. When the young slioots in May have attained the length of about four inches, they are cut off from the cane, so that about an inch or two inches of old w^ood below the shoot is preserved, and about half an inch above it. If the green shoots are a little too long, their tops must be removed. They are then so planted in sand that the old wood lies horizontally in it, and is covered half an inch or an inch deep. The green shoots are then in an erect position. No bottom heat is required, though a little of it does not in- jure them. Nearly every one of the cuttings made in this way grows ; they will be found rooted in a short time, and make very fine and vigorous plants. They are planted out and treated in precisely the same way as described in the above. I accidentally discovered this method of propa- ^ 110 THE GKAPE VINE. gating vines several j'^ars ago. It was, however, known to others long before I discovered it, as Mr. P. B. Mead, the then Editor of the Horticulturist, informed me. I described the plan several years ago in that magazine. (See 1864, p. Gl, and 1865, pp. 140 and 141). CUTTINGS MADE OF GREEN SHOOTS. Such cuttings grow very easily, when managed in the right Avay. They are cut from the cane, and shortened to two or three buds, removing the leaves, except the upper- most. The lowest part of the shoot, being firmer and more solid than the upper part, is to be preferred ; still even the upper part will, under proper management, grow. The cut, by which the cutting is severed from the cane, or fi-om the shoot, must always be made below a bud. The bud may not be discernible at the base of the shoot ; but if the shoot is cut off exactly at the place where it proceeds from the cane, along with a ?;ery thin slice of the latter, the cutting will be in the right condition. Sand is the best material for making such cuttings grow. A mod- erate bottom heat is very desirable, but not absolutely in- dispensable. Several years ago, I saw a large number of them grow on the propagating bench in one of the houses of my friends, the Messrs. Parsons, at Flushing. The house was kept very warm, but no bottom heat had been given. It is of vital importance to regulate the watering with the greatest care ; they must, of course, be shaded, when required, and the atmosphere around them must be kej^t damp, but not so damp as to cause their decay. According to a communication from Mr. Pr. Rubens, (author of a valuable work on the culture of the vine,) in a letter to me, cuttings of green shoots about 18 inches long, when planted during the summer in holes a foot deep, will grow in the open air. THE GEAPE VINE. Ill When well rooted, such cuttings are treated in precise- ly the same way as others. In order to make them strong plants, they must be transj^lanted several times, that is, in successive years, shortening their roots a little each time. The question has often been discussed, which kind of cuttings makes the best plants. From the experience of intelligent and skillful cultivators of the vine, it appears now to be an established fact, that good plants may, under a suitable treatment, be obtained, whatever method may be used. Cuttings, however, made of single eyes, are generally considered the best; they unite, indeed, so many advantages in them, that I do not hesitate to re- commend them as preferable. III.— BY GRAFTING. The term grafting we use here in its broadest sense, including, like the French word greffe, not only grafting proper, but also inarching, budding, etc. Common cleft grafting is performed in the usual way, either in March or April, or in May after two or three leaves are expanded on the stock, because the Adne does not then bleed any more. It may be done below ground, which insures better success, or above ground, which is, if possible, to be avoided. The stock is to be cut off horizontally below the ground, first removing the soil, pared smooth, and split. The scion, which must be in a dormant state, is cut to two eyes, the lower one of which must be just above the cut, after the wedge-shaped part of it has been inserted in the' cleft, and carefully adjusted. If the stock is thick enough, no tying is required ; the application of grafting wax is rec- ommended by some, but cautioned against by others. The soil is then. replaced and heaped up a little, in order to cover the upper eye about a quarter of an inch deep with 112 THE GRAPE VlIfE. soil. As in cuttings, the scion must not be cut off too close above the upj^er eye ; a piece, an inch long, must be left. Mr. Andrew S. Fuller prefers the fall as the best season for grafting. The scion must, in this case, be protected from the frost by covering it with a flower-pot, earth and straw, which are to be removed as soon as the frost is fairly out of the ground. Grafting is of little use, except under 2)articular circum- stances, and failures are so common, that it never will be generally adopted as a means of propagating the vine. It is asserted by Dr. Stayman, of Kansas, a scientific viti- CLilturist, that taking off the bark from the stock, as well as from the scion, as far as the latter is inserted into the former, and not splitting the stock through to the opposite side, renders success certain. Pieces of succulent roots six or eight inches long, dug towards the end of March and in the be'ginning of April, are very convenient for grafting. They ought to be so selected and cut, that each of them has some fibrous roots. They may be either cleft or splice grafted, tied firmly with worsted or other elastic woolen yarn, and kept in sand until the weather gets warm, that is, about the middle of April, when they may be planted at once in the garden. y.I always cover the horizontal cuts of them, when they are cleft grafted, witli a little liquid grafting wax. Although scions with one eye will grow, yet I prefer greatly such as have two eyes, and plant the root grafts, if necessary on account of their length, in a slanting position, but never too shallow. The uppermost eye should touch the ground; it should .be covered a little either with soil, sand, or moss. We shall not devote any more space here to describing more artificial and complicated modes of grafting, nor shall we recommend budding in a peculiar way, as prac- tised occasionally by some amateurs. THE GEAPE VIXE. llo Grafting grapes below ground and root grafting have the disadvantage in common that the scions throw out roots of their own. However desirable this may be in vigorous growers and hardy kinds, yet if the scions are taken from kinds having weak and feeble roots, such roots, emitted by the scions, will unfailingly impart feeble- ness to the plant, and paralyze the strengthening influence of the stock. INARCHING GREEN SHOOTS INTO GREEN SHOOTS OF GROWING STOCKS. Last summer I had the good fortune of making the ac- quaintance of Dr. Charles Kenworthy, a gentleman re- cently from Australia. An enthusiastic amateur, and a close and keen observer, he, in almost daily conversations with me about scientific and practical- viticulture, called my attention again to propagating the vine by green shoots, inarched into the green shoots of a growing vine. Years ago, I had, with success, grafted pieces of green shoots into the green shoots of growing vines, as stated and described in the Horticulturist, 186:2, pp. 14 to 17, but as the procedure is rather too slow for this fast going country, I did not expect that any advantage would be derived from it. Otherwise it is similar in its efiects to inarching, in making the vine dependent on the roots of the stock exclusively. Inarching green shoots into green shoots is equally successful under glass and in the open air. The two \ines to be united must be near enough to each other to efiect the union. The stronger and the more vig- orous the shoots the better. A little of the bark and the underlying green substance of them is re- moved about an inch or an inch and a half long, and both are then tongued their whole length, the vine to be propagated, from helow upwards, the stock, 114 THE GRAPE VINE. from above doionvmrds. As tlie young shoots are very brittle, two persons are needed to perform the operation, one of them holding and steadying the vine tongued, the other operating npon the other, and miiting them. The tongue of the stock must go fy^omheloio V2:>wards into the tongued place of the other. Both are then tied rather firmly with oiled silk, on which a few grape leaves are put or folded together to keep the wounds cool and protect it from the influence of the direct rays of the sun. About a fortnight after the operation, the stock must be cut ofl" an inch or so above the junction ; a week later, a cut is made into the vine to be 2:)ropagated ; this is made deeper, a few days later, and the vine is cut entirely off as soon as the union is complete. Then the leaves and the worsted are removed also. It is easy enough to deter- mine, by occasionally examining the vines, so united, the proper time for the several steps to be taken. Eight ex- periments, made in my grounds under glass or in the open air, proved to be eight successes, although it was not only too late in the season when they Avere made, but the stocks as well as the other vines were growing poorly. Some of them were not thicker than a middle-sized knit- ting needle ; consequently they could not be tongued, but were only wounded and tied together. The union in all of them is perfect ; after the lapse of a year or two it will be impossible to distinguish it. If it is true, as I believe from actual experience, that the cause of the failure of many kinds lies m the root, inarch- ing will be a means of making feeble growing vines strong ; perhaps even some of the hardier foreigners may, in this way, be inured to our changeable climate. It is impossi- ble for me to make, in the. course of this spring and sum- mer, as many and as extensive experiments as I intended ; still, from what I know already, I am confident of great advantages to be derived from this process. We would bring this method of propagation to the attention of THE GRAPE VINE. 115 liorticulturists, feeling that it lias heretofore been unduly neglected. IV.— BY SEEDS. As no plant is more apt to sport than the vine, when grown from the seed, this method of propagation must be resorted to in order to raise varieties diiferent from those already in existence. The best and ripest berries are selected, and either immediately planted, whole, about half an inch or an inch deep, and protected by leaves, moss, or straw, from too se- vere freezing, or they may be dried without artificial heat, and the seeds may be taken out in the spring and planted. The plan adopted by me is, to separate the seeds from the pulp, as soon as the berries are ripe, and to plant them in pots, filled with light, but fertile soil, which I keep during the winter in the cellar, sjjrinkling several times Avith a little water. In the month of March following I place the j)ots in a window of a warm room, or j^lunge them in a hot or propagating bed, watering them regularly. The seeds, separated from the pulp, may also be kept in papers and planted in the following spring in pots or in the open air. To shade the young plants a little, when they are growing in tlie open air, is very beneficial. A. S. Fuller sows, for this purpose, apple seeds along with the grape seeds, or in a row, immediately before them to the south. The young apple trees do not make many fibrous roots the first year ; they do not, therefore, interfere with the vines, but afford them shade, and, in a measure, support. That the young plants must be watered in dry weather, and that they must be kept clean, need not expressly be recommended. In the autumn, after the fall of the leaf, they are to be taken up and heeled-in, which is more advisable than to cover them up, as the frost v^ould heave them up more or 1J6 THE GRAPE VINE. less, and would break many of their roots. In the spring their roots are shortened a little, they are pruned down to the lowest good bud, and planted in furrows several inches deep. In the course of the summer the furrows are filled up. The young plants are then treated exactly like other young vines. They will bear in the fifth year, but some of them will do so in the third or fourth, others in the sixth or seventh years. When whole berries are planted, young plants will come up, not only in the first spring after j^lanting, but also in the second and third, as stated by Mr. E. Bull, of Con- cord, Mass., the originator of the Concord. Therefore, in lifting young plants grown from planting whole ber- ries in the first fall, care should be taken to disturb the soil as little as possible. The process of raising vines from seed is very tedious, and unsatisfactory in its results. The seeds from Ameri- can varieties produce a large proportion of male (stami- nate) plants ; they often are, and that is the rule, inferior to the parent. In five thousand seedlings, raised at one time by Dr. Grant, there were but two worthy to be pre- served, the lona and the Israella. Among five hundred seedlings from the Isabella which I have grown, there is but one better than the mother plant. A most excellent white grape from a seed of a Crimean grape, which is per- fectly hardy and vigorous in my grounds, is the re'sult from planting but two seeds. This is, however, so rare an ac- cident that it may not happen again in a century. A full description of the grape in question is given by me in the Gardener's Monthly, 1866, pp. 291 and 292. The plant and the fruit have been carefully examined by many con- noisseurs and experienced vine-growers. They all unite in the belief that the vine is thoroughly healthy and vigorous, and " that the fruit is most excellent^'' to use the words of the Agriculturist in an editorial notice of it. See Agricul- turist, 1866, p. 438. THE GRAPE VINE. 117 HYBRIDIZATION. There is a difference bet\Yeen hybridization and cross- ing, but as my object is not to enter here into scientific disquisitions, I will describe, as briefly as iDOSsible, the mode of the operation itself. Moreover we know that the species are not constant, but variable. The petals (floral leaves) of a vine blossom are five in number, cohering and thrown off by the stamens when the blossom is expapding. They look then like a cap. The fine stamens bear on their summits the anthers, little bodies covered with a fine powder or dust, called pollen. While the petals are raised by the stamens, fruc- tification frequently takes place before the petals are thrown off. This fructification is effected by the pollen, coming in contact with the upper end of the pistil. The pistil excretes a somewhat viscid matter on its upper end, to which the dust of the pollen adheres. It is then carried down into the ovarium, the lower part of the pistil. In this way fructification is accomplished. A small berry is formed which enlarges daily until it attains its proper size. A blossom not impregnated by the pollen, does not develop itself; it remains duninutive. To prevent natural fructification the blossoms must be carefully watched. As soon as some of them have opened on a certain cluster selected for artificial fructification, they are cut off with scissors, together with a number of the remaining buds to diminish the number. This not only facilitates the operation, but tends to develop those remain- ing much better. The petals of the buds left are then ex- aniined with a needle; they are lifted and removed. Should they not yield, they must remain undisturbed for an hour, or long enough for their removal. Should any blossoms expand during the absence of the operator, they must be carefully cut off, lest some of the pollen of their Btameus might reach the pistils of other blossoms already 118 THE GEAPE YIXE. operated upon, thus rendering the experiment uncertain and unreliable. Pollen of the species or variety to be used for the male, is then taken up by means of a fine camels-hair painter's brush, and dus.ted by shaking or gently tapping the handle of the brush. This must be repeated several times on the same blossom. If the first operation was j^^i'formed in the forenoon, it ought to be repeated in the afternoon. Calm and warm weather is most favorable for this work. To enclose the clusters with thin ganze to prevent the in- terference of insects and wind, until the berries begin to swell, is certainly a very good plan. It i^ not often the case that the species or varieties, intended for hybridization, blossom at the same time, but the plant to be used as the male parent usually blooms earlier than the other. Some pollen is then shaken from a cluster, it being in the right condition, upon a piece of pa- per, and preserved in a tightly corked phial until wanted. Dubreuil asserts that pollen from some plants, preserved between two watch glasses, united and glued together by means of small pieces of joaper, will not lose its vital power in the course of a whole year. I do not think, however, that watch glasses are any better than tightly corked and sealed phials. Mr. Hovey, of Cambridge, Mass., fertilized his lily, Melpomene, with pollen from the auratum, when it bloomed for the first time in England, and obtained crosses which were in bloom last summer, showing unmistakably that hybridization had been accom- plished. That the 23ollen from vines remains good for a month, I know from actual experiments, and I do not doubt in the least that it will keep much longer. Hybridization ofiers a wide field for improving our na- tive kinds. As yet, our best grapes are chance seedlings ; still the experiments made by Messrs. Allen, Moore and Cay wood, are encouraging, though elFective hybridization is doubted by many. The criterion of Mr. A. S. Fuller is THE GRAPE YINE. 119 a very good one, .'indeed, viz. : To sow the seeds from a plant claimed to he a hybrid, and to ascertain whether the young plants sport much, some showing the charac- teristics of the father, others those of the mother. Should they all he similar to each other, the prohahility would he that hybridization had not been effected. Two years ago, I called the attention of my friend, Dr. Thurber, the scientific botanist, to eleven seedlings from Allen's Hybrid. They are so much alike, and so similar in their relation to the parent, that he was very much aston- ished at the fact before him. On the other hand, of the five hundred seedlings from the Isabella, raised by me, no two were alike in regard to lobation, growth, etc. Be this as it may, experiments in this direction ought to be continued with assiduity and zeal ; results will ulti- mately be reached, that will benefit the country in a high degree. ^ Here I will mention, in conclusion, that Naumann s Cibebe, the most beautiful of all grapes in form, is the pro- duct of an intentional, artificial crossing of the large yel- low from Smyrna and the Muscat Schwarz-Welsclier, ob- tained by the great ornithologist, Naumann, late Professor in the University of Leipsic. Mr. Neubert, of that city, made me a present of it. HINTS ON THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF AMERICAN SPECIES AND VARIETIES. I. -PLANTING. For planting, the fall is preferred by many, the spring by others. To protect the vines, regularly planted m the fall, from freezing and thawing during the winter, as well as from the water accumulating in the holes and forming ice in them, is much more difficult than to heel them in, and to preserve them in this way. On the other hand, 120 THE GEAPE VINE. there is so much work to be done in the spring, that there is danger of hastening the planting too much, although this process is so important that it is impossible to do it too carefully. No mistake, made in planting, can after- wards be corrected. I have made many experiments, and have met with so many faihires and disappointments from fall planting in this latitude, that I buy such vines as I intend to try in the fall, but I always plant them in the spring. Buying in the fall is advisable, as a better selection can be made, but planting in the spring is surer of success. Heeling-in is an operation so well known, that I need not describe it here. Should the ground be stiff and heavy, it is much better to lay the plants against a little mound in a slanting position on the surface of the earth than in a ditch, in which the water would collect during the winter. Sand or fine soil ought to be used for filling in among the roots. This must be done so carefully that even the smallest rootlet is embedded in, and covered by, the sand or soil ; for mould will grow on roots not packed firmly in sand or soil. Soil may be used for increasing the thickness of the mound, cov- ering the roots, and some boards may be placed on the top of it to carry off the rain water, and to prevent the sun from warming the j^lants, so heeled in, too much. As the frost acts horizontally also — to speak not scientifi- cally, but practically — the covering ought to extend about two feet beyond the ends of the roots. In heeling-in I always cover the whole plants, roots and all. Vines keep very well in boxes, filled with sand, that are placed in the cellar, or they may be covered with sand in the cellar without boxes. Spring planting ought to be deferred till air and soil are sufficiently wanned, that is, from the middle to the end of April. Should the buds have commenced showing life again, it is so much the better. THE grapp: yi^e. 121 Tlie roots of the plants must be carefully examined, in order to cut oif such as are bruised or broken. To shorten them a little, to have fresh cuts on all of them, is judicious, but to remove one-half or two-thirds of them, involves an injurious waste of strength. Finally, the vines must be cut down to the lowest well-developed bud. There is then no danger arising from bleeding. The holes for the plants ought to be large enough for the reception of the roots in their natural position, and about a foot deep. Then some fine soil is heaped up in the middle of each, resembling a mole heap, but more pointed and conical. On the top of this heap the young plant is placed, and its roots are spread out evenly, and properly arranged for making them grow in all directions. Fine soil is then sprinkled or sifted on them until they are well covered. Then some water must be poured on through the rose of a wateiing-pot, that the soil may settle, and the holes fill with soil, leaving a space of about four inches open during the summer. Rain showers will carry some soil into them, and fill them up partially, which is not injurious to the growth of the young plants. In the fall some more soil must be added to make them level. The roots ought to be four or sir inches below the ground, at least deep enough not to be injured by hoeing, digging, or plowing, but not too deep, as it is customary Avitli some. . The depth to which the soil is to be worked afterward is the surest guide ; the roots should^ under all circumstances^ he heyond the reach of the implements to he used. If the vines are to be layered during one or more successive years, to furnish them with more roots, they must not be planted in an erect, but in an inclined position, (at an angle of about 45°), otherwise it is not unfrequently difficult to bend them down and to lay them in a ditch, made for this purpose. The manacrement of plants having more than one tier of roots, or of such as are older, does not diifer in princi- 122 THE GRAPE VINE. pie from that of young plants. Its modification, according to circumstances, will be obvious to any one intending to plant them. The long, woody roots of old vines must be very severely prmied ; they ought to be cut off below a thin succulent root, proceeding from them, and the cut ought to be made at its underside^ so that the wound may be pressed on the soil below. If cut at the upperside^ it will be apt to decay from the water falling or trickling down upon it. The plan of mulching vines, recently planted, is a good one ; to manure, however, the soil below or about their roots cannot be too stronidy denounced as injurious and dangerous in the liighest degree. Many vines are killed every year, or ruined beyond the possibility of recovery, by well-meaning, but inexperienced persons. While they would withhold fat pork or beef from a patient when con- valescent, and yet feeble in consequence of a severe shock, to which their health was exposed, they do not hesitate to treat a vine, in a similar condition, with a superabundance of heavy, indigestible food. Can anything be more incon- sistent ? II.— PRUNING. The principles of pruning as practised in Europe, and so lucidly explained by Dr. Mohr^ are undoubtedly cor- rect. Still, even in Europe, different countries require modifications in the application of them. This is also the case in the United States. The climate is warm during the summer; we have twice as much rain as in France, and much more when we compare the quantity of rain which falls here, with that which is received in California, where the temperature is very high. Then again, we have severe droughts with so small an amount of water in the air, that it is almost incredible. See the thoroughly sci- entific observations of J. S. Lippincott^ Esq., in the Re- port of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1865, pp. 520- THE GJRAPE VIXE. 123 550. His Vapor Index, for sale by J. W. Queen, 924 Chestnut street, Pliiladelphia, is a most ingenious and convenient instrument for ascertaining at a glance the amount of aqueous vapor in the atmosjjhere, or in a room, provided a wet bulb thermometer in connection with a dry bulb thermometer can be consulted. The conditions of our climate favor a rampant wood- growth; consequently w^e must not prune too short to in- sure the health of the vine, and to obtain abundant crops. Tliere is another consideration of vital importance, t^ which I wish to call the attention of every horticulturist most earnestly. It liea in the fact that some kinds have their Fruit* shoots on the upper part of the cane, other's on the lower part. My friend, TFz/i. Saunders, Esq., the emi- nently able Superintendent of the Experimental Garden at Washington, cautions, on p. 15 of the Agricultural Re- port of 1865, against the close pruning of such rampant growers as the Clinton, Taylor, Alvey, Franklin, etc., asserting that they will bear profusely when but slightly pruned back; otherwise a mass of wood will be produced. This was incontrovertibly proven on my grounds last year. An Alvey that had borne abundantly the year previous, was pruned too close by a friend of mine, a skillful and experienced viticulturist. The result was ex- actly in accordance w^tli Mn Saunders' statement ; the vine in question, which was loaded with fruit the year previous, bore not more than half-a-dozen clusters last year. It is not alw?.ys without danger to recommend a single modification of the pruning principle as applicable to every variety. We know that certain kinds of the apple, pear, etc., require diiferent treatment in this respect ; how could it be expected, then, that all kinds of the vine should be alike ? What is most needed, therefore, is, to ascertain whether the loAver buds of the canes of certain varieties produce bearing shoots, or those more distant from the bases of 124 THE GKAFE VINE. the canes. The true method of pruning them will be the result, so much desired. George HiLsmann. Esq., of Meriiiayin, Mls:^ourl, dis- covered accidentally that the laterals of the Concord and other strong growing varieties, when pruned in the fall to four or six "buds, pi'oduce the finest clusters and the most abundant crops to be obtained. This took place in 1862. See the Gidtivatlon of the Native Grape^ hy George Susmann^ p. 61. Since tlien he has adopted it altogether fjpr such varieties as mentioned, with tiie most satisfactory result. He suffers the shoots intended for bearing canes to grow about four feet high, and then removes their tops by pinching. He retains four or five laterals, which he pnmes, in the fall, to four or six buds. This is important ; expenments should be made to as- certain accurately the vjirieties most adapted to this mode of treatment, and the localities favorable to it. The correctness of Mr. IIusraann''s observations is corroborated by the results of similar experiments inten- tionally made in Germany, as early as 1857. They are mentioned and described by Dr. E. Liieas^ the celebrated scientific and j^ractical Pomologist and Director of the Pomological Institute at Meuttingen., in the Kingdom of Wurtemherg. In his Ammal for Nomologists^ Garden- ers^ etc., published in 1860, from pp. 59-61, he gives a de- tailed description of the successful experiments of Mr. Deiiringer^ of Sendling^ near Munich^ in Bavaria ; the}^ are exactly like those made by Mr. Husmann^ except that Mr. Deuringer suffered the shoots intended for canes to grow five or six feet high before he stopped them, in order to excite the growth of the laterals. Mr. Deuringer' 8 experiments are based on reasoning concerning the proper function of tlie laterals ; he invented his method, while Mr. Husmann discovered it. Mr. Husmann's personal character is so well known, and deservedly stands so high, that I am very far from at- THE GRAPE VINE. 125 tempting to insinuate that he was acquainted with Mr. Deuringefs operations. The Annual is so rare, that it may be doubtful wdi ether there exists another copy of it in the United States than the one in my possession. The coinci- dence goes only to show how difficult it is in liorticulture to add anything not already known to somebody else to the stock of facts. Young plants must, at the fall pruning, be cut down to the lowest well-developed bud, that is, to the fii-st, second, or third. During the first summer they must not be tied to stakes, nor pinched. When trailing on the ground or climbing over some brushwood placed near them, the upper tendency of the sap, common to most plants, and especially strong in the vine, is, in a measure, counteracted, by which the root is very much strengthened. Also in the second year I treat them in this way. The treatment of older vines must be the same as that of plants but one year old. Before the vines attain the thickness of a finger, they must not be pruned long for bearing, but must be cut down in every successive fall. III.— PINCIIIXG. The shoots for bearing canes must not be pinched or stopped at all during their growth, and their laterals must be permitted to develop at will. In regard to the bearing shc5ots, it is doubtful to me whether close pinching, that is, beyond, or at the third leaf from the last cluster, is advan- tageous in this country or not. Apart from the practice, growing more into favor every day, according to which the shoots are left longer, and are, perhaps, pinched but once during the season, I am free to confess that I have done so much orthodox pinching, but with results so little satisfiictory to my expectation, that I feel strongly inclined to indulge in a little greater latitude in this respect than* formerly. Experiments, instituted on purpose, and varied 12G THE GRAPE YIXE. as to varieties, sorts, and localities, are vcryrnucli needed; they will enable us to arrive at the true method. That the laterals of young plants, or of older ones trans- planted, must not be pinched, has already been observed in the above. IV.— COVERING IN THE FALL, AND LIFTING IN THE FOL- LOWING SPUING. In this extreme climate it is reasonable to lay the vines down on the ground and to cover them, especially such kinds as are tender. Still, all kinds are benefited by this l^rocess. Sand or sandy soil is a good material for covering ; stiff clay is objectionable. On the sand, flat stones are placed to keep the vines in place. Some use straw, manure, sods, and stones, without soil or sand, for covering ; these materials, however, ought to be avoided. They leave everywhere empty spaces, in which mice find shelter. Mice ar,e pests in a plantation of vines. Manure is apt to ferment, by whicli process the vines may be excited to a premature growth under the cover, and consequently they may greatly suffer or even perish. A very good coyering material is dust (refuse) of hard (Anthracite) coal. I have used it for a number of years with decided benefit, so that I shall not use anything else for the future. No mould is formed on the vines, so cov- ered, nor do mice or other animals harbor in it. As soon as the frost is fairly out of the ground in the Spring, that is, in the first weeks of April, the vines must be freed from their covering and left for a certain time to swing in the air, before they are tied to their poles or trellises. The rule ought never to be lost sight of, neither to cover too early, that is, not before the soil is frozen, nor to lift too early. Sheltering the vines by boards nailed on the top of the THE GRAPE VINE. 127 trellis posts tends to protect them ngainst the attacks of mildew, according to Mr. Saunders' experience. Sucli partial roo-fs render radiation beneath them impossible, so that the vines, as well as the soil, remain warmer than without protection. Dr. Schroedei%o^ BJoomhigton. Illi- nois ^rawlQhQ's his vines four or six inches deep with straw, after they had ceased blossoming. Vines, so treated, were free from mildew, and the grapes did not rot. I might devote here some space to insects and other animals, injurious to the vine; but as I cotild hardly do more than repeat what is found in many books, I forego it. The chief remedy lies in the hand of the vine grower ; thrips yield only to the application of sulphur. AMEPaCxVX YAPtlETIES. It would not only be almost impossible, but also use- less, to give hei*e a complete list of native grapes ; both the amateur and the professional grape grower will resort to other source^ for their information on this point, not to this book. We mention here only the most valuable kinds, nearly all of Avhich we have tested in our own grounds, following chiefly the American Horticultural Annual for 1867, without even changing the wording of many descrijDtions ; for they are very concise and charac- teristic. AdirOQdac. — Black. A good and healthy grower in our grounds. Fruit very fine, sweet and luscious. Allea'S KysDrid. — White. Tolerably healthy with us, sweet and vinous. Alvcy. — Black. A vigorous, healthy grower; suffers very little from mildew ; juice colored ; skin exceedingly thin ; without pulp. Ripens in September. It improves very much by hanging long on the vine, from which it never drops. Vinous, sprightly and refreshing. 128 THE GRAPE VINE. . Anna. — AYhite. A poor bearer and grower with us. Higirflavored, tough pulj). Catawba. — Red. Too well known to need description. Is doing well in our grounds. Clinton. — Black. A healthy, rampant grower. Colors long before it is ripe. Not fit for the table, but good for wine. Concord, — Black. Known as the grape for the million. Crevcling. — Black. Good healthy grower. Hardy and very early. Cluster loose. Very valuable. Delaware. — Red. Delicious. A good, not a rampant grower. Hardy, but mildews in some localities. Diana. — Red. Does very well wath us, but is not to be depended upon in some localities. High flavored and sweet. Skin very thick. Keeps well. Diana Hamburg. — Black. A delicious grape, but said to be late. Elsinbur^. — Black. Very fine and hardy grape. Very small, clusters large. Hartford Prolific. — Black. Very early, vigorous, hardy. Sweet, tough, acid pulp. Drops from the peduncle. Herbemont. — Black. Very small, clusters large ; vinous and excellent, but late. lona. — Red. Healthy in many localities, in others it suffers from mildew. Fruit praised in every respect for table and wine. Isabella. — Black. Known everywhere. Very variable and uncertain. Israella. — Black. Good and early grape. Ives' Seedling. — Black. Highly praised for wine. Lydia. — White. Hardy and early ; promises very well. Martha. — White. A white Concord, but sweeter. Very vigorous and healthy. THE GKAPE YIXE. 1;29 Maxatawney,— White. Vigorous and healthy, but late. When thoroughly ripe it is a fine grape. Miles. — Black. Very early and better than Hartford Prolific. Norton's Virginia. — Black. Known and praised as the I est grape for red wine. Rebecca. — White. Very fine, but a poor grower on its own roots. Should be grafted on the roots of some vigorous variety. Rogers' Hyl)ri (is. —Black, red, and amber. Most of them vigorous growers and healthy. Benies and clusters in some of them very large and fine. The following are known as very valuable: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 15, 19, 2,2, 30, 33, 43, 44. To Kalon. — Black. Healthy with u^, but a poor bearer ; excellent. Union Village.— Black. Very large and showy; of fair quality. A good grower with us. Walter. — Red. Very sweet and high flavored; veiy early. Weehawken.— White. A most remarkable seedling of ours, raised from a seed of a Crimean variety, imported by us. The most healthy of all our vines. Cluster beautiful ; vinous, high flavored. Never mildewed. Not yet dis- seminated. 6* THE BY ANDEEW S. rULLEE. NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. THE STANDARD WORK ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE HARDY GRAPE, AS IT NOT ONLY DISCUSSES PRINCIPLES. BUT ILLUSTRATES PRACTICE. E-vex-y tiling is made perfectly plain, and. its teacli- ings naay Tae followed npon ONE VINE OR A VINETABD. The following are soiue of the topics that are tren^d Growing New Varieties from Seed. Propagation by Single Buds or Eyes. Propagating Houses and their Management fully describ^o^ How TO Grow. Cuttings in Open Air, and how to Make Layers. Grafting the Grape — A Simple and Successful Method. Hybridizing and Crossing — Mode of Operation. Soil and Situation — Planting and Cultivation. Pruning, Training, and Trellises — all the Systems Explains^ Garden Culture — How to Grow Vines in a Door- Yard. Insects, Mildew, Sun-Scald, and other Troubles. .Description of the Valuable a>d the Discarded Varieties. Sent post-paid. Price $1.50. Orange Judd ^ Co., 4rl !Park ±^ow. MY VINEYARD AT LAKEVIEW; OR, SUCCESSFUL GEAPE CULTURE. BY A WESTERN GRAPE GROWER. ILLUSTRATED. To any one who wishes to grow grapes, whether a single vine or a "viric- yard, this book is full of valuable teachings. The author gives not only hia success, but, what is of quite as much importance, his failure. It tells just what the beginner in grape culture wishes to know, with the charm that always attends the relation of personal experience. It is especially valuable as giving an account of the processes actually followed in CELEBRATED GRAPE REGIONS in "Western New-York and on the shores and islands of Lake Erie. This book is noticed by a writer in the Horticulturist for August last as follows : " Two works very different in character and value have just been published, and seem to demand a passing notice. The better and less pre- tentious of the two is ' My Vineyard at Lakeview,' a charming little book that professes to give the actual experience of a western grape grower, de- tailing not only his successes, but his blunders and failures. It is written hx a pleasant style, without any attempt at display, and contains much ad- vice that will prove useful to a beginner — the more useful because derived from the experience of a man who had no leisure for fanciful experiments, but has been obliged to make his vineyard support himself and his family." Written in a simple and attractive style, and relating the experience of one who felt krs way along into the successful cultivation of a vineyard in Ohio. — Mass. Ploughman, It is the experience of a practical grape grower, and not the theory of an experi- menter.— ^a^/i Daily Sentinel and Times. It has no superior as an attractive narrative of country life.— Hartford Daily Post. Many books have been written on the grape, but this is the only work that gives an account of grape growing as actually practiced at the successful vineyards in the grape region of the West, and will be welcomed by a large class of readers. — New-Bedford Standard. This little volume contains, in an attractive form, and in clear and concise language, just the information needed to enable any one to become thoroughly posted up in this delightful and profitable branch of horticulture.— Vermont Farmer. Just the manual for a beginner, by one who says "he is well rewarded in the success actained." Adding, "it might have been reached in half the time, had I possessed th« knowledge imparted to the reader of this hoo^''- -Boston, Cultivator. Sent Post-paid Price, $1,50, ORANGE JUDD & CO., 41 Park Row, New-York. THE SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST. BY AXDREW S. FULLER. Beaiitlfidlij Illustrated, We have lieretofore had no work especially devoted to small fruits, and certainly no treatises anywhere that give the information contained in this. It is to the advantage of special works that tlio autlior can say all that he has to say on any subject, and not be restricted as to space, as he must be in those works tliat cover the culture of all fruits — great and small. T'lis book covers the whole ground of Propagating Small Fruits, their Culture, Varieties, Packing for Market, etc. While very full on the other fruits, the Currants and Raspberries have been more care- fully elaborated than ever before, and in this important part of his book, the autlior has had the invaluable counsel of Charles Downing. The chapter on gathering and packing the fruit is a valuable one, and in it are figured all the baskets and boxes now in common use. The book is very finely and thoroughly illustrated, and makes an admirable companion to the Grape Culturist, by the same author. OOIVTEIVTS: Chap. 1. Batibep.ry. Chap. VII. Gooseberry. Chap. II. Strawberry. Chap. VIII. Cornelian Cherry. Chap. III. Raspberry. Chap. IX. Cranberry. Chap. IV. BLACiiBERRY. Chap. X. Huckleberry. Chap. V. Dwarf Cherry. Chap. XI. Sheperdia. Chap. VI. Currant. Chap. XIL Preparation pop. GATHERING FrUIT. Sent post-paid. Pries $1.50. ORANGE JUDD & CO., 41 PARK ROW,