The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-11-21

| ''N'S ~ !" S'ohshhS uhOStioib WIN thSi
tops inclined to each other, and the lowe
ends ten inches apart. Press the soil firml
at the base of the cutt ngs and hare the up
per eye inst corercd. If both cuttings grow
remove one of the plants in autumn Cut
tings are made from sound last years wood
and should have four or five eyes, with
clean smooth cut near the lower eye. If no
| planted out at the fall pruning they SHOULD
be tied up in convenient bundles and buriet
in the ground, where they will remain mois
! and protected from the severe frosts of win
ter. They will strike root with great Ger
tainty. The cultivation of vegetables tn,
first and second seasons, between the rows
will facilitate in keeping the ground ligh
| and clean. The yonng plants should not b'
pruncd the frs: year. The second year, be
fore sap starts, cut the Young vine down t.
oue .or ixss xsssani lssuezt Egrowtlf- INT,
osn main shoot, or cane, breaking off suck
cts and supertiuous shoots. Stakes Of any
durable wood, six or seven feet long, ant
two or three inches square, should be firmly
planted to each vine. The third year, be
fore the buds swell, cut last years shoot Oh
cane back to two eyes, let both grooo, tying
them TO the stake, as they advance, with rye
straw the laterals or axillary branches or
these canes should be rubbed out as high a.
eight or ten eyes. As soon as weeds gel
fairly started in the spring throw the earth
from the vines with single plow, and keep
the ground clean and light with the cultiva
tor. Destroy every resebug and green
worm, which if not sedulous,y watched, will
s0sincrease in a few seasons as TO devour the
blossoms of the entire crop.
The fourth year you have two good shoots
or canes eight or ten feet long. Spring
pruning this year is usually done in Februa
ry. Some prune in November previous,
which we consider as the proper time. Cut
back the best and closest lOinted cane to ten
or twelve eyes; the other cane CIT down 70 a
spur o; two or three eyes, to make bearing 2
anes FOR next season. When the sap be-
gins to How the long cane is bent round in
the forra Of hoop or bow, and secured 10
the STAKE with willow ties or twigs--one at
the bottom, one at the top of the circle, and
the third fastens the end to the stake, or 10
the vine below The vine bears its fruit on
shoots of the Gu rent year, starting from
eyes of the previous years wood. One
bearing shoot, or b0ugh, having from ten TO
twelve eyes, will throw out as many bearing
branches. From these ten or twelve bearing
branches select from fifteen to twenty
branches; break oT dR the others. A larger
number Overtasks the vine and inpaTs the
quality of the fruit. If the vines occupy
more room than by feet, then each vine
may produce, proportionally, more grapes.
The most experienced vignerons, where
vines are planted by 8 feet apart, do not
suffer their vines to produce more than hf
teen OF sixteen fiue lunches at a bearing
" hen the grapes are the size of small shot,
pinch of the ends Of the beariEg hanches
twoor three eyes beyond the upper cluster,
and every branch On the bOugh tLa. does
uotshow fruit should be AIKEN away. Train
The two canes which start from the spur to
thess;ake; break out latera!s and suokerS-
The fifth year, and all subsequent gears, cut
away the old bear wood. The upper
most cane i selected for the fruit bough, as
in the preceding year. The lowest cane Is
ciit heck TO :wo OF .aree eyes, forming the
spur. The vine IS annually renewed with
two good canes, starti"g from The spur;
which require the same management every
year; thus keeping the old stock within a
foot of the ground. Sho Id vine be lost,
it can be replaced by layer from the ad-
joining vines. The layer may be put down
as late as August, but spring Is preferred -
The vineyard should be kept in good tiith
with the plow aud cultivator. Where the
slope of the hill or bluff IS so steep as to re-
qnjre benching the cost of vineyard l.
much increased. Dig or trench the ground
all over 20 the depth Of l ] to ? feet, turnin.
the top soil under. The ground Is formed
into level platforms OF earth, as wide as they
can be made conveniently, supported by 4
bank OF sod or stone walls Rows Of vines,
r 6 feet apart, occupy these platforms or
terraces, and require the same culture
Great inducements tc enter upon the cul-
tiva'ion of the vine may be found in the uti-
lily and enjoyment Of fruit so delicious
and wholesome in Its properties. But in
ducements, still greater with some, may be
discovered in the marketable value Of its
products. The expense of cultivation is SO
small as to bring it within the reach of all
classes.
The labors of the vineyard, as contrasted
with those incident to the culture of cereal
crops, can hardly be compared, in point of
pleasure or profit This is all cheerful
work. The gathering Of the fruit and the
season of vintage are alike joyous occasions.
1t is the time of dance and song; the great
epoch in wine-gr0wing countries. Both
sexes and all ages mingle together to gather
natures profusion, and make still more light
life's burdens. We welcome such toll, be-
cause of its enlivening influence on the mind
and heart Such an era of fruitfulness and
Joy is beginning to dawn already in our
country. Four years ago, according to pa
tent office reports, the value of our grape
crop exceeded that Of the tobacco crop by
$4,000.
The cost and productiveness of a vineyard
may thus be estimated: The cuttings, sub
soil plowing and labor (stakes not inctuded)
will not exceed forty dollars an acre, where
the declivity of the ground is not so great
as to require benching or terracing. The
small crops and the cuttings will partly re-
munerate for subsequent tllage. 2,42o
vines, 3 by 6 feet apart, will occupy one
acre. Twenty vines may be made to yield,
in fair seasons, one bushel of good grapes.
We may, then, safely estimate the average
v eld of an acre at 100 bushels very sa-
kcts have new been half supplied. The
Catawba, Isabella and Clinton are our best
and most reliable vineyard grapes, although
other varieties succeed farther south, and
new seedlings, of rare promise, are being
constantly introduced We would, howe
yer, caution our friends against large invest
ments at high prices in new varieties, not
fairly tested, however highly they may be
commended. We would rather encourage
tempts at production of new Seeding va
rieties, as affording best promise of harder
and better vines and choice fruit. lll
Buchanan, in the preface to the fifth edit
ton of his valuable work on grape culture
and wine making, says, "he obtained from
five acres 4, ,236 gallons, or 847 gallons per
acre. and that the average yield for the
whole country did not exceed 400 gallons to
the acre." A cultivator of the vine, in Ken
lucky, says, the til!age of the vineyard is
not so laborious. nor near so expensive, as
the tillage and labor of securing the pro-
ducts of an acre of corn or hemp. A man
having five acres. which he could manage
himself, would find them more profitable
than a Kentucky farm of two hundred
acres, with three negroes to cultivate It.
May We not reasonably expect, in view of