The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-07-22
Crapev.nc Ties and Supports.

On the economy Of wire for fastening
grapovines compared with string, Alex
is" p. S91 of this journal, is incontestHby
right. But "a. very small wire Is NOT
as good or as readily handled as wire
of moderate size, say such as timers use
n mt IN s,ove.pipe. or perhaps one size
less-but by all means let the wire be an
,,eaIed As to cutting it, use pair OF
old shears first or second size above scis-
sors), both blades being broken off to a.
bout two inches below the pivot. BY
holding the wire slightly angular, it cuts
easy, and with small roll of wire IN your
hand you can accommodate length to suit
circumstances.
Trained on the wall Of my wood.house,
| have Talcott Mountain a CataW ba
and Eureka. For fastening up these
vines, cut bits of wire three to six inches
long, wind firmly twice round the head Of
single nail, and drive the smack into
the siding OF the point where | want to
tie. Then bring the vine into position.
place it between the ends of the wire, and
so fasten those ends by twist that the
vine may have room to grow without the
wire cutting into il, aud SO that can I'm.
twist when | wish to take vipe down.
Such wire is not unsightly, even when
the vines fail to hide it, and the nail,
properly driven, is no injury to the wall.
This nail and wire tie works well on fcnc.
es and on all wood trelises.
But on vineyard tre!lises | use few
nails, and seldom con6ne vine with a
wire. use brush. On wire trellises |
tie the brush to the trellis with wire only;
on wood | use the wire and nails. l
hang the brush top down, and Irvine the
vines into it, leaving them to clasp and
hold on for themselves, and find tina. in
this way | can handle a vine that has
started in the spring, or one that ha,
strayed in the summer, without injuriug
bud or branches.
But | am every day growing more and
more in favor oftree training. Last sea.
son, besides covering the west end Of my
woodhouse, one Eureka vine climbed into
three apple trees standing 16 feet apart
in row, and | got more and better
grapes from one of those trees than did
from the end of the building. And |
have hundred vines planted alternating
between apple trees, that are beginning
to climb for success, and promise well
The apple crop seems to suffer very little
harm, but grapevides wont start under old
trees.
Tying up the vines reminds enc OF the
clusters SO | cannot refrain from telling
you that from my own vines | had on my
table palatable grapes every month in the
year, 1872, and that though my grape,
were all frozen solid last February-po.
tatoes at their side being Utterly destroy.
ed have this day, Goth of June, eat
of the fruit what survived that freezing
The frost had injured their favor and
loosened most of the berries from ,hoil
stems, and these loose berries decompos
ing had impaired mould to the outside o.
the sound grapes-so l must confess they
are not good now, though we reIishec
them well enough to swallow several after
first tasting them. They received not or
binary care even, this year or last, anc
the only secret OF their remarkable keep
ing is, they are Eurekas.
Eureka Place, ~ Y. S. FOLSOM.
Country Gent.