The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1878-06-13
Valuable Suggestions About the Culture Of
GRAPES.

The following brief, practical, and
condensed rules for the management
of grapes, were given by DR.. Whiting,
at the Farmers Institute, recently held
at Saginaw, Michigan:
The soil best suited for the grape is
decomposiag shale, but any good clay
soil thoroughly drained will do.
The ground should BIO carefully pre-
pared, and only well rotted manure
used,
Decomposing turf is one of the best
fertilizers when it can be obtained
no other will be required.
Vines selected for planting should
be good one-year-old layers or cut
tings. They may look small, but will
make the best vines,
Good culture is as necessary to the
vine as corn or cabbage.
Mulching and watering the first year
should not be neglected if drouth is
excessive. One good soaking is better
than many sprinklings. More water
can be saved with hoe than can be
put on with sprinkler.
In planting cut the vine back to two
buds, whatever its strength or age.
Summer pruning consists in pinch
ing off weak and struggling shoots, in
order to confine the sap to the main
branches.
The first summer allow but one main
shoot to grow. In the fall, after the
first frost, cut all the summer growth
back to within two buds of the ground.
The second year confine the sap to
two branches, and in the fall cut back
to three buds each.
The third year, il your vine has
made vigorous growth, few stems
of grapes may be allowed to mature,
but better take OF all the fruit than
allow too much to grow.
Too heavy bearing while young will
weaken the tree for al! future time.
The trimming now depends on what
kind of trellis you desire to cover.
After you have obtained good and
vigorous root, you can make it grow
in any shape you wish, by keeping the
branches desired tied up, and all the
others pinched back.
Each year few of the strongest buds
should be allowed to grow as bearers
of fruit the following year.
In trimming cut away as much of
the old wood as possible and save the
new, as all the fruit buds are on the
new wood.
You can easily tell how much to cut
away by holding your new wood up to
the trellis and imagine a branch with
three stems of grapes for each bud.
If you do not cut OF enough in the
fall and you find that the vine is going
to be too thick, do not fail to attend to
it while the new rhoots are from three
to six inches long, in the spring, or
while in blossom. AS soon as the fruit
is set examine the vine, spread out the
new.wood SO that each bunch of grapes
Will hang free and clear pick off all
the small stems of fruit, and fasten the
vines securely, SO that the wind will
not destroy your crop by breaking off
the young and tender branches,
When the wood has grown so that
there are three leaves beyond the last
bunch of grapes, examine the vine, Sc
lect the branches you wish to save for
fruit raising the coming year, and
keep them tied up until they have
grown as long as you wish to make use
of. The ends of the other bearing
branches should be pinched off as soon
as they reach this point, "three leaves
beyond the last stem of grapes"
Break off all shoots and laterals as
soon-as they make their appearance,
but on no account injure the leaves on
the bearing ones.
The fruit will color but not ripen if
the leaves are destroyed.
Grapes for fall and winter use should |
be plucked as soon as ripe, and, when
perfectly dry, packed in saw dust. Sc
ect your box or jar, cover the bottom
with sawdast, then layers of grapes
and sawdust alternately till full. Keep
them in the coolest place you can find
free from frost, until wanted for use.
-Coleman's Rural World.