Grape

Plant Characteristics

Habit		vine-climber
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Water:	◍	moderate
Features:	✓	deciduous, foliage, birds, bees, butterflys, fall color

Scientific Names

Vitaceae >

Vitis >

A grape (pronounced /ˈgreɪp/) is a non-climacteric fruit that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Vitis (grapevines) is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae.

Grapes grow in clusters of 15 to 300, and can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink. "White" grapes are actually green in color, and are evolutionarily derived from the purple grape.

Most grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Minor amounts of fruit and wine come from American and Asian species such as:

• Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines (including the concord cultivar), sometimes used for wine, are native to the Eastern United States and Canada.
• Vitis riparia, a wild vine of North America, is sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. It is native to the entire Eastern U.S. and north to Quebec.
• Vitis rotundifolia, the muscadines, used for jams and wine, are native to the Southeastern United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico.
• Vitis amurensis is the most important Asian species.

Table and wine grapes

Wine grapes on the vine

Commercially cultivated grapes can usually be classified as either table or wine grapes, based on their intended method of consumption: eaten raw (table grapes) or used to make wine (wine grapes). While almost all of them belong to the same species, Vitis vinifera, table and wine grapes have significant differences, brought about through selective breeding. Table grape cultivars tend to have large, seedless fruit (see below) with relatively thin skin. Wine grapes are smaller, usually seeded, and have relatively thick skins (a desirable characteristic in winemaking, since much of the aroma in wine comes from the skin). Wine grapes also tend to be very sweet: they are harvested at the time when their juice is approximately 24% sugar by weight. By comparison, commercially produced "100% grape juice", made from table grapes is usually around 15% sugar by weight.

Seedless grapes

Although grape seeds contain many nutrients, some consumers choose seedless grapes; seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction. It is, however, an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.

There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka, all being cultivars of Vitis vinifera. There are currently more than a dozen varieties of seedless grapes. Several, such as Einset Seedless, Reliance and Venus, have been specifically cultivated for hardiness and quality in the relatively cold climates of north-eastern United States and southern Ontario.

Read about Grape in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Vitis (classical Latin name). Vine. Grape. Vitaceae or Ampelideae. Tendril-climbers (some members of the genus Cissus erect) grown as ornamental vines but particularly for the edible fruits or grapes. The genus is variously defined, but if Cissus is excluded, it is distinguished as follows (Gray): Plants climbing by the prehension and coiling of naked-tipped tendrils: fls. polygamo-dioecious (i. e., some individuals perfect and fertile, others sterile with at most only a rudimentary ovary), 5-merous; corolla calyptrately caducous—the petals in anthesis cast off from the base while cohering by their tips (Fig. 3954); hypogynous disk of 5 nectariferous glands alternate with stamens; style short and thick, or conical: berry pulpy; seeds pyriform, with contracted beak-like base. A widespread genus of the northern hemisphere, most abundant in temperate countries. In its stricter limitations, the genus includes less than 60 known species, but some authors unite Cissus and Ampelopsis with it, when it includes some 250 species. The standard monographer (Planchon, DC. Monogr. Phaner. 5), refers 30 or more species to Vitis in the main account and in the addendum, and more than 200 to Cissus. N. Amer. is particularly rich in Vitis, not only in number of species but in the widespread distribution and the abundance of the plants. From the native species that have been developed, the outdoor grapes of this country, except those of Calif. and the extreme S. W. (which are Vitis vinifera). For an account of the evolution of these native cultural varieties, see Bailey, Sketch of the Evolution of Our Native Fruits; Hedrick's Grapes of New York, a notable volume issued by the N. Y. Agric. Exp. Sta.; also Munson, Foundations of American Grape Culture, 1909. For a sketch of Vitis and similar plants as ornamental vines, with illustrations, see Veitch, Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. 28 (1903-4). For cult., and control of insects and diseases, see Grape. For recent studies in lf. variation and in pollen sterility, see M. J. Dorsey, Proc. Amer. Breeders' Assoc., vol. 7 (1912), and Bull. No. 144, Minn. Exp. Sta. (1914). Many of the species of Vitis are excellent ornamental plants, when it is desired to cover arbors, porches, or trees; a number of the recently introduced oriental species (some of them properly referable to Ampelopsis and Parthenocissus) seem to be particularly interesting for such use. All of them are readily grown from seeds, and most of them from hardwood cuttings. Only a few of the native species are regularly in the trade; but with the possible exception of V. Treleasei they have been offered for sale to experiment stations and amateurs by the late T. V. Munson, of Texas, a well- known authority on both the botany and horticulture of the grape. The popular interest in these species is primarily pomological; for, although the fruit may not be directly useful, the species give promise of development through hybridization and plant-breeding, and some of them afford useful stocks on which to graft kinds that do not resist the phylloxera or root-louse. The following discussion includes all the species native to North America north of Mexico; it is adapted from the writer's account in Gray's "Synoptical Flora," vol. 1, 420-430. These American grapes are very difficult to distinguish in many cases; hence the subjoined descriptions are full, to bring out the contrasting characters. Some of the best recent systematic writing on American Vitis is from French sources, since the American species have come into prominence in France as phylloxera-resisting stocks for the wine grape. See, for example, the works of Millardet, and Viala and Ravaz; also "Ampelographie Universelle," by Viala and Vermorel. Many of the species listed in the trade under Vitis will be found in the genera Ampelopsis, Parthenocissus, and Cissus. The grape-vines of eastern Asia, although apparently not yielding fruit of value, are interesting as ornamental vines, and some of them are likely to come into prominence for their good foliage and brilliant autumn coloring. They are little known with us as yet. V. Coignetiae and V. amurensis are hardy in the northern states. Those tender at the Arnold Arboretum and more or less killed back in winter are V. Davidii, V. flexuosa, V. Romanetii, V. pulchra, V. reticulata, V. Piasezkii, and V. pentagona. Vitis species are of easy culture for ornament, and probably all of them propagate by hardwood cuttings, although layering may be easier with some species. Even species that are tender in any locality often make very attractive new growths each year if the roots are not injured. Attention must be given to fungous diseases. In southern California and other southern parts, a number of evergreen species now attain more or less prominence, particularly "the evergreen grape-vine" or V. capensis. These plants are mostly species of Cissus (which see, page 775), which is separated from Vitis by the mostly four-merous flowers with separate expanding petals and different disk, the plants often fleshy and sometimes erect rather than climbing. The evergreen set in cultivation more or less prominently in this country comprises Cissus antarctica (V. Baudiniana), page 776; C. capensis (V. capensis); C. gongylodes (V. pterophora), page 776; C. hypoglauca (V. hypoglauca); C. oblonga (V. oblonga); C. quadrangularis (V. quadrangularis); C. rhombifolia (V. rhombifolia); Vitis Romanetii (V. rutilans); Cissus striata (V. sempervirens), page 776. The standard English authorities combine Cissus and Vitis, but continental as well as American authors incline to keep them distinct. Several of the species properly referred to Cissus are described in the present account (Nos. 1-5), not having found their place regularly under Cissus in Vol. II. V. acida, Chapm.-Cissus acida.—V. aconitifolia, Hort.- Ampelopsis. ^V. antarctica, Benth.-Cissus.—V. Bainesii, Hook. (Cissus Bainesii, Planch., and by him referred to C. Currori). A most remarkable species, the trunk being condensed into a turnip-like body a few inches diam.: lvs. mostly compound, the 3 lfts. dentate, lvs. all borne on short, succulent branches: tendrils none: fls. greenish, in clusters usually raised above the lvs. S. Afr. B.M. 5472.— V. Baudiniana, Brouss.-Cissus antarctica.—V. betulifolis, Diels & Gilg. Sts. sparsely white-floccose: tendrils interrupted: lvs. small and membranaceous, becoming glabrous above, tomentose beneath, ovate-cordate and acute, not lobed or only obscurely so, the margin crenate-serrate. China.—V. bipinnata, Torr. & Gray-Ampelopsis.—V. cantoniensis, Seem. -Ampelopsis. —V. capreolata, Don-Tetrastigma serrulatum.—V. Delavayana, Franch., V. Delavayi, Hort.-Ampelopsis.—V. elegans. C. Koch- Ampelopsis heterophylla var.—V. gongylodes, Baker-Cissus.— V. Henryana, Hemsl.-Parthenocissus.—V. heterophylla. Thunb.- Ampelopsis.— V. himalayana, Laws., and var. rubrifolia, Hort.- Parthenocissus. p. 2479.—V. inconstans, Miq.-Parthenocissus tricuspidata.—V. japonica, Thunb.-Cissus.—V. levoides, Maxim. -Ampelopsis, p. 278.—V. Lindenii, Hort.-Cissus. p. 776.—V. megalophylla, Veitch-Ampelopsis.—V. obtecta, Wall.-Tetrastigma.— V. orientalis, Boiss.-Ampelopsis.—V. pterophora, Baker -Cissus.— V. repens, Veitch-Ampelopsis micans.—V. rubrifolia, Lev. & Van.-Parthenocissus himalayana var.—V. semicordata, Wall., is Parthenocissus semicordata, Planch. (P. himalayana var. semicordata, Laws.). Self-clinging plant: lfts. 3-5, ovate, tapering to summit, the young parts hispid-pubescent. Himalaya.— V. sempervirens, Hort.-Cissus striata.—V. serjaniaefolia, Maxim.- Ampelopsis japonica.— V. Thomsonii, Laws.-Parthenocissus. p. 2479.—V. tiliaefolia. HBK. Mexico, recently intro. for trial: said to have a very sour fr. but useful for jellies: by Planchon referred to V. caribaea.—V. Titanea, Hort., described as a vigorous species from Japan: lvs. dark green, with rounded lobes: berries black, in small bunches.— V. tricuspidata, Lynch-Parthenocissus tricuspidata.—V. variegata, Hort., is likely to be Ampelopsis heterophylla var.—V. Voinieriana, Balt. Climbing, the tendrils spiral, red-rusty: lvs. persistent, coriaceous, long-stalked, digitate with usually 5 elliptical coarsely dentate lfts. which are glabrous above and bright green: fls. in axillary short-peduncled cymes, hermaphrodite; sepals 4, oval, shorter than the 4 oval-lanceolate separate petals: carpels woolly, with a short 4-lobed style, the 2 carpels biovulate. Tonkin.—V. vomerensis, Hort., "observed in a Nice villa garden:" robust, sts. brown-felted: lvs. large and leathery, deeply cut into fine lobes, brown-tomentose, deep olive-green at maturity. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Read about Grape in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Grape. Plants of the genus Vitis, and the berries thereof, abundantly grown for fruit. The grape is one of the oldest of domesticated fruits. It is probable that wine was made from it before the plant was brought into cultivation. It seems to have been cultivated at the dawn of history. Its product was apparently no rarity in Noah's time. The grape of history is the Old World Vitis vinifera, the "wine-bearing Vitis," probably native to Asia. The paramount use of the grape always has been the production of wine. A secondary value is the production of raisins; and another is fruit for the dessert and for culinary uses. Great efforts were made to introduce the cultivation of the European grape into the American colonies, but they resulted in failure. It was not until the latter part of the last century that the chief causes of this failure became known: the depredations of the phylloxera and mildew,—and even then the causes were discovered largely because these American parasites had made incursions into the vineyards of Europe. In the meantime, one or two of the native species of Vitis had been ameliorated, and American viticulture had become established on a unique and indigenous basis, and the fruits are grown to eat rather than to drink. So fully did these early American ventures follow European customs that the grapes were usually planted on terraced slopes, as they are on the Rhine and about the continental lakes. Those early experiments finally failed because of the black-rot. North America is richest in species of Vitis (see the article Vitis). These species range from ocean to ocean and from the British possessions to the tropics. The species that has been most improved is Vitis Labrusca of the Atlantic slope, although it seems to possess less native merit than some of the southwestern species types. Of this species are the Concord and Catawba types. To some extent it has been hybridized with Vitis vinifera (as in Agawam, Lindley, Barry, and others of E. S. Rogers' varieties), and with native species. Already a number of the popular varieties represent such wide departures that they cannot be referred positively to any species. Of these, Delaware and Isabella are examples. The second most important species, in point of amelioration, is Vitis aestivalis, from which several of the best wine grapes have sprung. The post-oak grape (Vitis lincecumii, or V. aestivalis Var. lincecumii) of the Southwest, is one of the most promising species, and already has given excellent results in hybridization. The Muscadine (V. rotundifolia) of the South has given the Scuppernong and a few less known forms. Beyond these species, there are none which has given varieties of great commercial importance, although considerable has been done in improving them. Some of the best of the wild species are practically untouched; there is only a comparatively small area of our great country which has yet developed large interests in grape-growing: the grape-types of a century hence, therefore, may be expected to be very unlike the present- day varieties. For an extended sketch of American grape history, see Bailey, "Evolution of Our Native Fruits" (1898). The American grape literature is voluminous. More than fifty authors have written on the subject. Yet there is very little of this writing which catches the actual spirit of American" grape- growing; this fact, together with the technicality and diversity of the subject itself, makes it seem wise to devote considerable space to the grape in this Cyclopedia. We now know that the phylloxera or root-louse can be evaded when the vinifera grape is grafted on native or resistant stocks, and the mildew can be combated by fungicides. Of late years, therefore, new efforts have been made to grow the wine grape in the eastern states, and in the southern latitudes some of these experiments promised well for a time. However, so great attention is required to produce a satisfactory product as to discourage the growing of vinifera varieties in the open in the East. Vinifera types will always be special grapes in the East, adapted only to particular conditions, for it is not to be expected that they can compete with the more easily grown and cosmopolitan varieties of the native species. Under glass, however, the vinifera varieties thrive; and a special discussion is given herewith (page 1388) to this branch of the subject. The greatest development of the native grape industry has taken place in Ontario, New York, and Ohio, bordering lakes and large streams. These areas arc the lower Hudson River Valley; the region of the central- western New York lakes; the Lake Erie region of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio; the so-called peninsular region of Ontario lying between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. There are also important grape interests in Michigan, and other northern parts. There is considerable interest in grape-culture in the cooler parts of Georgia and Alabama, and there are enlarging areas in the country extending from the Ozark region southward. Nearly all the country, excepting the northernmost parts, raises grapes, but in most cases the growing of them cannot be said to be extensive enough to be called an industry. Although the grape sections of the North follow the water areas where the land is often steep, all grape-growers prefer nearly level land. The Old World plan- tations are largely on very steep lands; such lands, by virtue of their warmth and drainage, are thought to give an extra quality of wine. These ideas were brought to this country, and many of our early vineyards were planted on terraced slopes. But we grow grapes for a different purpose from the Europeans, and land is cheap and labor is dear. Old world methods cannot be followed in the American commercial plantations. The cosmopolitan American grape, of the native type, is the Concord, which originated with Ephraim W. Bull, of Concord, Massachusetts (Fig. 1709.) Other varieties of leading prominence in the North are Catawba, Delaware, Niagara, Worden. The ideal bunch of grapes is of medium size for the variety, compact, uniformly developed and ripened throughout, containing no small or diseased berries, and with the bloom intact. A very dense or crowded cluster is not the most desirable, for all the berries cannot develop fully, and the cluster is not easily handled when the fruit is eaten. Fig. 1710 shows a cluster of good shape and compactness: Fig. 1711 is too broad and irregular; Figs. 1712, 1713, are rather too dense and compact. The American grape is essentially a dessert fruit. It is eaten from the hand. There are several manufactured products, but, with the exception of wine, they have been of minor importance until recent years, although there are many large wine-cellars in New York and Ohio, and the product is of excellent quality. Unfermented grape juice is now manufactured in great quantities and has become an important article of commerce (see Cyclo. Amcr. Agric. Vol. II, p. 178). The lack of secondary domestic uses of the grape has been one reason for the very serious gluts in the markets. However, one year with another, the profit on a good vineyard may be expected to exceed that on the staple farm crops. Pruning and training. A grape-vine is pruned in order to reduce the amount of wood (that is, to thin or to limit the amount of fruit), and to keep the plant within manageable shape and bounds. A vine is trained in order to keep it off the ground, out of the way of the workmen, and so to arrange the fruit that it will be well exposed to light and air. In order to understand the pruning of grapes, the operator must fully grasp this principle: Fruit is borne, on wood of the present season, which arises from wood of the previous season. To illustrate: A growing shoot, or cane of 1914, makes buds. In 1915 a shoot arises from each bud; and near the base of this shoot the grapes are borne (one to four clusters on each). This is shown in Fig. 1714. The 1914 shoot is shown at the top. The 1915 shoot bears four clusters of grapes. While every bud on the 1914 shoot may produce shoots or canes in 1915, only the strongest of these new shoots will bear fruit. The skilled grape-grower can tell by the looks of his cane (as he prunes it, in winter) which buds will give rise to the grape-producing wood the following season. The larger and stronger buds usually give best results; but if the cane itself is very big and stout, or if it is very weak and slender, he does not expect good results from any of its buds. A hard well-ripened cane the diameter of a man's little finger is the ideal size. The second principle to be mastered is this: A vine should bear only a limited number of clusters,—say from thirty to eighty. A shoot bears clusters near its base: beyond these clusters the shoot grows into a long, leafy cane. An average of two clusters may be reckoned to a shoot. If the vine is strong enough to bear sixty clusters, thirty good buds must be left at the annual pruning. How much a vine should be allowed to bear will depend on the variety, distance apart of the vines, strength of the soil, age of the vine, system of pruning, and the ideals of the grower. The Concord is one of the strongest and most productive of grapes. Twelve to fifteen pounds is a fair crop for a mature vine; twenty pounds is a heavy crop; twenty-five pounds is a very heavy crop. An average cluster of Concord will weigh one-fourth to one-third of a pound. The vine may be expected to carry from thirty to sixty clusters; and the annual pruning will leave from fifteen to thirty buds. Since the bearing wood springs from new canes, it follows that the fruit of the grape is each year borne farther from the main trunk of the vine. Observe that the fruit of wild vines is borne beyond reach when they climb over thickets and trees. It is a prime object of the grape-grower to obviate this difficulty. The third principle in the pruning of grape-vines is this: The bearing wood should be kept near the original trunk or head of the vine. When one cane is sending out fruit- bearing shoots, another shoot is taken out from near the main trunk or head to furnish fruit-bearing shoots for the next year; and the other or older cane is entirely cut away after the fruit is off. That is, the wood is constantly renewed; and the new shoots which are to give bearing wood the following year are called renewals. Some systems of grape-training renew back to the root every year or two, and these have been called renewal systems; but every system of grape-pruning must practise renewal in one way or another. An old system of renewal was by means of spurs. Fig. 1715 illustrates this. The horizontal part is a permanent arm or branch. We will suppose that it grew in 1912. In 1913 a shoot grew upward. It bore two or three clusters of fruit. In autumn it was cut back to a, two buds being left to supply the shoots of the succeeding year. This short branch is now called a spur. Only one shoot was wanted for the next, year, but two buds were left in case one should be injured. In 1914, a branch grew from one of these buds: it bore fruit: in the fall it was cut back to b. In 1915 a shoot will grow from one of the buds, c. Thus the spur elongates year by year, becoming a forking, complicated, stubby branch. After a few years it may become weak: the grower sees this, and if a new shoot should start from the main arm near the base of the spur, he encourages it and cuts off all of the old spur: thus he renews back again to the main vine. Shoots from adventitious or secondary buds are likely to spring from the main arm or the spur at any time. These are usually weak and are removed, but now and then a strong one arises. Spur-pruning is now rarely used except in grapes grown on arbors or under glass, in which cases it is necessary to have a long, permanent trunk. On arbors it is best to carry one arm or trunk from each root to the top of framework. Each year the lateral canes are cut back to spurs of two or three buds. The pruning of glasshouse grapes is discussed under Grapes under glass (page 1389). The current systems of pruning renew to a head—or to the main trunk—each year. The trunk is carried up to the desired height—to one of the wires of the trellis—and one or more canes are taken out from its top each year. The object is to keep the bearing wood near the main trunk and to obviate the use of spurs. This type of pruning is illustrated in Fig. 1716. This engraving shows the head of a vine seven years old, and on which two canes are allowed to remain after each annual pruning. The part extending from b to f and d is the base of the bearing cane of 1914. In the winter of 1914-15, this cane is cut off at d, and the new cane, e, is left to make the bearing wood of 1915. Another cane arose from /, but it was too weak to leave for fruiting. It was, therefore, cut away. The old stub, b, f, d, will be cut away a year hence, in the winter of 1915-16. In the mean- tune, a renewal cane will have grown from the stub c, which is left for that purpose, and the old cane, b d, will be cut off just beyond it, between c and /. In this way, the bearing wood is kept close to the head of the vine. The wound a shows where an old stub was cut away this winter, 1914-15, while b shows where one was cut off the previous winter. A scar on the back of the head, which does not show in the illustration, marks the spot where a stub was cut away two years ago, in the winter of 1912-13. This method of pruning can be kept up almost indefinitely, and if care is exercised in keeping the stubs short, the head will not enlarge out of proportion to the growth of the stock or trunk. Two common styles of training are in use in the northern states, but each of them practises essentially the system of renewals described in the last paragraph. One stvlc of training carries the trunk only to the lowest wire of the trellis. The canes—usually two in number— are tied horizontally on the bottom wire, and the bearing shoots are tied, as they grow, to the two wires above (Fig. 1717). This is an upright system. The other style carries the trunk to the top wire. The canes are tied on the top wire, and the bearing shoots hang. This is the drooping or Kniffin system. If the shoots run out on the top wire by clinging to it by tendrils, they are torn loose, so that they will hang: this is a very necessary practice. There is controversy as to the comparative merits of these systems, which proves that each has merit. It is probable that the upright system is better for the slender or shorter varieties, as Delaware, and also for those whose shoots stand erect, as Catawba. The Kniffin has distinct merit for strong- growing varieties, as Concord; it is also cheaper, since it requires no summer tying. This system is well illustrated (as given by E. W. Williams in "Garden and Forest," I: 461) in Figs. 1718-1720. One- or two-year-old vines are planted either in the fall or early spring. At planting, the vine is cut back to three or four buds, and the roots are shortened (Fig. 1724). If all buds start, the strongest one or two may be allowed to grow. The canes arising from this bud should be staked and allowed to grow through the season; or in large plantations the first-year canes may be allowed to lie on the ground. The second year this cane should be cut back to the same number of eyes as the first year. After growth begins in the second spring, one of the strongest shoots should be allowed to remain. This cane may be grown to a single stake through the second summer. At the end of the second year the cane may be cut back to the bottom wire of the trellis, if upright training is to be employed. The cane may be strong enough at this time to be made the permanent trunk of the Kniffin training, but in most cases the trunk is not carried to the top wire until the third year. The main pruning is performed when the vine is dormant. The ideal time is January and February in the North, although the work is often begun in November if the area is large. Pruning in spring causes the vine to bleed, but bleeding is not injurious. But late pruning interferes with tillage, and the buds are likely to be injured after they are swollen. Summer pruning is now practised only to the extent of pulling out suckers and weak shoots and even this is not always done. Heading-in the vine in summer is likely to start side growths, which are useless and troublesome. Propagation. The grape grows readily from seeds, which may be kept over winter and germinated in the house early in the spring. They may even be planted in beds in the open, but the proportion of failures will be greater. Seeds produce new varieties, and they are used only in an experimental way. The commercial propagation of grapes is accomplished by means of hardwood cuttings. These cuttings are taken in the winter from the trimmings of vineyards. In all ordinary cases they are made of two or three buds' length, preferably three (Fig. 1721). They are cut as soon as the canes are trimmed, tied in small bundles, and these bundles are then buried half their depth in damp sand in a cool cellar. By spring the cuttings will be more or less callused. The cuttings are planted in the open on the approach of warm weather. A loose loamy soil is chosen, and it is well and deeply prepared. The cuttings arc inserted until only the upper bud stands at the surface of the ground. These cuttings are placed 6 to 8 inches apart in rows, and the rows are far enough apart to allow of horse cultivation. These cuttings may give plants large enough for sale the following autumn; but it is usually preferred to let the plants grow two years before they are put upon the market. In such cases it is customary in many of the best nurseries, to transplant at the end of the first season. When wood is scarce, the canes are sometimes cut to single eyes. In this case about an inch of wood is left on either side of the bud. Single-eye cuttings are nearly always started under glass, preferably on the greenhouse bench. If they are started in February, they will be large enough for transplanting in a well-prepared seed-bed very early in the spring. Greenwood cuttings are sometimes used in the summer with new and rare varieties, but they are not in general favor. In California, rooted vines of one year are preferred; and in soil in which cuttings root readily, they are sometimes planted directly in the vineyard. The grape is easily grafted. Because of the flexible nature of the vine, however, it is customary to make the graft below the surface of the ground. An ordinary cleft-graft is usually employed. The whole vine is cut off 4 or 5 inches below the surface, and the graft is inserted in the same fashion as in apple or pear trees. The surface may then be waxed or covered with clay or other material, to keep the water out of the cleft, although if the earth is firmly packed around the graft and no water stands, the union may be perfectly satisfactory without any cover. (Figs. 1722, 1723.) Vines of any age may be grafted. It is important that the cions be perfectly dormant. These cions are taken and stored in the same way as cuttings. The grafting should be done very early in the spring, before the sap starts. Grafting may also be performed late in the spring, after all danger of bleeding is over; but, in that case, it is more difficult to keep the cions dormant, and the growth is not likely to be so great the first season. Vineyards composed of unprofitable varieties may be changed to new varieties very readily by this means. Vinifera varieties can also be grafted on our common phylloxera-resistant stocks by the same method. Almost any method of grafting can be employed upon the grape-vine if the work is done beneath the surface. Insects and diseases. The grape is amenable to many insect and fungous attacks. The most serious difficulty is the phylloxera, which, however, is practically unknown as an injurious pest on the native grapes. On the vinifera varieties it is exceedingly serious, and it is working great devastation in many of the vineyards of the Old World and of the Pacific coast. The most practicable means of dealing with this pest is to graft the vinifera vines on native or resistant roots. The mildew and black-rot are the most serious of the fungoid enemies in the central and eastern parts of the continent. Both these diseases cause the berries to decay. They also attack the leaves, particularly the mildew, causing the leaves to fall and preventing the grapes from maturing. It is the mildew that has worked such havoc in European vineyards. The mildew is most serious on thin-leaved and smooth-leaved varieties, as the Delaware. It produces yellowish patches on the leaves, with frost-like colonies on the under sides. It causes the berries to decay Common with a gray and finally a brown rot, the j-bud cut- berries usually remaining small and firm but not greatly wrinkled. The black-rot causes the berries to become very hard, dry and shriveled, and the epidermis is covered with minute pimples. (Fig. 1286, Vol. II.) The treatment for both these diseases is the same—spraying with bordeaux mixture. In regions in which the diseases have not been very prevalent, it is usually sufficient to begin the spraying after the fruit has begun to set, and to spray two or three times, as the case seems to require. When the diseases have been very prevalent, however, it may be well to begin before the buds swell in the spring. In infested vineyards, the foliage and diseased berries should be raked up and burned in the fall. The anthracnose or scab (Sphaceloma ampelinum) is a very serious fungous disease. It is most apparent on the fruit, where it makes a hard, scabby patch. Its most serious work, however, occurs on the stems of the clusters and on the young growth, where it makes sunken, discolored areas, and where it interferes seriously with the growth of the parts. It is not so easily controlled as the mildew and the black-rot. Careful attention to pruning away all the diseased wood and burning it will help in controlling the disease. Before growth starts, spray the vines, trellis and posts with sulfate of iron solution. After the leaves open, use the bordeaux mixture. In grape-houses the powdery mildew (Uncinula spiralis) often does much damage. It also occurs in the open vineyard, but it is usually not serious there. It appears as a very thin, dust-like covering on the leaves. It sometimes attacks the berries, causing them to remain small or to crack. This fungus lives on the surface, and is therefore readily controlled in grape-houses by dusting with flowers of sulfur or by the fumes of evaporated sulfur. The oidium is the most prevalent fungous disease in California. It is controlled by dust-sprays of sulfur (page 1387). Many other insects and diseases prey upon the grape, but those mentioned above are widespread and may be considered as perhaps the standard parasites. Grapes in the North (Canada). Any section in which grapes will thrive without winter protection may be said to be a commercial section. For home use they are grown far north by covering with earth or litter during the winter. When the leaves are falling or have fallen in autumn, the vines are pruned—fan system, with the old stalks very close to the ground, and laid flat upon the earth. Here they are left under their straw or earthy covering until danger of frost is past, the following spring, when the covering is removed and the canes tied to the wires. But. this is expensive and the method is not commercial. For market pur]x>ses, grapes are grown with one of two main objects in view: either for wine (sweet or fermented) or table and dessert purposes. The purpose determines the variety. Concords and varieties approaching it in type and quality are the choice for the former purpose, while for the latter the variety is determined by the season and the market demand. In the former case, also, the number of varieties is limited, while in the latter they are numerous, ranging from the earliest, Champion, to the latest, Vergennes, and intermediate varieties of all colors and grades. Soils and location. Grapes are grown on all types of soils, on many sites, in various locations. But the loams and clays with good drainage, the sites with good air- circulation, and the locations that are reasonably free from frost are preferred. Quality is to a large extent determined by soil. Some of the wineries will accept only fruit that is grown on clay soils. The product is more uniform, it ripens more regularly and the sugar-content is higher. Also some cooperative companies that are catering to a special trade, advise their members to plant only on heavy soils because the grapes are sweeter and of higher quality. The ideal soil, however, is the rich, deep, alluvial, easily drained loams that have taken centuries to build up from the washing of the hillsides toward the margins of the lakes and rivers. The site is of importance for two reasons, those of air-circulation and sunlight, both of which serve the same purpose: to assist the grower in his fight against disease. Disease can live only in conditions that favor it, and light and air are its hereditary enemies. Site is also often discussed with reference to early bud- development and late spring frosts, but its importance has been overdrawn. The number of vineyards injured annually in this manner in the commercial districts is very small. Location (and by that is here meant the situation of a district) is of extreme importance. In the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario,—the largest grape-growing center in Canada,—the aspect is north, with a hill in the rear, and facing the waters of Lake Ontario. Here the crop naturally varies, but it never fails. The same applies to the best parts of New York State, the commercial sections of the one being but continuations of the other. The favored spots in Ontario are not on the shore of the lake but rather just below the escarpment where the water has less influence. Grapes .on the shore sometimes fail to ripen well and the quality is consequently inferior. Because of this, many vineyards on the shore have been removed in late years, while the interior plantings have largely increased. If the volume of water were smaller, the influence would be sufficient only for frost-protection; but, where it is so large, it retards early development. The water influence is striking, as the fruits (peaches, for example) ripen from six to ten days later on the shore than two to four miles inland. Stock and pruning. One-year-old plants are the choice for planting. These should be well grown and healthy. Two-year- old plants are often only one-year culls. The plants are set as early in the spring as possible on land that has been previously prepared by growing a cultivated crop. Plants set in sod or on unprepared land do not thrive, and poor growth the first year is not made up two years later. The stock is heeled-in as soon as it comes from the nursery, but is left heeled-in only until the ground is ready for planting, which is as early as possible. When planting, time is saved by plowing a furrow, sometimes by throwing out two furrows, one each way. A man with a spade deepens this, or loosens the soil in the bottom, and then packs it again firmly around the roots. Before planting, all broken and damaged roots are cut away and sometimes the healthy ones are cut back. (Fig. 1724.) The tops are cut back to two to four buds. Distances of planting vary greatly, depending on the variety and the ideas of the planter. The popular distances are 7 by 1.0 feet to 8 by 10 feet for the small-growing varieties, to 9 by 11 feet for the larger-growing varieties. A few of the small-growing varieties are planted 6 by 9 feet, but this is exceptional. The first year the vines are allowed to run as they will. (Fig. 1725.) The posting is done the second or third year. This consists of driving posts sharpened at one end or digging holes and setting them about 21 to 27 feet apart. One post is set for each three vines. The end posts are either braced the same as ordinary fence-posts or anchored. (Fig. 1726.) Various anchors are used, such as large stones buried in the ground, cement used the same as stones, or a patent anchor which consists of a V-shaped piece of iron to which is attached a wire. This is driven in the ground to a depth of 30 to 36 inches. The posts are 8 feet in length, usually cedar or chestnut, and cost from 15 to 25 cents each— an average of 20 cents. The wiring is done the second or third year, preferably the second year, and consists of stretching two No. 9 galvanized wires the entire length of the row. The first is about 30 inches from the ground and the second about 30 inches above this. Some use three wires, but two are more popular. The wires slacken easily and the posts heave some every winter. This must be corrected regularly before tying the grapes. Drive the posts to place with a ten- or twelve-pound mallet and tighten the wire by turning the patent stretcher on the anchored posts. When putting the wire on the posts and tying the vines to the wire always place them on the windward side, as they are less likely to be blown down and damaged. The vines may be secured with raffia or with wire. (Figs. 1727-1730.) Pruning systems are many and varied, and the advocates of each system claim for their ideal special merits. Kniffin, Improved Kniffin, Fan, Arm and High Renewal systems are all used to some extent, but the Fan and Improved Kniffin are the most popular. Many growers believe that it is impossible to prune to a definite system, but by others this is not found to be the case. Many leave the necessary number of strong healthy canes and tie them up as best they can space them on the wires. From twenty-eight to forty buds is the popular number to leave, and the ideal of the grower is the only guide on which canes to leave these buds. The preference is usually given to the strong quality-looking canes on which the buds are close together. The system of pruning to be followed should be started one year after planting. As at planting-time, cut back to three or four buds and after growth starts, break or rub off the weaker shoots. This gives the stronger ones an opportunity to thrive. Tie to the lower wire. The second season it may be advisable to cut back similarly, especially if the growth has been weak. From this point train the vines according to the system to be followed. The work of pruning is usually done in the spring, from February to April, before any growth starts. If growth has started, the vines will bleed. The brush is gathered, in most cases, with a pole about 11 or 12 feet long, 3 ½ inches in diameter at one end and tapering to about 1 ½ to 2 inches. This must be of strong material that will bend without breaking. A chain is attached from 24 inches to 36 inches from the large end, and as it is drawn by the team the brush collects between the chain and pole. Other methods are used, but this is by far the most common. Tillage and fertilizing. Cultivation is thorough for best results. The vines are sometimes intercropped with cultivated crops the first year after planting, but later they require all the care. The vines are plowed up in the fall and disced and grape-hoed away the following spring. Cover- crops are sometimes used, but the practice is not an extensive one because of damp conditions for harvesting in the fall. Cover- crops are sometimes not plowed under till the following spring. The tying is done by women and girls in early spring before the buds are so swollen that they are easily damaged. Many materials are used, but the most common are wire and a soft wool twine made for the purpose. The twine is most used, although the wire is very handy. The canes are spaced when tying, and thus held in place until the tendrils of the new shoots secure them to the wire. Fertilizing is still done in a haphazard way. Some of the best men make a regular practice of mulching the roots with farmyard manure in the fall. Some apply no farmyard manure at all. The use of commercial fertilizer is still in the experimental stage. Its value is admitted but its use is not fully understood. On light and gravel soils some potash compounds are being used. On the deep alluvial soils some growers are using it in the form of wood-ashes rather than the prepared commercial product. Some bone-meal, at the rate of 300 to 600 pounds to the acre, is being used also. Some state profitable results from their methods; others think that with light applications of farmyard manure and thorough cultivation the commercial fertilizers are not required. Grapes in the South. The region south of the 38th degree north latitude has in it more native species of grapes than all the world besides. This alone would lead one to suppose the South naturally adapted to vineyard culture. Yet New York, Ohio and California up to the present far excel it in vineyard area, although only three or four are native in these states. The cause of this is that diligent experimenters and originators have produced varieties of good marketable value adapted to those regions, from natives of the regions, or hybrids of natives with hardiest foreign kinds. In the case of California, the vinifera varieties are mostly grown because the climate and other conditions are so similar to those of the native region of the vinifera. But the South has chiefly planted the northern and foreign varieties which succeed but indifferently in most southern localities, and has neglected almost entirely its native varieties until quite recently. Now experimenters have shown that most excellent and very successful varieties of all colors and seasons can be and have been produced by selection and hybridization of some of the large fine-fruited varieties. While the foregoing predicts by actual existence in practical market vineyards in a number of localities in the South what is in store for the South as a whole, the present state of grape-culture in that region at large is a different matter. Information gathered from best sources throughout the South shows that grape-culture is a very small industry. Varieties. The leading varieties cultivated in the northern sections of the South are Catawba, Concord, Delaware, Early Victor, Elvira, Ives, Moore Early, Moore Diamond, Niagara, Norton Virginia, Perkins, Worden, Wyoming. Favorable mention is made of America. Beacon, Brilliant, Campbell Early, Gold Coin, Green Mountain, Laussel, Ozark, Presly. East of Texas and south of Tennessee, the following are chiefly planted: Brighton, Champion, Concord, Delaware, Diana, Diamond, Elvira, Goethe, Hartford, Herbemont, Ives, Missouri Reisling, Moore Early, Niagara, Norton Virginia (Cythiana), Perkins, Worden. Of the muscadine class for wine: Flowers, James, Mish, Scuppernong, Thomas. Favorable mention, of varieties testing, is made of Brilliant, Bertrand, Carman, Fern, Gold Coin, Jaeger (Fig. 1731), Laussel, Marguerite, Superb. In the southwestern section, west of the 96th meridian, are chiefly planted the Herbemont, Jacquez (Black Spanish, Lenoir), Niagara and Golden Chasselas, Malaga and some other vinifera varieties near the Gulf coast and in western Texas under irrigation. By several who have had them under trial for several years favorable mention is made of Bertrand, Brilliant. Carman, Fern, Jaeger, Marguerite, Muench, Neva, Perry, as furnishing successful table and wine grapes for this region. The following varieties are superior for commercial and home planting in the South, especially the Southwest, and some in the North: Headlight, Brilliant, President, Captivator, Hidalgo, Hernito, Delakins, Salamander, R. W. Munson, Mericadel, Ericson, Krause, Bailey, Extra, Blondin, Jaeger, Carman, Ellen Scott, Armalaga, Edna, Fern, Last Rose, named jn order of ripening. These cover a season of ripening in north Texas (latitude of Atlanta, Georgia), from June 25 until September 15 or later. They include white, red and black colors in their different shades, many comparing favorably in appearance and quality with the better vinifera grapes, while the vines are all perfectly hardy in the South and some of them far north, making a fine record in New York and even about Boston. Some of these varieties are now planted largely along the Gulf coast country, where vine-culture was supposed to be impossible a few years ago. The section of Texas south of San Antonio, lying between the Gulf and the Rio Grande River, as large in area as the state of New York, has a climate and soil excellently suited to the vinifera grapes, and in the last six years, since railroads beg^an to ramify that section, and where irrigation facilities are afforded, considerable plantations of vinifera grapes have been made, the Flame Tokay, Malaga (Pense), Muscat of Alexandria, Cornichon. Black Morocco, and so on, being the varieties chiefly used. Of course these require grafting upon resistant stocks, in all but the very sandy soils. Georgia. Planting, training, and the like. The vines of the true southern grapes, such as Herbemont and the Post-oak grape hybrids, are planted 12 to 14 feet apart, in rows 9 feet apart, while such northern varieties as are planted are set 8 feet apart in row. The Muscadines, such as Scuppernong, are mostly grown upon arbors about 7 feet high and rarely or never pruned, although trained on trellis, as are other grapes, and, pruned early in fall, after leaf-fall, succeed excellently. The culture is mostly with the plow, turning first away and then to the rows, hoeing the space along the row not reached by the plow. The trellis mostly used is the 3-wire trellis; first wire at 18 to 24 inches from the ground, and the others successively 1 foot apart, above the first. The training is commonly an indifferent attempt at the Kniffin system, and no system is generally carried out. Some pinch back the leading shoots once, few twice. Some use single posts and spur-prune. A few have made the Munson canopy trough trellis of 3 wires, and report most favorably of it. Grapes on the Pacific slope. Grape-growing was introduced into California by the Franciscan Missions during the latter half of the eighteenth century. At all the missions from San Diego to Sonoma the same variety was cultivated practically exclusively. This variety, now known generally as the "Mission" or locally as the "California" and "El Paso," reached California from Mexico through the Jesuit missions of lower California. It seems probable that it was brought over from Europe as early as the time of Cortez but it has never been completely identified with any European variety. It is very close to the Monica of Sardinia which it resembles in its great vigor, heavy growth, the form of its loaves, the size, shape, color, texture, and flavor of its fruit, and differs principally in the less dense indument of its foliage. It seems probable that it is a seedling of this variety selected by the padres on account of its close resemblance to its parent, which is a favorite with the monks of Sardinia. It was admirably adapted for the purposes of the missions, for besides being a good table grape, keeping well and not sensitive to primitive methods of handling, it could be used for the manufacture of white or red wine and was especially adapted to the production of a sweet wine of sherry type. For a long time, even after the American occupation of California, it remained the only variety grown in vineyards, but, with the arrival of immigrants from various grape-growing countries, other varieties were introduced, and, at present, it is little grown in California except as a good, cheap, easily handled table grape for local supply and in some regions as an ingredient in the manufacture of sweet red and white wines. It still forms the bulk of the vines grown on the Mexican plateau and extends into New Mexico and southwestern Texas, but is gradually giving way even there to varieties better adapted to special purposes. At present, Zinfandel for wine, Muscat of Alexandria for raisins, and Flame Tokay for shipping, constitute the bulk of the grapes grown in California, although about twenty-five varieties are grown on a large scale and over twice that number in considerable commercial quantities. Including all the varieties which occasionally or locally appear on the market as table, raisin or wine grapes, there are over one hundred varieties of commercial importance. All these varieties, with one or two unimportant exceptions, belong to the European type, Vitis vinifera. Varieties of V. labrusca and other American types grow vigorously and bear well except in the hottest and driest sections, but the grapes are unsuited for the main purposes of the industry in California. They cannot be made into raisins, are inferior to vinifera for wine and are less suitable for distant shipment as table grapes. Scattering, small patches of the variety Pierce (an improved sport of Isabella) are grown in the cooler parts of the northern coast counties, and an occasional patch of Concord in the San Gabriel Valley. The crop of these vines finds a market in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other large coast towns and is often very profitable, but the market is small and easily over-stocked. These grapes attain regularly a higher percentage of sugar and lower acidity than is usual in the eastern states and they have been used successfully in the manufacture of unfermented grape juice, for which they are particularly adapted. The vineyard industries of the Pacific slope, however, will always be based principally on the growing of vinifera grapes, owing both to their greater intrinsic value for most purposes and to the fact that they cannot be grown on a large industrial scale in any other part of the United States. Certain American species of vines are nevertheless essential to the success of California grape-growing, owing to their resistance to the phylloxera which rapidly destroys all vinifera varieties whenever it secures a foothold in the vineyard. They are useful as stock on which to graft the vinifera varieties and are extensively used in the northern and central coast counties and in certain sections of the great valley and the Sierra foothills. The insect has not yet become established in southern California nor in Imperial. The chief resistant stocks used are varieties of riparia and rupestris, although certain hybrids of these species with Berlandieri, and vinifera are also used for special conditions. The Labrusca varieties are almost as susceptible to injury from phylloxera in California as the vinifera and also require grafting on resistant stock in infested regions. The most essential requirement for the successful growth and bearing of vinifera varieties is a dry summer with abundant sunshine and a winter cold enough to render the vines dormant for at least several weeks. These conditions are found in California from the Mexican to the Oregon borders, and in favored locations in several of the other Pacific slope states. Along the coast north of Monterey Bay, the summer sea fogs interfere with the ripening of the grapes and make the control of the oidium difficult. These sea fogs cover a belt which in the north extends considerably into the interior but gradually becomes narrower as one proceeds south, until in the latitude of Santa Cruz, where the mean annual precipitation falls below 20 inches, grapes can be grown almost down to the sea. In the remainder of California, grapes can be grown almost everywhere that the elevation above sea-level is not too great. In the latitude of Napa the limit is about 1,500 to 1,800 feet. Farther south, vineyards are found at Ben Lomond in Santa Cruz County at 2,500 feet and at Colfax in Placer County at 2,400 feet. At these elevations vines succeed only in favored locations. In others and at higher elevations, killing frosts often occur both in spring and autumn. Grape-growing in a large way began in California soon after the American occupation. In 1858, according to the State Register, there were 3,954,548 vines in the state, equivalent to about 6,500 arces. Collections of European varieties were introduced and state aid was secured for the promotion of viticulture. By 1870, the vineyard acreage had increased to nearly 30,000 acres. Wine was produced in fairly large quantities, but its sale was at first attended by many disappointments which discouraged planting and for ten years the new vineyards barely sufficed to compensate for the loss of vineyards by phylloxera in the north and a peculiar disease of unknown cause in the south. In the meanwhile, the demand for Californian wines increased and a propaganda for extension with more suitable methods and better varieties was earnestly taken up. Again the state granted funds liberally, and the agitation resulted in vine-planting and cellar-construction throughout the state. At the same time, vast plantings were made in the new Fresno region and between 1880 and 1883 the vineyard area of California increased from about 35,000 acres to nearly 140,000. This rapid expansion naturally led to over-supply and inferior products, which restricted further extension. In the period from 1891 to 1897 the vineyard area actually decreased owing to the rapid destruction of the vines of the large Santa Clara section by phylloxera and drought. In 1904 the vineyard area was estimated to be about 200,000 acres and since then the new plantings, especially of table grapes, have been steady and the area in 1913 may be estimated roughly at about 385,000 acres, of which about 75,000 consists of table grapes, 130,000 of raisin grapes, and 180,000 of wine grapes. The vineyard products of California, according to the statistician of the California State Board of Agriculture, for 1912 were: Wine, 47,491,772 gallons; brandy, 8,721,693 gallons; raisins, 185,000,000 pounds; table grapes, 6,363 (1913) carloads. Vinifera varieties of grapes have a very wide range of adaptation. They grow in all fertile soils, but succeed best in light, deep, warm loams in the valleys and on the hillsides. The American varieties used as stocks are less adaptable and some care must be exercised in choosing a stock suited to the chemical and physical character of the soil. The extremes of temperature and elevation endured by vinifera vines are very great, especially if care is taken in the selection of varieties. In the Pacific coast states outside of California, the growing of grapes is still largely experimental. In parts of Oregon and near the confines of Idaho and Washington almost to the borders of British Columbia, vinifera varieties of table grapes are giving very promising results in favored locations. The vines need some protection in the winter by covering with straw or earth, but the hot, dry summer will ripen even such southern and late varieties as Flame Tokay and Corni- chon. The American varieties succeed in a much wider territory in these states. The varieties most favorably mentioned are Concord, Delaware, Diamond, Moore, Niagara and Worden. In parts of Arizona and of southern Nevada and Utah, vinifera vines have been planted and promise to be profitable for local sale or, in special locations, for early shipments. Propagation and cultivation. New vines are grown from cuttings of one-year-old dormant wood. These cuttings should be from 10 to 18 inches long, the shorter cuttings for moist soils in the cooler localities and the longer for drier soils in hot regions. A 14-inch cutting is usually employed. It is generally best to root the cuttings in a nursery and plant them out in the vineyard the following spring. In well-prepared, moist soil they may be planted directly in place, only one bud being left above the surface. Where phylloxera exists, resistant vines must be used. These are obtained by grafting a one- or two-bud cutting of vinifera on a 9- to 12-inch resistant cutting from which the buds have been removed. This graft is united in a callusing bed, rooted in the nursery and planted out in place when one year old. The resistant stock is often first rooted in the vineyard and grafted in place when one or two years old. This method is uncertain and gives many poor unions except with a few stocks and in very expert hands. The soil should be plowed as deeply as practicable before planting. The best vincyardists turn the soil 9 to 12 inches, often following with a sub-soiler penetrating 6 'or 8 inches deeper. This treatment results in a more complete "stand," quicker development and full bearing at three to five years. It is especially useful for grafted vines. Resistant stocks. The principal phylloxera-resistant stock grown is the rupestris St. George (~du Lot). It succeeds in a wide variety of soils providing they are deep, permeable and well supplied with water below. In shallow, compact or very wet soils it often fails. It forms good unions with most of the common vinifera varieties. Exceptions seem to be, in some localities, Emperor, Cornichon and Muscat. For the shallower soils of the coast counties, riparia x rupestris 3309 is to be recommended; for stiff clay soils, Berlandieri x rupestris 420 A; for rich, moist, well-drained soils in the cooler locations, riparia gloire de Montpellier. For varieties of difficult affinity the Mourvedre x rupestris 1202 is promising in soils similar to those suited to St. George. Pruning and thinning. It must be recognized that the vinifera grapes have a different habit of growth from the native grapes grown in the East. They are not always trained on wire trellises. The old trunk (Fig. 1732) is short and stump like and supports itself. The cane-growth (Fig. 1733) is relatively short, and it is cut back to near the head of the trunk, as shown in Fig. 1732, and also in Fig. 1734. In the first year, the vines need no attention except thorough cultivation and one or two irrigations in dry sections. In the following winter, the dormant growth is thinned to one cane which is cut back to one or at most two buds. The vines should then be staked. Redwood stakes, 3 to 4 feet long and 1J^ inches thick, are the best, placed 2 inches from the vine on the leeward side. These are sufficient for the goblet system of training, but longer stakes may be necessary when canes are left at pruning. During the second year, all buds or shoots but one should be removed before they have made any considerable growth. The whole energy of the vine is thus forced into a single shoot which should be carefully tied to the stake and, if vigorous, topped at about 3 feet to cause it to produce laterals. All suckers from below ground should be carefully removed at their origin and also any cion roots which may develop on grafts. At the second winter pruning, all canes but one should be cut off clean if more than one has been allowed to grow. This cane should then be cut back to the height at which it is desired to "head" the vine, which will be about 15 inches for small-growing vines such as Zinfandel and 24 to 30 inches for heavy-growing vines such as Flame Tokay. Table grapes, as a rule, are headed higher than wine or raisin grapes. When strong laterals have developed, these should be left with one or two buds when they occur in positions where it is desired to develop arms. In the third year, no shoots should be allowed to develop on the trunk of the vine within 8 to 15 inches of the soil, according to the height of the head. It is usually necessary to pinch back all the shoots from the head when they are 15 to 18 inches long to protect them from wind injury while they are still brittle. At the end of this year, the vine should have developed sufficiently so that it can be given three to six spurs in the positions desired for the permanent arms. These spurs should consist of two to four buds, the more vigorous the vine the more spurs and the more buds. In the future primings, the number of spurs is gradually increased until the vine reaches its adult stature. The number will vary from four or five to fifteen or twenty, according to the vigor of the variety and the distance apart of the vines. During the first four or five years, great attention should be given to forming the vine with a clean vertical trunk and symmetrically placed arms and also, with grafted vines, to the careful removal of stock suckers and cion roots. As the vines become older and less vigorous, the spurs left at the annual winter pruning should be shorter, consisting usually of only one or two complete joints. This method of pruning, illustrated by Fig. 1734, is known as the vase or goblet method and is adopted in most of the vineyards of California. A few varieties, notably the Sultanina (~Thompson Seedless) do not bear satisfactory crops with this method. For such varieties the treatment for the first three or four years is the same, but at that time it is necessary to erect a trellis. This consists usually of two No. 11 or No. 12 galvanized iron wires stretched along the rows at about 18 and 36 inches from the surface of the soil. These wires are supported by redwood stakes 6 feet long and about 2 inches in diameter. The vines arc then pruned by leaving a suitable number of "fruiting canes" about 4 to 6 feet long, which are tied to the wires. Near and below the base of each fruiting cane is left a "renewal spur" consisting of two buds, whose function is to supply a fruit-cane and renewal spur for the following year. Care should be exercised to choose fruit-canes which originate from the spurs of the previous year and not from older wood. The vines, instead of being given the symmetrical goblet form described, should be flattened fan-shape to facilitate cultivation, which can take place only in one direction. This method of pruning and training is shown in Fig. 1735. Goblet-pruned vines are planted on the square system from 7 to 12 feet apart, 8 feet apart being usual for the northern coast counties and 9 or 10 feet for the hotter regions. Muscat of Alexandria vines are usually planted 6 by 12 feet to 8 by 14 feet to facilitate drying the raisins, and trellised vines are usually planted in the same way. Some special practices and modifications of the usual methods are found to be useful in the production of table grapes for shipping. In general, the vines should be raised a little higher and the arms given a somewhat wider spread. This is to keep the fruit from contact with the soil and to spread out the bunches so that they will develop, ripen and color evenly. The removal of water-sprouts and sterile shoots, not needed for new arms, before or soon after the grupes set is also very useful. This tends to make the bunches and berries larger by concentrating the energies of the vine on the bearing shoots. An equally important effect of this practice is to facilitate the gathering of perfect bunches. When neglected, the water-sprouts often grow through the bunches. Such bunches cannot be gathered without injury. Some of the grapes are pulled off, some broken and, worst of all, some of them are slightly loosened around the pedicel. Most of the broken berries can be removed by the trimmers in the packing-house, but many of those simply loosened escape their scrutiny and are a fruitful cause of decay. Many otherwise suitable grapes do not ship well on account of the excessive compactness of the bunch. A compact bunch is difficult to pack without injury and cannot be freed from imperfect berries without spoiling good berries. This excessive compactness can be prevented by thinning before the berries are one-third grown. Thinning, moreover, increases the size of the berries, hastens ripening, promotes coloring, and lessens some forms of sunburn. The practice has been employed with success by growers of Tokay, Black Morocco, and other number of berries to be removed will depend upon how compact the unthinned bunches usually become. In general, it will vary from one-third to one-half of the total number. The thinning is effected by cutting out several of the side branchlets of the bunch. The branchlets should be removed principally from the part grapes in northern California. While apparently costly, the expense is often more than counterbalanced by the saving in trimming of the ripe grapes. The increase of quality thus becomes a net gain. The bunches are thinned at any time after the berries have set and before they have reached one-third their mature size. No bunches are removed, but only a certain proportion of the berries of each bunch. The number of berries to be removed will depend upon how compact the unthinned bunches usually become. In general it will vary from one-third to one-half of the total number. The thinning is effected by cutting out several of the side branchlets of the bunch. The branchlets should be removed principally from the part of the bunch which has most tendency to compactness, usually the upper part. The work can be done very rapidly as no great care is necessary in preserving the shape of the bunch. However irregular or one sided the bunch looks immediately after thinning, it will round out and become regular before ripening. A long, narrow-bladed knife or a pair of grape-trimming scissors can be used conveniently for this work. Harvesting The grapes should not be harvested until they contain at least 17 to 19 per cent of sugar, varying with the variety and the locality. Unripe grapes are distasteful to the consumer, spoil the market for later and better grapes, and are more liable to deterioration from wilting and decay. After every care has been taken to produce good shipping grapes on the vines, their proper handling is no less important. A bunch of grapes which is perfect in the vineyard may easily be ruined by careless gathering or hauling before it reaches the packing-shed. The grapes, in gathering and packing, should be touched as little as possible and handled only by the main stem. They should be placed carefully in wide, shallow boxes in a single layer. Hauling to the packinghouse should be done very carefully, in wagons provided with springs. The grapes should be protected from the dust and the direct rays of the sun, and the boxes should be so stacked that there is no danger of crushing the grapes. Fig. 1736 shows two crates or boxes of grapes. Raisins. Practically all the raisins in California are sun-dried. Artificial driers were formerly used to some extent to dry the second crop of Muscat and are still used occasionally to finish drying in seasons of early rains. The second crop is now utilized by the wineries. Muscat grapes should not be gathered for raisin- making until they show at least 24° Bal.* of sugar. Better raisins are made at 20° to 27° Bal. The crop increases with increasing ripeness. At 27° Bal. the yield of raisins to the acre may be 40 per cent greater than at 23° Bal. The grapes are gathered on wooden trays with cleats, holding twenty-two pounds of grapes which dry to five and one-half to seven pounds of raisins. The trays are furnished with bottom and top end cleats which allow a space of 2% t° 3 inches for the grapes when they are stacked. The filled trays are placed in alternate rows running east and west where the soil has been given a slight inclination by means of a V-shaped scraper in order to expose the grapes more directly to the rays of the sun. After about nine to twelve days, the grapes are turned by placing an empty tray on top and inverting the two trays together. In about three to four days after turning, they are dry in good weather, but the total time of drying may vary from about ten days to nearly a month according to the ripeness of the grapes and the temperature and moisture of the air. The best raisins are made when the average maximum daily temperature lies between 85° and 90° F. Above 100° F. the grapes are somewhat injured in flavor and appearance but still make good loose or seeded raisins. If rain falls after the grapes have begun to dry, especially after they have been turned, they are liable to injury. When rain threatens, it is sometimes necessary to pile the trays up in stacks and to spread them out again as soon as the rain or the danger is over. In some seasons this stacking has to be repeated two or even three times, much increasing the cost and time of drying. (Fig. 1737.) When the grapes are nearly dry, the full trays are stacked in piles of 12 or more and covered with an empty tray. Here the drying is completed and the moisture equalized. They remain in the stack for a week or more and are then placed in large "sweat- boxes" holding about ninety pounds of layers, or 125 pounds or more of loose raisins. When fine layer raisins are made, these are picked out by hand before putting in the sweat-boxes and the layers separated by sheets of paper. The raisins are delivered to the packinghouses in the sweat-box. Sultanina and Sultana grapes are sometimes cured in the same way as the Muscate, but the resulting raisins are of a dark amber-color and cannot compete with the light golden yellow Sultana raisins. These are made by passing the grapes through a "dip" and then through a sulfur-box before drying. Various dips are in use, the commonest being composed of one pound of good potash lye in twelve gallons of water. This is kept boiling hot and after immersion in it for an instant, the grapes are plunged in cold water and placed on the trays. Some growers add an emulsion made of three-fourths of a pound of lye, one quart of olive or of the purest cottonseed-oil, and three quarts of water. A gallon of this emulsion is added to each ten gallons of the lye-dip. Some growers say that they secure equally good results by dipping simply in boiling water. Similar dips are sometimes used to facilitate the drying of second-crop or inferior Muscats and such grapes as Malaga and Feher Szagos. After dipping, the grapes on trays are exposed to sulfur fumes and spread out to dry. In hot weather much of the drying is done in the stack, too much exposure to the hot sun tending to darken the color of the raisins. Raisins or dried grapes are of four main classes: (1) Raisins proper, of which the dried fruit of the Muscat of Alexandria is the type. California produces more than half the world's crop of this class. Most of them are made from the Muscat of Alexandria or from its variation, the Muscat Gordo Blanco. When the demand is good, Malaga, Feher Szagos and occasionally other large sweet white varieties are used. (2) Sultana raisins are made from the Sultanina ^Thompson Seedless or Oval Kechmish). California also produces large quantities of this class, the principal centers of production being the upper San Joaquin Valley and Sutter County in the Sacramento Valley. The Sultana (~Round Kechmish), also a seedless grape, is grown in large quantities, principally in the Sacramento Valley. From it is produced a raisin resembling a small Sultana in appearance but more allied to a "currant" in flavor. Both of these varieties require long pruning with fruit-canes of 4 to 8 feet. (3) Currants which are made from the very small seedless Black Corinth and to a less extent from the somewhat larger White Corinth, are not produced on a commercial scale in California. The Black Corinth docs not bear and the White Corinth produces a raisin which is too large to pass as a "currant" and too small to secure a remunerative price as a "Sultana." (4) Dried grapes are made from almost any kinds and are occasionally produced in large quantities when the price of fresh grapes is low. They are used for various purposes, principally for the manufacture of imitation wines in foreign countries. Grapes for shipping. Table grapes are grown all over California for family and local consumption and include hundreds of varieties, principally vinifera. The commercial growing of table grapes, however, is for the purpose of shipping to large centers of population, especially in the eastern states. It is localized in certain regions and utilizes a comparatively small number of varieties. The earliest grapes come from Imperial County in June, followed in July and early August from Fresno, Kern and Tulare Counties and from the warm eastern slopes of the inner coast range in Yolo County. The earliest variety is the Luglienga, usually shipped under the erroneous name of Madeleine; the next the Chasselas dore, usually called Sweetwater; both are white. These varieties have not given satisfaction in Imperial, where Persian No. 23, and allied varieties, promise better results for the earliest markets. The Khalili is even earlier then the Luglienga and seems promising for Imperial. Blue Portuguese is the only very early black grape that appears on the market and is of poor quality. Bellino is promising for Imperial County but loses its extreme earliness farther north. By the middle or end of July all varieties are ripe somewhere, the latest varieties ripening about that time in the earliest localities. Distinctions regarding earliness apply, therefore, more to districts than to varieties. The Flame Tokay, which appears to be identical with the Amar bou Amar of Algeria, is the chief shipping grape of California. It fails to develop its bright red color in Imperial so that the first shipments are from the Winters and Vacaville region. The bulk of the crop is raised in the middle part of the Great Valley from Stockton to Sacramento, Lodi being the principal center. There are numerous other smaller centers of production, the latest being the Santa Cruz Mountains. The next most abundant varieties are the Malaga, the principal variety of the Imperial Valley, a white grape raised largely also in the San Joaquin Valley from Tulare to Stanislaus County, and the Emperor, a large, late red grape raised chiefly in Tulare and Fresno but more or less in several other counties from Los Angeles to Sacramento County. In the cooler regions its color is almost black. The Cornichon (~Majakoff Isjum), a long, late, black grape, the Black Prince (~Rose of Peru), a moderately early round grape, and the Verdal, a very late white grape, are also largely raised, the last only in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Black Morocco (~Trevoti), the Ferrara, the Gros Colman and the Pizzutello are also raised in considerable quantities. Promising new varieties are the Olivette de Cadenet, Flame Muscat and some of the Persian varieties, especially the Paykani Razuki, a brilliant red grape which bears well only when grafted, except in the Imperial Valley. The Muscat of Alexandria and the Sultanina (~Thompson Seedless), while primarily raisin grapes, are shipped as table grapes in large quantities in most seasons. The only eastern variety grown for the market is the Pierce, which satisfies the small demand for a "slip-skin." All the varieties of table grapes mentioned succeed with the goblet form of pruning, although some, such as the Malaga. Cornichon and Emperor, require fairly long spurs and in very rich soils even moderate long pruning. The grape season in California extends over at least six months. The earliest varieties ripen in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys by or before June 1 and the latest varieties in the latest localities do not ripen until November 1 and in dry autumns may hang on the vines in good condition for a month longer. Grapes for wine. The great bulk of all the red wine, both dry and sweet, is made from the Zinfandel. This variety was introduced very early into California but its identity has never been established. It has many good qualities. It bears at an early age and with short pruning. If the first crop is destroyed by spring frosts it produces regularly a fair second crop. It succeeds best in the warmer parts of Napa and Sonoma Counties. In the cooler parts it fails to develop its color or flavor. In the hot interior it is subject to sunburn and its peculiar flavor becomes unpleasantly intense. Other widely grown red wine grapes are Petite Sirah, Alicante Bous- chet, Carignane. Mataro and, in southern California, Blue Elbling. Varieties recommended for dry red wine in the coast counties are Petite Sirah, Barbers, Beclan and Cabernet Sauvignon; for the hotter interior, Valde- penas, Lagrain and St. Macaire; and for sweet reds of Port type, Grenache, Alicante Bouschet, Tinta Madeira and Trousseau. The dry white wines are made from a large number of grapes of which the chief heavy-bearing varieties are Burger, Palomino, Feher Szagos and Green Hungarian and the chief high quality varieties, Colombar, Semillon and the Rieslings,—Johannisberg, Franken and Gray. The sweet white wines are made from the above-mentioned heavy-bearing varieties and. also from Mission, Grenache and other light-colored red grapes. Large quantities of wine and brandy are also made from the culls of raisin and table grapes and in years of overproduction from the main crop. Varieties recommended for dry white wine are the Rieslings in the coolest localities, Semillon and Colombar for the warmer parts of the coast counties, and Burger, Green Hungarian and Vernaccia Sarda tor blending wines in the interior. For sweet wines Palomino, Beba, Mission and Grenache are suitable. Various degrees of pruning are needed for these different varieties but in a general way the heavy bearers should be pruned short and the fine varieties long. Diseases and insects. Vines on the Pacific slope are remarkably free from serious fungous diseases owing to the absence of summer rains. Oidium (Uncinula spiralis), the only exception, occurs everywhere but is controlled cheaply by one or two thorough dustings with fine sulfur in the warm interior and two to four in the coast regions. The ubiquitous saprophytic blue, gray and black molds sometimes injure late grapes in wet autumns. Insect pests are more serious. The phylloxera renders resistant stock necessary in most of the older districts. The vine-hopper (Typhlocyba comes) is often very troublesome in the warmer regions, but its attacks can be much lessened by complete clearing out of green growth a week or two before the starting of the buds, timely use of a hopper-cage to trap the over-wintering adults in early spring before they deposit their eggs and by a nicotine spray in May or June when the first brood appears. Much injury is done locally by the grape root-worm, the larva of the grape beetle, Adoxus vitis. It can be controlled by spraying the vines in May with lead arsenate which kills the adults before their eggs are laid. Erinose (Phytoptus vilis) is widely distributed but seldom harmful and easily controlled with dry sulfur as used for oidium. Climbing cut-worms (larvae of Noctuid moths) are very generally harmful to the buds and young shoots -in many seasons. Most species can be controlled by the use of poisoned bait. The bait most used is made by mixing forty pounds of bran with two gallons of molasses and five pounds of arsenic. A better bait is made by mixing twenty-five pounds of bran and twenty-five pounds of middlings with five pounds of arsenic and applying dry. A pinch of the bait is placed at the base of each vine or, with large vines, in the center of the head. Grasshoppers and other general feeders are sometimes troublesome, especially in new districts. A number of imperfectly understood diseases whose causes are unknown are recognized. The chief of these is the Anaheim or Californian disease. This name is inappropriate as it seems to occur also in southern Europe and Algeria where it is ascribed to over-bearing coincident with a series of dry seasons or other weakening causes. Another widely spread disease of a similar nature but less fatal is known as Little-leaf. Various causes for this disease have been suggested, but the most plausible opinion seems to be that it is a case of mal-nutrition due to unfavorable soil temperatures during the spring. Grapes under glass. (See, also, page 1261.) Under glass, the European varieties alone are used. This species, Vitis vinifera, is the vine of the ancients, and is indigenous to the more salubrious parts of east- crn Asia and southern Europe. It is referred to in the earliest mythological writings of ancient Egypt and thence on numberless occasions, notably in the Bible and the New Testament. The story of the spies from the promised land, with its generous illustration, has excited the admiration and perhaps questioned the credulity of many of us. It is only fair, however, to state that the size of the cluster there represented has been amply borne out in recent years. The type Vitis vinifera, if there ever was a type, has become so merged and modified by cultivation in different climates and countries that it is difficult to trace it at the present day. Over 2,000 varieties are described, covering the widest range in size, color, texture and flavor, general appearance and quality. For disparity of size, we have the diminutive Black Corinth, from which the Zante currants are prepared, and the Giant Gros Colman, now extensively grown for commercial purposes under glass in England; and for contrast in color the beautiful Rose Chas- selas and the Pink and White Frontignans and Muscats, with their superb qualities and flavors, growing by the side of the blue-black Alicante of thick skin and coarser texture, but valuable for its late- keeping quality; and worth more than all the others put together, the Black Hamburgh, combining all the good qualities easy of culture. Probably in no branch of horticulture is the gardeners' skill more generously rewarded than in grape- growing under glass. In England it has been an essential feature of horticultural work for more than a century, resulting in fruit of a finer quality and flavor than that grown in the open air and very often enormous clusters, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. Started there as a matter of luxury, it has become of late years a matter of profit, and vineries of large extent have been erected for commercial purposes. Probably this work has been retarded here by the introduction of the many very excellent varieties of our native grapes, V. labrusca, so easily grown in the open air and so constantly improved by hybridizing with the European, and undoubtedly this work will yet result in a much closer approach to the standard of European quality. The essential difference between American and European kinds is that in the American the pulp separates from the skin, is usually tough and more or less acid, so that it is disagreeable to remove the seeds, while in the European the pulp adheres to the skin, is tender and sweet throughout, and the seeds are easily removed. European grapes, when well grown, are valuable and agreeable for the use of invalids, and, undoubtedly, in the judgment of the majority of persons, surpass in quality any other fruit grown. The subject of grape cultivation under glass may be divided under several heads, as follows: The houses; The border; The vines; The fruit. The houses. Houses are mainly of two forms, span-roof and lean-to, with occasional modifications between. Unless one has ample time and a desire to study their construction, it is better to have plans and estimates furnished by professional builders. Span-roof houses are adapted to large places with spacious grounds, and especially where an ornamental effect is desired. On account of their exposure on all sides, they require very careful attention, especially if used for early forcing of grapes. When early work is not desired, or for use without artificial heat, their disadvantage is not so apparent. Houses without artificial heat, known as cold graperies, were in earlier years in more general use than those with heat, but have about disappeared with the introduction of the modern economical heating apparatus, and the very great advantage in the use of the same, if only to a limited extent. Lean-to houses, on account of their snug construction and protection from northerly or prevailing winds, are especially desirable for early forcing of grapes (Figs. 1738, 1739). Often a stable or other building maybe utilized for the north side, but generally a wall of brick or stone is erected for this purpose. Such a wall can be covered on the outside with Parthenocissus tricuspidata, or Crimson Rambler roses, producing a beautiful and ornamental effect. A good house, on a small scale, can be made of hotbed sash (Fig. 1739). Foundations for the other three sides or for a span- roof vinery can be constructed of masonry or wood. Masonry is preferable, as the conditions of heat and moisture requisite are very destructive to woodwork, especially near the ground. With masonry, piers are erected, starting from solid ground and up to near the surface. They should be about 2 feet in length with spaces of 2 feet between, and opposite each space a vine is to be planted inside the house, as hereafter described. Strong capstones thick enough to come slightly above the surface of the border and about 18 inches wide are then laid from pier to pier. On such a foundation a superstructure can be erected with some confidence. For the base of the superstructure masonry is preferable, about 18 inches in height being necessary before the glasswork begins. A hollow wall, constructed of hard brick and cement, is desirable, and openings should be left for ventilation. The upper surface of these walls should be covered with cement. If constructed of wood, the same general plan should be carried out, using the most durable kind only. Aside from its durability, masonry has an advantage over wood in being a better equalizer of temperature, and the heavy back wall of a lean-to house can be made of great value for this purpose. The general plans of the superstructure are shown in the illustrations. It should present as much glass surface as possible. The frame can be of iron or wood, as preferred. Light, heat and moisture are the great features desired, also a generous supply of air under favorable conditions. The glass should be of good quality, otherwise blisters will burn the foliage and fruit. Small ventilators should be built in foundation walls, and large ones at the upper part of house. A special ventilator covered with wire gauze is desirable for the lower opening. Ventilation should always be free from draft or sudden change of temperature. A draft is as unpleasant to a sensitive vine in a house as to a human being, and if subjected to it disease is sure to follow, mildew being the first evidence; and yet a generous supply of air is a prime requisite in growing grapes under glass, especially during the ripening period. Previous to that time the lower ventilators should be very carefully used, some growers never opening them until the grapes begin to color, and the new growth and foliage are somewhat hardened. More or less air is always admitted around the glass in a very equable manner and thence to the upper ventilators. The modern heating apparatus, consisting of a boiler in an adjacent pit for heating water with circulating pipes throughout the house, as shown in illustrations, is a very perfect and economical supplier of heat, and it should be erected by a practical builder. A little heat at a critical time will often save a house full of grapes, and, while it can be dispensed with, its advantages are very material. It is possible to fruit grapes in benches in pots, removing the pots when the fruit is past, and using the house for other purposes (Fig. 1740). The border. A good border is of great importance, as no permanent success can be obtained without it; probably the difference between success and failure more often lies here than in any other feature. It is a good plan to construct vineries so that their borders can be somewhat elevated above the surrounding ground, as better drainage is thus secured, and good drainage is imperative (Fig. 1738). The border should fill the house inside and extend outside adjacent to where the vines are planted at least 6 feet when first made, and to this outside border additions should be made every two or three years of 2 to 4 feet until a width of 20 feet is secured. The border can hardly be made too rich, provided the material is well decomposed. A mixture of six parts good loamy turf from an old pasture or piece of new ground, and one part of well- prepared manure, one part old plaster or mortar, and one part of ground bone, all to be well composted together, will meet all the requirements. If the subsoil is clay, a foundation of old brick and morter is very desirable to insure drainage. The border above this should be from 2 to 3 feet in depth. No trees or shrubs should be permitted to extend their roots into it, a very common cause of trouble, and nothing whatever should be grown on it, although the temptation to try a few melons or some lettuce is often too great to be overcome, and these probably do a minimum of damage. In such a border, if properly supplied with water, the vine roots will remain at home, and not go wandering off into trouble. When extra-early work is not desired, no attempt should be made to keep the frost entirely out of the border during the winter, as this is apt to result in a heavy, sodden surface in spring. It is better to spade it up roughly just before winter and cover with a good coat of manure, permitting the frost to enter the ground some inches. In the spring, it is dug over again and, when raked off, presents a rich, lively surface. The inside border is to be covered with a coat of well-rotted manure, and spaded up and well watered at the time of starting the vines. For midseason work from February 15 to March 1 is the proper time to do this in New York state, the inside border carrying the vines nicely until the outside border is in shape a month or more later. Then without hard forcing early grapes can be brought in by the last of June or July, and the later ones through the following two or three months. It is better to store late grapes in modern grape-rooms, where they can be kept fresh and plump for several months through the winter, than to attempt extra-early work by starting vines in heated borders in November and December. The vines. The amateur should purchase plants from some nurseryman of established reputation. Vines one or two years old are better than older ones. For supporting the vines light cast-iron brackets are secured to the rafters, and these support wires running lengthwise of the house about 15 inches from the glass, and to these wires the vines are tied as fast as they grow. The vines are to be planted inside the house about a foot from the front wall and about 4 feet apart, placing one opposite each opening in the foundation as before described. It is not desirable to plant them along the back wall of a lean-to house. They should be cut back to two or three buds near the ground, and when these start the strongest shoot only is selected for training and the others rubbed off. As this shoot advances it is tied to the wires and it may reach the limit of the house by July 1, or perhaps not until September 1, depending on the care, the vigor of the vine, and the border. Once there, the end is pinched and the cane continues to strengthen and increase in size and store up material in the lateral buds until the end of the season, when it is taken down and pruned to one-third its length, laid on the ground and covered from the sun for the winter. Care should be taken that mice do not eat out the buds, as once out they can never be restored. In the spring of the second year, or as soon as it is desired to start the vines, they are tied up again, and the terminal shoot again trained to the top of the house, where it is stopped as before. Any fruit appearing on this shoot should be removed. The lateral shoots that start out each way below the terminal should be thinned to about 12 or 15 inches apart on each side. This is an important feature, especially if one adopts the spur system of pruning, which will be first considered, for the vine is being established for a long term of years, and it is desirable to have it symmetrical, with the side shoots and fruit evenly distributed over its entire length. An example of a well-balanced vine is the illustration of the Muscat of Alexandria (Fig. 1743). A few clusters of fruit may be taken from this part of the vine this second year, and the laterals should be pinched at two eyes beyond the cluster, and as they break pinched again through the season. As soon as the leaves fall the vines are again taken down for pruning. The terminal should be shortened about one-half and side shoots cut back to a bud very close to the main stem, when it goes through the winter as before. At the beginning of the third year, the terminal again goes to the top of the house without fruit, when it is stopped and the laterals are allowed to bear as before, say not more than one pound of fruit to a foot of the main stein. The vine is now established to the top of the house, and the only pruning in after years is to cut the laterals each year close to the main stem. A bud will nearly always be found in the first J-jj inch, sometimes several of them. When these start, the strongest is selected and the others rubbed off, unless one is desired for training to the opposite side to fill a vacancy there. When the vines attain full strength, two pounds of fruit to the foot of main stem can be grown, but heavy loads require great care. Too heavy a load causes shanking, and then all is lost. The stems of the berries wither and the fruit turns sour before ripening. Rigid pinching of the laterals is very important. Commence at the second joint beyond the cluster, or about 18 inches from the main stem, and pinch thereafter as fast as new shoots break and show a leaf. Pinch early and often. It has been said that a good gardener can carry the summer prunings from a large vinery for an entire season in his vest-pocket. Some require a wheelbarrow. At the place where the laterals start, a spur soon forms on the main stem, from which the system takes its name. It often becomes several inches in length and quite ungainly. This spur system of pruning is represented in Figs. 1741-3. In the other system of pruning, known as the "long rod" or "long cane" system, a new cane is grown up from a bud near the ground every year to replace the old one, which is entirely removed. It is sometimes desirable to replace an old cane fruiting on the spur system in this manner. If the vine is well established,, this new cane can be fruited its entire length the first season, the laterals being pinched, as before described. It will produce finer fruit, but it is not so safe with a heavy load as an old cane. An ample supply of water judiciously and freely used, especially at the time of starting the vines, is an absolute necessity. It should not be applied in the house, however, during the period of blossoming, as a dry air is advantageous for the transfer of the pollen for fertilization. An important feature is thinning The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Species

Include:

• Vitis acerifolia
• Vitis aestivalis - used for winemaking
• Vitis amurensis
• Vitis arizonica - hardy against temperature extremes. Can be used for wine.
• Vitis x bourquina
• Vitis californica - important rootstock.
• Vitis x champinii
• Vitis cinerea
• Vitis x doaniana
• Vitis girdiana
• Vitis labrusca - North American table and grape juice grapevines, sometimes used for wine.
• Vitis x labruscana
• Vitis lincecumii
• Vitis monticola
• Vitis mustangensis
• Vitis x novae-angliae
• Vitis palmata
• Vitis riparia - wild vine that can be used in winemaking and for jam
• Vitis rotundifolia - muscadines, used for jams and wine
• Vitis rupestris
• Vitis shuttleworthii
• Vitis tiliifolia
• Vitis vinifera - European wine grape
• Vitis vulpina - Frost grape.

Gallery

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  A bunch of grapes

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  Autumn Royal grapes

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  Red and green grapes

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  Red grapes

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  Flame seedless grapes

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  Foliage of the Concord grape plant

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  Young grapes

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  Pinot Noir grapes

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  Guadalupe Valley Vineyards, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico / Viñedos del Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Baja California, México

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  Guadalupe Valley Vineyards, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico / Viñedos del Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Baja California, México

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  A vineyard in the Canton of Geneva.

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  A bunch of green grapes.

See also

The sea grape Coccoloba uvifera is actually a member of the Buckwheat family Polygonaceae^wp.

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Grape. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Grape QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)