Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural LiteratureWalden, J. H.
Science
Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural Literature
Walden, J. H.
Agriculture -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
(See our article on "Wine.") The luxury of good grapes can
be enjoyed by every family in the land who have a yard twenty feet
square. In the cities, almost every house may have a grapevine or two
where nothing else would grow. Allow a vine to run up trellis-work in
the rear of the house, and over the roof of a wing, or rear-part, raised
two feet above the roof, supported by a rack. In such situations they
will bear better than elsewhere, will be out of the way, and decidedly
ornamental. In such small yards, from five to twenty-five bushels have
often grown in a season. Some climates and soils are much better suited
to grape-culture than others. But we have varieties that will flourish
wherever Indian corn will mature.
_Location._--For vineyards, the sides of hills are usually chosen,
sometimes for the purpose of a warm exposure, but generally to secure
the most perfect drainage. A northern exposure is preferable for all
varieties adapted to the climate. To mature late varieties, choose a
southern or eastern exposure.
_Soil._--Gravelly, with a little sand, on a dry subsoil, is preferable,
though good grapes may be grown upon any land upon which water will not
stand. Grapes always need much lime. If the vineyard is not located on
calcareous soil, lime must be liberally supplied, especially for
wine-making. A dry subsoil, or thorough draining, is indispensable to
successful grape-culture. We prefer level land, wherever thorough
draining is practicable.
_Propagation._--Choice grapes are propagated by grafts, layers, or
cuttings. New ones are produced from seeds. The more kinds that are
cultivated together, the greater will be the varieties raised from their
seeds, by cross-fertilization in the blossoms. A small grape crossed
with a large one, or an early with a late one, or two of different
flavors, will produce mediums between them. Seeds should be cleaned, and
planted in the fall, or kept in sand till spring. In the fall, cover up
the young vines. The second or third year, the young vines should be set
in the places where they are designed to remain. By efforts to get new
varieties, we may adapt them to every latitude, from the gulf of Mexico
to Pembina.
_Layers._--These produce large vines and abundance of fruit earlier than
any other method of propagation. Put down old wood in May or early June,
and new wood a month later; fasten down with pegs having a hook to hold
the vine, and cover up with earth; they will take root freely at the
joints, and may be removed in autumn or spring. If you put down wood too
late, or do not keep it covered with moist earth, it will fail;
otherwise it is always sure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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