The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines | Page 8

battles of his country. What then shall we become now, when peace has
smiled once more upon our beloved country; and the thousands of
brave arms, who brandished the sword, sabre, or musket, have come
home once more; and their weapons have been turned into
ploughshares, and their swords into pruning hooks? When all the strong
and willing hands will clear our hillsides, and God's sun shines upon
one great and united people; greater and more glorious than ever;
because now they are truly free. Truly the future lies before us, rich in
glorious promise; and ere long the words and the prophecy contained in
the old legend will become sober truth, and America will be, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific one smiling and happy Wineland; where each
laborer shall sit under his own vine, and none will be too poor to enjoy
the purest and most wholesome of all stimulants, good, cheap, native
wine. Then drunkenness, now the curse of the nation, will disappear,
and peace and good will towards all will rule our actions. And we,
brother grape growers? Ours is this great and glorious task; let us work
unceasingly, with hand, heart, and mind; truly the object is worthy of
our best endeavors. Let those who begin to-day, remember how easy
their task with the achievements and experiments of others before them,
compared with the labors of those who were the pioneers in the
cultivation of the vine.

PROPAGATION OF THE VINE.
I.--FROM SEED.
This would seem to be the most natural mode, were not the grape even
more liable to sport than almost any other fruit. It is, however, the only
method upon which we can depend for obtaining new and more
valuable varieties than we already possess, and to which we are already
indebted for all the progress made in varieties, a progress which is,
indeed, very encouraging; for who would deny that we are to-day

immeasurably in advance of what we were ten years ago. Among the
innumerable varieties which spring up every day, and which find ready
purchasers, just because they are new, there are certainly some of
decided merit. But those who grow seedlings, should bear in mind, that
the list of our varieties is already too large; that it would be better if
three-fourths of them were stricken off, and that no new variety should
be brought before the public, unless it has some decided superiority
over any of the varieties we already have, in quality, productiveness
and exemption from disease. It is poor encouragement to the grape
growing public, to pay from two to five dollars a vine for a new variety,
with some high-sounding name, if, after several years of superior
cultivation and faithful trial, they find their costly pet inferior to some
variety they already possessed, and of which the plants could be
obtained at a cost of from ten to fifty cents each.
The grapes from which the seed is to be used, should be fully ripe, and
none but well developed, large berries, should be taken. Keep these
during the winter, either in the pulp, or in cool, moist sand, so that their
vitality may remain unimpaired. The soil upon which your seed-bed is
made, should be light, deep and rich, and if it is not so naturally, should
be made so with well decomposed leaf-mould. As soon as the weather
in spring will permit, dig up the soil to the depth of at least eighteen
inches, pulverising it well; then sow the seed in drills, about a foot
apart, and about one inch apart in the rows, covering them about
three-quarters of an inch deep. It will often be found necessary to shade
the young plants when they come up, to prevent the sun from scalding
them, but this should not be continued too long, as the plants will
become too tender, if protected too long. When the young plants have
grown about six inches, they may be supplied with small sticks, to
which they will cling readily; the ground should be kept clean and
mellow, and a light mulch should be applied, which will keep the soil
loose and moist. The young plants should be closely watched, and if
any of them show signs of disease, they should at once be pulled up;
also those which show a very feeble and delicate growth; for we should
only try to grow varieties with good, healthy constitutions. In the Fall,
the young plants should be either taken up, and carefully heeled in, or
they should be protected by earth, straw, or litter thrown over them. In

the Spring, they may be transplanted to their permanent locations; the
tops shortened in to six inches, and the roots shortened in to about six
inches from the stem. The