A ton of grapes may be
secured annually by erecting trellises against the sides of
buildings, walls, and poultry yard, while at the same time the
screening vines furnish grateful shade and no small degree of
beauty. With a little petting, such scattered vines are often
enormously productive. An occasional pail of soapsuds gives them a
drink which eventually flushes the thickly hanging clusters with
exquisite color. People should dismiss from their minds the usual
method of European cultivation, wherein the vines are tied to
short stakes, and made to produce their fruit near the ground.
This method can be employed if we find pleasure in the experiment.
At Mr. Fuller's place I saw fine examples of it. Stubby vines with
stems thick as one's wrist rose about three feet from the ground,
then branched off on every side, like an umbrella, with loads of
fruit. Only one supporting stake was required. This method
evidently is not adapted to our climate and species of grape,
since in that case plenty of keen, practical fruit-growers would
have adopted it. I am glad this is true, for the vine-clad hills
of France do not present half so pleasing a spectacle as an
American cornfield. The vine is beautiful when grown as a vine,
and not as a stub; and well-trained, well-fed vines on the Home
Acre can be developed to almost any length required, shading and
hiding with greenery every unsightly object, and hanging their
finest clusters far beyond the reach of the predatory small boy.
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