The young shoots thus
separated are now independent vines, and may be set out at once
where they are to fruit. If you have a variety that does not do
well, or that you do not like, dig it out, enrich the soil, and
put one of your favorites in its place.
We will now consider briefly the diseases and insect enemies of
the grape. A vine way be doomed to ill-health from its very
situation. Mr. Hussman, a grape-culturist of great experience and
wide observation, writes: "Those localities may generally be
considered safe for the grape in which there are no miasmatic
influences. Where malaria and fevers prevail, there is no safety
for the crop, as the vine seems to be as susceptible to such
influences as human beings."
Taking this statement literally, we may well ask, Where, then, can
grapes be grown? According to physicians, malaria has become one
of the most generally diffused products of the country. When a man
asserts that it is not in his locality, we feel sure that if
pressed he will admit that it is "round the corner." Country
populations still survive, however, and so does grape-culture. Yet
there are low-lying regions which from defective drainage are
distinctively and, it would almost seem, hopelessly malarial. In
such localities but few varieties of the vine will thrive, The
people who are compelled to live there, or who choose to do so,
should experiment until they obtain varieties so hardy and
vigorous that they will triumph over everything.
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