File:American homes and gardens (1912) (17966213618).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar91912newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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April, 191 2 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS IX white that is absolutely hardy, giving ex- cellent crops; but the grape needs long seasons to thoroughly ripen it. Now, what will you do with your grapes? Certainly you need not plant a vineyard unless you have room for it; but you can grow tons of grapes all over your house, all over your barns, climbing some of your line trees, covering rockeries, shading ar- bors, and in your small garden a few vines can be tied to posts. I never yet saw a home that had not room for a grape vine. Growing on a house it does not create dampness, but will prevent dampness ; only, do not nail the vine to the boards, but tie it to wires that are stapled across the side of the house. Do the same with your barn. A small family can almost live on grapes, with eggs and milk. x'Vt any rate, whatever else you leave out in your country home- making, do not leave out a full supply of grapes. Both the setting and the trimming of grapes are simple affairs, not demanding anything like the fussing that is advised at times. Any of the grapes I have named will grow perfectly in good garden soil. You can plant old bones and old leather and all the rest of such stuff around the roots and also without doing any good. Keep the ground well stirred, and if you mulch continuously, I do not know a bet- ter material than ashes—anthracite coal ashes with a mixture of common wood ashes. The trimming of grapes requires sharp cutting back, to one bud the first year; to two or three buds the second year, and after that you may train your limbs to trellises, or let them go hand over hand up the trees. In the Fall it will be quite enough for you to cut back the arms to about one or two feet, and let the canes fall to the ground. In the Spring tie them up again. Of course, your grapes that climb trees -must take their own sweet will. and as a consequence will give you less perfect bunches, but plenty of them. The old Concord, which I have not included in my list, is still the big grape for utterly careless people. It will grow anywhere and everywhere, and it will give a lot of grapes. These will not get really sweet in a short season, not north of New York. If I were sure of a very long season I would put in Jefferson, Concord, and one or two more. THE CARE OF THE APPLE TREE By M. ROBERTS CONOVER THE suburbanite who has recently pur- chased a country home often finds upon his property some apple trees of bearing age. The average man looks upon these with pride, delighting in their sturdy limbs and spreading branches and dreaming of the ultimate harvest. Then he turns his atten- tion to his peach and plum trees, diligently pruning and spraying to perfect their fruit It is a mistake to neglect the apple tree, for although it may not succumb as easily as shorter-lived trees, it is vulnerable. Apple trees will exist as shades trees on sod ground and yield some apples, but the man who grows trees for fruit cultivates them. This cultivation should be as regu- lar as that required to raise a crop of vege- tables. The apple requires moisture that it may draw the essential elements from the soil and cultivation conserves this moisture in the soil. The fruit of the apple tree is borne upon small spurs from the main branch and these spurs are grown during the previous sea- son. The fruit buds from which spring the blossoms are perfected for this function during the latter part of the previous season. Thus a crop depends upon favorable condi-
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