.-* 



ner 



V I T 



fore the entrance of the dog days; at which time they 

 nipoffthehcad of it,, which checks its luxurlancy, 

 and renders the fruit, which it will then begin to have 

 in fmall bunches nme or ten'Grapcs each, better and 

 larger, tying the remainder, of the faid flioot to the 

 ftick. In the next year they order it in the fame man- 

 1 and fo on till the feventli year after planting, 

 When It begins, to give fruit to purpofe ; an5 then at 

 dreffing they generally leave but one head on the mod 

 vigorous plants, and only two eyes on that, and 

 ftake them with fubftantial (lakes of more than in 

 inch diameter; ^and hear fix feet long ; one of which, 

 or more, go into the ground (of which thofe made of 

 wild Cheftnut, the coppices of which they cut once 

 in ieven or eight years, for rcfifting both wet and dry, 

 are accounted the belt and when they begin to Ihoot] 

 they tie them to thofe with the fmall twigs of Broohi 

 or Ofiers, and fo '" ' '" ' ' ' 



vifiiing 



,, them frequently in the 



courfe of thefummer, to keep'tFem tied, as alfo to 



Jiip off luxuriant branches, they let them remain till 



the dog days a'fe over,"' when they'clear them of fome 



of their leaves, that the fruit ir.ay ripen the 'better'/ 



N. B. In drefwg themtifttr theftxth year^ if theyhabe 



made mcrt jhbois than one, as moft of them will have 



'done, they, as before, cut them all away, unlefs they have 



cccajton for them to fupply the places^ of fome contiguous 



- plants that have mifcarried ; and in 'moijl warm weather 



' they lay thofe fjoots^ down more than afoot Un^er the 



' 'p^ound, carrying ' the heads of them where they defign, 



and this they term^'prop^agmatidnr The beji oftKefhoots 



■ that they cut off from their Vines of feven years' old or 



older, they either refervefor any new plantations that they 



are to make^ or io felly at about nine-pence flerling per 



-hundred: -:■.:'.?;:; :vi .•;:; ■_ ^^^ja.i t:';: ': - ,;-iqt?r; 



In dreffing from the feventh year forward, they referve 

 th^ lowejt head they can, provided U be vigorous, ^md'en^ 

 diavour to keep their Vines as low as may be, for the fruit 

 to enjoy the warm^ reflexion of the earth after the fun beams 

 ere gone from it, to ripen it, and 'give it life and vi- 

 gour ; but not fo as to let the ends of the bunches touch 

 the ground, or be fo near to it as that they anight be dafh- 

 ed therewith by the rains, f.nce that would be apt to rot 

 ■the Grapes ; whiljt in Chianti {where the Vines, though 

 ^oji abundant m^the product of their fruit, are notfo la- 

 VI fh of their fhoots, but are eaftly kept in good order, by a 

 hand that is tolerably fkilful) it is incredible how exactly 

 even the Vines are kept, aboitithi height of four feet from 

 4he ground, which contributes to the making the beautiful 



ofp 



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follows 



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A month or thereabouts after planting, wlien 'the 

 young plants begin to fhoot, they prune them juft 

 above the firft eye that remains out of the earth, 

 whereat, when they (as they naturally will) have made 

 their (hoots, toward the beginning of June, ^and fo 

 that they" can difcerri which of the feveral they put out 

 are the ftrongeft, and appear the mo(t thriving, tKey 

 carefully and gently with the thumb, rub off all of 

 them except one', which they judge to be the ftrong- 

 eft, and for the moft part the neareft the ground i 

 which diligence they renew every eight or ten days, 

 oroftener, if the weather chance to be wet, taking 

 away all the new fhoots which they will abundantly 

 make, ever leaving only the principal (hoot ; which, 

 that it may not be prejudiced by the winds, or the 

 feet of the people (who frequently, during the pfb- 

 grefs of the Melons fown between them, muft go to 

 nip off the running branches, and cultivate them, and 

 who, at the fame time, with great convenience, do 

 this work about the Vines,) they gently tie, as ibon 

 as it is capable of it, to a fmall ftick ; and if, as it 

 often happens, it proves very luxuriant, they nip off 

 its top J and this rubbing off of the young (lioots they 

 continue till the month of Oftobcr, (thougli unlefs 

 there be frequent rains, there will, about the begin- 

 ning of Auguft, be few (hoots to eafe them of,) whilft 

 fomctimes the principal fhoots will bear fruit in fmall 

 bunches of five or fix Grapes each'j but as they'are I 





V I 



theSv I ' P^^^'\^^y not be IcfTc.d or impaired 



coh of Cauliflowers IS tak.n off, then in the month 

 of tebruary, they open the earth about the foot of 

 each plant, and clear it of its fuperficial roots, and 

 manure it in the manner before defcribed in the culti- 

 vation of thofe in the old way. The third year thev 

 drefs the (hoot fo as to leave but one eye upon it, and 

 afterwards digging all the ground in the intermediate 

 ipaces, to requite the expence of culture, they fow a 

 fort of Kidney- beans, which not rifing above a foot 

 in height, or fcarce fo much, does not prejudice the 

 young Vines -, to which they now" give fomewhat 

 more iubflantial fticks, whereto they continue to tie 

 them, as alfo to' rub off any new fhoots that they 

 make, vifuing them for that end ; as alfo to crop off- 

 all tlie lavilh tops of the fhoots, only three or four 

 times m the fummer- and the nex: year in drefTing, 

 they beftow fubftantial ftakes on them, whereto they 

 tie them with Broom tWigs, or fmall Ofiers when they 

 begin to be in a pretty good ftate of bearing, produ- 

 cing two or three pretty large buncjiesof Grapes which 

 (as thofe of the antecedent year) ripen well, but come 

 not to be the full of their bearing till the fourth or 

 fifth year ; however, they anticipate thofe ordered the 

 other way three or four years ; and this is withal the 

 furer way of the two, fince in cutting off the heads of 

 the others' many are loft, whereas this way, few if 

 ' any fail^v'^ ■■'■;• ■ ?c _."ru;.r . .:; . -; :i <)h v,i',' i' a 



N. B. PTbat is before faid of a Vine's^mwg to its' full 

 hdring, is only to be mderjlood in refpe£t. to the quantity 

 of the fruit, a little more or lefs ^ for as" to lie quality, it 

 ts generally efleemed to be meliorating till the tiaentieth 

 year {being duly cultivated,) '^ and the wines coming from it 

 richer and better ; and in Chianti they mix not with their 

 beft Grapes, thofe of the product of Vines of a lefs age than 

 fifteen or fixteen years, and' pretend they are always melio- 

 rating for fifty years. ' 



The Vines being by one or otlier of thofe methods, 

 brought to a full bearing ftate, they muft be annually 

 drcffed, according to the vigour of the plant, and 

 duly flaked. '• . ■ ■ . 



•In dreffing, to thofe^'oif rfioderate Hren^tKand vigour, 



they leave but one eye, or at moft t^o ; Iftd 'to the 



•moft ftrong and vigorous, but three or four at the ve- 



; rv moft ; and then they tie them not as ffo'y do when 



they are but one or two, but fixing another lefs fub- 

 ftantial ftick in the ground near the main one, to the 

 top of which, for its better fupport, they tie it with 

 an Oiier ; they bend down, and fix the head thereto 

 in the following form. 



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And fometimes, when they find one of a very extra- 

 ordinary vigour, and that has two good heads, they 

 Jeave them both, and difpofing of one in the manner 

 juft before related, to the other, having fixed ano- 

 ther (tick on the other fide of the principal ftake, 

 and tied it, they in the like manner bend down to 

 tie thereto, when it comes to form the followincr 

 figure. 



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This done, they continue ffom time to time to bind' 



the new (hoots to the ftakes, and to nip off the tops of 



^ them, when too luxuriant, till towards the time of 



' ripening. When the dog days are paft, they diftjur- 



' den them of fome of their leaves, to expofe the fruit ■ 



H C ' then 



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