STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 159 



high enough to keep the bunches clear of the ground, and no higher, as 

 the nearer the ground the warmer and more moist will bo the atmos- 

 phere, especially if the ground is kept clean and mellow. I have tried 

 it many times, with the thermometer, both by day and by night, and 

 have always found that the atmosphere at six inches from the ground 

 is from six to eight degrees warmer than at six feet; and when cold dry 

 winds prevail, the difference will he much greater; and the moisture 

 caused by evaporation aud capillary attraction, from a well cultivated 

 soil is the best preventive of mildew, the worst enemy the grape vine 

 has. 



The three buds on each cane nearest the stem, alluded to above, should 

 be left in the spring till they have started and grown a few inches, then 

 select the best one on each side of the main stem, to train as fruit bear- 

 ing canes for the next year. Manage them as you did the other two 

 last year, training them along the rows. You can tie them to the same 

 stakes above the fruit bearing canes. They will then be in the best posi- 

 tion to receive the light and heat of the sun, in order to mature their wood 

 and buds, and also help to protect the fruit now growing from the direct 

 rays of the sun and cold drying winds. The other buds remaining near 

 or on the main stem should be rubbed off. The fruit bearing canes 

 should be watched, and when the buds have well started, they will show 

 at least two bunches each. As soon as you can ascertain which is the 

 largest and most compact, take the other bunch away, in order to have 

 large, well developed bunches and berries, with rich juicy pulp, instead 

 of small, immature berries, more skin and seeds than anything else. The 

 new shoots comino- out from the fruit bearing cane, on which the fruit is 

 borne, should be pinched off a little beyond the third joint outside the 

 outermost bunch. All summer pruning should be done with the thumb and 

 finger. No summer pruning ought to be done with the knife or shears, 

 except a cane breaks down with the weight of its fruit, or by accident. 



Summer pruning is but little work, but it must be done at the right 

 time and in the right manner. A mistake or neglect in this can never 

 be remedied. The vines, through the growing season, should be looked 

 over at least once a week. Any one, after a little practice, will, as soon 

 as he casts his eye on a vine, see at once where his thumb and finger is 

 required. A quiet walk along the rows, and taking care not to do too 

 much, is all that is necessarj^. 



At the fall pruning the canes that have borne fruit this }~car should 

 be cut clean out, as far back as may be, and the two new canes short- 

 ened to their proper length as fruit bearing canes for next year. An 

 additional bud may be left on either cane, as the vine increases in size; 

 and in some cases three of these shoots may be brought out as near the 

 main stem as possible, and trained in the same manner, to become fruit- 

 bearing canes the next year. 



Great care should be taken not to allow the vine to overbear. It is 

 much better to have the same weight of fruit in large, well matured 

 bunches and berries, than in small, tough-skinned, immature fruit. 

 There is a certain amount of fruit matter in the vine to be elaborated 

 during the summer, and a certain amount to be deposited for the next 

 year's use. If this amount has to be distributed among too many 

 bunches or berries it must necessarily depreciate their richness. These 

 facts cannot be too strongly impressed on the mind of the vine dresser, 

 whether the fruit be raised for the table or for making wine. 



This plan of pruning and training will suit any variet}^ of grapes, but 

 more especially the foreign kinds. The American varieties will bear 



