STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 165 



consideration, and on account of shelter thus afforded to the vines from 

 cold currents of air — at the same time, sufficiently high that the hunches 

 of grapes do not trail on the ground, which would subject them to injury 

 by the wind tossed branches, and, later in the season, when the ground 

 gets damp, they would rot; also, from the particles of dirt getting lodged 

 between the grapes, difficult and tedious of removal. There are but a 

 few varieties, of which the Catawba is one, which, on account of their 

 peculiar growth and bearing, do better if trained on a trellis. The lead- 

 ing branches or arms of such should be extended six or eight inches 

 above the ground, from which the growing canes are trained and pruned 

 after the renewal mode. 



The winter pruning the third season will require to be conducted with 

 judgment. Such vines as are too slender to form an upright stem are cut- 

 to two buds ; those that are stout are cut to twelve inches above ground. 

 Of the former, one cane will bo selected for a leader; of the latter, two 

 uppermost buds will grow two canes, the lower ones, if any, being cut 

 out. The summer pruning is conducted as that of the former year, and 

 the main trunk, now formed, should be yet supported by a stake — the 

 canes topped when they get about three feet long. The laterals should 

 now be pinched, whenever required to check the overgrowth and favor 

 the development of the main trunk and of the next year's bearing wood. 

 A well grown and properly pruned vine will acquire this season a self- 

 supporting stem, and the appearance of a dwarf tree. 



The fourth season, at the winter pruning, the two canes should be cut 

 to two buds each, from which four canes will be allowed to grow, and all 

 sprouts removed as soon as they commence growing. The summer prun- 

 ing will be conducted on the principle of former years. 



By this time the vines should begin to recompense us for our labor ; 

 and to develop the finest grapes will require proper care in summer prun- 

 ing, as explained below. 



The subsequent annual pruning is conducted strictly on the principle 

 of adapting means to ends. Thrifty vines, growing in fine rich soils, 

 can be burdened gradually with from five to eight bearing canes. The 

 winter pruning should be performed directly after the fall of the leaf, as 

 any delay is at the expense of successive crops. Vines pruned late are 

 apt to be injuriously depleted by the flow of sap, w T hich assertion will 

 hardly require any argument. 



PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE PRUNING. 



At this point we reach another Gordian knot. Many persons, basing 

 their assertions on experience, declare that it is injurious to check the 

 natural growth of plants, especially the vine, as it tends to curtail their 

 longevity and deteriorate the quality of the fruit; that by curtailing the 

 length of the growing canes we destroy the " balance of power " between 

 them and the roots, and that the vine must eventually perish from that 

 cause. Others again, in extremis, advise to nearly denude the vine of foli- 

 age and take off the principal growth of wood. Now, to these it is 

 hardly necessary to answer — though the proceeding, once tried, is an ex- 

 perience dearly bought. So we take the responsibility of advising all 

 new beginners not to follow it. 



It is not so with the first class. Now, we assert that judicious prun- 

 ing is indispensable to the production of fine fruit, to which, probably, 

 the experience of most cultivators will assent ; but, we further assert 

 that there cannot be a "balance of power" lost, because the growth of 



