AMERICAN WILD VINE. 



141 



cut back to as many buds as may be deemed necessary to produce the quantity 

 of fruit which the vine can lualurc tlie next year, and let those marked 2 and 3, 

 be cut back to the three lowermost bads. The lateral shoots, as also the stumps 

 of the tendrils, should be cut out as directed in the preceding year. Let the 

 loose and decayed bark be rubbed or scraped off, and the shoots fastened to the 

 wall or trellis, to protect them during the winter. 



SIXTH YEAR. 



Commence early in March, and treat the ground in every respect, during the 

 season, as in the preceding year, taking care to incorporate all the leaves or clip- 

 pings of the vines with the earth about the roots. Early in May, or as soon as 

 the shoots numbered 2 and 3, have grown a sufficient length, fasten them care- 

 fully to the wall or irellis, and let them grow until the first of July. Then cut 

 out the weakest of the three young shoots, and treat the two remaining ones (as 

 indicated in the adjoining 

 figure) precisely as those 

 numbered 1 and 4 were the 

 year precedmg, due care 

 being observed to deprive 

 all the shoots of any super- 

 fluous fruit or leaves which 

 may put forth. In October, 

 soon after the fruit is gath- 

 ered from the shoots num- 

 bered 1 and 4, cut them 

 down to the three lower- 

 most buds, thus reserving 

 one to spare in case of ac- 

 cident, in order to produce 

 double shoots the following 

 year. No further treat- 

 ment will be required than 

 rubbing or scraping off all 

 loose and decayed bark 

 from the vines, until the 

 next spring. 



SEVENTH YEAR AND SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT. 



Commence early in the month of March, and treat the ground throughout the 

 season as directed for the preceding year. Early in May, or as soon as the 

 shoots numbered 1 and 4 have attained a sufficient length, carefully fasten them 

 to tlie wall or trellis, and let them grow until the first of July. Then cut out 

 the weakest of the three young shoots, and treat the two remaining ones (indi- 

 cated by 1 and 4 in the annexed figure) in every respect as those numbered 2 

 and 3 were the year before. By the end of the seventh year, if the plant belongs 

 to a vineyard, in which the vines are grown at the distance of six feet apart, it 

 will have acquired a sulficient number of leading shoots to bear fruit in abun- 

 dance ; but if it be an isolated vine, tlje horizontal branches may be allowed to 

 extend themselves, and a pair of new shoots added each year, as long as the 

 fertility of the soil and the nature of the situation may require it. During 

 every subsequent year, the treatment of the ground during spring and summer 

 should be the same as in the two seasons preceding. Early in September, the 



