80 STATE IIORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



many respects the best of iiny close or short pruning system in vogue. It is 

 just as applicable to vines upon buililinfrs and arbors as to those ujion trellises, 

 and theic is no excuse for the rambling, many stemmed monstrosities which 

 many people tolerate upon their houses and the trimming of which they 

 inflict upon some long-suffering, grape growing neighbor. I have said that I 

 consider tin's system the best of its kind, but at the same time I wish to say 

 that I do not believe in close pruning. Tliere cannot be but a shock to the 

 constitution of a vine by semi-annually reducing the top out of all proportion 

 with the roots. I notice that the advocates of summer pruning are not nearly 

 so numerous as they were a few years ago, and but little severe summer prun- 

 ing is now done. There is, however, no doubt that the rampant growth of 

 vine during the latter part of summer is often seriously detrimental to the 

 growth and flavor of the fruit, and a metliod of pruning which would check 

 and control this growth without the wholesale slashing of summer pruning 

 is greatly to be desired. As I have intimated before, I have long had a 

 theory upon tliis subject, and as I do not know of a better way to get it before 

 the public, I have concluded to inflict it upon the same kindly forbearance 

 which has so often tolerated my lengthy dissertations. We will suppose that 

 the vine has reached its third year and is provided with arms for the produc- 

 tion of bearing canes. Now, instead of growing a shoot once in twelve inches, 

 I would let one start at every bud or once in six or seven inches. Every alter- 

 nate cane I would allow to produce fruit, while from the others I would remove 

 the clusters as soon as they appeared. On the succeeding year I would allow 

 three buds to remain on the canes wiiich produced no fruit, while I would cut 

 those which bore the fruit back to one bud and allow no Iruit to grow upon 

 the cane which sprang from that bud. The three buds which were left ujjon 

 the other canes would of course produce fruit-bearing laterals. When tlie 

 clusters were sulliciently developed I would remove all but one cluster from 

 each lateral, and thus while the vine was producing no more fruit than under 

 the old system, tliis would all be upon laterals, which from their recumbent 

 position would have a tendency to check redundant growth of foliage. At 

 the same time the saji and growth would be distributed through four times tiie 

 number of buds, and the effect would' be to retard the {)roductioii of wood 

 and more thoroughly matui'e both wood and fruit. Witliout going farther 

 into tlie subject of grape vine pruning, I will leave it with the remark tliat I 

 believe that the true system will eventually be found in something similar to 

 what I have prepared. 



AN ANTISEPTIC CALLED ''OZONE." 



JiY I'ROV. 11. 15. ^VAKDEU, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO. 



During the latter part of 1881 and nearly all of 1882 the secretary has been 

 receiving communications upon an antisejjtic advertised for a time iti a great 

 many American newspapers as "ozone.'"' Tliese were answered brielly by 



