164 THE GARDENER. [April 



THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 



NO. IV. — THE GRAPE VINE {continued). 



Seeing that you have a good aspect, it would not be advisable to start 

 your Vines into growth too early. March is a good time. Do not 

 run up a great heat all of a sudden whenever you see the buds 

 push. 50^ by night, should never be exceeded by means of fire-heat ; 

 nor yet 60° by day, until the shoots are pushed 6 or 8 inches. Of 

 course, if the sun shines brightly, the right thing is to allow the heat 

 to run up to 70°, or even 80°. We need not say anything more on this 

 head, as our directions for the first year will also do for the second, in 

 every particular except one, and that is, that instead of allowing the 

 lateral growths to run out, they should be stopped, and kept stopped 

 at one joint. The reason for this is, that when the laterals are allowed 

 to run too far out, the main buds (which are to produce fruit next year) 

 remain flat and undeveloped ; whereas, when the lateral growth is 

 restricted, the buds plump up and become round. Now this is a point 

 of some importance, and the best gardeners are quite unanimous on 

 it ; although some few allege that the more growth that is made, 

 and the more leaves that are allowed to develop, the greater is 

 the strength of the Vines. This is more apparent than real ; for when 

 the growth is restricted, the leaves swell to a size and assume a sub- 

 stance unapproached by the leaves of Vines which are unrestrained 

 in their growth ; and experience teaches me that quality in leaves, as in 

 everything else, is of greater importance than mere quantity without 

 it. We may see here that it is the leaves of the plants which do the 

 work, and therefore they must be kept in health, or otherwise the 

 plants will fail. 



After the leaves have fallen, pruning must be again done, and this 

 simply consists in cutting the rods back to about 5 feet from where 

 they were cut last year. This will leave room for six pairs of shoots, or 

 spurs as they are termed, for we advise your following the spur system, 

 as it is called. The spurs should be at least 15 inches apart, and as 

 evenly distributed along the rods as possible. To secure this, it is 

 well to slice off the buds which are not wanted with a sharp knife. 

 Besides the buds left for spurs or side growths, one must be left for 

 a leader, of course. An inch of wood should always be left beyond 

 the buds when they are pruned, otherwise they may be weakened. 

 After scrubbing the rods carefully with soapy water, the cuts should 

 be dressed as advised for the first year, then remove any loose soil 

 on the surface of the border and replace it with fresh soil ; and over 

 all a fresh mulching of manure, in the same way as formerly directed, 

 and you are again ready for a start. 



Before there are any signs of the buds moving, the rods should be 

 bent over, along the side of the front wall, so that their points may 

 be on a level with the floor. The object of this is, to cause all the 



