1877.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



273 



ting-in the dormant wood, it is none the less so 

 in thinning growing shoots. In pruning vines 

 it is a common practice to leave two, and some- 

 times three eyes to each spur. Good grape 

 growers do this, but they are very particular in 

 removing all the buds, when they do start, ex- 

 cepting one — the strongest and most fruitful. 

 Many, however, allow every bud to grow into a 

 shoot for the season, as may often be seen by two 

 or three shoots clustering together. I can at- 

 tribute this to nothing else but fear of doing 

 harm by removing any of them, whereas the 

 greatest harm occurs in allowing them to re- 

 main. It is a simple matter to prove this, and I 

 would advise those who think differently to try 

 it. One good shoot from each spur will produce 

 more and better fruit than three or four shoots 

 from the same base. It is well known that the 

 greatest harm that can be done to any fruit tree 

 is crowding the wood, and it is quite impossible 

 to grow three or four shoots from one vine bud 

 without injuriously crowding them. Fine crops 

 can only be secured by thoroughly ripening the 

 wood; and although vine wood may become 

 brown in color, it will not ripen thoroughly 

 under a mass of leaves. I have a house full of old 

 Black Hamburghs which I intend to make youth- 

 fully vigorous this season. They are showing 

 from two to six buds from each spur. As soon 

 as J can see which bud has the finest promise of 

 a bunch, all the others will be removed, and if 

 the single shoot does not become very thick this 

 year, it will be sure to ripen well, and that will 

 be worth a great deal next season. 



" Stopping the Shoots. — This is another matter 

 which should never be neglected. It is a bad 

 plan even when the shoots are well thinned to 

 allow many of them to run many feet before 

 they are stopped. This is just another way of 

 overcrowding ; but it is worse than that, because 

 the shoots must be stopped some time, and when 

 yards in length are removed from them at a 

 time, the consequence in loss of sap is serious. 

 My plan — and one I find answers well — is to 

 pinch every shoot two joints beyond the bunch, 

 and this is done as soon as the shoot is suffi- 

 ciently long to admit of doing this. The point 

 thus early taken away is no thicker than a small 

 in the Journal, and it is impossible for this to 

 have any checking tendency. Those shoots 

 bearing no fruit are stopped three or four joints 

 from the main rod, and they are not allowed to 

 grow further than this the whole season, as it 

 serves no good purpose to let them do so. 



" Tying the Shoots. — I have seen many shoots 

 not tied until they were breaking their points 

 against the glass, and others again are in too 

 great haste to train them into their permanent 

 places, and break them in consequence. There 

 is no difficulty in tying shoots which grow in a 

 right direction from the first, but those which go 

 the opposite way from the wires have to be care- 

 fully dealt with, such shoots must be tied two or 

 three times. At the first tying only incline 

 them out of the direction they are going, next 

 time bring them half way to the wires, and 

 finally at the third time fix them in the position 

 they are to occupy. 



" Thinning the Bunches. — All vines in a healthy 

 condition always produce many more bunches 

 than are sufficient for a crop. Many shoots pro- 

 duce two bunches; the larger one is generally next 

 the rod, and the smaller one nearer the point. 

 This small one should always be removed first, 

 and this must be done all over the house, and if 

 there are still too many, cut away the poorest 

 of those which remain. Vines of different 

 strength will bear different crops in weight, but 

 in the generality of cases it is safe to leave a 

 bunch to every alternate shoot. Amateurs, as a 

 rule, err in allowing too many bunches to remain 

 on, and in nine cases out of ten this is the sole 

 cause of the grapes failing to come to perfection. 



" Syringing. — This is an operation which most 

 amateurs like to try their hand at; but squirting 

 morning, noon and night keeps the leaves and 

 surface of the border in an overdamp state, and 

 nothing will produce mildew quicker than this. 

 Syringe thoroughly, and have done with it for 

 days or weeks together, if no insects appear. 



"Watering the Roots. — Without abundance of 

 moisture at the root, no good will ever result 

 from any amount of attention to every other par- 

 ticular. Some recommend about three water- 

 ings in the season where the border is well 

 drained, but this is not nearly sufficient. Once 

 a fortnight is not too often to saturate the roots 

 when the grapes are green, and watering should 

 not be discontinued until the fruit is more than 

 half ripe. 



NEW OB RARE FRUITS. 



Hames' Seedling Apple. — We have received 

 from M. Cole, of Atlanta, Ga., specimens of 

 Hames' Seedling Apple. The specimens were 

 sent us June 25th, and in the letter accompany- 



