610 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [15 Oct., 1919. 



tliej produce poor wood and little or no fruit. Careful dis- 

 budding must be practised in order to obtain the best pos- 

 sible pruning wood, 

 (vi) Severe and very late frost — fortunately such visitations are 

 rare in our climate. If damaged very late in tlie season 

 (November or December), su])pression of shoots is of 

 questionable use, since any fruit produced will be too late 

 to ripen. The best policy is to shorten tbe damagofl 

 cane, or even to confine oneself 1o disbudding. 



Fig. 2. Pig. 3. 



Results of re pruning (or disbudding) of frost-damaged vine. 



Fig. 2. shows condition at following winter of portion of vine shown in Fig. 1, if no 

 action were taken after the frost. 



Fig 3 shows the result of the suppression of injured shoots (at A and B, Fig. 1) and 

 wood (Sj Sj). Compare strong fruitful wood of Fig. 3 with poorscrubby growth of Fig. 2. 



Subsequent Treatment — Disbi'dding and Manuring. 



In every case, whether the damage be slight oi" severe, it is very 

 necessary to carefully disbud vines damaged by frost. The water 

 shoots sent out from the old wood need careful removal. It is, in fact, 

 well to disbud twice with an interval of a few weeks between the two 

 operations. The balance of the plant has been upset, and the belated 

 growth of many undesirable shoots often needs correction. 



It must be remembered that the vine has to start its season's growth 

 afresh. Normally it begins with ample reserves; for the second start 

 these are necessarily depleted, and the best possible use must be made of 

 what remains. Disbudding must be prompt and thorough, the useless 

 shoots being removed whilst quite small, so as to avoid the waste that 

 Avould result by breaking them oif when they have grown to larger size. 



Manuring witli (piick-acting fertilizers is certainly desirable. It is 

 stroiiii'lv rec()iniii('ii(l('(l l)v French ;iufb(M-il itcs, some of wlinm go so far as 



