THE GRAPE. 89 
of February, fearlessly to cut back all of the last year’s 
growth, so far as to leave only two eyes. It is also 
desirable, after the grapes are beginning to fill in June, 
to pinch back the terminal bud of every branch, and 
thus check its growth, and throw back its sap, to ripen 
the fruit and mature the wood. By pinching back, we 
mean, to pinch off with the thumb-nail and fore-finger 
the end of every bearing branch, and we then cut out 
all the superfluous little shoots and suckers. 
The vine is composed the greater part of potash, 
lime, and carbonic acid, and therefore a frequent appl- 
cation of ashes, lime, and soap-suds is beneficial. It 
has been asserted that tartaric acid is a valuable 
specific for the fruit, but of this we have no personal 
knowledge. 
The grape should always be grown in the warmest 
and most sheltered situation, so that the fruit may 
ripen well before frost. he south side of a house, or 
southern slope of a side-hill, should be chosen. 
In some places the mildew is troublesome to the 
erape, but sulphur sprinkled liberally on its first 
appearance will usually check it at once, There is 
also a kind of snail slug which often destroys the 
leaves in a few weeks. These can easily be destroyed 
by showering the vines two or three times with strong 
soap-suds from the wash. 
Our nurserymen have many kinds of the grape on 
5* 
