204 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



tances, — say eigliteen inclies apart, and so to clothe the space, 

 as it were, with new wood every year, with new branches for 

 the next year's crop, and to cut back to the bottom, or nearly 

 so, all the wood that has borne tliis year ; or, when the space 

 is once clothed with branches, to let shoots come all over the 

 vine as near to each other as branches may be wanted, and to 

 cut them back to a single eye all over the vine, which is called 

 spurring it. The former method keeps a vine the most clean, 

 because, as the old wood is cut away every year, and the space 

 clothed with new, the training may always be done to the 

 greatest nicety. In the spurring system, the great object is, 

 to cover the space as soon as possible with strong wood. This 

 may be done after the fan form, or the horizontal form, in the 

 upright plant ; and although much has been written and said 

 upon this subject, there is not enough difference in the result 

 to justify a preference on the score of bearing. Generally 

 speaking, with this, as well as all other fruit-trees on walls, 

 some pains ought to be taken to furnish the space well at 

 bottom; because, if that be neglected, we have much more 

 trouble to accomplish it at an aftertime. 



The vine grows so freely, that it is desirable, at even an 

 early period of its growth, to take away, before they waste 

 its strength, all the shoots that are not wanted, and all that 

 are weak, so that no more branches are allowed to grow than 

 those best adapted for covering the space, though an extremely 

 vigorous shoot should always be retained, even if in an awk- 

 ward place ; because strong wood is desirable, and the vine is 

 sufficiently flexible to bear a good deal of bending. It is 

 always desirable to preserve a very strong shoot, because it 

 enables us to cut away all that is above of the old wood it 

 grows out of, and substitute the young wood for it. Taking 

 care, then, that we encourage no weakly shoots, and certainly 

 retain none, we have to divide the growing vine, and so 

 arrange the branches as to cover the space, at proper distances, 

 as far as it will go, from season to season ; and while we are 

 anxious for growth, we ought not to allow any fruit to swell. 

 We begin a vine with a single bud, or shoot, when we have 

 it for planting. As the remove always tries a plant a good 

 deal, the rod should be cut within three eyes of the ground ; 

 and this will throw out three shoots, one to be trained to the 

 right, one to the left, and one straight up. Those right and 

 left "must be loosely supported as they grow; the upright 



