Mr. Byingtoiis MctJiod of Prujilng Gra^c Vines. 143 



postponed until each of these one hundred and twenty buds had pushed 

 oyt into a shoot, the existence of these hundred and twenty shoots 

 is a partial compensation for the loss of the superincumbent ripened 

 wood. 



Now, admitting that long pruning is the correct method, let me state 

 the theory in reference to the advantages of June pruning over pruning 

 in the fall or winter. 



During the winter and spring the vine rests from its labors. But, 

 with the more direct rays of the sun in spring time, the dormant en- 

 ergies of the vine awaken into a new life. The sa^^ moves from the 

 root, and soon the buds swell and burst, and rapidly the vine becomes 

 covered with green vegetation. From the time when the sap begins 

 to move to the time when vegetation has begun its full career for the 

 season, is preeminently a transitional period, and no less in vegetable 

 than in animal physiology. Transitional periods are critical. Hence, 

 allow but the one hundred and twenty buds on the four canes (which 

 I have supposed in a previous paragraph) to receive the large amount 

 of sap sent up from a strong and vigorous root spreading many feet 

 from the vine, and inevitably the shoots from those buds will be forced 

 into a too rapid growth, in the effort of Nature to restore the balance 

 between root and vine, which has been disturbed by the winter pruning. 

 And too great rapidity of growth produces weakness. With children, 

 it is a common cause of chorea, or St. Vitus's dance — that most dis- 

 tressing nei-vous disease, which so deeply excites our sympathy for the 

 sufferer. With the grape vine it causes the fruit to "blast" in its 

 incipiency, or to "slough" when it is farther advanced. But, with 

 many buds to receive the sap in spring, the shoots make a natru-al and 

 not an excessive growth ; and when once vegetation has fully com- 

 menced, the period of danger is passed. Then use the shears or 

 knife, and Nature will thank you. 



I am aware that in what I have here written I have presented a 

 theory. That theoiy may or may not stand the test of severe scientific 

 criticism ; but better than all theory, for demonstration, is the irresis- 

 tible logic of facts. Explode the theory, if you will, but Mr. Bying- 

 ton's healthy vines and large crops of early ripening and most delicious 



