of the Grape Vine, 11 



they should he pruned down to three eyes, cutting off within about 

 an inch of a stroni;- and prominent bud. When the vine pushes its 

 shoots in the spring, and they have attained tb.e height of eight or 

 ten inches, select out the strongest one, (rubbing off all others) 

 which should be trained to a single, strong stake, which will not 

 be likely to be broken by the wind: it should be encouraged in 

 its growth, as much as possible, by plucking off all useless side 

 shoots every fortnight, so as to throw the whole strength into the 

 main one, and regularly tying the vine to the stake. In the 

 autumn, the vine will have made a fine shoot, six or eight feet in 

 length, and of the thickness of nearly half an inch. They should 

 be shortened to about four feet, and, upon the approach of winter, 

 should again be laid down and covered with any light substance, 

 so as to keep them from the sun. The object of protection is to 

 prevent the cu'culation of the sap in the vine during sunshine, and 

 at night from closing up the pores by freezing. It is not the cold, 

 as many imagine, that injures the vine, but the heat of the sun 

 during the months of February, March and April ; the warm days 

 inducing the sap to flow into the buds very rapidly, and when in 

 that state, freezing in cold nights, so as to burst or rupture the in- 

 ner bark (or albumen), which is composed of small vessels, corres- 

 ponding to the outer cuticle of the animal creation. If the vines 

 could be kept entirely cold until April, no injury would occur to 

 them, if they were not covered at all. I have put this to the test 

 sev^eral times. But if the sun is suffered to shine on them during 

 February and March, continually freezing and thawing, it is almost 

 sure death to them. 



In training vines, 1 greatly prefer a horizontal direction to any 

 other. I also prefer to train them all one way, when convenient. 

 Any method of training, however, provided it be done judiciously, 

 will answer the same end. The trellis shovdd run from south-east 

 to north-west, so as not to have the morning sun on both sides of 

 the vine. In training, leave the wood long on the north-east side, 

 so as to shelter the grapes from the chilling east winds and morn- 

 ing sun, which, in my opinion, chills the fruit, and weakens both 

 the wood and fruit, and by that means, brings on the mildew from 

 debility. On the south-west, 1 prune off all the laterals, tendrils, 

 or useless wood, so that by this, a vinous hedge will be formed, 

 that protects the fruit from the north-east, and gives a warm, soft 

 heat on the south-west. This method I have tried for several 

 years, and have never failed in getting a good crop, while all other 

 methods and positions have failed. Grapes are injured materially 

 by late prunings, when the wood is scarcely done growing; it 

 weakens the vine, by destroying the return of the sap, and the 

 fruit stops growing, becomes soft, sour, and wholly unfit for use. 

 Vines ought not to be pruned much after July ; the fruit needs the 



