CULTIVATION OP THE VINE. 135 



shall have attained the length of three or four 

 inches, the first stripping should be made, select- 

 ing from among them those which are to be left 

 to form the branches; or, in the technical lan- 

 guage of the vine dresser, the "oars" of the 

 plant, leaving two, three, or at most four oars, 

 according to the strength and vigor of the vine. 

 The year succeeding the planting of the cuttings, 

 and also the two seasons succeeding that, the 

 ground should be frequently and carefully work- 

 ed, keeping the soil around the young vines soft 

 and mellow, and above all free of weeds. From 

 time to time, attention should be given to the 

 plants as they push their foilage, detaching the 

 small shoots as they appear among the main 

 branches, (nettoyer les rabais] ; and this should 

 not be done too early, for where -the operation 

 is performed thus injudiciously out of season, it 

 has a prejudicial influence, accelerating the growth . 

 of the plant, and causing the wood to ripen too 

 soon, from which circumstance it is often spongy, 

 and does not attain the proper consistency or 

 solidity. 



The best manner in which to perform this 

 work, is to pinch off the supernumerary branches. 

 The following spring the vines must be carefully 

 pruned. Should the mercury of Reaumur be 

 below zero, 32 degrees of Fahrenheit, I should 

 defer the operation for a few days ; but a dry 

 cold at the freezing point will not injure the 

 plant where it has been cut. In the pruning this 

 season (the third year from the planting of the 

 cutting) three small branches may be left to each 

 vine, which should be cut very short, leaving 



