CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 141 



ARTICLE IV. 



Pruning the Tine. 



Should the weather permit, I recommend that 

 this operation be commenced as early as the 

 middle of February, commencing with such as 

 appear precose, and those also the wood of 

 which appears to be feeble. In general, where it 

 is practicable, the pruning should be early. When 

 such is the case, the wounded surface of the 

 branch has time to heal before the active circu- 

 lation of the sap; a crust, or hardened surface 

 being formed, which closes the orifice of the sap 

 vessels, and prevents the loss of that precious 

 fluid, a measure fraught with the most salutary 

 results, contributing essentially to the health and 

 vigor of the plant, and insuring its favorable and 

 healthy duration. Attention in the pruning 

 should be given to cut as far as possible from the 

 button, in an oblique or slanting direction, in 

 order to carry off the rains and dews from the 

 wounded surface, which should always be on the 

 side opposite to that of the bud. I cannot too 

 strongly recommend to the vine dresser a careful 

 observance of this precaution, as the cutting as 

 remotely as possible from the bud is one of the 

 surest methods of affording to the vine a health- 



