CULTIVATION OP THE VINE. 143 



fear less the ravages of the frosts of April or May, 

 on my vines which have been pruned early in 

 the season. 



In pruning, most vignerons leave four branches 

 to each strong vine, carefully observing that 

 such shall be the most vigorous branches, shoot- 

 ing outwardly from the main trunk, that a clear 

 smooth bark may be thereby obtained, leaving it 

 as far as practicable, unwounded by the knife, 

 because, should the trunk in the course of years 

 be surrounded by the old branches, the buds 

 would vegetate with difficulty and finally perish. 

 I should recommend, however, that where the 

 outer branch is small, and somewhat inferior, it 

 should be chosen rather than the inner shoot, 

 even though the latter possess the advantage of 

 superior force. The habit of pruning from the 

 young branch, so as to form shoots of this year 

 from the branch of the last season, (a method so 

 general among the vine dressers of Vaud) injures 

 the quality and diminishes the quantity of the 

 vintage, and shortens, at the same time, the dura- 

 tion of the plant, .which, pruned as it is on all 

 sides, droops and languishes, obliging the vigne- 

 ron to create a new heading from the false 

 branches, so called, which shoot from the head 

 of the main trunk, producing for the several suc- 

 ceeding years, less abundantly than under the 

 usual pruning, and tending seriously to a short- 

 ening of the powers of life. Remark by the 



translator. [Lest the American cultivator 

 should find a difficulty in comprehending a 

 phraseology so ambiguous as that of the last pa- 



