PETTNTNTG GRAPE VINES. 141 



ous that their girth is, generally, at the end of the 

 season, from an inch and a half to an inch and three 

 quarters. The branches, in their most luxuriant 

 growth, never appear in any confusion, even to those 

 who are but little skilled in the cultivation of grapes, 

 and the method is so simple, that it may be described 

 with the assistance of figures, so as to be perfectly com- 

 prehended by any person in the least acquainted with 

 the nature of the vine. I have never deviated from 

 it since I planted the vines in the spring of 1806. 



" My vines were planted two feet and a half apart, 

 and being watered to settle the earth round their 

 balls, I headed them down to within a foot of the soil, 

 as here represented. 



Fig. 27. 



"I only allowed one shoot to proceed from each 

 plant the first year ; rubbing off all the others before 

 they had completely burst into leaf, the uppermost be- 

 ing the one I retained. In the course of the summer I 

 watered them with soft pond water, as I found they 

 wanted it, and frequently with drainings from the 

 farm-yard, and with soap suds, when I could procure 

 any. 



" During the first summer, the vines made quite as 



