^ A G R 1 C U L T L K E . 199 



gated ; for the vine, when takiiig root, likes water. During 

 the first year after planting, the vine-grower has nothing to do 

 save to irrigate twice, to plough several times, and to hoe 

 down such weeds as cannot be reached with the plough. 



There is very little growth of wood the first year, but it fre- 

 quently happens that cuttings bear grapes — one bunch, it may 

 be, to a dozen vines. Rooted vines do not bear the first year. 

 The next year the ground should be kept loose and clean by 

 ploughing and hoeing twice or thrice. Any suckers springing 

 out from buds beneath the surface must be broken off, and a 

 little pruning is done. In pruning, regard is had to the form 

 which the stalk is to have. 



The vine bears fruit on new wood ; that is, on twigs pro- 

 duced in the same season with the grape. All the twigs are 

 cut off every year, leaving a bare stalk. In the old vineyards 

 of California the stalks are from three to five feet high. Of 

 late, the more general custom is to make the stalks about fif- 

 teen inches high. It is observed that the nearer the grapes to 

 the ground, the earlier they ripen, and the less liable they are 

 to injury from frost and wind. The strongest shoot is selected 

 to make the stalk, and it is tied to a little stake stuck into the 

 ground at its side, and the other shoots are cut off. It is a 

 matter of importance to use the stake so that the vines may 

 grow straight up. Vineyards planted with cuttings bear no 

 grapes the second year ; those planted with rooted vines may 

 bear a few. In the southern part of the state the vineyard 

 must be irrigated at least twice every summer ; in many locali- 

 ties in the northern and middle districts, irrigation is consid- 

 ered unnecessary, though it would undoubtedly be beneficial 

 during the first year. 



The third year, the ploughing and hoeing is the same as the 

 second. More attention must be given to the pruning. All 

 the twigs are cut off save two or three, which sprout from the 

 top of the stalk, and these are pruned so as to leave but two 

 buds on each, which are to produce all the wood and fruit of 

 the season. This year the vines should produce three or four 



