ii2 FRUIT GROWING FOR AMATEURS 



long. Not more than two or three bunches are allowed to re- 

 main on the Vine in its first year of fruiting. 



The following January the leading shoot the continuation 

 of the stem is shortened to within 5 or 6 feet of its point of 

 origin, and the stem of the Vine thus becomes 11 or 12 feet 

 long. Further lateral or side shoots will form, and they must 

 be regulated in the same way as those of the previous year, 

 *hich are now shortened to within one or two buds of the base. 



Grape scissors and forked 

 sticks used when thinning 



Tying up the "shoulders'* 

 of the bunch of Grapes 



If both buds start into growth, only one (that which bears a 

 bunch of Grapes) is allowed to remain, the other being rubbed 

 off. Further laterals will form on the new part of the stem, 

 and they must be regulated in the same way as those of the 

 previous year ; that is to say, they must not be closer together 

 than 15 or 18 inches. In this way the Vine stem increases at 

 the rate of 5 or 6 feet each year until it reaches the top of the 

 vinery. Subsequently growth is restricted to the lateral 01 

 side shoots. We may now consider the annual pruning of an 

 established Vine. 



Annual Pruning. In January the side shoots which pro- 

 duced the crop of Grapes the previous summer are cut 



