52 



CHAPTER X. 



DISBUDDING AND STOPPING THE SHOOTS. 



N the commencement of the growth of the Vine, each succeeding 

 season, the first operation that requires to be performed, and 

 to which attention must be at once directed, is that which is 

 termed disbudding, but which is, in reality, a thinning-out 

 and regulating of the young shoots that have appeared This is an 

 operation of very great importance in respect to young Vines, as upon 

 its being properly carried out will depend their future form or 

 character. Disbudding is, in fact, the first step in training, although 

 it is practised much in the same manner long after the form of the 

 Vine is established. Improper disbudding will counteract the best 

 system of pruning that may be adopted ; therefore it should be per- 

 formed carefully and judiciously. The time for disbudding is just as 

 soon as it may be perceived that there are more buds than are requisite 

 say, when the shoots are an inch or thereabouts in length ; but the 

 sooner it is done the better. To allow the superfluous buds to develop 

 into shoots, and then to break them off, is a clear waste of the energies 

 of the Vine. Some cultivators wait until it can be seen where the 

 clusters will be produced before disbudding finally, and this is safe- 

 practice with some varieties of Grapes. 



In disbudding a young Vine, or a leading shoot of the previous year's 

 growth, the first care should be for the top or leading bud, the growth 

 from which should be carefully tied in and preserved from injury, as 

 forming a continuation of the main stem. In the disbudding of a young 

 Vine, we also regulate the number of shoots which form the future 

 spurs, as explained in the previous chapter. To allow space for the 

 full development of the foliage, these side-shoots should not be less 

 than eighteen or twenty inches apart on each side of the stem. It 

 frequently happens, especially in the case of slowly-grown Vines, that 

 the buds on the stem are more numerous than the shoots required, 

 and in such cases, all those not required must be removed rubbed off, 

 as the phrase is. Nothing is more pernicious in Vine culture than the 

 crowding of the shoots and leaves. It is well, therefore, to make a 

 fair beginning with the proper number, and this is done by disbudding. 

 Careless disbudding, or rubbing off the wrong buds, that is, the buds 

 that should be retained, which is easily done, must be guarded against. 

 The loss of a bud often means the entire loss of the shoot or spur, and 

 is the source of permanent disfigurement to the Vine. 



Disbudding, also, at times, takes the place of pruning. If the lower 

 buds of a young Vine-rod do not break well, it is a good plan to rub 



