502 [ THE VINE. 



modifications or improvements of the double Guyot 

 system have been recommended at different times, the 

 best known and often practised being the Balzari system 

 which is a double or triple Guyot system, suitable both 

 for vineyards in the plain and for those planted along the 

 slopes of hills, and the Sylvos find the Cazenave-Marcon 

 systems, which are in reality multiple Guyot systems, 

 the last being favourably received in France. 



Instead of describing these and other modifications 

 of the Guyot system, it is worth while to say something 

 of our local method of pruning the specialised vineyard, 

 which presents the great advantage that it requires no 

 outlay in the installation and maintenance of permanent 

 proping or indeed of any support whatever. In our 

 method the permanent stqm of the vine is never more 

 than 15 c.m. above the ground, and often quite close to 

 the surface, and the pruning is carried out rigorously on 

 the Guyot model, although the method with hardly any 

 variation has been practised for ages 'by our vine-growers, 

 who perform this pruning with the utmost care, being 

 fully acquainted with the importance of each part of the 

 operation. This method is so suitable for our soil and 

 climate, and gives always such good results in the 

 specialised vineyard, that no one of the more modern 

 methods is likely to supersede it. In fact the "alberello" 

 of Prbf. Ottavi, the umbrella-shape, and the Ravaz 

 method which were adopted on a rather ambitious scale 

 by a few of our more progressive viticulturists, have been 

 all dropped after a few years of trial in favour of our 

 time-honoured method. 



In their anxiety for an early return, the growers are 

 prone to retain a fruiting cane in the third year, when 

 the vine is not strong enough to bear the strain, parti- 

 cularly on poor or dry soils. They also frequently retain 

 a weakly fruiting cane in its full length of 50 cm. or 

 more, only just trimming it at the extremity instead of 



