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THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



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off, for there should never be more than one allowed to come 

 out of each eye. If any of them produce fruit, as many 

 times they will the third year, you should not stop them so 

 soon as is generally practised upon the bearing shoots of old 

 Vines, but permit them to shoot forward till a month after 

 Midsummer, at which time you may pinch off the tops of the 

 shoots; for if this were done too soon, it would spoil the 

 buds for the next year's wood, which in young Vines must 

 be more carefully preserved than on older plants, because 

 there are no other shoots to be laid in for a supply of wood, 

 as is commonly practised on old Vines. During the summer 

 you must constantly go over your Vines, and displace all 

 weak lateral shoots as they are produced, and carefully keep 

 the ground clear from weeds, as was before directed, that 

 the shoots may ripen^well; which is a material thing to be 

 observed in most sorts of fruit-trees, but especially in Vines, 

 which seldom produce any fruit from immature branches. 

 These things being duly observed, are all that is necessary 

 in the management of young Vines : we therefore proceed to 

 lay down rules for the government of grown Vines, which is 

 as follows. First, Vines rarely produce any bearing shoots 

 from wood that is more than one year old, therefore great 

 care should be taken to have such wood in every part of the 

 frees ; for the fruit are always produced upon the shoots of 

 tjje same year, which come out from buds of the last year's 

 wood. The method commonly practised by the gardeners 

 in England is, to shorten the branches of the former year's 

 growth, down to three or four eyes, at the time of pruning; 

 though there are some persons who leave these shoots much 

 longer, and affirm that by this practice they obtain a greater 

 quantity of fruit; but however this may be, it is a very 

 wrong practice, since it is impossible that one shoot can 

 nourish forty or fifty bunches of Grapes, so well as it can 

 ten or twelve ; so that what is gotten in number, is lost in 

 their magnitude ; besides, the greater quantity of fruit there 

 is left on Vines, the later they are ripened, and their juice 

 is not so rich. Wherefore the best method is, to shorten the 

 bearing shoots to about four eyes in length, because the 

 lowermost seldom is good, and three buds are sufficient, for 

 each of these will produce a shoot, which generally has two 

 or three bunches of Grapes ; so that from each of those 

 shoots there may be expected six or eight bunches, which is 

 a sufficient quantity. These shoots must be laid about 

 eighteen inches asunder, for if they are closer, when the 

 side-shoots are produced, there will not be room enough to 

 train them against the wall, which should always be provided 

 for; and as their leaves are very large, the branches should be 

 left at a proportionable distance from each other, that they may 

 not crowd or shade the fruit. At the winter pruning of your 

 Vines, you should always observe to make the cut just above 

 the eye, sloping it backward from it, that if it should bleed, 

 the sap might not flow upon the bud ; and where there is an 

 opportunity of cutting down some young shoots to two eyes, 

 in order to produce vigorous shoots for the next year's 

 bearing, it should always be done, because in stopping of 

 those shoots which have fruit upon them as soon as the 

 Grapes are formed, which is frequently practised, it often 

 spoils the eyes for producing bearing branches the following 

 year, and this reserving of new wood is what the vignerons 

 abroad always practise in their vineyards. The best season 

 for pruning of Vines is the end of October, for the reasons 

 before laid down. The latter end of April, or the beginning 

 of May, when the Vines begin to shoot, you must carefully 

 look them over, rubbing off all small buds which may come 

 from the old wood, which only produce weak dangling 

 branches; as also when two shouts are produced from the 



same bud, the weakest of them should be displaced, which 

 will cause the others to be stronger; and the sooner this is 

 done, the better it is for the Vines. In the middle of May 

 you must go over them again, rubbing off all the dangling 

 shoots as before, and at the same time you must fasten up all 

 the strong branches, so that they may not hana; from the 

 wall ; for if their shoots hang down, their leaves will be turned 

 with their upper surfaces the wrong way, and when the 

 shoots are afterwards trained upright, they will have their 

 under surface upward; and until the leaves are turned again, 

 and have taken their right position, the fruit will not thrive; 

 so that the not observing this management, will cause the 

 Grapes to be a fortnight or three weeks later before they 

 ripen ; besides, by suffering the fruit to hang from the wall, 

 and be shaded with the closeness of the branches, it is greatly 

 retarded in its growth ; therefore during the growing season 

 you should constantly look over the Vines, displacing all 

 dangling branches and wild wood, and fasten up the other 

 shoots regularly to the wall, as they are extended in length ; 

 and towards the middle of June you should stop the bearing 

 branches, which will strengthen the fruit, provided you 

 always leave three eyes above the bunches; for if yoi stop 

 them too soon, it will injure the fruit, by taking away that 

 part of the branch which is necessary to attract the nourish- 

 ment to the fruit, "as also to perspire off the crudities of the 

 sap, which is not proper for the fruit to receive. But 

 although it be necessary to stop those shoots which have 

 fruit at this season, yet this is not to be practised upon those 

 which are intended for bearing the next year, for these must 

 not be stopped before the middle of July, lest, by stopping 

 them too soon, you cause the eyes to shoot out strong lateral 

 branches, whereby they will be greatly injured. During the 

 summer season you should be very careful to rub off all 

 dangling branches, and train up the shoots regularly to the 

 wall as before, which will greatly accelerate the growth of 

 the fruit, and also admit the sun and air to them, which is 

 absolutely necessary to ripen and give the fruit a rich flavour: 

 but you must never divest the branches of their leaves, as is 

 the practice of some persons ; for although the admitting of 

 the sun must be necessary to ripen them, yet if they are too 

 much exposed thereto, their skins will be tough, and it will 

 retard their ripening; besides, the leaves being absolutely 

 necessary to nourish the fruit, by taking them off, the fruit 

 is starved, and seldom conies to any size. When it is all 

 gathered, you should prune the Vines, whereby the litter 

 of their leaves will be entirely removed at once, and theii' 

 fruit will be the forwarder the succeeding year. Further 

 directions will be found at pp. 767, and 768. Method of 

 managing Vines against fined or hot-walls, commonly called 

 Vineries or Grape Houses. A Vinery or Grape House con- 

 sists of walls twelve or fourteen feet high, running from 

 east to west, furnished with stoves and proper flues, with 

 a roof and lights of glass covering a border of about tea 

 feet in width. (See the engraved Elevation, Section, and 

 Ground Plan ; also the articles Hot-house and Stoi-e.) Where 

 Vines are intended to be forced at an early season, it is usual 

 to have upright glasses, two and a half or three feet high in 

 front, to support the roof, to admit sun and light to the 

 border, which is generally occupied by low-growing vege- 

 tables ; but where Grapes are wanted early, a low wall in 

 front will answer as well. Supposing the wall to be twelve 

 feet high, the breadth of the border ten feet, and the height 

 of the upright wall in front three feet, the roof will then 

 form an angle of about 43; which experience shews to be 

 a proper pitch for forcing Vines after the vernal equinox. A 

 Grape House may also be constructed on a plan similar to 



