18 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the last bud, giving it additional force, and he would thei'efore 

 prune in autumn. Camellias or azaleas headed down in October 

 start stronglj^ but if cut back in April only a few of the top 

 buds break, and those more weakly. 



Mr. Watt asked whether the vines which bled profusely had not 

 thrown out thin papery leaves and wiry shoots, and shown other 

 marks of weakness. 



Mr. Hovey had noticed no such signs of injury, but believed 

 that an old vine with few buds might be injured bj^ heading down 

 — not, however, from loss of sap but from repletion. 



John B. Moore had pruned at all times, and did not think that 

 it> made any perceptible difference with out-door grapes when they 

 were pruned. Still, he would rather not have his vines bleed. 



Dr. Waters said that though he had stated a fact in regard to 

 the destruction of a large wild grape vine by bleeding, his practice 

 had been to prune when he could, but he preferred the fall for 

 old, and late spring for young vines. 



Mr. Barnett exhibited pieces of the vine — arms of old wood — 

 amputated and coated with liquid rubber. From these, when cut 

 in the fall, gum exudes as shown in the specimens, to prevent 

 which the ends were covered by a cement made by dissolving 

 rubber, cut finel}', in benzine. He preferred it to liquid grafting 

 wax or dissolved shellac. 



The reading of the essay was here resumed, and on its conclu- 

 sion discussions and inquiries followed. 



Mr. Talbot asked whether the vines on the trellises, running 

 east and west, did not shade the ground from the sun. 



Mr. Barnett replied that in his system it was immaterial whether 

 or not the ground under the trellis was shaded, because no roots 

 were there, but in the vine bed ; the object was to expose all the 

 foliage to the sun and the air. 



Mr. Talbot wished to know whether the sun shone on the north 

 side of the vines in September, when the grapes were ripening. 



Mr. Barnett replied that the direct action of the sun was 

 needed, not so much on the ripening fruit and wood, as upon the 

 leaf (the upper green surface), and that he believed his trellis ex 

 posed every leaf to the sun and air. He read the following 

 extract from Du Breuil :* 



* Vineyard Culture, p. lOL 



