298 GRAPE. 



beneficial ; and he recommends the planting to be done in 

 the month of March, or early in April. 



There are various methods adopted in training and pru- 

 ning the Vine ; and it appears impossible to lay down rules 

 to suit every cultivator. The Vine having, like other trees, 

 a tendency to produce its most vigorous shoots at the 

 extremities of the branches, and particularly so at those 

 which are situated highest, it generally happens, when it is 

 trained high, that the greater portion of the fruit is borne near 

 the top ; and it has been observed, that the fruit produced 

 on the vigorous shoots, which naturally grow at the extremi- 

 ties of the long branches, is generally more abundant, and 

 of finer quality, than that prodnced on the short lateral ones, 

 from which circumstance, high training seems to be the best 

 calculated for private gardens. 



In some parts of Italy, Vines are cultivated together with 

 Mulberry trees, and are allowed to mingle and hang in 

 festoons ; thus silk and wine are produced on the same 

 spot ; and it is considered that when Vines are allowed to 

 grow over trees, on the side of a house, or on bowers, or 

 extended on tall poles, without much trimming, they will 

 produce more fruit, and are riot so liable to mildew. 



Dr. G. W. Chapman of New- York, having paid some 

 attention to the cultivation of native Grapes, observes, that 

 the Vine, in its natural state, seldom or ever throws out 

 bearing shoots until it reaches the top of the tree on which 

 it ascends, when the branches take a horizontal or descend- 

 ing position. From this fact, he considers horizontal training 

 preferable to that in the fan shape. From the experiments 

 he has made, he has found that the shoots coming from those 

 parts of the branches bent downwards, are more productive 

 than from those ascending ; he considers deep digging 

 around the Vine, even to the destruction of some of the 

 extending roots, as calculated to promote the growth of more 

 fruit and less wood, than if allowed to spread near the sur- 

 face : and he disapproves stopping the shoots before the 

 fruit until early in July. 



Mr. William Wilson of Clermont, leaves his Vines their 

 whole length at the time of trimming in October. In 



