304 GRAPE. 



those in fruit are stopped in Summer, and after the fall of 

 the leaf, are cut in to one or two eyes. From the appear- 

 ance of the mother bearers, thus shortened, this has been 

 called spur-bearing. 



The third method seems to flow from taking the second 

 plan as a foundation, in having more than one aspiring 

 leader, and from joining the superstructure of the first system 

 immediately to this, and in reserving well-placed shoots 

 to come in as bearing wood. Thus, supposing a stem 

 which has been headed, to send up four vigorous competing 

 leaders, two are suffered to bear fruit, and two are divested 

 of such buds as break into clusters, and trained to the 

 length of ten, twelve, or fifteen feet, or more, for mother 

 bearers next season. In the Winter pruning, the leaders 

 which have borne a crop, are cut down to within two eyes of 

 the stool, or less, according to the strength of the plant, 

 while the reserved shoots lose no more of their tops than is 

 necessary to adjust them to the trellis." 



Nicol observes, that "most of the Summer pruning of 

 Vines may be performed with the fingers, without a knife, 

 the shoots to be displaced being easily rubbed off, and those 

 to be shortened, being little, are readily pinched asunder." 

 After selecting the shoots to be trained for the production of 

 a crop next season, and others necessary for filling the trellis 

 from the bottom, which shoots should be generally laid in 

 at the distance of a foot or fifteen inches from each other, 

 rub off all the others that have no clusters, and shorten those 

 that have, at one joint above the uppermost cluster. For 

 this purpose, go over the plants every three or four 8ays 

 till all the shoots in fruit have shown their clusters, at the 

 same time rubbing off any water shoots that may rise from 

 the wood, 



Train in the shoots to be retained, as they advance. If 

 there be an under trellis, on which to, train the Summer 

 shoots, they may, when six or eight feet in length, or when 

 the Grapes are swelling, be let down to it, that the fruit may 

 enjoy the full air and light, as it advances towards maturity, 

 Such of these shoots as issue from the bottom, and are to be 

 shortened in the Winter pruning to a few eyes, merely for 



