AND WINE MAKING. 215 



diameter, per 1000 : Four foot, 114.25 ; five foot, 118 ; 

 six foot, 121.50. These should be pointed and driven in 

 with a sledge, as close to the graft as is safe and on the 

 side exposed to the prevailing winds in summer, so that 

 the vine has a slight leaning against them. If fifteen- 

 inch cions have been used in grafting, the head of the 

 vine can be formed at once from the three or four upper 

 buds from which the shoots are allowed to grow — all 

 below them should be rubbed off as soon as they appear. 

 These upper shoots are then tied to the stake, very 

 loosely, so as not to hinder their growth. The best and 

 most economical ties are made from the common dracaena, 

 grown very frequently as an ornamental tree, and of 

 which every vineyardist should plant a good supply. 

 The dead leaves can be taken off every spring, scalded ia 

 hot water to make them soft and pliable, and then di- 

 vided into strips, of which each leaf furnishes from three 

 to five. They are stronger and better than the so-called 

 grape twine, and a single tree will furnish material for 

 tying three or four acres of vines. All the dracaenas and 

 yuccas furnish excellent material for tying, as well as 

 the Phormium tenax or New Zealand flax. The latter is 

 gratuitously distributed by our State university, but re- 

 quires to be planted near some spring or brook to flourish 

 well, while the dracaenas and yuccas will grow on dry soil. 

 These details are given because thousands of dollars are 

 spent annually for twine which may just as well be saved, 

 and further, because the materials named are more con- 

 venient and are not so hard on the fingers in tying. Tlie 

 next pruning after grafting, will find the vine established, 

 if it was strong enough when grafted, with the head es- 

 tablished where it ought to be, about a foot from the 

 ground. We are now to determine definitely the plan 

 of pruning to be adopted, stool or goblet, half -long or 

 long, though this is supposed to be settled by the length 

 of the stakes used in staking the vines. 



