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MANAGEMENT OE THE VINE WITH 11EGAKD TO TEMPE11A- 

 TUIIE, PRUNING, DPvESSING, ETC. 



The vines should be pruned as soon as the wood 

 is thoroughly ripened and the leaves fall off. Before 

 falling, the latter should have a beautiful yellow tint. 

 After this is attained, those which do not fall off naturally 

 may be removed by the hand, and the vine pruned back 

 to one or two eyes. I prefer leaving one eye instead of 

 two, as it keeps the fruit near the main stem, and 

 consequently close to the nourishment or food of . the 

 plant, which ascends up the main channel. After prun- 

 ing, I prepare the following dressing : — 1 lb. of the best 

 powdered sulphur, 1 lump of lime weighing about 2 

 lbs., 2 quarts of good tobacco-water, to which clay and 

 water are added until it is of the consistency of paint. 

 I then make a paint-brush by tying bits of mat to- 

 gether, as I find this softer than an ordinary painter's 

 brush, and not liable to injure the buds, and I coat the 

 plant all over with the mixture. The bark ought not to 

 be peeled off the vine, as is too often done by gardeners 

 and amateurs, because it weakens the constitution of the 

 plant, besides looking, as well as being, an unnatural 

 practice. My opinion is, that when the bark is removed, 

 the sun overheats the sap as it rises in the stem, and 



has a tendency to bring on shanking, red berries, etc. 



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