206 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



leaving just as many spurs or canes as usual, but also leaving 

 the canes somewhat longer than usual. Now for the result. 

 As part of my vineyard is in the valley and on very rich 

 soil, where the vines make a very vigorous growth, I pruned 

 them last winter as indicated above, fearing there might be 

 trouble from frost. Last spring (1887) was a very frosty one, 

 and my vineyard was visited by Jack Frost two distinct 

 times, once the latter part of April, the last and most destruc- 

 tive one being May 12 and 13. On some of my vines, which 

 had started vigorously, with shoots already 18 inches long 

 from the upper buds, not a green leaf was left to tell the tale; 

 while others had the tops of the shoots badly blackened, and 

 some escaped with little or no injury. The vines presented 

 a truly sickening and discouraging aspect, and my two sons 

 gave up to one-fourth of a crop. As soon as we could ascer- 

 tain the lull extent of the damage, we armed ourselves each' 

 with a small pair of shears we use for picking grapes, and cut 

 all the blackened shoots off clean; while those which had 

 only the tips slightly singed, were cut back only as far as 

 damaged. It cost three of us a full week's work to go over 20 

 acres of bearing vines, and when the job was done, about 5 

 acres presented a perfectly barren appearance, with only here 

 and there a green shoot or a few leaves left. My readers will 

 please bear in mind that all the frozen shoots had started 

 from the upper buds on the spurs as well as on the canes in 

 long pruned varieties. The varieties were Zinfandel, Chauche 

 Gris, Chauche Noir, Franken Riesling, Pedro Ximenes, 

 (Sauvignon Vert as known in this State), some Madeline 

 Angevine, Orleans Riesling, Mataro. Of these the Pedro 

 Ximenes and Mataro were only partly damaged, while the 

 others fared about alike. The vines remained in this almost 

 dormant condition for about a week, when the lower buds, 

 dormant so far on the spurs as well as the canes, commenced 

 to grow, and in about a week more they were all out in leaf, 



