The Management of Young Wines. 



287 



the Cordifolia class. They will also 

 bear better oa spurs on laterals than 

 on main canes, but do not produce 

 their best or handsomest fruit until 

 they can be " spurred in " on old arms. 

 For this purpose select for your spurs 

 only strong, well ripened shoots, cut 

 out all the small and imperfect ones, 

 and cut those back two to three eyes 

 each. You ma}- leave the same num- 

 ber of buds, say from thirty to fifty, 

 according to the strength of your 

 vine, and always bear in mind that 

 3'ou can reduce the number of bunches 

 when summer pruning. 



A third class produces readily and 

 abundantly from the main canes. These 

 comprise the varieties which do not 

 grow verj^ strong — the Alvey, Cassady, 

 Creveling, Catawba, Delaware, Ion a, 

 and Eebecea. They will produce best 

 on short canes of sa}' six to eight 

 ej'es, and the old renewal plan may 

 be as good as any for them. From 

 twelve to twenty-four buds are gen- 

 erally enough for a vine. The num- 

 ber must again vary with strength 

 and age. There is much more dan- 



ger of overtasking this class than 

 both of the others, and they should 

 never be allowed to bear too much. 



Do not prune too close to the bud, 

 as it is then apt to be injured by the 

 cold. Leave from one and a half to 

 two inches of wood above the eye. 

 Old, dilapidated arms or stubs should 

 be cut out clean and close, and if the 

 Avound is too large, it may be covered 

 with grafting wax or shellac. 



The rules, of course, will not apply 

 in all cases, and may be modified ac- 

 cording to circumstances. For in- 

 stance, if you have no suitable young 

 canes with laterals on vines of the first 

 olass, they will also bear well on 

 healthy arms of old wood, as recom- 

 mended for the second class, and vice 

 versa. The intelligent vintner will soon 

 learn how far they are applicable. Nor 

 do we pretend to assert that there are 

 not other methods equally well adapted 

 — perhaps better — than ours. We 

 should be glad to have this subject, 

 fully discussed in our columns, and 

 hope our readers will give us their- 

 views freely about it. Editor. 



THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG WINES. 



If left on the husks in the ferment- 

 ing vats, these should be closed air- 

 tight as soon as fermentation has 

 ceased. This can be done by nailing 

 strips of cloth on the rim of the vat; 

 then screw down the cover, and close 

 the whole with tallow. If pressed 

 and put in casks, they need not be 

 completely filled until violent fermen- 

 tation is over; then fill with wine 

 kept for that purpose, up to the bung. 



and when the wine has become per- 

 fectly quiet, drive the bung perfectly 

 tight. In December the wine should 

 be clear, and should then be racked 

 off in clean casks, well fumigated with 

 sulphur. 



In racking wine, do not quite open 

 the faucet, so that the wine, in run- 

 ning, will make a circle, and thus 

 come into contact with the air. This, 

 and frequent rackings, will do much 



