144 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



March 



HORTICULTURE. 



PRUNING THE GRAPE. 



Our people are beginning to appreciate the va- 

 lue of the grape, both as an article of food, and 

 as affording a pure and Avholesome tonic for the 

 sick and infirm. As an ornament, also, in the 

 grounds about the house, it is scarcely excelled 

 by any of the plants which are sufficiently hardy 

 for our climate. There is great uncertainty in 

 the mind of many persons as to how and when 

 the grape vine should be pruned, and finding an 

 excellent article in the Country Gentleman on the 

 subject, we have incurred the expense of en- 

 graving the cuts annexed, in order to give prac- 

 tical illustrations of the mode of pruning and 

 training. These, with the explanations, will 

 make the whole so plain, that all may cultivate 

 the grape with a certainty of success. 



Fig. 1. — Portion of a grape vine in bearing, representing the bear- 

 ing branches, from the sides of a last year's vine. 



A correspondent at Southeast, N. Y., requests 

 a chapter on the pruniHg of the grape. He adds, 

 "I do not trim on the renewal system, and I find 

 that this year's shoots that are to be next year's 

 bearers, if kept without any trimming, fling out 

 such a profusion of side-shoots that they beoouK' 

 altogether too thick ; and by trimming tliem off. 

 the bud which should be left to grow next 

 spring, will grow this summer and proouce a crop 

 of grapes. I had grapes on such vines this yoai 

 that were about full grown when frost came. 1 

 cannot keep the vines thin enough without taking 

 off the side-shoots. I also wish to ask whether, 

 in grafting the vine, if we have little vines up, 

 shaill we graft them, and then set them out as we 

 do root-grafted apple trees, or must they l)u cut 

 off below the surface and be grafted when tliey 

 are growing?"' 



[Our experience suggests that, li taken up and 

 whip grafted, and then planted out, they arc sure 



to succeed ; cover the scion with earth up to the 

 topmost bud. — Ed. Farmer.] 



In compliance with the request of our corres- 

 pondent, and in reply to frequent inquiries, we 

 furnish a few hints on pruning the grape, which 

 we shall endeavor to make sufficiently plain by 

 reference to figures, that inexperienced cultiva- 

 tors may easily understand them. A well-pruned 

 vine will not only produce earlkr fruit, but it 

 will be larger, and incomparably superior than 

 on one left to straggle without care. 



There are two leading principles that should 

 be always observed in pruning the grape, what- 

 ever may be the particular mode adopted. The 

 first is, that the vine always hears the fruit on the 

 present yearns shoots, which have sprung from 

 buds on the previous year's growth, (Fig. 1.) — 

 Secondly, that tlie full growth and perfect ripen- 

 ing of the fruit depends wliolly on the healthy, 

 well developed leaves, which supply food to the 

 forming berries, and hence the growth must not 

 be allowed to become so thick that the leaves can- 

 not properly develop themselves, nor should the 

 vines be trimmed so closely that there shall not 

 be leaves enough ibr the perfection of the 

 fruit. These two facts must be always borne 

 in mind by those who would raise the best 

 grapes. These being understood, wo now pro- 

 ceed to the details of pruning. 



First Year. — When a vine is first procured 

 from the nursery in spring, it is usually fur- 

 nished with several irregular shoots of the 

 previous summer's growth, resembling Fig. 2. 

 These should be all closely pruned to tlie older 

 wood, leaving only the strongest, and this 

 should be cut back so as to leave but two or 

 three buds, (Fig. 3.) These buds will grow, 

 and when only a few inches in length, the 

 strongest shoot must be selected, and the oth- 

 ers rubbed off. This single shoot is allowed to 

 grow till about the first of autumn. After this 

 period, the new leaves and wood that are 

 formed, cannot mature perfectly, and their 

 growth will be in some degree at the expense 

 of the matter forming in the previous portion 

 of the shoot. Its growth should be therefore 

 stopped by pinching off the end. This will 

 assist in maturing and strengthening the vine. 

 Any side-shoots that appear during the sum- 

 mer, or any smaller shoots that happen to 

 spring up from the stump, should be kept rubbed 

 off as fast as they appear, as they withdraw and 

 divide the nourishment received from the roots. 



^tsAk 



Fig:. 2. — Vine as obtained from nur- 

 sery, with straggling shoots. 



Fis 



■ 3. — The same, pruned 

 when set out. 



Second Year. — The single strong shoot made 

 the first year, (Fig. 4,) should be cut' down to 

 three or four buds, only two shoots from which 

 should be allowed to grow, the others being rub- 

 bed off, and the lateral shoots, should any apjjear, 

 being removed as already described. The autum- 

 nal shortening of the two shoots as above stated 

 is also necessary. The judgment of the cultivator 



