OF THE VINE. 



35 



finest description of bearing- shoots within a reasonable 

 distance of their sterns, and always bring their fruit 

 to the highest degree of perfection which the climate 

 will permit, with a certainty which has never yet at. 

 tended the production of grapes on open walls in this 

 country. 



Scale of the greatest quantity of grapes which any vine can 

 perfectly mature, in proportion to the circumference of its 

 stem, measured just above the ground : 



Cir. Ibs. Cir. Jbs 



3 inches - - 5 7 inches - - 45 

 31 ditto - - 10 71 ditto - - 50 



4 ditto . . 15 8 ditto - - 55 

 41 ditto - - 20 81 ditto . - 60 



5 ditto - - 25 9 ditto - - 65 

 51 ditto - - 30 91 ditto - - 70 

 6~ ditto - - 35 10" ditto - - 75 

 61 ditto - - 40 



It will be seen, that if 2 inches be deducted from 

 the circumference of the stem of any vine, the capa- 

 bility of it will be equal to the maturation of ten 

 pounds of grapes for every remaining inch of girth. 

 The proportionate quantity for fractional parts of an 

 inch may be easily calculated. 



The circumference of the largest stem in this scale 

 is ten inches, beyond which size I have had no oppor- 

 tunity of selecting a sufficient number of vines to 

 enable me to carry the experiments further in a satis- 

 factory manner. I have, however, at various times, 

 examined a great many vines about that size, and have 

 estimated the weight of their respective crops at the 

 vintage, and when the whole crop borne by any vine 

 has been perfectly matured, and a good supply of fine 

 vigorous shoots for future bearing-wood produced sim- 



^So? 

 .- n ** 



