64 NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 



sap, when the loss of sap would be great, thereby impart- 

 ing the vigor of the plant, by what is called bleeding. 

 Pruning on the spur system consists in carving up one 

 leading shoot to the back of the house, establishing theron 

 what are termed spurs, at regular distances. About one 

 to every foot is sufficient. These spurs are first devel- 

 oped as side-shoots, and in order to insure their full develop- 

 ment, they are produced during about three seasons. A 

 good cane nearly the length of the roof, and about three- 

 quarters of an inch diameter, may be pruned to one-third 

 the rafter length the first year, another third the second 

 year, and the remainder the third year. By this plan sup- 

 posing a rafter 15 feet long, there will be about five large 

 bunches the first year, ten the second, and fifteen or more 

 the third year; and this will be found to tax the powers of the 

 vine rather severely. By this mode every side shoot will be 

 strongly developed, and consequently a selection may be made. 

 The subsequent pruning simply consists in cutting each of 

 these back annually to what has been termed the " spawn 

 eye " that is to say, the last eye at the base of the young 

 side-shoot, although some leave another eye. 



Ordinary pruning is such as is commonly practised on 

 outdoor vines trained against a house or fence, where the 

 leading shoots are carried almost at random, and at first 

 chiefly with a view to get the house or fence covered. Here 

 the pruner selects according to the character of the wood, 

 little heeding its situation ; reserving the short-jointed and 

 strong, and cutting away the weak. The shoots reserved are 

 shortened back with reference to the space they have to occupy, 

 say from three to six or eight eyes, as the case may be. 



In all pruning it is an axiom to cut an inch or so above 

 the eye or bud. 



The following varieties are the best for the following 

 purposes : For Early Grapes Black Hamburg, Black 

 Fontignan, Madresfield Court (also black) ; (white) Royal 

 Muscadine, Buckland's Sweetwater, Foster's White Seedling. 

 Middle Season Grapes (Black). Black Hamburg, Madres- 

 field Court. (White). Buckland's Sweetwater, Muscat of 

 Alexandria. Late Grapes. (Black) Black Alicante, Lady 

 Downes, Gros Guillaume. (White). Muscat of Alexandria, 

 Golden Queen, Calabrian Raisin. The Black Hamburg and 

 Muscat of Alexandria are the two best for general culture. 



