VINE. $t 



from drying. After this no more trouble is necessary than to keep 

 the ground clear from weeds, and to nail up the shoot as it grows, 

 to the wall, rubbing oft* the side shoots. The Michaelmas following, 

 if the cuttings have produced strong shoots, they should be pruned 

 down to two eyes In the spring following the ground is carefully 

 to be dug up about the shoots, and the stalks to be earthed up to 

 the first eye. During the summer all the lateral shoots must be 

 rubbed off as tltey appear, and only the two from the two eyes 

 which were left must be encouraged ; these, as they grow, are to 

 be nailed up against the wall; and in the middle of July they 

 should be shortened, by nipping off their tops, and this will great ly 

 strengthen the shoot. At the Michaelmas following these should 

 he pruned, leaving them each three eyes, it" strong; but if weakly, 

 only two. The next summer there will be two shoots from each 

 shoot of the last year's wood ; but if there should be two from one 

 eye, which is sometimes the case, the weaker is to be rubbed off. 

 At Midsummer the ends of the shoots are to be pinched off as be- 

 fore; all the weak lateral shoots are to be displaced, as in the pre- 

 ceding summer. And the whole management is to be the same. 

 This is all the culture necessary to young vines. 



As to the management of grown vines, it is to be observed, that 

 these rarely produce any bearing shoots from wood that is more 

 than one year old ; the great care must therefore be always to have 

 plenty of this wood in every part of the tree. The bearing shoots 

 for the following year should be left at the pruning with four eyes 

 each. The under one of these does not bear, and consequently 

 there are only three which do. Many leave more eyes on the 

 shoots, that they may have more fruit, which is the consequence ; 

 but then the fruit is much poorer ; and this is so well known in the 

 wine countries, that there are laws to direct that no more than such 

 a number of eyes are to be left on each shoot, for the grapes would 

 else be of a poor juice, and destroy the reputation of their wine. 

 Each of the three eyes left will produce two or three bunches; so that 

 each shoot will give six or nine bunches, which is as much as it can 

 bring to any perfection. The shoots must be laid in at about eigh- 

 teen inches asunder against the wall ; for if they are closer, when 

 the side-shoots are produced there will be no room to train them 

 in upon the wall ; and the largeness of the leaves of the vine 



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