272 NEW AMERICAN ORCHARDTST. ( 



after the bloom is set, as soon as it reaches the cordon 

 next above it. This has the effect of momentarily sus- 

 pending the flow of sap in these shoots, and by that means 

 it accelerates their maturity, and renders them more ligne- 

 ous. It promotes the growth of the eyes, and is indis- 

 pensable for filling the lower eyes of the spurs on which 

 cultivators rely for the next year's crop ; pinching or stop- 

 ping the wood either prematurely or tardily is alike pro- 

 ductive of bad consequences. Weak shoots are pinched 

 sooner in proportion to their strength, but none are per- 

 mitted on any account to push beyond the cordon. Should 

 it appear that the shoots of the extremities of the cordons 

 [horizontal arms] impoverish those of the centre, the 

 former are pinched repeatedly, until the equilibrium is 

 restored. 



The season they generally prefer for the winter pruning, 

 is from the first of February to the first of March, before 

 the first movement of the sap takes place. The earliest 

 pruned vines are found to break first. The vignerons 

 avoid cutting close to the eyes, lest they might be injured 

 by the wood dying down to them, the wood of the vine, 

 from its spongy nature, not healing readily, and being liable 

 to decay at a wound. To guard against this, they always 

 cut midway between the eyes, sloping the cut to the oppo- 

 site side of the shoot, so that the eye may not be damaged 

 by its bleeding. 



When vines are planted at once close to a wall, and in 

 a level, deep border, and at an extended distance, they 

 absorb an immoderate degree of nourishment, which gives 

 rise to a rank and late vegetation, which retards the ripen- 

 ing of the fruit. At Thomery, the vines, being planted so 

 close, have a more limited range for food, and the numer- 

 ous roots produced by the frequent laying in of the stems, 

 occupy the sloping borders so fully as to prevent any re- 

 dundancy of moisture, and excess of nourishment ; all lux- 

 uriance is restrained ; by this means the branches complete 

 their growth within the bounds prescribed ; they are fur- 

 nished with short, well-ripened shoots, closely set with 

 bearing eyes, which, when the ground is well manured, 

 seldom fail to produce abundant crops. 



We admire, say Messrs. Poiteau and Vilmorin, as many 

 others do, those branches of the vine which are carried to 

 two hundred feet in length ; and we admit that there are 



