FOREIGN GRAPES, 191 



laid in, or cut back to two or three feet long for fruiting ] one 

 shoot to be trained without fruit for the next year's crop. 

 There may be on the vine four shoots, or the number required, 

 one-half of which lay in to fruit every year, and cut back the 

 other half for fruiting the following season. This is termed 

 the lo?ig- cane system^- and is the one we recommend. 



Spur System of Pru7iing^ which is exceedingly simple in de- 

 tail and practice, and the largest crops of Grapes we have ever 

 seen, were from vines trained on this mode. It is as follows : 

 A.II0W one shoot to extend from the plant, the whole height of 

 the house. If every thing is in good order, this shoot will be 

 at least three inches round. If under, there is a deficiency ; cut 

 it back, and give it another year's gro^vth. If over it, the vines 

 are loo strong, cut this shoot to about four feet of the old wood ; 

 from the sides of this stem, young shoots or spurs push forth, 

 which bear fruit. Take only on« buneh from eaeh, and stop 

 the growth two eyos above the bunches. At each Winter 

 pruning, these spurs are cut back, leaving two or three eyes 

 to each. These again send out other spurs ; take one bunch 

 from each, and so continue from year to year, and you will have 

 fruit in great abundance, though not so fine as on the former 

 juetliod.* Many err in this system in taking two bunches of 

 fruit from each eye, instead of one only. Winter pruning 

 sliould always be done as soon as the leaves have fallen, other- 

 wise the vine is deprived of matter which would have been 



. * Since tke above was prepared for the press, we have had an inter- 

 view with one of the best grape-growers under glass, in the country, 

 at whose Grapery, last year, we saw fruit of the finest quality, in regard to 

 color, size, and flavor. He adopts both methods of pruning, but greatly 

 prelers the cane training as being most simple — the vine having only 

 one or two wounds made on it, the fruit swelling faster, coloring better, 

 and maturing two weeks before that of the spur pruning, where the com- 

 parison was fair; being without fire heat. He also syringes his vines 

 freely, till the fruit is about the size of peas, and never afterwards. He 

 never saw red-spider on his vines, and very rarely mildew. Observe 

 that all our remarks apply to grape houses without artificial heat. 

 



