V I 



produced upon Shoots, which come 

 out from the Buds of the lad Year's 

 Wood, fo that is always upon the 

 fame Year's Shoots. The Method 

 commonly pra6lis'ci by the Gar- 

 deners in Englandy is, to fhorten 

 the Branches of the former Years 

 Growth, down to three or tour 

 Eyes, at the Time of pruning; tho' 

 there are fbme Perfbns who leave 

 thele Shoots four or five Eyes long, 

 and affirm, that by this Practice they 

 obtain a greater Quantity of Fruit: 

 But this is very wrong, fince it is 

 impoflible that one Root can nou- 

 rifh forty or fifty Bunche^i of Grapes, 

 fo well as it can ten or twelve 5 

 fb that what is gotten in Number 

 is loft in their Magnitude j belides, 

 the greater Quantity of Fruit there 

 is left on Vinesy the later they 

 are ripen'd, and their Juice is not 

 ib rich. And this is well known 

 in the. Wine Countries, where there 

 are Laws enadlcd, to diredl the 

 Quantity of Shoots, and the Num- 

 ber of Eyes that thofe are to have 

 upon each Root, left by over-bear- 

 ing them, they not only exhauft 

 and weaken the Roots, but thereby 

 render the Juice weak, and fo de- 

 ftroy the Reputation of their Wine. 



Wherefore, the beft Method is, 

 to leave their Bearing-Shoots about 

 four Eyes in Length, (becaufe the 

 iowermoft never produce) and three 

 Buds are fufficient, for each oi thefe 

 will produce two or three Bunches i 

 fo that from each of thofe Shoots 

 there may be expelled fix or eight 

 Bunches, which is a fufiicient Quan- 

 tity. Thefe Shoots muft be laid in 

 about eighteen Inches afunder, for 

 if they are clofer, when the Side- 

 Shoots are produced, there will not 

 te Room enough to train them in 

 againft the Wail, which fnould al- 

 v^ays be observed ; and as their 

 Leaves are very large, fothe Branches 



V I 



fliould be left at a proportionable 

 Diftance, that they may not crowd 

 or fliade each other. 



In Pruning, you fhould always 

 obferve to make the Cut juft above 

 an Eye, (Toping it backward from 

 it, that if it fliould bleed, the Sap 

 might not flow upon the Bud : 

 And where there is an Opportunity 

 ot cutting down fome young Shoots 

 to two Eyes, in order to produce 

 vigorous Shoots for the next Year's 

 Bearing, it fliould always be done ; 

 becaule in ftopping of thofe Shoots 

 which have Fruit upon them in May, 

 it often fpoils the Eyes for Bearing ; 

 and this referving of new Wood, 

 is what the Vignerons abroad do 

 always pradife m their Vineyards. 

 The beft Seafon for pruning o^ Vines 

 is the End of September, or the Be- 

 ginning of oaobery for the Reafons 

 before laid down. 



The latter End of April, or the 

 Beginning of May, when the Vines 

 begin to fhoot, you muft carefully 

 look them over, rubbing off all 

 fmall Buds which may come from 

 the old Wood, which do only pro- 

 duce weak dangling Branches; as 

 alio when two Shoots are produc'd 

 from the fame Bud, the weakeft of 

 them ftiould be difplaced, which will 

 caufe the others to be the ftronger; 

 and the fooner this is done, the 

 better it is for the Vines. 



In the Middle of May, you muft 

 go over them again, rubbing off 

 all the dangling Shoots as before, 

 and at the fame Time you muft nail 

 up all the ftrong Branches, fo that 

 they may not hang from the Wall; 

 for if their Shoots hang down, their 

 Leaves will be turn'd the wrong 

 Way; which when the Shoots are 

 afterwards naiFd upright, will have 

 their back Surface upward ; and 

 until the Leaves are turn'd again, 

 and have taivcn their right Diredion^ 



the 



