MY VINEYARD. 119 



been to in taking care of me. But if lie had left me more 

 alone, and not cut and pinched me so much, I am sure I 

 should have been equally well gratified. Perhaps trials 

 and tribulations are necessary to the proper development of 

 character. It is at least a true philosophy of life to 

 count all afilictions as blessings in disguise. And if these 

 disguises, as sometimes happens, are so well put on that 

 the blessings are.not recognized, we must still exercise our 

 faith that they are there, and that all things are working 

 together for good. In the fall these two canes of mine 

 were shortened to four feet. 



The next spring, this was my third year in the vineyard, 

 they built a trellis of five wires attached to posts, so that 

 the lower wire was fourteen inches from the ground. On 

 this lower wire they fastened the two canes, in opposite 

 directions, and called them arms. And now what do you 

 think was done next? All of the buds on the underside 

 of the arms were rubbed ofl"; but from each of the buds 

 on the upj^er side a cane Avas allowed to grow, making six 

 canes on an arm. These canes were tied to the trellis as 

 they grew, and the laterals kept ^^I'etty well shortened in. 

 Feeling somewhat in the fruiting way, I produced one or 

 two bunches of fruit on each cane, about twenty in all ; 

 but I did not feel so proud of them as I had done of the 

 two bunches the previous year. At the fall pruning, the 

 gardener cut ofi" all the canes down to two buds. This 

 bit of cane which he left on he called a spur. And there 



