ON THE PRUNING OF VINES. 79 



nually making many scores of amputations in a vine, 

 therefore, the energies of the roots become paralyzed, 

 and the eftbrts which nature is compelled to make for 

 self-preservation are such as to affect, to a considera- 

 ble extent, the vital powers of the plant. 



Thirdly, by adopting the spur system in the pru- 

 ning of a vine, the old branches must be retained, be- 

 cause it is on these that the spurs are formed. These 

 branches being annually lengthened, and new spurs 

 created at their extremities, while the former spurs 

 become longer and more naked every year, the vine 

 in a {^"^ years contains an immense assemblage of old 

 naked limbs, presenting the most unsightly appearance 

 imaginable, and occupying the surface of the wall to 

 the entire exclusion of young bearing-shoots. The 

 disadvantages of retaining old wood having been al- 

 ready pointed out, it is only necessary further to ob- 

 serve, that these disadvantages are produced to the 

 greatest possible extent by spur pruning. 



For the foregoing reasons, therefore, this method 

 may be considered the most objectionable that can be 

 adopted in the pruning of vines on open walls. It 

 may perhaps be practised with success on vines under 

 glass, and also in warmer climates, because in such 

 cases the sap being far more highly elaborated, will 

 produce fruit from the buds seated at the bases of the 

 spurs. Such spurs, therefore, need not be more than 

 from half an inch to an inch in length, and they may 

 with ease be retained for several successive years 

 without becoming much longer. The results of spur 

 pruning under such circumstances, are very different 

 from those which follow that method, when practised 

 on vines trained on open walls in this country. 



Long jw lining. 'I'his method consists in obtaining 

 all the fruit of a vine from a few shoots, trained at full 

 length, instead of from a great number of spurs or 

 short shoots. To provide these shoots, the former 

 bearers are cut down to very short spurs at the au- 

 tumnal pruning, and at the same time, a sufficient 

 number of shoots are left at whole length to produce 



