134 ON THE PLANTING OF VINES 



the branches commence, may be termed the fruiting 

 point, as 6, fig. 8. It may also be remarked, that it is 

 not of important consequence, to what distance from 

 the ground the stem of a vine extends, and at which 

 the fruiting point commences; whether it be one foot, 

 ten feet, or twenty feet. It is better, without doubt, 

 to have a short stem rather than a long one, because 

 the latter annually requires for its support a greater 

 quantity of the elaborated juice of the plant than the 

 former, but where local circumstances prevent a vine 

 from being trained on a short stem, it must, of neces- 

 sity, be trained on a long one. 



Vines that are planted against any description of 

 walls that bound public thoroughfares, ought always 

 to have their bearing branches trained at such a 

 height from the ground, as shall put it out of the 

 power of mischievous persons to injure the foliage, or 

 to gather the fruit. For these reasons, a vine that is 

 to be planted in such a situation must, previously to 

 its removal thither, have the full height of its stem 

 already formed. It is necessary, also, that the latter, 

 as soon as the vine is planted, should be protected 

 from injury, by being, up to a sufficient height, en- 

 closed within a permanent covering. A vine, there- 

 fore, that is suitable for this purpose, must have a 

 stem that measures not less than two inches in cir- 

 cumference when removed, w^hich, if growing in good 

 ground, will be the size of one about three years old. 

 In the ordinary course of transplanting, a vine of such 

 a size w^ould be too large, on account of the severe 

 check in its growth which the removal of it would 

 occasion, but in the present case, it is indispensable, 

 for the reasons before-mentioned, that the stem should 

 have attained that size before the vine is transplanted. 



To procure a vine with a stem of this description 

 already formed, a strong and healthy plant, the prin- 

 cipal shoot of which is not less than seven-eighths of 

 an inch in circumference at the bottom, must be 

 selected hi the nursery one entire season before its 

 removal. It should be growing against a wall sufli- 



