THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 93 



spring may be mild or cool ; keep them in their horizontal 

 position, until the eyes have all pushed ; have a moist atmos- 

 phere, by sprinkhng the vines and the floor several times 

 every day. About the twentieth of April, or the first of 

 May, they will have pushed their buds so as to be all ready 

 to be put to the rods, or trellis. 



During the season, give air freely when the sun shines ; 

 shut up the windows towards night, as the sun recedes from 

 the house. The mercury should not rise above seventy-five, 

 until the blossom is over ; after that has passed, eighty or 

 ninety, at midday, will do no harm ; occasionally, wet the 

 floor of the house in the afternoon ; the inside border must be 

 watered as often as the roots of the vine require ; continue 

 this treatment for the season. As the grapes begin to color, be 

 cautious in watering, and, after they are fully colored, do not 

 give water at all until the grapes are all cut, leaving open some 

 of the hghts at night, unless there is danger of frost, or rain. 



About the last of May, the shoots will be from one to three 

 feet long ; train up the leading one the same as last year, and 

 cut back the others to one leaf beyond the bunch of fruit to 

 be retained for ripening ; the bunch nearest the cane is the 

 one usually left on for this purpose ;* cut off all the others ; 

 never leave more than one bunch on a spur, and cut away all 

 the fruit from every alternate spur ; when this is done, and 

 there is still more than eight good-sized bunches remaining, 

 reduce them to this number ; these will be quite enough for 

 the vhae to mature the first year of bearing ; if the bunches 

 are very large, you must cut off still more ; do not allow 

 over ten pounds of fruit to ripen on each vine ; they probably 

 will average not less than one pound to the bunch. 



Occasionally, it will be necessary to go over the vmes and 

 stop the laterals that push on the leading cane and on the 

 spurs, by cutting them back to one eye ; it will be found a 



* It sometimes happens, that a spur will have four or five bimches on the shoot, the 

 nearest one to the cane being at the second leaf; when this occurs, it is best to leave, 

 for ripening, the second bunch, cutting away the others. 



