196 



THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



Still another method of spur-pruning, when the object is 

 large bunches, as above, is to have four or five spurs only, on 



each side of the cane, fruiting, 

 each year, the alternate spur ; the 

 cane on every other spur is to be 

 pruned back to one eye, and the 

 alternate cane to two or three 

 feet, and five or six bunches al- 

 lowed to ripen on each ; the cane 

 which ripened the crop the first 

 year, must now, at the fall prun- 

 ing, be cut back to one eye, and 

 the cane which is to fruit the com- 

 ing season, should be pruned to 

 two or three feet. 



These are several of the most 

 approved and generally adopted 

 systems of training the grape. 

 Whatever method is used, should 

 be persevered in for several years ; 

 constantly changing from one sys- 

 tem to another is bad, and the re- 

 sult will be unsatisfactory. 



If the border has been well 

 made, and the vines have never 

 been over-cropped, and the tem- 

 perature of the house, with the 

 thinning of the berries, and sum- 

 mer pruning of the shoots, have 

 been properly attended to, crops 

 of fine grapes can be had from 

 vines pruned in any of the meth- 

 ods described. The plan recom- 

 mended and adopted by myself, is 

 considered the most simple, and 



a, are the fruiting spurs. 



b, the spurs on which the shoots 

 are growing for the next year. 



the one taxmg the vine the least of any to ripen additional 



