GROWING FROM SEED. 19 



slightly from the sudden changes in winter. The follow- 

 ing spring remove the covering and give the vines a top- 

 dressing of manure, and work it in with the hoe during 

 the summer. The vine should be allowed to make only 

 a single shoot this (the third) season, and if healthy and 

 vigorous, it will make a growth of ten to fifteen feet if 

 not checked ; but if allowed to grow unchecked, it would 

 necessitate very long and stout stakes, besides the trouble 

 of keeping them tied. It is best not to allow them to 

 grow so long, but pinch off the tops when they have 

 grown five or six feet high, and when they start again 

 and have grown a foot or more, check them again ; also 

 pinch off the ends of all the side shoots, or laterals, as 

 they are termed ; this concentrates the strength of the 

 vine, and hastens its maturity. 



The vines are now three years old, and we may 

 begin to look for fruit next season, if they have not 

 already shown it upon some of the strongest. But to 

 be sure of getting a strong growth next season, we should 

 prune the vines back to two feet, and allow but two 

 shoots to grow; and further, they are more likely to 

 produce fruit from the lower than the upper buds, par- 

 ticularly if cut back. 



This cuUfog back may be deferred until the last of 

 February, r^'jcss it is desirable to cover the vines again, 

 which it \z not, unless the climate is so severe that it is 

 not expeiied tney TV ill ever withstand the winter. In 

 the vicinity of New York I would not cover seedlings 

 after the second season. 



We have now followed our grape seedlings until 

 they are four years old ; they should now be kept pruned 

 pretty short, say to two or three buds of the previous 

 season's growth, every season until they have fruited, 

 and then select those that promise well and discard the 

 others. If cuttings or layers are taken from the seed- 

 lings, they will often produce fruit before the parent 



