TIME TO PRUXE V1KES. 



if it is a vigorous grower and a shy bearer, then prune 

 late. That pruning the vine at different periods pro- 

 duces a different result is no doubt true, but it is diffi- 

 cult to determine just how much difference it makes, 

 because no two vines in the vineyard will grow two suc- 

 cessive seasons with exactly the same vigor, even if they 

 are pruned at the same time both years. 



Pruning and Training. Having endeavored, in 

 the preceding pages, to give the necessary details for 

 laying the foundation of successful grape culture, we 

 will now consider the best method of building up and 

 completing the structure. No matter how thoroughly 

 this foundation has been laid, or how congenial are all 

 the surroundings, unless we practice a system of pruning 

 and training that harmonizes with the known laws that 

 govern the growth of the vine, all the care that has been 

 or may be bestowed upon it will not bring bountiful 

 crops, or insure us against a partial, if not a total fail- 

 ure. The success of grape culture in this country de- 

 pends almost entirely upon a general diffusion of practi- 

 cal information relative to pruning and training. 



There is certainly much depending upon the adapta- 

 tion of varieties to different localities, as well as the 

 mode of culture adopted ; but these points seem to be 

 better understood than pruning and training, as infor- 

 mation relative thereto is easily conveyed through the 

 ordinary mediums for reaching the public. The interest 

 manifested at the present time in grape culture owes its 

 origin, in a great measure, to the fact that with the 

 introduction of new native varieties of superior merit, 

 the attempt to cultivate foreign varieties in the open air 

 has been discontinued, thereby removing one great cause 

 of failure. Many persons who experienced failure from 

 this cause pronounce all attempts at grape culture in 

 this country to be useless. Another class of cultivators, 

 having escaped the foreign grape fever, have caught the 



