128 THE GEAPE CULTURIST. 



be subservient to them, the details in carrying out the 

 necessary forms may usually be varied without materially 

 affecting the final results. 



The vine is one of the most tractable of all known 

 fruit-bearing plants, and the easiest to control, although 

 possessing apparently such a wild and rambling nature. 



Its natural growth is upright, its tendrils furnish- 

 ing ample means to assist it in climbing ; and while it 

 remains in an upright position, the larger portion of the 

 forces of the plant are expended in producing a growth 

 of wood and leaves, while fruit is produced but sparingly. 



This fact we see illustrated in the wild vine ; for it 

 is not until it reaches a position where it can spread out 

 horizontally, that we find it producing abundant crops. 



We see the vine in the forest, spreading over and 

 enveloping like a mantle the towering oak, or covering 

 the low alder by the water side, its clusters of fruit hang- 

 ing in the shade beneath ; and from it we learn several 

 fundamental principles. 1st. That while the leaves 

 require a full exposure to the sun, the fruit ripens fully 

 without it. 2d. That while the vine grows upright it 

 produces its most vigorous growth of wood, but its fruit- 

 producing powers are not fully developed until it takes a 

 horizontal position. 3d. That fruit is produced most 

 abundantly upon the uppermost branches, and that it 

 makes no difference whether these upper branches are 

 on the tops of lofty trees or on the humble shrub. This 

 proves conclusively that it is not, as some cultivators 

 contend, the height that is necessary for the vine to 

 bear well ; for the fruit that is fifty feet from the earth 

 is no better than when it is at five, other circumstances 

 being equal. It only shows that the sap naturally presses 

 to the top and forces out fruit-bearing branches at that 

 point. I do not mean that the upper buds upon a one- 

 year-old cane will produce fruit, for this they will sel- 

 dom do, as they are not generally fruit buds ; but if the 



