130 THE GRAPE CULTURIST. 



must prune them longer than those which have been 

 summer pruned. 



The foregoing are the main principles to be observed 

 in pruning and training; but there are minor points 

 also to be considered, because they are not only import- 

 ant, but are facts that have been proven to be well 

 founded by long and careful experiments. These points 

 will be noticed when I reach that part of the subject 

 where they are particularly applicable. 



The following system of pruning an.d training was 

 selected when writing the first edition of this work, 

 because it was old, well established and perfectly practi- 

 cable, and it seems to harmonize with the general devel- 

 opment of the vine, and does not unnecessarily dwarf it, 

 but keeps it perfectly under the control of the vineyard- 

 ist, so that he can develop the fruit-bearing powers and 

 check the excess in the growth of wood, and so distrib- 

 ute the fruit that no one part of the vine produces more 

 than another. It is not a new system, but its main 

 features, wnich are the horizontal arms, and pruning 

 the young wood to short spurs, have been in uninter- 

 rupted use in French vineyards for at least one hundred 

 and fifty years. 



It is true that some of my critics have called it a 

 "fancy system," and even accused me of drawing wholly 

 upon imagination for illustrations, although the larger 

 part of these were made from living vines then growing 

 in my grounds on Long Island. Grape culture has 

 changed somewhat during the past thirty years, and it 

 is quite probable that the vineyardist of to-day cannot 

 afford to give as much time and labor to the training of 

 his vines, with grapes at from three to six cents per 

 pound, as when they would readily sell at three or four 

 times this price. But the value of the product does not 

 affect the principles of vine growth, and when the nov- 

 ice, or even experienced vineyardist, understands these 



