TIME TO PRUNE VINES. 155 



next, and so on throughout. In laying them down, one 

 person should hold down the vine while another covers 

 it, and as the vine has to be bent only one-half the dis- 

 tance that it would to be trained upright, there is no 

 difficulty in laying it down quite flat. No straw or any 

 similar material should be used in covering the vines, as 

 it only furnishes a harbor for mice. 



If the soil is so wet and heavy that there is danger 

 of injury to the buds, a little sand should be put on next 

 to the vine before the earth is put on. The buds will 

 not be injured in any ordinary dry soil, provided the 

 vines are not covered until the ground becomes cool, and 

 are not allowed to remain in the ground too late in 

 spring. 



The three systems that have been described are the 

 same in principle, only the details are varied to suit dif- 

 ferent circumstances, and these details may be varied 

 indefinitely, so long as we do not undermine the founda- 

 tion upon which the structure is built. 



Wherever a variety is grown that is naturally unpro- 

 ductive, or one that produces so small a bunch or berry 

 that it does not exhaust the vine in the same proportion 

 that the larger varieties do, then one of the canes may 

 be pruned a little longer, say four to six buds, it being 

 at the same time bent over at an angle, so that the lower 

 bud will be forced to produce a strong cane for another 

 year. These modifications, to suit different varieties 

 and circumstances, will suggest themselves to the vine- 

 yardist, if he will think as he works. It is impossible 

 to point out every phase which the different cases will 

 assume, particularly when there are so many varieties 

 under cultivation, each of which has its own peculiarity 

 of growth. 



