Notes and Gleanings. 231 



growing vine without injury ? that we can, whilst a vine is in full growth, with 

 impunity cut through scores of fruit-bearing branches almost as thick as a 

 man's little finger, and the plant not feel any ill effects ? that roots growing rap- 

 idly will receive no check ? that roots thus checked, particularly if the sort be a 

 weak grower, will receive no permanent injury ? 



I believe it only requires attention td be directed to the subject to see the 

 absurdity of the practice. Let us next see what takes place where vines are 

 properly attended to. 



The shoots are stopped, as in the other case, as soon as one good leaf is 

 formed above the bunch of flowers. This checks the sap, and diverts it to the 

 fruit. The strongest shoots soon recommence growing ; and, when two leaves 

 are formed, the point of the shoot is taken out with the thumb-nail. There is 

 no loss of foliage in this case. The weaker shoots take advantage of the check 

 their more robust fellows have received, and are in turn treated in the same 

 manner. The sap is thus equalized, and no useless fohage is formed merely to 

 be removed. This treatment is a gradual one, spread over the whole time a vine 

 is growing, and not the work of one day. The plant, as a whole, receives no 

 check. 



Again : some vines are not allowed to carry foliage at all in proportion to the 

 fruit expected from them. Can they, under these circumstances, make healthy 

 roots ? Some of your readers will ask, " Did you ever see Barbarossa or Black 

 AHcante made to shank by such pruning.-"' I answer, "No; but I have seen 

 them reduced to barrenness by it." 



Having thought long on this subject, I have observed closely the conditions 

 under which shanking has occurred, and in some cases have been able to pre- 

 dict it a year beforehand ; and I am more than ever convinced that the mode of 

 management pointed out is its most prolific source. — y. R. Pearson in Cottage 

 Gardener. 



Grapes shanking and spotting. — Grapes shank owing to two causes ; 

 viz., a deficiency of sap, and vitiated sap. 



\?X, Deficiency of Sap. — This may result from the great disparity between 

 the temperature of the ground in which the roots are situated and that of the 

 house where the foliage and fruit are. In the case of outside borders, there is 

 very often a difference of ten degrees between the mean temperature of the house 

 and that of the border : and in a hot, dry day, the leaves and fruit will throw off 

 moisture rapidly ; but, the roots furnishing sap slowly, too little will be pumped 

 up to meet the requirements of the expanding fruit. The footstalks of the berries 

 will therefore shrivel, or become ulcerated ; and a complete stoppage of the com- 

 munication between the roots and the berries will be the consequence, ending in 

 the shrivelling of the berries thus cut off from further supplies of sap. Shank- 

 ing may, therefore, be the effect of the roots not furnishing sap in sufficient 

 quantity for the demands of the expanding fruit, through the disparity between 

 the temperature of the ground and that of the air : and yet that, in all cases, will 

 not cause shanking ; for the condition of the roots may be such, that they will 

 supply sap fast enough, or there may be enough stored up in the stems to meet 



