354 Summer- P nuiiiig of the Gi'ape. 



of vines, we must remember the necessity of keeping the plant in due 

 shape as to its wood, and that we desire to have this properly distributed. 

 We want the new growth, which goes to form the canes for the next year's 

 fruitage, formed low down on the stock, and not at the ends or higher parts 

 of the vine, which would soon give us high, naked stocks, and bare, empty 

 trellises, such as may ever}^where be seen, — striking witnesses of the igno- 

 rance of Nature's laws as illustrated in the vine. 



No intelligent cultivator need be told, that when a vine is tied up to a 

 stake, or trained vertically upon a trellis, the terminal or upper buds will 

 break the most vigorously ; and if let alone, and allowed to grow upward, 

 they will maintain their ascendency throughout the season. This is often 

 at the expense of those starting from a lower point, which were expected 

 and desired to be the stronger, so as to produce the wood for the annual 

 renewal of the vine. The same thing is true of vines trained upon the 

 bow system, especially if the binding have been done too early in the sea- 

 son : the object of the bow being to distribute the nourishment equally to 

 the different parts of the vine. The binding should not be done till the 

 sap has started towards the upper buds, and they have received an im- 

 pulse. If they are then brought down to a lower position, they are subordi- 

 nated ; and other buds at the upper bend become the highest, and thus 

 produce the stronger shoots. In the mean time, those springing from the 

 spur for renewal-canes can get the desired start ; and the pinching now to 

 be described is intended to favor their growth. In trellis-training, for 

 the same reason, the canes should be allowed to hang loose until after the 

 starting of the sap, so that advantage may be taken of the condition of the 

 leading buds, and we can subordinate those that are likely to receive too 

 much nourishment. 



Do what we may, however, whether our vines be trained in one method 

 or another, and despite all our forethought and care and management, the 

 higher shoots will often become leaders at the expense of those we are 

 endeavoring to produce from the spur, upon the principle of renewing by 

 canes from below, and thus keeping the vine in good shape. Here, then, 

 the pinching becomes an agency of the greatest, value to the vine-pmner ; 

 for, by the removal of the tips of these strong shoots, he may succeed in 

 so directing the flow of sap as to develop the growth of those he desires to 

 produce for the future crop, and which are suitably placed upon the vine. 



