152 OPEN ALR GKAPE CULTUEE. 



wood the previous year, back to three or four eyes, 

 all weak shoots and dead wood bemg removed. 



Sir J. Paxton, in the " Gardener's Chronicle " for 

 1842, gives the following directions for pruning 

 vines on the spur system. The cut there given (Fig. 

 34) has been often reproduced, but in general it has 

 been so reduced that the character of the shoots is not 

 clearly seen : 



" It represents a portion of the vine 'when pruned 

 in autumn, on the spur system, w^ith short rods of 

 five or six eyes each, left at convenient intervals on 

 the oldest branches throughout the vine. The per- 

 pendicular main shoots sliould not be less than two 

 feet apart, and when pruning them no useless eyes 

 should be left, that is, no eye should be allowed to 

 remain but where a shoot is desired in the following 

 season. By attending to this, the vine will not have 

 to develop (as is usually the case), an immense quan^ 

 tity of superfluous branches ; and although the oj)e- 

 ration may appear a tedious one at the time of prun- 

 ing, an immense saving of labor and time may be 

 effected at a busier period in the spring, and the 

 quantity of fruit may be easier regulated in propor- 

 tion to the strength of the vine. If this is attended 

 to, nothing will be required in the summer but 

 securing the young fruit-bearing shoots to the wall, 

 and shortening them to one joint above the bunch 



