120 



Vineyard Culture. 



varies in different localities. Figure 24 represents the 

 pruning bill of Medoc. It is about six inches long; its 

 back is sufficiently blunt at B, to allow of its being 

 touched without wounding, while the portion A, is 

 sharp. In other places the bill is of the shape repre- 

 sented by Figure 25. It is about eight inches long, and 

 is cutting at C and D. In the northern portions of the 



[Fie. 24.] Medoc Bill [Fie. 25.] 



fbr Pruning Vines. ing- Bill. 



vine regions, where the plants are smaller, the pruning- 

 knife, Figure 26, is used. Nevertheless, for some years 

 past, the substitution of the pruning-shears [Fig. 27], 

 invented about a century ago, by the Marquis Bertrand 

 dc Molleville, has been attempted. The pruning-shears 

 [Fig. 27] is composed of two limbs crossing each other 

 near the forward part, one of which terminates in a 

 rounded blade, while the extremity of the other forms 

 a hook, with a thick projection, under which the blade 

 slides. The two limbs are kept open by a spring. 



