128 Vineyard Culture. 



the confusion of their branches. And it is owing to 

 these facts, that high-trained vines have proved almost 

 entirely barren for several years past. 



In short, we think that if the strips of land occupied 

 by these high-trained vines, were reduced to one single 

 patch, and planted with an equal number of average- 

 sized or low vines, a crop might be obtained which, by 

 its quantity and quality, would yield a larger net cash 

 profit than the one obtained from the high vines, and 

 other crops raised with them. We, therefore, can not 

 recommend this mode of cultivation. 



[In this country, perhaps we have erred in attempting to 

 dwarf and cramp our vigorous native grapes, by forcing them 

 to keep within the narrow limits of our crowded vineyards. 

 This has been obviated in the later plantings of grapes, which 

 have greater space allowed to each vine ; but we still trim se- 

 verely, and think we find our advantage in this practice. 



The opposite plan of long pruning has been pertinaciously 

 preached to us by certain theorists, who claim, among other 

 advantages, that they would escape the rot and mildew, by avoid- 

 ing the system of severe pruning, which they assume to be the 

 leading cause of these disasters in our vineyards, overlooking the 

 fact that some of the wild grapes, which reached the tops of our 

 forest-trees, were affected with the same trouble. Our author 

 informs us that the oidium has destroyed the fruit of these 

 high-trained vines in Italy.] 



2d. Average-sized Vines. In this group, the frame- 

 work of the plants is of such a size that the fruit-bear- 

 ing stems, each year, shoot out at a hight of from 

 fifteen to forty inches from the ground. The frame of 

 the plant must be developed proportionately to the vigor 

 of the variety. This being the proper hight for vigor- 



