^7 



FRUITS. Ul 



drouth of summer, holds in absorption the rains and 

 dew, thus screening the earth from two extremes, heat 

 and drouth, lessening the danger from autumn frosts, 

 and promoting a full development and maturity of fruit.' , 



PRUNING AND TRAINING. 



" As to the right time for pruning vines in New Eng- 

 land, we have mostly come to the conclusion that early 

 winter is the best, say in the month of November, soon 

 after the falling of the leaves. 



Respecting the best method of pruning vines, opinion 

 is undergoing a decided change. The practice in 

 Europe of very close pruning has been followed in this 

 country by foreign vine dressers, without duly consid- 

 ering the difference of climate and the character of our 

 vines. Ours are indigenous, while the vines of Europe 

 were originally brought from Asia, some two thousand 

 years ago, and have been dwarfed by excessive pruning, 

 so that they will bear the loss of nearly all their tops 

 with comparative impunity, and submit to be planted in 

 hills about as thick as our Indian corn. But at last 

 they show the certain effects of long ill usage, in the 

 fatal oidium. or blight. 



As some portions of a vine naturally die out of them- 

 selves, each winter, would it not be well to follow the 

 hints of Nature in our practice ? As a general rule* 

 that system of pruning is best which shortens or thins 

 out a moderate portion of each season's growth, allow- 

 ing a gradual and uniform increase, and with a view to 

 check the tendency of the vines to bear fruit exclu- 

 sively on the extreme ends of the branches. But no 

 one system of pruning is adapted to every condition, 

 for something depends on the age of the vine, the 



