VINEYARDS. 



57 



to start, the lower one will take its place, but otherwise 

 the latter will be rubbed off. One of the best of the base 

 buds which were only partially developed the autumn 

 previous, will be permitted to grow, while all the others 

 are to be rubbed off. Both these shoots will be tied to 

 the wire immediately above, and pinched off the same 

 as the past season. That portion of the arm which 

 grew the past summer, will form spurs precisely as the 

 first portion has already done. In the autumn of 1865 

 the old upright spur, with the shoot that has grown 

 from its top bud, bearing fruit, will be cut entirely away, 

 leaving only the shoot that grows from the bud at the 

 base, and that shoot, or spur as it will then be, will be 

 cut back, leaving but two buds as before. The spurs 

 on the end of the arm, are to be pruned in the same 

 manner, and then the vine is fully established, the same 

 course of pruning and training being followed out year 

 after year. 



My reasons for adopting this method and its advan- 

 tages over others, I will endeavor to give briefly. It is 

 very well known that whoever plants a grape vine in a 

 fair soil, gets, the third, fourth and fifth year 5 one or 

 two very fine crops, but after this time the fruit depre- 

 ciates in size and quantity, and although the vine may 

 be sufficiently vigorous, the crop seldom equals that of 

 its earlier years. The reason I conceive to be this : 

 When a vine is three or four years old it makes a growth 

 of wood, varying from two to ten or more feet in length 

 on the different shoots. The best fruit buds are some- 

 where near the centre of these shoots. Everybody 

 knows that it is common practice to prune grape vines 

 every winter, but without a thought of the why, one 

 cuts one way and one another. The usual plan is to 



