JiAlL, WINDS, FIRE-BLlGH'f . 57 



to their intensity, and to the period when they take place. 

 They frequently diminish and even annihilate all prospect of 

 the year's crop ; but it is only when very destructive and very 

 late, that they injure those of after years. When the young 

 shoots perish entirely, those which replace them produce little 

 or no fruit ; but great care should be taken of them, in order 

 that their abundance of leaves may repair by autumn the in- 

 jury sustained by the roots in the spring-. There are some 

 vignerons who, from experience, do not touch the vines so situ- 

 ated during summer, a course recommended both by theory 

 and practice, but this is not to be understood as forbidding the 

 pruning of the shoots frosted in the spring, an operation indis- 

 pensably necessary immediately after the occurrence, and in 

 doing which Olivier recommends that the shoots which are 

 very much injured by the frost had better be cut close to the old 

 wood. 



Hail, winds, Jire-blight, $c. 



Next to frost, hail causes most injury to the vine. Its ef- 

 fects are felt in various ways : it tears the leaves, and prevents 

 them fulfilling their operations, injures the young shoots, and 

 thereby causes a loss of sap ; it breaks the skin of the grapes, 

 which, when they are yet green, prevents their growth, and 

 when ripe, causes a loss of the juice. It is considered as 

 generally advisable where vines are injured by hail, to prune 

 shorter or to leave fewer branches to the vine, so that the 

 plants may regain their strength the ensuing year. 



Winds have also a great effect upon the vine ; the dry east 

 winds, the cold north winds* and the rainy winds of the south- 

 west, are equally injurious at the several stages of its growth, 

 and particularly so at the period of flowering, and at the ap- 

 proach of the fruit to maturity. Violent gales break down 

 the poles, tear the foliage, &c. No rules can be prescribed on 

 this subject, as they vary according to climate and situation. 

 There are certain localities, however, which are more exposed 

 than others to storms, and planting vineyards in such places 



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