MANURING. , 287 



omitted, just at the place where that is generally made, the ob- 

 ject of both being to accomplish the same end in a greater or 

 less degree. On strong stool vines, where the shoots are very 

 vigorous, the incision is made on the fruit branch itself. 



The fact of incision forming an infallible preventive to the 

 blight, if executed skilfully and opportunely, is established on 

 the basis of numerous and repeated experiments, made on vines 

 subject to its effects. 



Viewing the operation however in application to entire 

 plantations of vines, it can only be pursued by causing the 

 more speedy exhaustion of the stocks they contain, and at the 

 sacrifice of the greater duration of the vineyards. The very 

 basis of this procedure proves conclusively the exhaustion 

 which must necessarily be produced in the lower section of the 

 shoot thus treated, as well as in the main stock, by the non-re- 

 turn of the sap ; and the consequent inappropriateness of its adop- 

 tion except where the branches operated upon, can be totally 

 dispensed with at the autumnal pruning, or be layered as perma- 

 nent pro vins, which latter course secures the great concentration 

 of sap in the upper part of the shoot, for after advantage and 

 profitable development. But in garden culture where the fruit 

 of each season is produced on branches brought forward the 

 preceding one, and where those that have produced fruit are 

 removed at the end of the same year, this course is less objec- 

 tionable, and its advantages may render it worthy of adoption. 

 In such case the highest fruit branches and those which pre- 

 sent the greatest show of clusters should be selected for the 

 operation ; and particular care be taken that the incision is 

 made above the shoots intended for forming new wood. One 

 of the most beneficial results of girdling, is that, by hastening 

 the maturity, it allows of open culture in climates where a suc- 

 cessful result in this respect could not otherwise be attained. 



Manuring. 



The vine possesses the faculty of seeking by its roots for a 

 great distance the sustenance it requires from the soil, and can 

 therefore subsist in the same spot an indeterminate number of 



