120 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



parching winds will be much reduced, if the vines are 

 near the ground. Is the state of the atmosphere twenty 

 or forty feet from the surface more suited to the vine 

 than nearer the ground? Both theory and facts are 

 against such a supposition. A more uniform temperature 

 and humidity are preserved near the surface than in the 

 upper air. The temperature will average higher, and 

 changes will be less sudden. It is the testimony of 

 French vineyardists, that grapes trained close to the 

 ground will ripen considerably earlier than when carried 

 into the air. The main lesson of the natural vine, then, 

 is the horizontal and the pendent position of the fruiting- 

 branches. The natural vine has no kind hand to check 

 exuberant growth ; but it adopts this principle of a rever- 

 sal of the position of the branches to accomplish this end. 

 Let us now examine the various modes of training which 

 recognize this principle. 



In the vinery, under glass, we train the cane at an 

 angle of from thirty to forty-five degrees with the sur- 

 face ; the lateral branches being tied out on each side, ap- 

 proaching to a horizontal position. In the common form 

 of an arbor, the overarching top will give a horizontal 

 growth, and the branches may be allowed to hang pendu- 

 lous. Such vines are difficult to manage at the top, and 



