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wood that yields grapes. It is best to prune 

 vines as soon as the fruit is gathered, as the 

 bearing shoots for the following year cannot 

 then be mistaken ; and it is recommended to 

 shorten them, so as to leave but four eyes, 

 as by leaving too many, the vine is exhausted, 

 and yields but poor small fruit. The shoots 

 just above the fourth eye are to be cut, and 

 the cutting to be sloped or cut in such a 

 manner, that the water discharging from the 

 shoot may not run on the bud to injure it. 

 About the beginning of May, all vines should 

 be looked over, and the shoots from the old 

 wood should be rubbed off; and if one eye 

 produces two shoots, the weakest must be 

 removed. Vines require frequent examining, 

 after this time, to rub off all dangling shoots ; 

 and about the latter end of June, the ends of 

 the bearing branches are to be nipped off, 

 but those intended for the next year's fruit, 

 may go a month longer before they are 

 topped. 



The blossoms of the vine have an agree- 

 able odour: the ancients used to put them 

 into their wine, to give it this fragrance. 



The Romans reared their vines by fasten- 

 ing them to certain trees, as the poplar and 

 the elm, &c., whence these trees were said to 

 be married to the vines, which gave rise to 



