TIME TO PRUNE VINES. 123 



CHAPTER XY. 



TIME TO PKUNE VINES. 



THE time for pruning vines will vary with the locality 

 in which they are grown ; but, as a general rule, it may be 

 commenced as soon as the vine has shed its leaves in the 

 autumn ; and if the wood is to be used for propagation, it 

 is certainly better if taken from the vines before it has been 

 severely frozen. But in pruning in the autumn or winter, 

 the vines should not be cut back to the bud or buds that 

 are wanted for fruit, but leave one or two extra ones above 

 them, and then go over the vines a few weeks before they 

 start in the spring, and cut off these extra buds. This 

 second pruning I usually do the last of February or the 

 first of March, always pruning before the cold weather is 

 entirely past ; for if delayed until the sap begins to flow 

 rapidly, it will issue from the wounds in such excessive 

 quantities as to materially injure the vine. If the vines are 

 pruned in the autumn down to the bucls which are wanted 

 for producing fruiting canes, the uppermost buds are very 

 likely to be winter killed. Even where the winters are 

 not severe, it is best to leave one extra bud, because the 

 sap will usually recede from the part which has been cut, 

 and the end will become somewhat dried, if not injured by 

 cold. 



Where vines are laid down and protected in winter, then 

 the pruning may be completed at once, as no second prun- 

 ing will be necessary, the covering given to the vines pro- 

 tecting them both from the effects of the cold and dryness. 

 Some vineyardists do not prune at all until the latter part 

 of winter or early spring, in which case no extra buds 



