FRUITS VARIETIES AND CULTURE. 509 



from two to fifty or more), about thirty buds could be 

 allowed to develop. These should be uuiformly dis- 

 tributed according to the system of training employed; 

 they may be left upon five canes, each cane having six 

 buds, or the distribution may be varied according to cir- 

 cumstances. But such is in general the method adopted 

 in the vineyard for estimating the proper amount of bear- 

 ing wood to leave upon each cane. As a result of such 

 systematic pruning, the fruit from the vine is larger and 

 more fair; it is also produced more regularly, since the 

 maturing of too heavy a crop weakens the vine so that 

 it is unable to mature even an average amount of fruit 

 the following year. A vine properly pruned and fertilized 

 should bear about the same amount of fruit each year 

 from the time it comes into full bearing, A secondary 

 benefit derived from pruning is the reduced stature of the 

 plant. This allows more vines to be set upon a given 

 piece of land, and it enables the work of cultivating, 

 spraying and harvesting to be performed much more 

 easily and profitably. 



" Training, on the other hand, is almost wholly a mat- 

 ter of convenience. It does not affect the strength of the 

 vine or the value of the crop in any essential particular. 

 The training of a vine refers to the disposal or arrange- 

 ment of the various parts of the vine after pruning has 

 taken place. The method of training adopted determines 

 the operator to leave certain growths in certain portions, 

 not because more or better fruit is expected, but for the 

 reason, perhaps, that the fruit may be harvested with 

 greater ease; that a laborious operation may be wholly 

 dispensed with, or that there may be less danger to the 

 maturing crop from the winds or other natural agencies. 

 The method of training adopted by a vineyardist is 

 largely the result of personal preference, or of education, 

 although soil and variety are important factors in the 



