Pruning the Vine. 117 



subject them completely to the action of the sun, facil- 

 itate the tillage of the ground, at all times and over all 

 its surface, and prevent the fruit-bearing wood from 

 being too far removed from the parent stock. 



Let us first consider the best time of year for this 

 work, and the best tools with which to perform it : 



The proper time for Pruninp the Vine. — The 

 rule to be followed in this respect, and which is as ap- 

 plicable to the grape-vine as to all other kinds of trees 

 and shrubs subject to pruning, is this : prune as soon as 

 possible before the rising of the sap, so that none may 

 have escaped into the extremities of the stems which 

 are to be removed, and thus be wasted. For, if this 

 operation is delayed until the young shoots have grown 

 three or four inches, those of them which are cut will 

 have absorbed the sap, to the injury of those which are 

 reserved, and if this mode of operating is repeated sev- 

 eral years in succession, the plants will be gradually 

 exhausted, whatever may have been said to the con- 

 trary. The pruning being done in the autumn, will 

 allow more time in the spring for the numerous opera- 

 tions to be performed at that season. Besides, early 

 pruning hastens the development of the buds, and, all 

 other things being otherwise^equal, this early pruning is 

 favorable to the early ripening of the crop. 



Unfortunately, this very simple rule has to be modi- 

 fied more or less by the following circumstances : 



1st. In the northern vine regions, the winters are, at 

 at times, so severe that the eiFects of the heavy frosts 

 are felt by the plants pruned in the autumn, and 

 frequently all the reserved portions of the plants are 

 killed. 



