Pruning the Vine^ 



151 



shoots on the same fruit-stem, from the top to the base, 

 is more marked in some varieties than in others. It is 

 in the most vigorous varieties that this decrease in fruit- 

 fulness is most marked, and it is for this reason that 

 those varieties must be pruned longer than the others, 

 as regards fruitfulness. 



4th. Each plant can only nourish, properly, a certain 

 number of bunches, proportionate to its vigor. If this 

 number is exceeded, the quality of the wine suffers very 

 materially. 



5th, and Lastly. It v/ill be well to adopt such a mode 

 of pruning the friiit-stems, that each year the shoots 



[Fig. 56.] [Fig. 57.] [Fig. 58.] 



Pruning Fruit-Stems. 



nearest the old wood (A, Fig. 54), may be reserved for 

 a new fruit-stem. By this means, it will be easier to 

 preserve the shape of the vine to a size proportionate 

 to the soil from which it derives its nourishment j oth- 



