Other Operations. 



187 



shortening the arms of the plant, when they shall have 

 attained too great a length ; in which case the shoot 

 resulting therefrom is every year pruned to one eye, 

 until the time when the arm of the plant is cut imme- 

 diately above this reserve. It is especially on the fruit- 

 stems that the nipping should be practiced. As we have 

 above explained, these branches are allowed, every year, 

 to grow to a length of about twelve inches ; they are 

 then bent and fastened to the wire. When the shoots 

 have reached a length of about eight inches, they ap- 

 pear as in Figure 76. The shoot B ought to be re- 

 served, in all cases, in order to furnish a new fruit-stem 



[Fig. 76.] — Nipping the Buds. 

 for the following year. We must then ascertain which 

 of the remaining ones have the finest bunches, and pre- 

 serve a number proportioned to the vigor of the plant. 

 If there are not a sufficient number left we shall lose in 

 the quantity of the yield ; if we leave too many, the 

 berries will be smaller ; there will not be a perceptible 

 increase in the quantity, while the wine will be inferior, 

 and the plant exhausted. In this respect the following 

 rule should be observed : for plants having little vigor — 

 the " Pinots" of Burgundy, for instance — a single fruit- 



