Other Operations. 197 



and we can subordinate those that are likely to receive too 

 much nourishment, 



" Do what we may, however, whether our vines be trained 

 in one method or another, and despite all our forethought and 

 care and management, the higher shoots will often become 

 leaders, at the expense of those we are endeavoring to pro- 

 duce from the spur, upon the principle of renewing by canes 

 from below, and thus keeping the vine in good shape. Here, 

 then, the pinching becomes an agency of the greatest value to 

 the vine-pruner ; for, by the removal of the tips of these 

 strong shoots, he may succeed in so directing the flow of sap as 

 to develop the growth of those he desires to produce for the 

 future crop, and which are suitably placed upon the vine. 



"It may be objected, and we are all tired of hearing the 

 objectiojj, that we are contending against the natural eiForts of 

 the plant, which was only following its own instincts ; and 

 that, therefore, our attempts thus to thwart Nature were un- 

 wise and unphilosophical, and consequently wrong. But we 

 may answer all such objections by telling them that we are 

 treating the civilized vine in a civilized manner, and for the 

 purposes of civilized man. The conditions of the problem 

 are changed. One thing, how^ever, remains the same in the 

 wild and in the cultivated vine : in both cases, the fruit- 

 branches spring from healthy and well matured shoots of last 

 year's growth. In the native forest, the vines clamber over 

 shrubs, and even upon the highest trees, where they can have 

 free exposure to the air and light, and where God's creatures, 

 called the inferior animals — for whom, in the bounty of His 

 providence, they were produced — can enjoy the fruits of the 

 vine, so lavishly fiirnished. Intelligent man, not wishing to 

 rival these animals in climbing, and unable to fly with the 

 birds, to gather the clusters, cultivates and improves the fruit 

 for his own use, and trains the vines so that he may reach 

 their luscious bunches. Of course, his treatment of the plants 



