THE VINE 223 



all good cultivators that the sooner the vine is pruned after its leaves have 

 fallen the better. Should any of the vines have made only w^eakly growrths, 

 then these must be cut back to within three buds of their bases, that is to 

 say, only three buds will be left of the previous year's growth. The moderately 

 strong canes should be shortened to 2 feet, and the strong canes may be left 

 4 feet long. Some advocate that a length of from 6 to 8 feet of cane should 

 be left at pruning time. The roof of the vinery is covered with fruit-bearing 

 wood in much less time I admit, but the vines are planted with the object of first 

 making strong canes and having regularly distributed, well-developed fruit-spurs. 

 This is difficult and often impossible with the long cane pruning ; the buds at 

 the base often refuse to grow at all, and others higher up only grow weakly, 

 producing, as a consequence, badly developed and irregularly placed spurs, 

 which in turn only produce small bunches. Moreover, the main stem of the 

 vine never attains proper strength in after years by pursuing this system of 

 pruning, and as vines, excepting early forced ones, with careful management 

 will produce heavy crops for from thirty to forty years, the importance of 

 making a good start will be apparent. Some of the wood cut off when pruning 

 should be saved, tied up in bundles, and placed in the shade ; it may be 

 wanted for propagating in spring. Having completed the pruning of the vine, 

 the next thing we have to do is to wash down the house — glass, woodwork, 

 and walls — thoroughly, using soft soap and water and a hand scrubbing brush. 

 Before beginning this work the vine border should be covered over with mats 

 or loose straw to prevent its being made wet and sticky. After cleaning is over 

 remove the surface soil about an inch deep and replace with fresh. A new 

 stake should be applied to each vine, and the same fastened to the roof trellis. 

 After this the vinery ventilators must be thrown open to their full extent, and 

 the vines given the advantage of all air possible night and day while at rest, 

 which will be from now until the end of March. In case of hard frost the 

 ventilators must be closed at night. The outside border should be covered over 

 early in November with dry leaves, straw, mats, or boards to keep off rain, 

 not to protect the roots from frost, as this will not harm them. If the stems 

 of the vine are outside they had better be covered over as a protection from 

 frost. When the ventilators are open during winter as recommended, the 

 precaution should be taken to empty the hot-water pipes, or in the event of 

 hard frost the water in the pipes will freeze, and when thawing takes place the 

 pipes may crack. 



About Borders. — For midsummer, autumn, and winter grapes it is not 

 absolutely necessary to have an inside border at all. First-class grapes can be 

 grown in an outside border, but for early forcing it is better to have both 

 inside and outside. There is no doubt an advantage in having the two sorts of 

 borders, for when they need renewing, the work can be carried out with com- 

 paratively little disturbance to the roots, the inside border being done one year 

 and the outside border a year or two after. 



Commencement of Growth. — We suppose the young vines to be 

 pruned, the border top-dressed, and the vinery cleaned. In March the long 

 rest comes to an end. About the 20th March is the best time to start the vines 



