THE GRAPE 225 
the cane in any way and greatly improves the 
looks of the bunch. 
After harvesting is completed, while the vines 
are resting, the soil should be kept moderately 
dry, and the temperature slightly cool. Prune 
the vines jmmediately after the leaves fall, 
leaving only one or two eyes, which will be found 
on the first eighth of an inch of wood. Paint 
the cut ends with white lead or shellac to prevent 
bleeding; if a spur bleeds after starting, burn the 
end with a red hot iron. After pruning, thor- 
oughly clean the vines, scraping off all the old 
bark, but carefully, so as not to dig into the green 
wood. If you have mealy bugs in the grapery, 
first paint the canes with wood alcohol, being 
careful to keep it away from the young eyes; 
then fumigate with double strength hydrocyanic- 
acid gas, using two ounces of cyanide of potassium, 
four ounces of sulphuric acid, and eight ounces 
of water to every 2000 cubic feet of space. Di- 
rections for its use will be found in Chapter XIX. 
After the canes are scraped, they should be 
painted with a good insecticide, Gishurt’s Com- 
pound, for instance, as a preventive. Then 
remove about two inches of the top soil in the 
border, sprinkle the new surface with some good 
fertilizer (bone preferably), then replace the old 
