19o THK CULTURE OF THE GKAPE. 



the next six. Part of tlie trellis is made of lath, an inch 

 thick and two inches wide, and part with No. 12 wire. 

 The latter is decidedly best. It costs, in the first place, 

 but half as much as the lath, will, no doubt, last much 

 longer, makes less shade, and saves much labor of tying 

 up the vines, as the tendrils seize upon the wires, and 

 save the necessity of strings. My plan of training is, to 

 lay in a shoot from each vine on each side, to meet the 

 corresponding one from the next vine, on the lower slat, 

 and, as the vine becomes stronger, two more in the same 

 way, on the next slat. These are never cut out, and the 

 fruiting shoots are grown on this old wood, raising new 

 ones every year, and cutting^out those which have borne. 

 I begin pruning as soon as the leaves fall, and work at it 

 in all mild weather, through the winter. I have pruned, 

 in every week, from twentieth October till tenth of 

 March, and never have been able, with the most careful 

 observation, to perceive any difiference in the time of 

 starting, or the vigor and health of the vine or fruit. 

 The late pruned ones are certainly more liable to bleed, 

 but, if the bleeding hurts them, the injury is not yet per- 

 ceptible on my vines. I leave from three to five buds on 

 my fruiting shoots, according to their strength. More 

 than half the vines in this vineyard are Isabella, the rest 

 are Catawba, Elsinboro, Black Madeira, Norton's Seed- 

 ling, and one or two other inferior kinds, which I' do not 

 know. The Isabella is the most certain. The Catawba 

 I think the finest grape, but it is much more liable to rot 

 and mildew than the Isabella. Twenty pounds to a vine 

 is a fair crop for either of these. The Elsinboro is very 

 highly esteemed in this vicinity. Its size is that of a 



