80 THE vine-dbessee's manual. 



should be entirely broken off — one or two leaves should 

 always be retained. 



To keep the vine in good bearing order, it is abso- 

 lutely necessary so to trim or dress the vine in summer 

 as to enable the winter trimmer to renovate constantly, 

 and to replace entirely the thighs every four to six 

 years. No "thigh" should be older than five years. 

 Then it should be replaced by an entirely new one. 

 Hence the lowest shoots, marked 1, 2, and 3, are re- 

 tained upon the bows, and hence, too, one shoot is re- 

 tained upon each of the spurs, marked a — ^these being 

 intended for gradual renovation, while the ground 

 shoots, marked 0, are intended for entirely new 

 "thighs," being dressed up and trained for that pur- 

 pose, as directed for young vines. I need hardly re- 

 peat here, what I have said already, that both trimming 

 too high or too low are both extremes to be avoided. 



More shoots are dressed up and retained than are 

 needed for the succeeding winter trimming, and that is 

 done both for the purpose of having a surplus in case 

 of accident, and also to give the trimmer a choice, so 

 that in examining the stem and roots, he may, when his 

 vine is unobstructed by foliage, judge more clearly 

 which are the most desirable branches for each respec- 

 tive vine. 



When this labor is to be performed cannot be indi- 

 cated by general rule. As soon as the shoots are 



