110 RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



be taken off entirely, or else, if (here is space for more foliage, 

 stopped at the first leaf. It is important to remember that 

 the size of the grapes depends largely on the size of the leaves, 

 and not on their number. They should, therefore, not be 

 allowed lo crowd one another. At the end of the season, when 

 the leaves have fallen, each lateral should be cut back to 

 the first bud, if a good one, thus forming the commencement 

 of a spur. If more buds than one are left each time the prun- 

 ing is done, the spurs soon get very long and unsightly. 



THINNI\(; AiND TYING THE LATERALS. 



After the second year two or more laterals will probably 

 grow where there was originally only one, and they will have 

 to be thinned out. The general rule is one lateral to a spur, 

 and one bunch to a lateral. For a time, however, two laterals 

 may be allowed to remain, until it can be seen which carries 

 the bigger bunch, and until that one is safely tied down to 

 the wires. The operation is one requiring considerable care, 

 for the young shoots are very brittle. As the wires are rarely 

 close enough together, raflSa is stretched btween them, and 

 when this is done an excessive strain may be thrown on some 

 shoot which had previously been far from tight. To avoid 

 accidents, it is necessary to proceed gradually with the tying 

 down — to bend down the shoots only a little at a time, and 

 to increase the strain as they become accustomed to it. If 

 the only one on a spur does snap off there may never be any 

 more growth on the spur. Hence the advantage of leaving a 

 second one temporarily. 



TO MAKE TOE HIHS RHKAK EVKM.V. 



The same thing may happen if the buds on a spur fail 

 to break. This is iiiosl likely on some of the lower spurs, 

 for the Hiif] current awfops jiasl Ihem and exerts the greatest 

 effect at the upper end. A failure of this kind can usually 

 bo |)rf'vented by takint; down the rod from the wires before 



