100 



FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



SPUE-PRUNING FOE NEXT SEASON'S CROP. 



It is now very generally admitted that the close 

 spur system of pruning is the best — i.e., to cut back this 

 season's fruit-bearing growth to within an eye or bud 

 of the main stem. Fig. 9 will show the inexperienced 

 at a glance what this means. 

 In each succeeding year the 

 pruning takes place back to 

 the single bud at the base of 

 last season's bearing growth. 

 As the vines get older, a cluster 

 of buds generally forms at the 

 spur, notwithstanding this close 

 pruning. Only the strongest of 

 these that grow are left to bear 

 fruit. This close pruning is 

 much preferable to leaving two 

 or three eyes. Not only can the 

 vines be maintained for a long- 

 er time in a more manageable 

 and sightly condition, but they 

 yield more compact serviceable 

 bunches, that swell their berries 

 better than those long and 

 looser bunches generally pro- 

 duced from buds further from 

 ^"*- ^- the main stem. Prune, especi- 



ally vines to be forced early, immediately they have 

 shed all their leaves. The wounds should always 

 be dressed with styptic to prevent any chance of bleed- 

 ing. When in the course of time spurs get long' and 

 unsightly, a portion of them can be cut right back to 

 within an inch of the main stem, and the adventi- 



