TBE GRAPE. 



146 



Fig. 9. 



as in the previous year. The only di£Eerence is 

 in the selection of the 

 fruiting- bud for the 

 following year. 



Fig. 9 represents 

 the spur as pruned at 

 the end of the third 

 year. The two base 

 eyes, h and c, may be 

 too small to be trusted for fruit, and are to be 

 removed when they start. The eye d will make 

 the fruiting shoot of 

 the fourth year, and 

 will be pruned back 

 again in November, as 

 in Fig. 10. The eye 

 h is to bear the fruit 

 the following year 

 and the small eyes, 

 a, a, are to be rubbed 

 out. Thus the spur 

 increases about one 

 inch annually. This is objectionable, but it can 

 often be obviated by finding a base eye suffi- 

 ciently strong to make a fruiting shoot, or by 

 a gradual renewal from a base eye, if the spurs 

 become too long. It is undoubtedly true that 

 as canes advance in age they become stiff and 



