350 Account of a Method of Managing Vines. 



In the third season I put fire to them, about the middle of 

 February ; the buds swelled very regularly and strongly, and 

 as they all burst with double buds, which healthy Vines will 

 always do, I slipt out the lowermost bud as carefully as I 

 could with my finger nail. Each eye shewed three, and in 

 some sorts, four bunches ; but I only permitted the finest 

 shewn bunch on each eye to remain, except in those kinds 

 which bear very small bunches ; these I suffered to mature 

 two. and even three bunches from an eye. In those where 

 1 preserved only one bunch, I stopped each shoot from the 

 eyes at the joint above the finest shewn bunch, divesting it 

 of other bunches that might be below it ; and when I kept 

 more than one bunch I stopped the shoot at the joint above 

 the uppermost. I carefully preserved the uppermost shoot 

 from the end of my bearing branch at D, as a leader to fur- 

 nish the upper part of the rafter with bearing wood for the 

 next year ; and I also trained upwards the leading shoot 

 from the bottom spur C, which I intended should become 

 the bearing branch for the lower half of the roof in the fol- 

 lowing season. I was careful that none of the tops of these 

 leaders should meet with accident, till they had reached their 

 destination for the season, that was, about three or four 

 joints beyond where they were intended to be cut down, 

 to the winter pruning. All the buds on the bottom spur, 

 C, were rubbed off, except the leading one. As I bore in 

 mind the necessity of a bottom spur to produce a succession 

 shoot from the bottom in the following year, which was neces- 

 sary to the regularity of the system I contemplated, I selec- 

 ted one of the most convenient buds for my purpose, from the 

 bottom of the old stems, all of which were now putting out 



