THE GRAPE VINE. 



611 



year's winter- pruning. Here the leading shoot 

 a is to be cut off to 6 feet in length ; the second 

 shoot b is to be cut back to 6 

 feet, and the third shoot c to 4 

 feet in length. All the lateral 

 shoots, whether they bore 

 fruit or not, are to be cut clean 

 away, as shown at d d d d. 

 When the vines break the en- 

 suing spring they will have 

 three distinct bearing-shoots, 

 as a b c. The uppermost must 

 the ensuing summer be allow- 

 ed to bear two bunches of 

 d fruit. This is done with a view 

 to prevent its growing too 

 vigorously, and drawing too 

 much upon the energies of 

 A the lower parts of the tree. 

 The top buds of the shoot b c 

 should not be allowed to pro- 

 duce any fruit, as it is from 

 them that the young shoots 

 Harrison s long- are to be produced. At this 

 rod vine-training, period it will be desirable to 

 third year. procure a young shoot from 

 the bottom of the vine, from the old wood, if 

 possible ; if not, as low down on the others as it 

 can be got; and also it would be desirable, if it 

 proceeded from the opposite side of the vine to 

 that from which the last shoot c was trained in. 

 Fig. 250 shows the vine in its fourth year's 

 state, which is merely a repetition 

 of the two previous cuts, except- 

 ing that the main stem, which had 

 reached the top of the house, has 

 now to be entirely cut out at its 

 base a, the shoot b then becoming 

 the leader. This is the simple 

 rotation, and may be continued for 

 years. There is one principle to 

 | ) II | be observed in this mode of prun- 

 ing — the constant succession of 

 young wood, and upon that alone 

 the fruit is to be produced, which, 

 according to many, will be larger 

 and finer than when grown upon 

 even the spur or any other mode. 

 This opinion, however, may admit 

 of some qualification. 



Renewal of the vine pruned on 

 the long-rod principle. — Although 

 vines treated in this way, if pro- 

 perly managed, will last for many 

 years without renewal, as that 

 process may be said to be going on 

 yearly at each winter-pruning, yet 

 it may be that, from exhaustion from over- 

 cropping or insufficient food, they may show 

 symptoms of weakness. In such cases, there- 

 fore, they should be cut entirely down to one or 

 two buds at the base of the lowermost or last- 

 formed shoot, and be afterwards treated as young 

 plants. 



Pruning the vine when grown in the open air. — 

 Here a greater variety of forms may be indulged 

 in, and circumstances often dictate why one 

 method of pruning and training — for these are 

 inseparable operations — should be preferred to 



HARRISON S 

 LONG-ROD 

 VINE-TRAINING 

 FOURTH YEAR. 



another. In general a small amount of young 

 wood is considered of advantage, on account of 

 its being more likely to become well ripened, 

 particularly in a climate like Britain, which is 

 not naturally congenial to the vine. Objections, 

 however, have been stated against this doctrine; 

 those by Mr Clement Hoare are certainly the 

 strongest, which he has detailed in his interest- 

 ing " Treatise on the Vine." 



Hoare's method. — Instead of the spur system, 

 or that of employing young wood in short 

 lengths, he prefers shoots trained to their full 

 length, and to produce those he cuts down to 

 very short spurs, at the winter-pruning, the 

 bearing-wood of the preceding season, keeping 

 up a constant supply pf young bearing-shoots at 

 their full length, and so on in alternate succes- 

 sion. This is reducing the process to an ex- 

 tremely simple principle, which mainly consists 

 in getting rid annually of the old wood, and 

 keeping up a constant succession of young bear- 

 ing-wood. He gives the following simple direc- 

 tions : " In pruning, always cut upwards, and in 

 a sloping direction. Always leave an inch of 

 blank wood beyond the terminal bud, and let 

 the cut be on the opposite side of the bud. 

 Prune so as to leave as few wounds as possible, 

 and let the surface of every cut be perfectly 

 smooth. In cutting out an old branch, prune it 

 even with the parent limb, that the wound may 

 quickly heal. Prune so as to obtain the quan- 

 tity of fruit desired, on the smallest number of 

 shoots possible. Never prune in frosty weather, 

 nor when a frost is expected. Never prune in 

 the months of March, April, or May. Pruning 

 in either of these months causes bleeding, and 

 occasions thereby a wasteful and injurious ex- 

 penditure of sap. Let the general autumnal 

 pruning take place as soon after October as the 

 gathering of the fruit will admit. Lastly, use a 

 pruning-knife of the best description, and let it 

 be, if possible, as sharp as a razor." For the first 

 four years of the vine's management he recom- 

 mends : In the spring next after planting, two buds 

 only having been left, the one which is produced 

 most weakly is to be removed, and all the others 

 are to be rubbed off excepting the one selected 

 to remain, and this one must be preserved with 

 the greatest care. In November following head 

 down this shoot so as to leave only two buds, 

 and during the following spring manage as 

 before, and in the November following cut 

 down to three buds. The third spring retain 

 two shoots, treating them as before, but in Sep- 

 tember pinch off their tops, and in November 

 prune them so as to retain seven buds. In 

 February of the fourth spring, bend the two 

 shoots already produced down into a horizontal 

 position parallel with the ground; destroy the 

 first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth buds on the 

 horizontal shoots, and allow the shoots from 

 buds three and seven to extend, and train them 

 to the wall in an upright although tortuous 

 direction, somewhat similar to the plan recom- 

 mended by Forsyth. During the succeeding 

 summer prune and train as already directed, 

 removing all superfluous shoots as they appear. 

 In the November following cut back the outer- 

 most shoot on one side, and the innermost on 



