778 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Oct. 



position, and left from three to five feet long, according to 

 their strength, usually bear fruit at all their buds, while the 

 spurs on the old wood are also very productive. 



Griffin, a very successful cultivator of the vine, approves of 

 planting outside the house, and introducing the shoot through 

 a hole immediately under the rafters. He trains up one main 

 branch under each rafter, and the fi*uit is produced from 

 spurs, or side shoots, issuing from the sides of it. These 

 spurs are cut in to one eye, or bud, at every winter pruning. 

 In course of time, this main stem becomes ragged, and too 

 full of spurs ; when such is the case, it is wholly removed, 

 having previously obtained a substitute for it from its lower 

 parts, which is to replace the one taken away and managed 

 in a similar manner. The leading shoot of this main stem 

 is stopped during summer, leaving it three or four Joints in 

 length, and in the winter pruning, this is cut clean off, and 

 also occasionally a portion of the end of the main stem, when 

 the top of the house becomes too crowded. By this method 

 great regularity may be attained; and as the fruit-bearing 

 shoots extend only a short distance from the main stem, more 

 light and sun-shine will of course reach the fruit, particularly 

 if they be stopped at the first or second joint above the fruit, 

 which is amply sufficient for drawing up nourishment to it. 

 To allow the shoots in this case to attain any considerable 

 length, can be of no real utility, as they will ultimately be 

 pruned oti' at the winter or general pruning ; while, during their 

 growth, they only tend to exhaust a share of the strength of the 

 vine, which will be diverted to the fruit when the practice of 

 stopping them is adopted. 



