V I T 
V I T 
As foon as the leaves, begin to drop in autumn, you '• 
fhould, prune thefe young Vines again, leaving three 
buds to each of the fhoots, provided they are ftrong, 
otherwife it is better to ihorten them down to two 
eyes if they are good •, for it is a very wrong practice 
to leave rpuch wood upon young Vines, or to leave 
their Ihoots too long, which greatly weakens the roots-, 
then you fhould fallen them to the wall, ipreading 
them out horizontally each way, that, there may be 
room to train the new Ihoots the following fummer, 
and in the fpring dig the borders as before. 
The third feafon you mull go over the Vines again 
as foon as they begin to (hoot, to rub off all danglers , 
as before, and train the llrong Ihoots in their proper 
places, which this year may be fuppofed to be two 
from each Ihoot of the laft year’s wood ; but if they 
attempt to produce two Ihoots from one eye, the 
weakeft of them mull be rubbed off, for there Ihould 
never be more than one allowed to come out of each 
eye. If any of them produce fruit, as many times 
they will the third year, you fhould not Hop them 
fo foon as is generally pradifed upon the bearing 
fhoots of old Vines, but permit them to Ihoot forward 
till a month after Midfummer, at which time you 
may pinch off the tops of the fhoots ; for if this were 
done too loon, it would fpoil the buds for the next 
year’s wood, which in young Vines mull be more 
carefully preferved than on older plants, becaufe there 
are no other Ihoots to be laid in for a fupply of wood, 
as is commonly pradifed on old Vines. 
During the fummer you mull conllantly go over your 
Vines, and difplace all weak lateral Ihoots as they are 
produced, and carefully keep the ground clear from 
weeds, as was before direded, that the Ihoots may 
ripen well which is a material thing to be obferved 
in moll forts of fruit-trees, but efpecially in Vines, 
which leldom produce any fruit from immature 
branches. Thele things being duly obferved, are all 
that is neceffary in the management of young Vines ; 
I lhall therefore proceed to lay down rules for the go- 
vernment of grown Vines, which I lhall do as briefly 
as pofiible. And, 
Firft, Vines rarely produce any bearing fhoots from 
wood that is more than one year old, therefore great 
care Ihould be taken to have fuch wood in every part 
of the trees ; for the fruit are always produced upon 
the Ihoots of the fame year, which come out from 
buds of the laft year’s wood. The method common- 
ly pradifed by the gardeners in England is, to Ihorten 
the branches of the former year’s growth, down to 
three or four eyes, at the time of pruning ; though 
there are fome perfons who leave thefe Ihoots much 
longer, and affirm that by this practice they obtain a 
greater quantity of fruit ; but however this may be, 
it is a very wrong practice, flnce it is impoffible, that 
one Ihoot can nouriffi forty or fifty bunches of Grapes, 
fo well as it can ten or twelve ; fo that what is gotten - 
in number, is loll in their magnitude ; befides, the 
greater quantity of fruit there is left on Vines, the 
later they are ripened, and their juice is not fo rich ; 
and this is well known in the wine countries, where 
there are laws enaded to dired the number and length 
of Ihoots that are to be left upon each Vine, left by 
overbearing them, they not only exhauft and weaken 
the roots, but thereby render the juice weak, and fo 
deftroy the reputation of their wine. 
Wherefore the beft method is, to Ihorten the bearing 
Ihoots to about four eyes in length, becaufe the low- 
ermoft feidom is good, and three buds are fufficient, 
for each of thefe will produce a Ihoot, which gene- 
rally has two or three bunches of Grapes fo that 
from each of thofe Ihoots there may be expeded fix 
or eight bunches, which is a fufficient quantity. 
Thefe Ihoots mull be laid about eighteen inches afun- 
der, for if they are clofer, when the fide Ihoots are 
produced, there will not be room enough to train 
them againft the wall, which Ihould always be pro- 
vided for ; and as their leaves are very large, the 
branches Ihould be left at a proportionable diftance 
from each other, that they may not croud of fhacfe 
the fruit. 
A t the winter pruning of your Vines you fhould al- 
ways obferve to make the cut juft above the eye, 
floping it backward from it, that if it fhould bleed, 
the fap might not flow upon the bud ; and where 
there is an opportunity of cutting down fome young 
fhoots to two eyes, in order to produce vigorous fhoots 
for the next year’s bearing, it fhould always be done, 
becaufe in flopping of thofe fhoots which have fruit 
upon them as foon as the Grapes are formed, which 
is frequently pradifed, it often fpoils the eyes for pro- 
ducing bearing branches the following year, and this 
referving of new wood is what the vignerons abroad 
always pradife in their vineyards. The beft feafon 
for pruning of Vines is the end of Odober, for the 
reafons before laid down. 
The latter end of April, or the beginning of May, 
when the Vines begin to fhoot, you muft carefully 
look them over, rubbing off all ftnall buds which 
may come from the old wood, which only produce 
weak dangling branches ; as alfo when two fhoots are 
produced from the fame bud, the weakeft of them 
fhould be difplaced, which will caufe the others to be 
ftranger ; and the fooner this is done, the better it; is 
for the Vines. 
In the middle of May you muft go over them again, 
rubbing off all the dangling fhoots as before, and at 
the fame time you muft fatten up all the ftrong 
branches, fo that they may not hang from the wall ; 
for if their fhoots hang down, their leaves will be 
turned with their upper furfaces the wrong way, and 
when the fhoots are afterwards trained upright, they 
will have their under furface upward ; and until the 
leaves are turned again, and have taken their right 
pofition, the fruit will not thrive ; fo that the not 
obferving this management, will caufe the Grapes to 
be a fortnight or three weeks later before they ripen ; 
befides, by fuffering the fruit to hang from the wall, 
and fie ffiaded with the clofenefs of the branches, it 
is greatly retarded in its growth ; therefore, during 
the growing feafon, you fhould conftantly look over 
the Vines, difplacing all dangling branches and wild 
wood, and fallen up the other fhoots regularly to the 
wall, as they are extended in length; and towards the 
middle of June you fhould flop the bearing branches, 
which will ftrengthen the fruit, provided you always 
leave three eyes above the bunches ; for if you flop 
them too foon, it will injure the fruit, by taking away 
that part of the branch which is neceffary to attract 
the nourifhment to the fruit, as alfo to perfpire off the 
crudities of the fap, which is not proper for the fruit 
to receive. 
But although I recommend the flopping thofe ffioots 
which have fruit at this feafon, yet this is not to be 
pradifed upon thofe which are intended for bearing 
the next year, for thefe muft not be flopped before 
the middle of July, left, by flopping them too foon, 
you caufe the eyes to fhoot out ftrong lateral branches, 
whereby they will be greatly injured. 
During the fummer feafon you fhould be very careful 
to rub off all dangling branches, apd train up the 
fhoots regularly to the wall as before, which will 
greatly accelerate the growth of the fruit, and alfo 
admit the fun and air to them, which is abfolutely 
neceffary to ripen and give the fruit a rich flavour ; 
but you muft never diveft the branches of their leaves, 
as is the pradice of fome perfons ; for although the 
admitting of the fun muft be neceffary to ripen them, 
yet if they are too much expofed thereto, their fkins 
will be tough, and it will retard their ripening ; befides, 
the leaves being abfolutely neceffary to nourifh the 
fruit, by taking them off, the fruit is ftarved, and 
feidom comes to any fize, as I have feveral times ob- 
ferved; therefore a great regard fhould be had to the 
fummer management of the Vines, where perfons 
are defirous to have their fruit excellent, and duly 
ripened. 
C 5*4 
