V I T 
fore the entrance of the dog days, at which time they 
nip off the head of it, which checks its luxuriancy, 
and renders the fruit, which it will then begin to have 
in fmall bunches nine or ten Grapes each, better and 
larger, tying the remainder of the faid Ihoot to the 
Hick. In the next year they order it in the fame man- 
ner ; and fo on till the feventh year after planting, 
when it begins to give fruit to purpofe •, and then at 
dreffing they generally leave but one head on the moft 
vigorous plants, and only two eyes on that, and 
ftake them with fubftantial (takes of more than an 
inch diameter, and near fix feet long ; one of which, 
or more, go into the ground (of which thofe made of 
wild Cheftnut, the coppices of which they cut once 
in feven or eight years, for refilling both wet and dry, 
are accounted the bed and when they begin to (hoot, 
they tie them to thofe with the fmall twigs of Broom 
or Ofiers, and fo vifiting them frequently in the 
courfe of thefummer, to keep them tied, as alio to 
nip off luxuriant branches, they let them remain rill 
the dog days are over, when they clear them of l'ome 
of their leaves, that the fruit may ripen the better. 
N. B. In drejfing them after the Jixth year , if they have 
made more Jhoots than one , as moji of them will have 
done , they, as before , cut them all away , unlefs they have 
cccafion for them to fupply the places of fome contiguous 
plants that have mifcarried ; and in moijl warm weather 
they lay thofe J hoots down more than a foot under the 
ground , carrying the heads of them where they defign , 
and this they term propagination. The beft of the ft, hoots 
that they cut off from their Vines of feven years old or 
older , they either referve for any new plantations that they 
are to make , or to fell , at about nine-pence Jterling per 
hundred. 
In dreffing from the feventh year forward , they referve 
the lowefl head they can , provided it be vigorous , and en- 
deavour to keep their Vines as low as may be , for the fruit 
to enjoy the warm reflection of the earth after the fun beams 
arc gone from it , to ripen it, and give it life and vi- 
gour ; but not fo as to let the ends of the bunches touch 
the ground , or be fo near to it as that they might be dafh- 
ed therewith by the rains , fence that would be apt to rot 
the Grapes whilfl in Chianti ( where the Vines, though 
moft abundant in the product of their fruit , are not fo 7a- 
vifh of their J, hoots , but are eafely kept in good order , by a 
hand that is tolerably fkilful) it is incredible how exactly 
•even the Vines are kept, about the height of four feet from 
the ground, which contributes to the making the beautiful 
profpeCt before-mentioned. 
I'he modern way is as follows : 
A month or thereabouts after planting, when the 
young plants begin to Ihoot, they prune them juft 
above the firft eye that remains out of the earth, 
whereat, when they (as they naturally will) have made 
their (hoots, toward the beginning of June, and fo 
that they can difcern which of the feveral they put out 
are the ftrongeft, and appear the molt thriving, they 
carefully and gently with the thumb, rub off all of 
them except one, which they judge to be the ftrong- 
eft, and for the molt part the neareft the ground ; 
which diligence they renew every eight or ten days, 
or oftener, if the weather chance to be wet, taking 
away all the new (hoots which they will abundantly 
make, ever leaving only the principal (hoot ; which, 
that it may not be prejudiced by the winds, or the 
feet of the people (who frequently, during the pro- 
grefs of the Melons fown between them, mult go to 
nip off the running branches, and cultivate them, and 
who, at the fame time, with great convenience, do 
this work about the Vines,) they gently tie, as foon 
as it is capable of it, to a fmall ftick ; and if, as it 
often happens, it proves very luxuriant, they nip off 
its top ; and this rubbing off of the young (hoots they 
continue till the month of Oftober, (though unlefs 
there be frequent rains, there will, about the begin- 
ning of Augult, be few (hoots to eafe them of,) whilfl; 
fometimes the principal Ihoots will bear fruit in fmall 
bunches of five or fix Grapes each ; but as they are 
V 1 T 
always late, they will not ripen •, wherefore, that the 
ftrength o( the plant may not be leftened or impaired 
thereby, they generally crop them off ; after which 
they let the Vines remain till pretty early in the fpring, 
when the intermediate crop of Cauliflowers, or Broc- 
coli of Cauliflowers is taken off ; then in the month 
of February, they open the earth about the foot of 
each plant, and clear it of its fuperficial roots, and 
manure it in the manner before defcribed in the culti- 
vation of thofe in the old way. The third year they 
drefs the (hoot fo as to leave but one eye upon it, and 
afterwards digging all the ground in the intermediate 
fpaces, to requite the expence of culture, they fow a 
fort of Kidney-beans, which not riling above a foot 
in height, orl'carce fo much, does not prejudice the 
young Vines ; to which they now give fomewhat 
more iubftantial flicks, whereto they continue to tie 
them, as alfo to rub off' any new Ihoots that they 
make, vifiting them for that end •, as alfo to crop off 
all the lavifh tops of the Ihoots, only three or four 
times in the fummer ; and the next year in dreffing, 
they bellow fubftantial Hakes on them, whereto they 
tie them with Broom twigs, or fmall Ofiers when they 
begin to be in a pretty good Hate of bearing, produ- 
cing two or three pretty large bunches of Grapes which 
(as thofe of the antecedent year) ripen well, but come 
not to be the full of their bearing till the fourth or 
fifth year ; however, they anticipate thole ordered the 
other way three or four years ; and this is withal the 
furer way of the two, fince in cutting off the heads of 
the others many are loft, whereas this way, few, if 
any fail. 
N. B. What is before faid of a Vine's coming to its full 
bearing, is only to be underftood in refpeCi to the quantity 
of the fruit, a little more or lefs •, for as to the quality , it 
is generally efteemed to be meliorating till the twentieth 
year ( being duly cultivated ,) and the wines coming from it 
richer and better ; and in Chianti they mix not with their 
beft Grapes, thofe of the product of Vines of a lefs age than 
fifteen or fix teen years, and pretend they are always melio- 
rating for fifty years. 
The Vines being by one Gr other of thofe methods, 
brought to a full bearing (late, they raufl be annually 
dreffed, according to the vigour of the plant, and 
duly flaked. 
In dreffing, to thofe of moderate ftrength and vigour, 
they leave but one eye, or at moft two ; and to the 
moft ftrong and vigorous, but three or four at the ve- 
ry moft ; and then they tie them not as they do when 
they are but one or two, but fixing another lefs fub- 
ftantial ftick in the ground near the main one, to the 
top of which, for its better fupport, they tie it with 
an Oiler they bend down, and fix the head thereto 
in the following form. 
And fometimes, when they fihd one of a very extra- 
ordinary vigour, and that has two good heads, they 
leave them both, and difpofing of one in the manner 
juft before related, to the other, having fixed ano- 
ther ftick on the other fide of the principal ftake, 
and tied it, they in the like manner bend down to 
tie thereto, when it comes to form the following 
figure. 
M/1 
This done, they continue from time to time to bind 
the new (hoots to the flakes, and to nip off the tops of 
them, when too luxuriant, till towards the time of 
ripening; When the dog days are pad, they difbur- 
den them of fome of their leaves, to expofe the fruit 
*4 C theq 
