GRA 
GRA 
season from planting will begin the 
pruning; if spurring is preferred, the 
rods will only require to be carried up¬ 
wards as far as they will grow, and all 
their buds left untouched, merely pinch¬ 
ing off the points of those laterals which 
produce fruit, which should be done, un¬ 
der all circumstances, when they have 
grown about four joints beyond the 
bunch. In the autumn these side- 
shoots, which are to form the spurs, are 
to be cut back to within two or three 
joints of their origin, and the repetition 
of these courses annually constitutes the 
spurring system, by which the principal 
rod supporting the spurs remains tor 
years, while by the other mode of pruning 
it is removed every season. To provide 
a fruit-bearing branch, that shall pro¬ 
ceed from the bottom of the head, is the 
only trouble attached to the long rod 
method, as it is sometimes found diffi¬ 
cult to make them break with vigour 
from the particular part desired,. and in 
order to facilitate this emission, it is ne¬ 
cessary to keep the existing branch bent 
downwards till the future one has fairly 
broke, and then to check all others that 
may seem likely to rival it in strength. 
The matured rod of the preceding years’ 
formation will produce fruit from nearly 
every joint of its length; and, by stopping 
the points of the shoots which carry the 
bunches and preventing any others, the 
new rod will be encouraged to grow, 
and by the end of the season will have 
attained a length equal to that of its 
parent: at the pruning season the 
latter will in due course be cut com¬ 
pletely away, leaving only its offspring 
to occupy the space it formerly filled. 
Thus there are no spurs, and conse¬ 
quently less foliage, which makes the 
method desirable for houses in which 
other plants have to be grown beneath 
the vines, whose shade is often a great 
objection. The period at which grape¬ 
vines should be pruned will depend upon 
their position, or rather on that at which 
it is intended they shall begin to grow. 
It should always be done at least a 
month before the time the buds are 
likely to swell, for if left till the seasonal 
action of the plant begins, even though 
no sign of it may appear above ground 
all the cuts then made will be found to 
exude sap, and the drain thus made 
upon the system of the plant will very 
materially injure it, if death does not 
ensue. It will therefore be better for 
any one, not conversant with the first 
appearance of returning action, to prune 
in the autumn, soon after the leaves 
have fallen, when no further damage can 
arise than the loss of a few inches of the 
points of the least ripened wood, should 
severe frosts occur in the following 
winter. 
We now come to the general manage¬ 
ment of these plants ; and to begin with 
those placed in the open air, we must 
repeat the previous observations on 
slanting; for it is quite certain, that un- 
ess the roots of out-of-doors grapes are 
in a very favorable position, there will 
exist but little probability in our vari¬ 
able climate of the fruit ever attaining 
to perfection, as regards flavour, even it 
it ripens at all. Let them, by all avail¬ 
able means, be placed so that they may 
be fully acted on by the sun, and if, in 
addition, the supply of moisture can be 
acted on, it will greatly facilitate their 
management. Could we, under all cir¬ 
cumstances, regulate this, much would 
be done to ensure a crop of ripe grapes 
every season; thus, by irrigation, the 
new developments might be encouraged 
in early summer, when they are often 
stationary, in consequence of dry wea¬ 
ther ; and, on the other hand, in autumn, 
had we the means to thoroughly drain 
the mould about the roots, it would go 
far to induce ripeness, which, under tne 
influence of ordinary seasons, is deferred 
till so late, that injury from frosts is. a 
matter of frequent occurrence, and in 
"wet autumns the fruit is entirely spoiled, 
because of its inability to ripen. . The 
strange anomalies that yet prevail in the 
science of horticulture, from a want of 
attention to principles, is perhaps no¬ 
where so evident or frequently ynet with 
as in the management of the vine. We 
plant them against a wall to induce pie- 
cocious maturity, which at the same 
time we prevent by placing the roots m 
a soil as unctuous as the bed of a river, 
