ON THE CULTIVATION AND FORCING OF THE VINE. 91 
doing it about the end of May, in the following manner : — the 
plants which were raised from eyes the foregoing season should 
be cut down to one eye in the autumn, and be shifted into a larger 
pot, and started early in March, in a slight bottom heat; this 
will assist their rooting freely into the fresh soil, and thereby 
strengthening the young wood; keep them growing till the end 
of May, when they may be carefully planted in the border with 
the buds entire; give a gentle watering with tepid water, to 
settle the soil about their roots, and then cover with a few inches 
of short dung to prevent evaporation ; and should the season 
afterwards prove dry, a soaking of diluted liquid manure will 
prove very beneficial: by that time, the shoots will reach a good 
way up the rafters, and if they show any signs of flagging, they 
will require to be shaded for a few days from intense sun ; if 
kept growing in a healthy condition by frequent syringings, the 
roots will soon extend in the border, and the shoots will also 
soon reach the top of the house ; but rather than top them, at 
that time, train them down the back a little way : stop all the 
laterals as they appear ; keep a steady heat, till the wood is 
thoroughly ripened, which may be known by the wood and leaves 
assuming a brown colour. 
Pruning. — Gardeners differ so much on this point, that 
almost every one has his own system ; but I shall only glance at 
one or two of them, which are most generally practised. I am 
of opinion, that a good crop of grapes does not so much depend 
on the pruning, as it does on the soil in which they are planted, 
and the climate in which they are grown; we will take the rod 
which is produced the season of planting, in order to exemplify 
by it the different systems. 
Long Rod. Those who practise this mode would cut it half 
way down the rafter the first year; the following season they 
would allow the leading shoot to reach the top of the house, and 
at the same time would endeavour to induce one to arise from 
the bottom, which would be trained two-thirds up the rafters 
before stopping it: when the pruning season again arrives, the 
leading shoot is cut within eighteen inches of the top of the house, 
and the lower one half way down, at which period the whole 
height of the roof of the house will be entirely filled with bearing 
wood. At the end of the third summer, if another shoot is 
brought from the bottom, there will be three of different ages; 
but by cutting away the oldest, the house will then be in the 
