92 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
same condition as it was at the end of the second year. Thus, 
by cutting away the oldest shoot, and encouraging a young one 
every successive year, a constant supply of young wood will be 
maintained. 
Long Spurs. It is the practice with those who adopt this 
method of pruning, to cut the vines half way down the first year, 
under the idea that by leaving them all the length of the rafters, 
it would be too much for the roots to support at that early stage 
of their growth; but to such I would say, if their vines are in a 
good condition, the roots will support them all the length of the 
rafters even thus early. I had the pleasure of seeing a vinery 
where the voung wood was left all the length of the rafters, 
(which were not less than sixteen feet) each producing from 
twenty to twenty-six bunches of grapes, varying from one to 
three pounds in weight; and judging by the appearance of 
the wood they had made, something better might have been 
anticipated the following summer. After the fruit is cut, and 
the wood well ripened, the shoots which have borne fruit the 
foregoing summer are cut back to three or four eyes; and when 
those have thrown their fruit, the following spring only two 
shoots (the bottom ones) on each spur are allowed to remain, 
except it be that any of the others show the largest bunches : 
when the next pruning season has arrived, the old spurs are cut 
down to the bottom shoots, which are also shortened to three or 
four eyes. Some are now practising what they consider to be 
an improvement on this system ; in the place of leaving all the 
buds on the spurs to break, they leave only the top and bottom 
ones, the intermediate ones being cut off at the pruning season ; 
the top one only is allowed to bear fruit, whilst the other is en¬ 
couraged for bearing wood: the great objection against the old 
way, is, that the vines having to push more eyes than is neces¬ 
sary, they must consequently be weakened more than if all the 
energy of the vine was directed to the support of one: the im¬ 
proved method is also liable to the same objection, in a less 
degree ; they have also the effect of darkening and crowding 
the house with superfluous wood and leaves ; these evils are en¬ 
tirely obviated by short spurring , in doing which it is the prac¬ 
tice, in place of leaving the shoots with three or four eyes, to 
cut them in to the one nearest the stem ; this gives the vines a 
neat and tidy appearance at all times, and I consider it best 
adapted for early forcing, as the buds break sooner, which is a 
point of no small importance. 
