THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 549 
rose-bug, which sometimes eats the buds when they first como 
out. 
In the spring I bend the vines in shape of a hoop, tie the top 
down to the bottom, and the upper side to the stake. Each 
joint will throw out a branch, and each branch will have about 
four bunches of grapes. After the first is set, the branches 
should be broken off tw> joints from the last bunch of grapes. 
If they shoot out again, they|shonld be pinched off. Only one 
good, strong shoot should be allowed to grow up from the 
ground and run up the stake, to be pruned in the same way for 
next year’s bearing—cutting the old entirely away. 
The foliage should be kept thin and open. 
Dry, gravelly, or sandy soil, with a southern exposure, is 
the best—it need not be very rich. I have not seen any soil 
in this State that is too poor, or poor as the soil appears to be 
in the vineyards in the neighborhood of Cincinnati. They say, 
there, it does not pay to manure the ground. 
The mode of pruning I have given is adapted to a vineyard, 
and will give more fruit on the same ground than could be ob¬ 
tained on trellises at the same expense. If the object is shade 
or ornament, one must be content with less fruit and poorer 
quality. Each may suit his fancy with a bower or trellis, but 
ner the foliage, the more and better the fruit. 
