386 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Oor., 1899. 
carefully preserved. When vines are pruned goblet fashion, preserve those 
shoots which will fill up a gap in the spurs or improve the shape of the vine, 
and disbud all others that carry no fruit. ; 
The correct time for this operation is just before flowering. Do not delay it 
too long; otherwise the removal of the shoots will cause a scar or wound more 
difficult to heal. ' 
With disbudding is connected the operation of leaf-stripping, which, © 
although useful in cases, should be very cautiously performed. During the 
time of flowering, aeration is necessary for the fruit to set well, and when the 
flower is thickly set round with leaves a few of these may be advantageously 
remoyed ; but beware of overdoing it, and leaving the flower too much exposed 
to the sun’s rays—better too little than too much. 
2. Pinching.—This operation is advantageous, for two purposes—firstly, 
to assist the setting of the fruit ; and, secondly, to balance the growth from the 
spurs. Some vines are very bad for non-setting their fruit, and some will 
become so when planted in certain soils and situations. The cause is to be 
found in the extreme vigour of their vegetation, which has the effect of dis- 
organising the fecundation of the flowers. ‘There are other causes for non- 
setting, but at present only this is under consideration. When a vine with 
strong vegetation is a persistent non-setter, the shoots should haye the extremi- 
ties nipped off with the thumb-nail at flowering time. The check given to the 
erowth of the shoot greatly assists the setting of the fruit. Before long, a 
number of laterals will appear. All these should be removed with the exception 
of the upper one, which will continue the growth of the shoot as if it had not 
been pinched. 
When vines are pruned on the uni-lateral and bi-lateral cordon system, or 
on the single and double fruit-rod systems, the extreme spurs or eyes vegetate 
first, and are liable to absorb the buik of the sap and prevent some of the other 
eyes bursting. Pinching these shoots is then advantageous, as by checking their 
growth the other eyes are able to burst and make a normal Tegscnio But 
here the pinching must be done earlier, when the shoots are a few inches long 
and the delay in the bursting of the other buds is becoming apparent. The 
same subsequent removal of laterals should be practised as for non-setting. 
Except in these two cases, do not pinch. 
Topping.—If there is one thing more than another harmful to the grape 
crop in Queensland, it is the indiscriminate and irrational system of topping 
indulged in. The idea popularly entertained that it forces the sap into the 
bunches is utterly erroneous, and in most cases the practice impairs the quality 
of the grape instead of improving it, especially when, as has been seen 
by the writer, the shoots are lopped off just above the bunch. Leaves 
are the manufacturers of those materials which compose fruit—starch, 
glucose, acids, &c. ‘he leaf-cells unite the atoms of carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen, &c., to form those substances, and they are circulated by the 
sap to those various parts of the vine where they are required. ‘To lop off the 
leaves is to lop off the factory. But, it is argued, new leaves come on the 
laterals; if that is the object, the primary leaves might just as well have been 
left. Besides, adult leaves are supplying the plant with food, and young leaves 
are dependent for this upon the old until they are adult themselves, and able 
to assist in supplying the plant; so there is a loss instead of a gain. When, as 
often happens, the topping is repeated several times, there is a constant drain 
upon the plant for food for the young leaves. Where, then, does the gain to 
the grapes come inP Again, this severe topping frequently leaves the bunches 
exposed to the sun’s rays, which, during hot westerly winds, are powerful 
enough to paralyse the action of the cells; hence—wilting and uneyen ripening. 
Grapes in Queensland require shade to ripen well, not sun; so do not top unless 
compelled to do so. Where vines are pruned bush fashion and cross-cultivated, 
vigorous vines will require some topping, but very little even then, if tied to 
stakes sufficiently high. When the crop is off, the topping is less harmful, 
but again the writer says—DON T TOP UNLESS COMPELLED TO DO §0. 
