Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/134

 it belongs; one kind, is famous for ripening a large quantity of grapes; another, is capable of bringing only a small quantity of grapes to perfection. The vine, too heavily charged, is soon exhausted; too lightly, it yields little but wood.

In the warmer climates of the south of France, a vine of four and a half or five feet in height, and proportionally distant from other plants, may support, on each of its three or four mother branches, five or six young branches; and on each of these, from four to six eyes may be left without inconvenience. The lower vines, which are more closely planted, and have only two mother branches, are sufficiently charged with two or three shoots on each; and on these, two or three eyes may be left according to the strength of the wood.

The dwarf vine is not forked, and the plants are still closer; three or four shoots are sufficient to leave on it, and one or two eyes, on each of these, will charge it in proportion to its strength.

The necessity of adhering to a system of pruning, which will equalize, as much as possible, the fruit which a vine is allowed to bear to its strength, is so great, that there are few instances of vines being let. The interest of the farmer, might induce him to leave a quantity of fruit on the vine, which would destroy its future capacity for bearing.