Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/189

 put our ideas in a tangible form, we will begin with the young plant. As above stated, cut it to within two eyes from the ground, from which allow one shoot to grow for the first season, and now call it a plant one year old; if the soil is in good order it will be fifteen feet long. In November, or before February, cut that shoot to about two feet from the ground, and allow three shoots to grow. They will each attain fifteen to twenty feet. It is now two years old. About the same period of the season lay the two lowest of these shoots horizontally and cut them to about twenty inches from the main stem; the most upright, cut at about two feet from the stem and allow the plant to make fruit this (the third) year. Six bunches will be quite enough. The plant being now formed, and having made, in the fourth season, a quantity of branches all covered with fruit, it is advisable to take only one bunch off each, and never take more than two. Leading branches will be required for the future plant. These may extend to fill up any given space, but all others must be topped two eyes beyond the fruit; that is, leave on two leaves nearer the extremity of the shoot than the bunches hang. This topping should be performed early in June, and when they make fresh shoots top them again and again. The leading shoots must also be topped as soon as they are at their required length. Where vines are needed to cover high arbors, or reach the top of dwellings, the shoots in the first and second year may be left from six to ten feet long.

Summer Pruning is generally very injudiciously performed. The vines are allowed to grow in every form till July or August, when they are thinned out and deprived of a great deal of young wood and foliage, at the very time the plants require to have it. Go over the vines in May and deprive them of all the branches that crowd each other; six inches to twelve apart is proper distance to lay in young wood; rub off all others, using only the finger and thumb in the operation; tie in the shoots as they advance, and top them as soon as they