The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-02-11
farm aud Garden.
Fruit NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

in February, or first of March, before the
sap begins to flow Many directions are
given. and different modes adopted In
crane pruning. Where the vines are on
trelGs. which is best, the most convenient
plan is to let two branches grow up.
This is done by leaving the eyes only
after the first years growth The VINE
being set out with the branches all short
ened as it comes from the nursery, is per-
mitted to grow during the summer: In
the fall or winter or next spring, 1t is cut
back to the two eyes, which send out
shoots. and these shoots In the fall are
brought down to horizontal position,
and fastened each way to the lowest rall
of the trellis, shortening them In to three
or four feet. From these next season,
upright shoots are permitted to grow
about one foot apart, and are stopped
when they reach the upper rail. The
next year a set of lateral shoots will be
produced from the uprights which may
be permitted to bear from one to three
punches. Every year, now, these late
rails must be cut back to within an inch
of the uprights This is called the "spar"
mode of pruning Vines should not be
permitted to over-bear particularly when
young. LIE HuLuOGI VI eyes W NC lSlG
will depend on the age Of the vine, and the
vine has attained maturity, not more than
fifteen or twenty eyes, as general rule
should be permitted to remain. Some do
not leave more than twelve. In the
''Norton Seeding" which is native of
Virginia, and which has a vigorous
growth. with long rambling vines, as many
as thirty eyes may be suffered to grow.
We have described the above regular
manner of training the vine, but we cannot
always get it trained so Systematically,
proceeding generally, however, from ne
glect in starting Alright in the beginning
When we find the vine growing irregu-
larly by our neglect, or that of former
owner, we must exercise our best discre-
ton, and prune so as to leave the required
number of eyes as evenly distributed over
the vine as possible. We must remem-
Der that the grapes are only borne on
the wood of the previous years growth.
We are told about summer pruning the
vine. All that is necessary is to remove
all the suckers that put out from the
lower part during the summer, or to
pinch or cut off the young shoots three
joints beyond the last bunch of grapes,
about midsummer
Some persons use stakes to which to
train the vines as being more economical.
When this is done only one branch should
be permitted to grow up This tied to
the stake, and trimmed to IL, Is 90 or
30 eyes, according to the variety and vigor
The French So,tl6 system has not been
much tried in this country. By this
mode a single branch is permitted to
grow and is cut back to a height which
will support itself 1t is probable that
there would not be by this plan sufficient
foliage to protect the grapes from our hot
suns In tying up vines cut up rope is
generally used. But shucks wetted and
made into small slips answer very well.
Old mating which is thrown away as
useless, also will do well.
The Gooseberry does best in our lati
tude grown in bush form, as it thus pro
tects itself best from the hot sun. In the
single stem form, if that dies, we lose the
whole bush, while in the bush form, some
of the stems frequently die, and the bush
then RECEIVERS itself. When thus grown.
all that is necessary is to cut out in the
fall or winter or very early in the spring,
all the dead wood, some of the very old
branches, and some of the new growth
(the suckers) if too numerous, and head
back those that are long enough to lean
over much-the object being to keep the
form somewhat open
In speaking of the varieties of Rasp-
berries | might have given the opinion of
Mr.. b. P. Roe, of Cornwall on the Hud-
son, well-known and successful raiser
Of small fruits of some of the new varie
ties. In a letter to me last year he saws
My choice is for table use Pride of
Hudson, and Brinkle's Orange for mar
ket
We have been requested by cores
pondent to state the mode of dwarfng
the pear as practiced in China. We dol
not know it-and have been unable to
find anything on the subject in our works
on fruit culture, or in our State library.
We have recently written to a gentleman
who at one time resided in China, regard |
ing the matter, and if he can give me the |
desired information, it will be published /
in these columns.
Now is good time for pruning, par
tlcularly grapes and gooseberries. The
general impression is that bleeding of the
grape by pruning is very injurious. Re-