The Marcon "cordon" as shown in Figs. 105 and 106 is slightly different from the Guyot system, represented by Figs. 102 and 103. Dr. Guyot holds this new system in high esteem, and some very remarkable specimens of its fructification were exhibited at the viticultural exposition of Bordeaux, held in 1886. At a time of general unfruitfulness the large yield given by a few experimental stocks trained on this system was particularly gratifying. For success in this process a multiplicity of details demand attention, and on this account it is not likely to become widely adopted.

FIG. 106.-The Marcon system of training fully developed. (From Sahut.)

The next cut (Fig. 107) exemplifies the chain method, which is especially adapted to certain localities, such as Chissay, Loir-et-Cher, where it was originally practiced. The arms of the vine, usually three or four, are allowed to grow until they are about 18 or 20 feet long, and are supported at intervals on pegs. Thorough cultivation is hindered by this system, and the amount of manual labor essential to it will undoubtedly prevent its extensive adoption.

Dead trees (Fig. 108) are put to good use in the training of the vine, but here, too, economy in labor is not considered.

The development of the vine from the cutting requires about four years, and the method of pruning for each year does not differ materially from that practiced in this country, except in the case of some of the novel forms of training the vine described above.

The operation of pruning commences after the fall of the leaf and lasts till the heavy frosts, this season being chosen under the impression that if done earlier there would be loss of sap and if left till later the wound would not heal and there would be a loss of sap in the spring.

The pruning is done either with a knife (Fig. 109) or a pruning shears similar to those in use in this country, the latter being much

the most expeditious instrument. In Médoc and many other districts the knife is preferred as making a smoother cut. In pruning young vines the shears are commonly preferred.

The first year the vine is cut back to two buds; the second year the same process is repeated; the third year two short arms are left, and the fourth year sufficient size and strength is attained to give the vine its ultimate shape, the number and disposition of the branches allowed to remain varying with the system of training adopted.

Very generally in France short or close pruning is followed; still the fashion in one Department differs from that in force in the next, and even among the districts of the same Department much diversity exists. Thus in Beaujolais three short arms are left and in the Rhone vineyards the fruit branch is long and arched.

The different methods of training and pruning the grape have special fitness for the localities where they are practiced. The same methods can not as a rule be used universally; yet there can hardly be any doubt but that some modification of the systems of severe pruning in vogue will be productive of good. The climbing and rambling nature of the vine is lost sight of in all or nearly all exist

FIG. 108.-Dead tree as vine support. (After Guyot.)

ing modes of pruning it, and though the fruit thus produced may possess superior characters owing to the forcing of all the energies of the vine to the business of fructification, yet from a natural standpoint the vitality of the vine must be weakened and its length of life compromised. It can not be gainsaid, however, that the severe pruning seems to be in accord with the climatic and economic conditions of France and to give astonishing results at gathering time,

but, to repeat, there is every reason to believe that the present degeneration of the grape is in great degree due to unnatural cultivation. It is in response to supposed necessity that the vine in Hérault is cut down to four or five arms, bearing one or two spurs, pruned above the second bud, and the vintages of Hérault have been prodigious until a recent era. A strong stock, many authorities claim, can resist its enemies, and strengthening of the vine by less debilitating pruning may result in great benefit.

Green or summer pruning is practiced in France and is similar to our method of pruning or pinching back.

a

In June the fruit branches are pinched back and shoots and sprouts from the old wood cut away. In July a second thinning out takes place to expose the grapes to better circulation of air, and in August the leaves are often thinned out to facilitate ripening of the fruit. Care is necessary in this last operation to prevent the fruit being exposed to and burned by the sun.

CULTIVATION.

c

FIG. 109.-Provence pruning knife. a, b, and c, cutting edges. (From Foëx.)

In the cultivation of vineyards old fashioned methods of hand labor are still largely employed, although the use of plows and cultivators is becoming more and more common. The hand implement used is a kind of pronged hoe, by means of which the soil is drawn alternately from and towards the vine. The plow is adapted to the same work, being used more as a cultivator than as a plow, in the sense in which these terms are employed in the United States.

Plowing (if the plow is used rather than the pronged hoe) is practiced four times annually. The first plowing takes place about the 1st of March and is to unearth the vine or rather to throw the earth away from the vine to the center of the space between the rows, the strip of earth between the vines being thrown into the middle of the row by women. The second plowing takes place in April, and is just the reverse of the first, the earth being turned back to the vine. With young vines a woman accompanies the plow and protects each vine by placing her shovel between it and the overturning furrow. A third plowing identical with the first is made in May, before flowering, and a fourth, identical with the second, about the end of June. Further cultivation is generally limited to hand work.

A great variety of plows is employed in cultivation, including simple plows, double moldboard, and gang glows. The simple vineyard plows are frequently capable of being adjusted to unearth or throw the soil both from the vines (déchaussement) or to hill up the vines (réchaussement). Figs. 110 and 111 represent a plow of this

character, showing its position in the two operations. In these illustrations the rows of circles represent the vines.

The double moldboard plow (buttoir), seldom seen in this country

FIG. 110. -Plow disposed for rechaussement. Souchu-Pinet, Langlais Fr.

except in the planting of special crops, as in listing corn, is a very common implement in France and is much used in cultivating the vine, especially where the rows are run close together. With one of

these implements the earth may be thrown up to two rows of vines at once.

Some of these plows are made with expansible moldboards, so that

FIG. 112.-Double moldboard plow with mechanical expansion. Souchu-Pinet, Langeais, France.

they may be adjusted to rows of greater or less width. One of the latest styles of these expansible moldboard plows is shown at Fig. 112. The mechanical apparatus for expanding or contracting the mold