Page Ticelve 



BETTER FRUIT 



May, 1922 



Pruning and Training of Grapes 



By R. T. Reii) 



Bellevue, Wash'mglon 



COMMERCIAL grape culture in the 

 United States received a tremendous 

 impetus upon introduction of the Concord 

 about the }car 185 3. This continues to be 

 the leading variety of the American grape 

 (Vitus Labrusca) grown in the United 

 States. 



Prior to 185 3 a few vineyards of native 

 grapes and hybrids of the American and 

 European (Vitus Vinefera) had been 

 planted, the fruit being grown principally 

 for wine. Of these grapes the Catawba 

 appears to have been in highest favor and 

 still is considered one of the best varieties. 

 The methods of pruning and training in 

 these early days were patterned after Eu- 

 ropean methods and it was doubtless due 

 largely to this that the growing of the 

 grape commercially had been only partially 

 successful. 



.\ few years prior to the introduction of 

 the Concord an accident occurred in a small 

 vineyard in the Hudson River Valley 

 owned by William Kniffin, a stone mason, 

 by which one of his vines was badly broken, 

 most of the old branches being stripped 

 from the vine. It was thought the vine 

 was ruined, but as the season progressed 

 it was found that the fruit of this vine, 

 which was borne on shoots from canes one- 

 year-old, was of superior quality ai.d the 

 yield as good as that of v'res that had 

 sustained no injury. 



Fortunately, Mr. Kniffin was a keen 

 observer and, desiring to prove the coirect- 

 i.ess of his guess as to the cause of the 

 phenomena, pruned other vines next year 

 in much the same way the injured vine 

 had been pruned by a falling tree, \\ith 

 equally gratifying results. 



These e.xepriments resulted in establish- 

 ment of the American high renewal system, 

 popularly called the Kniffin system. This, 

 with modifications to suit the personal pre- 

 ferences of individual growers, or the 

 habits of certain varieties, may be said to 



have become the standard system wherever 

 American grapes are grown. 



Pruning and training are terms which 

 are frequently confounded when speaking 

 of the grape, but in reality, represent dis- 

 tinct operations. By pruning we mean the 

 removal of certain of the branches, with 

 the object of obtaining a larger quantity 

 and better quality of fruit from those re- 

 maining. Training refers to the disposition 

 of the different parts of the vine. 



It is true that different methods of train- 

 ing demand different styles of pruning, 

 but the modification is only such as adapts 

 a particular system to the external shape and 

 size of the vine and does not in any way 

 affect the principle upon which it rests. 

 Pruning is a necessity and, in essence, there 

 is but one method. Training is a conven- 

 ience and there are as many modes as there 

 are fancies among grape growers. 



All intelligent pruning of the grape rests 

 upon the fact that the fruit is borne is a 

 few clusters, usually two or three, near the 

 base of the growing shoots of the current 

 vear, which spring from wood of last year's 

 growth. Unless this fact is borne in mind 

 and a system of pruning adopted that will 

 be in harmony with it, the grower is sure 

 to be disappointed in the quality of the 

 fruit and, to a greater or lesser extent, in 

 the quantity produced. 



Since most of us are engaged in the busi- 

 ness of horticulture for profit and not 

 alone for the pleasure it affords, it is im- 

 portant that we select a method of pruning 

 that will produce satisfactory results, with 

 the minimum cost of time and labor in 

 training. In other words, a system is 

 needed that renders training practically 

 unnecessary. 



TN A STUDY of the grape it is important 

 -■- to know the names by which the various 

 parts of the vine are known ; namely, the 

 trunk, the branches, the cane, the spur and 

 the shoot. The shoot is the leafy branch 



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