124 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



horizontally, sometimes obliquely along or across horizontal 

 wires. As the shoots grow upward, they are tied to wires 

 above. The upright methods are supposed to distribute the 

 bearing wood more evenly on the vines and to insure greater 

 uniformity in the fruit. In the upright methods, also, the canes 

 and arms are left nearer the ground, which is thought to be 

 an advantage in small, weak or slow-growing varieties. Dela- 

 ware, Catawba, Ion a and Diana are examples of varieties 

 thought to grow best when trained to one of the upright 

 methods. 



In the several methods in which the shoots droop, however 

 the canes may be disposed, the shoots are not tied but are 

 allowed to droop at will. These methods are comparatively 

 new but are being rapidly adopted because of several marked 

 advantages. Usually one less wire can be used in a drooping 

 method than in an upright one; since the shoots are not tied, 

 much labor is saved in summer tying; the ground can be 

 tilled with less danger to the vines ; and there is less sun- 

 scalding of the fruit, since the pendant foliage protects the 

 clusters. Grape-growers generally agree that strong-growing 

 varieties like Concord, Niagara, Brighton, Diamond and most 

 of the hybrids between European grapes and native species 

 grow best when the shoots droop. 



Shoots are trained horizontally in but one recognized method, 

 the Hudson llorizc^ntal, to be described in detail later. Since 

 this method is all but obsolete, there is still less reason for dis- 

 cussing it here, the expressive name sufficing for present pur- 

 poses. 



Disposition of cones. 



There are many recognized methods of disposing of the canes 

 in training the gra|)e. The chief of these are discussed in tlie 

 pages that follow, tlieir names being set down for the present 

 in the classification that follows. 



