270 ANNUAL REPORT. 



ing the fruit the vine may be pruned and prepared for burial, not nec- 

 essarily waiting for a frost to kill the leaves as it will do no harm to 

 bury even with some of the leaves on the vine. In pruning, this, the 

 third fall, first select a cane near the extremity of the vine which 

 was tied last spring to the lower wire, and cut it off at a length suffi- 

 cient to reach the next vine on the trellis. This cane must be tied to 

 the lower wire next spring, and will complete the permanent vine. 

 The laterals should be cut off from this cane; the remaining canes 

 must be cut back, leaving only the two lower buds, and any laterals 

 on these spurs must be removed. In pruning do not cut within an 

 inch of the bud, to avoid its winter killing. Bury as directed. 



The next spring, the fourth, tie to the lower wire as directed, and 

 permit one or two canes — and no more — to grow from each of these 

 spurs, saving always one cane from as near the base of the spur as pos- 

 sible. — In pruning hereafter you must leave the cane last described, 

 cutting it off at two buds, and then cutting off the old spur just above 

 where the new spur starts. The new cane laid down to e^ftend the 

 vine this year should be treated the same as directed for the vine last 

 year. When pruned in this, the fourth fall, the vine will consist of a 

 main arm extending along the lower wire of the trellis to the next 

 vine, with spurs of two buds each standing some ten inches apart. 



The subsequent summer's treatment will be a repetition of the 

 treatment suggested for the spurs last summer, and each fall's prun- 

 ing will leave the vine about as described. If the summer pinching 

 is followed up persistently as directed, the two buds at the base of the 

 canes which are to be left, in this system of pruning, will generally be 

 well developed fruit buds, and will bear a good crop, but carelessness 

 in permitting a long, unchecked growth of the canes or laterals will 

 result in locating the fruit buds higher up, and fall pruning will leave 

 little or nothing that will bear fruit another year. 



If it were convenient to leave long canes for next year's fruiting, as 

 is often done in localities where it is not necessary to bury, a more 

 slipshod treatment would answer; but to keep the vine in good shape 

 to bury, it must be pruned to short spurs, and to perfect these spur 

 buds for fruit requires persistent checking of the growth during the 

 growiug season. 



It is a good plan before burying the vine to remove the earth to a 

 depth of three or four inches close to the vine and cut away any roots 

 which have started that near the surface of the ground. It would be 

 well to repeat this every other fall. 



