THE VINEYARD. 



during the summer, in order to properly 

 secure rapidly growing wood, so that the 

 bunches are held clear of the ground. 

 When the head becomes weak, as it 

 may, after a few years, it is necessary 

 to train up a new shoot from the ground. 



Horizontal System. — This niethod of 

 training is especially adapted to sections 

 of the country where it is advisable to 

 give the vines winter protection. Two 

 strong canes are trained in opposite di- 

 rections. The latterals springing from 

 these are trained perpendicularly. In 

 the autumn the latterals are cut back to 

 two spurs. When the spurs become 

 weak they are renewed, as is an entire 

 arm occasionally. This system calls for 

 a four-wired trellis, in order to properly 

 tie the strong laterals. The three me- 

 thods of training described thus far, are 

 all on the upright plan ; in those which 

 follow, the vines hang down and are 

 termed drooping systems. 



Four Cane Kniffen. — In this system 

 the trellis consists of two wires. The 

 main cane is carried to the top wire and 

 from it an arm is trained each way on 

 the two wires. The side canes are tied 

 to the wires and the lower ends allowed 

 to hang free. The advantage of this 

 system over others is that it obviates a 

 large amount of tying and perhaps les- 

 sens the amount of summer pruning. 



Fig. 1336.— Kn-fffkn Sy.stem. 



Fig. 1337. 



This Kniffen system is largely used in 

 the Hudson River Valley, N.Y., where 

 it originated. It has been strongly re- 

 commended and is in favor for strong 

 growing varieties. In pruning a full 

 grown vine, the upper arms are usually 

 allowed to carry a greater number of 

 buds than the lower. Thus, many 

 allow ten buds to the upper, and five 

 buds to the lower canes. The arms 

 should be stretched along and attached 

 firmly to their respective wires ; from 

 these the laterals droop. When the 

 arms become weak they are renewed 

 from the head. 



Modifications of this system are found 

 — one umbrella, falls from a single high 

 wire only, others carry six or eight canes, 

 but all are drooping. 



Over-head or Arbor-Kniffen. This 

 method of training is practised by a few 

 prominent fruit growers in Ontario. The 

 vines are carried up seven foot posts 

 and allowed to rest on cross wires, form- 

 ing in this way a kind of arbor. One 

 plan is to nail a cross piece to each post 

 at right angles to the pole. This ex- 

 tends three feet on each side. Three 

 wires are stretched on these, one at each 

 end, the other in the middle to the 

 posts. The trellis is thus a horizontal 

 one and six feet above the ground. An 

 unbranched trunk is carried up to the 



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