296 SOME SPECIFIC ADVICE 



after the fruit has been harvested the girdled part is sev- 

 ered from the vine for the benefit of next year's bearing 

 wood. 



" Whether girdling grape vines is a profitable operation or 

 not can be determined only by a succession of carefully 

 conducted experiments. Its real effect on the quality of 



207. The incisions. The bark removed The 

 cane in the fall. 



the fruit of those varieties which are best adapted to it is, 

 as yet, not fully determined. Whether two vines, with 

 precisely the same treatment, except that one is girdled 

 annually, will for a series of years show a difference of 

 profit in favor of the girdled one, is only a matter of con- 

 jecture. The effect of girdling on grape-juice for wine- 

 making is also yet to be tested. All these are subjects for 

 investigation at our experiment stations. 



"The accompanying picture (Fig. 207) shows the effect of 

 girdling in augmenting the size of the cane above the girdle, 

 and also the general shape of the wound." W. D. B., Middle 

 Hope, Orange County, N. Y. 



From John Burroughs, Hudson Eiver Valley. 



"My opinion of the practice of girdling grape vines is, 

 that on the whole, it is poor business. Grape -growers, I 



