406 AMERICAN GRAPE TRAINING 



only guide. A strong vine of Concord, which is 

 a prolific variety, trained in any of the ordinary 

 systems and set nine or ten feet apart each way, 

 will usually carry from thirty to sixty clusters. 

 The clusters will weigh from a fourth to a half 

 pound each. Twelve or fifteen pounds of mar- 

 ketable grapes is a fair or average crop for such 

 a Concord vine, and twenty -five pounds is a very 

 heavy crop. 



The pruning of the grape vine, therefore, is 

 essentially a thinning process*. In the winter 

 pruning all the canes of the last season's growth 

 are cut away except two to six, which are left 

 to make the fruit and wood of the next year ; 

 and each of these remaining canes is headed - 

 back to three to ten buds. The number and 

 length of the canes which are left after the prun- 

 ing depend upon the style of training which is 

 practiced. A vine which may completely cover a 

 trellis in the fall will be cut back so severely that 

 a novice will fear that the plant is ruined. But 

 the operator bears in mind the fact that the grape, 

 unlike the apple, pear and peach, does not bear 

 distinct fruit -buds in the fall, but buds which 

 produce both fruit and wood the following season. 



Let us now suppose, therefore, that we have 

 pruned our vine in the fall of 1891 to two canes, 

 each bearing ten buds (Fig. 260). We will call 

 these canes A and B respectively. In 1892, there- 

 fore, twenty shoots grew from them, and each of 



