KNIFFIN PRUNING 463 



different systems of training, the reader should 

 consult pages 432 to 434. 



The pruning of the Kniffin vine consists in 

 cutting off all the wood except a single cane from 

 each spur. Fig. 294 illustrates the process. This 

 is the same vine which is shown with the full 

 amount of wood on in Fig. 293. The drooping 

 shoots shown in that illustration bore the grapes 

 of 1892 ; and now, in the winter of 1892-3, they 

 are all to be cut away, with the horizontal old 

 canes from which they grew, except only the four 

 canes which hang nearest the main trunk. Fig. 

 294 shows the vine after it had been pruned. 

 It is not obligatory that the canes which are left 

 after the pruning should be those nearest the 

 trunk, for it may happen that these may be 

 weak; but, other things being equal, these canes 

 are preferable because their selection keeps the 

 old spurs short. The careful grower will take 

 pains to remove the weak shoots which start 

 from this point, in order that a strong cane may 

 be obtained. It is desirable that these side spurs 

 be removed entirely every three or four years, a 

 new cane being brought out again from the main 

 body or trunk. There is little expectation, how- 

 ever, that there shall be such a complete renewal 

 pruning as that practiced in the High Renewal, 

 which we discussed in the preceding pages. 



It will be seen that the drooping canes in Fig. 

 294 are shorter than they were originally, as 



