522 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING 



coming too long while still tender, and being 

 broken off by the wind. It can, of course, be 

 used only on fruiting shoots, and not on shoots 

 intended for wood for the following year. 



SUCKERING is the removal of shoots that have 

 their origin below or near the surface of the 

 ground. The shoots should be removed as 

 thoroughly as possible, the enlargement at the 

 base being cut off in order to destroy the dor- 

 mant basal buds. An abundant growth of suckers 

 indicates either careless suckering of former years 

 (which has allowed a mass of buds below the 

 ground, a kind of subterranean arm, to develop), 

 or too limited an outlet for the sap. The latter 

 may be due to frost or other injuries to the upper, 

 part of the vine, but is commonly caused by too 

 close pruning. 



SPROUTING is the removal of sterile shoots or 

 " watersprouts" from the upper part of the vine. 

 Under nearly all circumstances this is an un- 

 necessary and often a harmful operation, especially 

 in warm, dry locations. An exception may per- 

 haps be made under some conditions of varieties 

 like the Muscat of Alexandria, which has a strong 

 tendency to produce " watersprouts" which, grow- 

 ing through the bunches, injure them for table 

 and drying purposes. 



WATERSPROUTS are produced from dormant buds 

 in the old wood, and as these buds require a higher 

 sap pressure to cause them to start than do the 



