THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 127 



grow stronger. Every grower .should study his own vines and adapt 'y 

 the number of spurs to the quality of the crop. If the crop is inferior, 

 reduce the number; if again the crop is superior, we may try to grad- 

 ually give a few more spurs in order to reach the greatest yield of first- 

 class grapes. In pruning the spurs, the cut should be made a little 

 above the eye or bud, and not so close to it that it will be injured and 

 dry out. 



Suckers from the roots should be removed to a limited extent, 

 that is, now and then a sucker may be left in order to give material 

 for forming a new head, if this should be found necessary. But as a 

 rule the many suckers which rise from the roots should be removed in 

 early spring with a sharp-pointed stick, and even those which rise from 

 below the regular head should be broken off while young, or be pruned 

 off in winter time. 



Another system of pruning called the Chaintre system has been 

 introduced, or at least spoken of during the last few years. As, how- 

 ever, it is not generally used, or even to my knowledge used at all, 

 for raisin grapes, I need only here allude to it. It consists of 

 pruning the vine to one single long stem, which is carried along the 

 ground and, at a distance of six or eight feet from the root, fastened to 

 a stake. This branch is pruned to shorter branches and spurs, each of 

 the latter to one or two eyes each to furnish wood and fruit. The 

 advantages of the Chaintre pruning are claimed to be principally two, 

 a greater yield of grapes and a larger outlet for the abundant sap in the 

 spring. It is supposed that, if the vine is pruned too short, the sudden 

 flow of sap in the spring has a great tendency to poison some of the 

 cells and vessels of the wood, and cause the disease known as black- 

 knot. The Chaintre system endeavors, by furnishing the vine with 

 more cells and vessels, and thus a larger outlet for the sap, to overcome 

 this difficulty. The Chaintre system has, however, some great incon- 

 veniences. It interferes considerably with the tillage of the soil. It 

 increases the cost of the vineyard through the extra stakes necessary to 

 support the vines, inconveniences so great that I doubt whether the 

 system will ever be seriously adopted anywhere on this coast, even if 

 it should prove of any advantage. 



The time for the pruning depends upon the season. The only safe 

 rule is that vineyards may be pruned as soon as the vines are dormant. 

 If pruned too soon, a new growth will start, which will be killed by 

 the first frost. In many seasons the pruning may be done in Novem- 

 ber and December; in large vineyards it must be begun early, so as to 

 finish before the plowing commences. Early pruning will cause the 

 vines to start early in the spring, while late pruning will considerably 

 delay the starting of the buds. When the spring frosts are to be 

 feared, the pruning may be deferred for some months, or until the end 

 of January, as it delays the budding out of the vine in the spring, 

 sometimes as much as fourteen days. But, on the other hand, the first 

 warm spring weather is so favorable to the development of the grape- 

 vines and the setting of the fruit, that every advantage should be taken 

 cf the same. The very best crops are generally had on early pruned 

 vines. 



