142 Mr. Byingtons Method of Pruning Gra^e Vines. 



MR. BYINGTON'S METHOD OF PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 



By Edward F. Underbill, Brocton, N. Y. 



I NOTICE that several contributors to the yournal of Horticulture 

 and to the agricultural journals, while speaking in terms of commen- 

 dation of my article on the Treatment of the American Grape Vine, 

 published in the November number, express a doubt in reference 

 to the advantages to be gained by the adoption of Mr. Byington's 

 system of pruning. It will be recollected that Mr. B. postpones the 

 greater portion of his annual pruning until after the shoots have growji 

 to a sufficient length for the fruit clusters to have made their appear- 

 ance, which brings the period of removing the ripened wood to some 

 time in June. Winter or fall pruning was objected to in my article, 

 upon the theory that it disturbed the balance which should exist be- 

 tween root and vine, and left the balance unrestored when the shoots 

 commenced to push out from the buds in the spring or early summer. 

 The writers to whom I have referred seem to have overlooked the 

 question of the time for pruning in its relations to the growth of the 

 vine, and to base their doubts upon the assumed idea that fall or win- 

 ter pruning is only objectionable because it disturbs or destroys the 

 normal proportion between the root underneath and the vine above 

 the surface ; and they say that this same objection will apply as well 

 to pruning in accordance with Mr. Byington's system. I anticipated 

 this very objection when I wrote the article, and I supposed I had met 

 it. Possibly, however, I may not have been sufficiently explicit ; and, 

 as I am in the city for the winter, and have not a copy of the No- 

 vember number by me, I cannot recall the language I used on this 

 point. But I will endeavor to make myself understood now by way 

 of supplement. 



There is no question but that the needful pruning of a grape vine 

 docs disturb the proportion which nature seeks to establish between 

 the root and the vine, but less so if tlie pruning is done after the shoots 

 have commenced their growth. Suppose a vine is winter pruned to 

 four canes, each cane having, say, thirty buds. If the pruning were 



