588 ' Grapes. 



will strike shoots equally with the other parts. As soon as these 

 shoots are well under way, the arms may be brought into a straight 

 horizontal position. If trained to the vertical wire trellis, each 

 shoot should have its appropriate wire, and all others be rubbed 

 off. If the horizontal wire trellis is used, each shoot should be tied 

 to the second wire, as soon as it has grown sufficiently to reach it. 



Fig. 428. Bearing Vine. 



When the young shoots have reached a few inches above the top 

 of the trellis, they should be kept pinched back to this height, for 

 the rest of the season. Each one will probably set two or three 

 bunches of fruit, and if the canes are strong enough, these may be 



allowed to remain and ripen, and 

 will present in autumn the appear- 

 ance shown in Fig. 428, or as in 

 Fig. 428 a, after the leaves have 

 fallen. 



If the vine is intended to be laid 

 down and slightly covered for win- 

 ter, the pruning may be done at any 

 time after the fall of the leaf. Or 



if it is desired to use the wood that is cut away for propagating new 

 vines, the pruning should be done before the shoots are severely 

 frozen. As all pruning in autumn increases the liability to injury 

 by the cold of winter, one or two extra buds should be left on the 

 stump, to be cut down the following spring. If the pruning is not 

 done in autumn, it may be performed at any subsequent period 

 before spring.* 



MODE OF PRUNING. When the young arms are first attached to 



* Bleeding, or the rapid escape of the sap by spring pruning, causes much less injury 

 than is usually supposed, and many cultivators who have made the experiment thoroughly, 

 have scarcely perceived any unfavorable result on hardy grapes. 



