Grapes. 



389 



the trellis, each bud, which is intended to form its upright bearing 

 shoots, will present the appearance shown in Fig. 429. After grow- 

 ing one season, as in Fig. 428, each shoot is to be cut down to a 

 good bud, as in Fig. 430. This bud is to grow and form the bearing 



Fig. 429. 



Fig. 430. 



shoot for next year. The pruning should be done as closely as 

 practicable to the horizontal arms, provided one good strong bud is 

 left on the stump or spur. After the pruning is completed, the vines 

 (already represented by Fig. 428) will exhibit the appearance in Fig. 

 431. The vine is now ready to throw up another set of bearing 



Fig. 431. Pruned Vine. 



shoots for the coming year. It is the practice of some cultivators 

 to leave two or even three buds on each spur, so as to form two or 

 three bearing shoots from each, in order to obtain a fuller crop. 

 This is, however, drawing too severely on the vine for continued 

 practice. To maintain the vigor of the vineyard, as well as to obtain 

 large, well developed, well ripened bunches and berries, the vines 

 should never be over-cropped ; and one shoot from each spur is, 

 therefore, sufficient. The reports which are often made of six, 

 seven, and eight tons of grapes from an acre, may be set down as 

 evidences of bad management and over-exhaustion of the vines. 

 Three to four tons per acre is the largest amount which good and 

 continued success will warrant. 



By raising bearing shoots from the same spur for successive years, 

 this spur will become lengthened several inches, or at the rate of 

 about one inch annually. Although little inconveniences result, it is 

 desirable to keep them short ; and for this purpose the spur may be 

 cut back to one of the smaller buds at its base, and a new shoot thus 

 brought out to form the beginning of a renewed spur. As this ne\t 



