SECOND YEAR VINE PRUNING 305 



straight, healthy and well-ripened, as it is from it that the trunks of the 

 mature vine develops. All the vines on which a cane has been left 

 should be carefully tied up. Two ties will be needed in most cases. A 

 half hitch should be made around the cane below the swelling left by 

 the bud which has been removed, and the cane tied firmly to the top of 

 the stake. Another tie is made about half-way down the stake. The 

 lower tie need not be very tight, and in any case the tying material 

 should not be passed completely around the cane, except above the top 

 bud, or the vine will be strangled when it commences to grow (see 

 Fig. 2 a) . Any kind of string or twine, sufficiently strong to withstand 

 the pressure of the growing vine in a heavy wind, may be used. Bind- 

 ing twine, or a single strand of good bailing rope, is suitable. No. 16 

 or 17 galvanized wire is preferred by some and is better than string, if 

 care is taken to remove the bottom ties the following year before they 

 strangle the vine. Wire is a little more expensive and takes a little 

 longer to put on than string, but holds the vines better and can be used 

 for several years. 



SECOND YEAR 



Summer Pruning. The treatment during the second and third 

 spring and summer is of great importance to the future welfare of 

 the vine. A little judicious care at this period will avert many troubles 

 in later years. It will be necessary to go over the vineyard four or five 

 times to do the suckering, topping, and tying which are necessary. 



The shoots starting from the vines which have been cut back to 

 two buds should be thinned to a single one. This thinning should be 

 done as soon as possible in such a way that it is never necessary to 

 remove a shoot more than 3 or 4 inches long (see Fig. 1, b). If the 

 thinning is deferred until the shoots are a foot or more long the vine 

 will be weakened by the removal of so much foliage. If the thinning 

 can not be done early, it is better not to do it at all. The object of this 

 thinning is to throw all the force and growth of the vine into the cane 

 which is to form finally the trunk of the vine. If it is done too late 

 not only does the growth not go into this cane, but the vine is weakened 

 so much that this cane does not grow so well as it would have done 

 without thinning. 



The first thinning can be done with the first hoeing, and the second 

 with the suckering. The suckering consists of the removal of all 

 shoots which come from below the ground. These also should be 

 removed as early as practicable, both to avoid weakening the vine by the 

 removal of mature leaves and also because a young sucker is much 

 more easily separated from the vine at this time. Every sucker must 

 be cut or broken off at the point where it originates. If a little piece 

 of the sucker is left, several new suckers will start at the same place. 

 The more completely the suckering is done during the first two years, 

 the less trouble in this respect there will be in later years. This is 

 particularly true of grafted vines. 



A few weeks after the first thinning, the single shoot which has 

 been left will have grown 10 or 15 inches. At this length it should be 



