PRUNING TWO-YEAR-OLD VINES 309 



which the vine is to be headed. It is very important that this cane 

 should be 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 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. Binding twine, or a single strand of 

 good baling rope, is suitable. No. 16 or 17 galvanized wire is pre- 

 ferred 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 vine- 

 yard 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 origi- 

 nates. If a little piece of the sucker be 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. 



