HARDY GRAPES. 131 



canes hp they extend in length are fastened to the horizontal bars, 

 and so separated as to give sufficient room to each. These 

 growinj^ canes are not stopped at aU or pinched back, nor are 

 the laterals that may grow pinched in, for as the vine is now 

 growing in a horizontal position there is no danger of any un- 

 due determination of the sap to the extremities of the shoots, 

 thereby robbing the lower buds of their due share of nourish- 

 ment. Therefor© in this horizontal method of training all summer 

 pinching of the ends of shoots and of laterals is dispensed with, 

 and all that is required is to keep down aU sprouts that may 

 come up from the roots, and to rub off the buds that start out 

 along the main upright stem. 



In the spring of the fourth, and of all subsequent years, the 

 vines will be pruned by shortening in the previous summer's 

 growth to four, five, or six buds according to the strength of the 

 vine and the amount of fruit it mar be safely allowed to bear ; 

 and as the vines increase in age and size the old wood can be cut 

 out and replaced by new wood. The fruit -will hang down from 

 the trellis overhead, and be completely protected by the foliage 

 growing above, while the leaves will be fully exposed to the fuU 

 action of the light, the air and the dews. At night the heat 

 radiated from the earth is not lost by being dissipated in the air, 

 but is retained by the canopy of leaves overhead, thereby con- 

 tributing to the perfection and maturation of the fruit. 



We do not hesitate to say that for the more rampant growing 

 varieties, such as the Clinton, Isabella, and others of like habit, 

 we are fuUy persuaded that the horizontal trellis is much better 

 than any other system of training the vine. These vines do not 

 bear to be dwarfed by constant severe cutting and pinching. The 

 results of this savage style of pruning have uniformly been, after 

 a few years of struggling with the pruning knife, diseased vines, 

 mildew and rot, resulting in loss of crop and frequently the death 

 of the vines. It is only while the vines are young that they 

 bear well; consequently it has been recommended to keep th© 

 vineyard always young by constant renewing of the vines, by 



