668 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



of the grower. The Concord is one of the strongest and 

 most productive of Grapes. Twelve to 15 lbs. is a fair 

 crop for a mature vine; 20 lbs. is a heavy crop; 2.5 lbs. 

 is a very heavy crop. An average cluster of Concord 

 will weigh H-^a lb. The vine may be expected to carry 

 from 30 to GO chisters ; and the annual pruning will leave 

 from 15 to 30 buds. 



Since the bearing wood springs from new canes, it 

 follows that the fruit of the Grape is each year borne 

 farther from the main trunk of the vine. Observe that 

 the fruit of wild vines is borne beyond reach when they 

 climb over thickets and trees. It is a 

 prime object of the Grape-grower to 

 obviate this dithculty. The third prin- 

 ciple in the pruning of Grape vines is 

 this IJie hearing uood should be kept 

 neat the original trunk or head of the 

 vine. When one 

 cane is sending 

 out fruit-bearing 

 shoots, another 

 shoot is taken out 

 from near the 

 TiKiin trunk or 

 head to furnish 

 fruit-bearing 

 shoot'^ for the 



any time. These are usually weak and are removed, 

 but now and then a strong one arises. Spur pruning is 

 now rarely used except in Grapes grown on arbors or 

 under glass, in which cases it is necessary to have a 

 long, permanent trunk. On arbors it is best to carry 

 one arm or tnink from each root to the top of the frame- 

 work. Each year the lateral canes are cut back to spurs 

 of two or three buds. The pruning of glasshouse Grapes 

 is discussed under Grapes under Glass. 



The current systems of pruning renew to a head — or 

 to the main trunk — each year. The trunk of the vine is 

 carried up to the desired height— to one of the wires of 

 the trellis — and one or more canes are taken out from 

 its top each year. The object is to keep the bearing 

 wood near the main trunk and to obviate the use of 

 spurs. This type of pruning is illustrated in Fig. 961. 

 This engraving shows the head of a vine seven years 

 old, and on which two canes are allowed to remain after 

 each annual pruning. The part extending from b to f 

 and d is the base of the bearing cane of 1892. In the 

 winter of 1892-3, this cane is cut off at d, and the new 

 cane, e, is left to make the bearing wood of 1893. 

 Another cane sprung from f, but it was too weak to 

 leave for fruiting. It was, therefore, cut away. The old 

 stub, fc, f, d, will be cut away a year hence, in the win- 

 ter of 1893-4 In the meantime, a renewal cane will have 

 grown from the stub c, which is left for that purpose. 



953. Hybrid of Vitis Linsecomi and 

 Grape derivative— Husmann ^X 5 



next year; and the other or older cane is entirely cut 

 away after the fruit is off. That is, the wood is con- 

 stantly renewed; and the new shoots which are to give 

 bearing wood the following year are called renewals. 

 There are some systems of Grape training which renew 

 back to the root every year or two, and these have been 

 called renewal systems ; but every system of Grape 

 pruning must practice renewal in one way or another. 



An old system of renewal was by means of spurs. 

 Fig. 900 illustrates this. The horizontal part, is a per- 

 manent arm or branch. We will suppose that it grew in 

 1890. In 1891 a shoot grew upward. It bore two or 

 three clusters of fruit. In the fall it was cut back to a, 

 two buds being left to supply the shoots of the succeed- 

 ing year. This short branch is now called a spur. Only 

 oue shoot was wanted for the next year, but two buds 

 were left in case one should be injured. In 1892, a 

 branch grew from one of these buds: it bore fruit: in 

 the fall it was cut back to h. In 1893 a shoot will grow 

 from one of the buds, c. Thus the spur elongates year 

 by year, becoming a forking, complicated, stubby branch. 

 After a few years it may become weak : the grower sees 

 this, and if a new shoot should start from the main arm 

 near the base of the spur, he encourages it and cuts off 

 all of the old spur: thus he renews back again to the 

 main vine. Shoots from adventitious or secondary buds 

 are likely to spring from the main arm or the spur at 



and the old cane, b d, will be cut off just beyond it, 

 between r and f. In this way, the bearing wood is 

 kept close to the head of the vine. The wound a 

 shows where an old stub was cut away this winter, 1892- 

 3, while b shows where one was cut off the previous win- 

 ter. A scar upon the back of the head, which does not 

 show in the illustration, marks the spot where a stub 

 was cut away two years ago, in the winter of 1890-1. 

 This method of pruning can be kept up almost indefi- 

 nitely, and if care is exercised in keeping the stubs 

 short, the head will not 'enlarge out of proportion to the 

 growth of the stock or trunk. 



There are two common styles of training in use in the 

 northern states, but each of them practices essentially 

 the system of renewals which is described in the last 

 paragraph. One style of training carries the trunk only 

 to the lowest wire of the trellis. The canes — usually 2 

 in number— are tied horizontally on the bottom wire, and 

 the bearing shoots are tied, as they grow, to the two 

 wires above (Fig. 9G2). This is anttpright system. The 

 other style carries the trunk to the top wire. The canes 

 are tied on the top wire, and the bearing shoots hang. 

 This is the drooping or Ktiiffin system. If the shoots 

 run out on the top wire by clinging to it by tendrils, 

 they are torn loose, so that they will hang: this is a very 

 necessary practice. There is controversy as to the com- 

 parative merits of these systems, which proves that 



