14 



ing year. This does away, to some extent, with the necessity of 

 leaving wood spurs, and much simplifies the pruning. Arms, of 

 course, are formed in time, and very gradually elongate, so that it is 

 necessary to remove one occasionally and replace it by a water sprout, 

 as already explained under short pruning. 



SUMMER PRUNING. 



Some form of summer or green pruning is practiced in most Cal- 

 ifornia vineyards, if in the term we include all the operations to which 

 the green shoots are subjected. There seems, however, to be little sys- 

 tem used, and very little understanding of its true nature and object. 

 In general, it may be said that green pruning of the vine is least need- 

 ed and often harmful in warm, dry locations and seasons, and of 

 most use under cool and damp conditions. 



The principal kinds of green pruning are: I. pinching; 2. 

 suckering and sprouting; 3. topping; 4. removal of leaves. 



Pinching consists in removing the extreme growing tip of a 

 young shoot. It is necessary to remove only about half an inch to ac- 

 complish the purpose of preventing further elongation of the shoot as 

 all growth in length takes place at the extreme tip. The immediate 

 result of pinching is to concentrate the sap in the leaves and blos- 

 soms, of the shoot, and finally to force out the dormant buds in the 

 axils of the leaves. It has been found useful in some cases to com- 

 bat coulure or dropping with heavy-growing varieties, such as the 

 Clairette Blanche. It is also, of use in preventing unsupported shoots 

 from becoming too long while still tender, and being broken off by 

 the wind. It can, of course, be used only on fruiting shoots and not 

 on shoots intended for wood for the following year. 



Suckerinq is the removal of shoots that have their origin below 

 or near the surface of the ground. The shoots should be removed as 

 thoroughly as possible, the enlargement at the base being cut off in or- 

 der to destroy the dormant basal buds. An abundant growth of suckers 

 indicates either careless suckering of former years, (which has allowed 

 a mass of buds below the ground, a kind of subterranean arm, to de- 

 velop, or too limited an outlet for the sap. The latter may be due to 

 frost or other injuries to the upper part of the vine, but is commonly 

 caused 'by too close pruning. 



Sprouting is the removal of sterile shoots or "water-sprouts" from 

 the upper part of the vine. Under nearly all circumstances this is an 

 unnecessary and often a harmful operation, especially in warm, dry 

 locations. An exception may perhaps be made under some conditions 

 of varieties like the Muscat of Alexandria, which has a strong ten- 

 dency to produce "water-sprouts" which, growing through the 

 bunches, injure them for table and drying purposes. 



Water-sprouts are produced from dormant buds in the old wood, 

 and as these buds require a higher sap pressure to cause them to 

 start than do the fruitful buds, the occurrence of many water- 

 sprouts indicates that too limited a number of fruitful buds has been 

 left upon the vine to utilize all the sap pumped up by the roots. To 

 remove these water-sprouts, therefore, while they are young is simply 

 to -shut off an outlet for the superabundant sap and thus to injure the 

 vine by interfering with the water equilibrium, or to cause it to force 



