BULLETIN 193. 



PRUNING AND TRAINING OF YOUNG VINES. 



147 



internode will be exposed to alternate wetting and drying, and may 

 decay, thus weakening or killing the bud below. 



In planting, the cutting should be placed with just one bud above the 

 surface of the ground, as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 1. It is a 

 great mistake to leave more than one bud out of the ground, as this 

 increases the danger of drying out. 



Pruning Rooted Vines. A young rooted vine before planting should 

 have all its roots shortened to from 4 to 6 inches, according to their 

 vigor (see Fig. 3, A, B, C). If the soil has been very deeply plowed 

 and it is desired to plant the vines with a dibble, there is no objection 

 to cutting back the roots to stubs i of an inch long (see Fig. 3, D). 

 Such a vine will make better growth in deeply prepared soil than one 

 with longer roots planted with a spade in shallow-plowed soil. 



The top of the vine should be thinned to one cane, the strongest and 

 most upright being left. This cane must be shortened to two good buds, 



N. Node. 



FIG. 2. Structure of Vine Cane. 

 d. Diaphragm. I. Internode. 



P. Pith. 



making the cut close to an internode, as in making cuttings (see Fig. 

 3, C, D). 



The pruning of rooted bench grafts is practically the same as that of 

 ordinary rooted vines, though the cutting back of the single cane to two 

 buds is best deferred until after planting and just as the buds com- 

 mence to swell (see Fig. 3, B). This affords some protection to the 

 graft, and makes it less likely to dry* out before the sap starts and the 

 young rootlets are formed. All scion roots (CR) above the union (U) 

 and all suckers (SS) from below the union should be carefully removed 

 (Fig. 3, A). 



During the summer of the year the vines are planted, no pruning or 

 training of any kind is needed in most cases. For this reason it is 

 nearly always unnecessary to stake the vines when they are planted. 

 The only exception to this is when strong-rooted vines are planted in a 

 rich, moist soil in which they will make a very large growth the first 

 year. In this case it is desirable, though not quite necessary, to stake 



