160 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



careful summer pruning, suckering, sprouting, and topping are neces- 

 sary for the best results. This variety has a tendency to send out 

 large numbers of suckers from below ground and watersprouts from 

 the old wood. These shoots are usually sterile, grow vigorously, and 

 unless removed in time divert the energies of the vine from the fruit 

 and fruit shoots. Two or three times during the spring the vineyard 

 should be gone over carefully and all sterile shoots which are not 

 needed to balance the vine or to replace weak or missing arms should 

 be removed. This removal of shoots should be done in such a way 

 that no shoot longer than 12 inches is ever removed. If the water- 

 sprouts are allowed to grow large their removal weakens the vine. The 

 shoots which are to give fruit canes for the following year should not 

 be topped. The shoots from the horizontal fruit canes on the trellises, 

 however, will set their fruit better and are less likely to be broken by 

 the wind if they are pinched or topped early. 



No summer pruning of any kind should be done while the vines are 

 blossoming, or for a week or ten days before the blossoms open. 



