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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



We can control the moisture conditions to some extent by avoiding 

 cultivation or irrigation during and just before blossoming. 



The air near the ground is moister than that a little higher up, and 

 the practice of pruning Muscats to a low, prostrate stump is unfavorable 

 for this and for other reasons. 



A Muscat vine, like any other, should have a distinct stem or trunk. 

 This trunk should be smooth and without spurs or scars. This trunk 



FIG. 22. Low Muscat raised by pruning. 



makes it possible to plow, cultivate, and hoe close to the vine without 

 injuring the arms and spurs. It facilitates the removal of suckers 

 from below the ground, and holds the bearing wood high enough up to 

 keep the grapes from touching the ground. How high this trunk 

 should be depends on various conditions. A smooth stem twelve inches 

 in length from the surface of the ground to the branching of the arms 

 is sufficient to give the advantage mentioned. 



