1374 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



methods cannot be followed in the American commer- 

 cial plantations. 



The cosmopolitan American grape, of the native 

 type, is the Concord, which originated with Ephraim 

 W. Bull, of Concord, Massachusetts (Fig. 1709.) Other 

 varieties of leading prominence in the North are 

 Catawba, Delaware, Niagara, Worden. 



1708. The Muscadine grape. Vitis rotundifolia. 



The ideal bunch of grapes is of medium size for the 

 variety, compact, uniformly developed and ripened 

 throughout, containing no small or diseased berries, 

 and with the bloom intact. A very dense or crowded 

 cluster is not the most desirable, for all the berries 

 cannot develop fully, and the cluster is not easily hand- 

 led when the fruit is eaten. Fig. 1710 shows a cluster 

 of good shape and compactness: Fig. 1711 is too broad 

 and irregular; Figs. 1712, 1713, are rather too dense 

 and compact. 



The American grape is essentially a dessert fruit. It 

 is eaten from the hand. There are several manufactured 

 products, but, with the exception of wine, they have 

 been of minor importance until recent years, although 

 there are many large wine-cellars in New York and 

 Ohio, and the product is of excellent quality. Unfer- 

 mented grape juice is now manufactured in great quan- 

 tities and has become an important article of commerce 

 (see Cyclo. Amer. Agric. Vol. II, p. 178). The lack of 

 secondary domestic uses of the grape has been one 

 reason for the very serious gluts in the markets. How- 

 ever, one year with another, the profit on a good vine- 

 yard may be expected to exceed that on the staple 

 farm crops. 



Pruning and training. 



A. grape-vine is pruned in order to reduce the amount 

 of wood (that is, to thin or to limit the amount of fruit), 

 and to keep the plant within manageable shape and 

 bounds. A vine is trained in order to keep it off the 

 ground, out of the way of the workmen, and so to 

 arrange the fruit that it will be well exposed to light 

 and air. In order to understand the pruning of grapes, 

 the operator must fully grasp this principle: Fruit is 

 borne on wood of the present season, which arises from 

 wood of the previous season. To illustrate: A growing 

 shoot, or cane of 1914, makes buds. In 1915 a shoot 

 arises from each bud; and near the base of this shoot 

 the grapes are borne (one to four clusters on each). 

 This is shown in Fig. 1714. The 1914 shoot is shown 

 at the top. The 1915 shoot bears four clusters of grapes. 



While every bud on the 1914 shoot may produce shoots 

 or canes in 1915, only the strongest of these new shoots 

 will bear fruit. The skilled grape-grower can tell by the 

 looks of his cane (as he prunes it, in winter) which buds 

 will give rise to t'he grape-producing wood the follow- 

 ing season. The larger and stronger buds usually give 

 best results; but if the cane itself is very big and stout, 

 or if it is very weak and slender, he does not expect 

 good results from any of its buds. A hard well-ripened 

 cane the diameter of a man's little finger is the ideal size. 



The second principle to be mastered is this: A vine 

 should bear only a limited number of clusters, say 

 from thirty to eighty. A shoot bears clusters near its 

 base : beyond these clusters the shoot grows into a long, 

 leafy cane. An average of two clusters may be reckoned 

 to a shoot. If the vine is strong enough to bear sixty 

 clusters, thirty good buds must be left at the annual 

 pruning. How much a vine should be allowed to bear 

 will depend on the variety, distance apart of the vines, 

 strength of the soil, age of the vine, system of pruning, 

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

 strongest and most productive of grapes. Twelve to 

 fifteen pounds is a fair crop for a mature vine; twenty 

 pounds is a heavy crop; twenty-five pounds is a very 

 heavy crop. An average cluster of Concord will weigh 

 one-fourth to one-third of a pound. The vine may be 

 expected to carry from thirty to sixty clusters; and the 

 annual pruning will leave from fifteen to thirty 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 difficulty. The third 

 principle in the pruning of grape-vines is this: The 

 bearing wood should be kept near 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 main trunk or head to furnish fruit-bearing shoots 



1709. Monument to the Concord grape and Ephraim W. Bull. 

 Erected by the town of Concord. 



for the 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. 

 Some systems of grape-training renew back to the root 

 every year or two, and these have been called renewal 

 systems; but every system of grape-pruning must 

 practise renewal in one way or another. 



