REPORT OF COMMITTEE ox PUBLICATION 53 



we leave the experiment with but the three years' results, we are not able 

 to draw definite conclusions, even though those of 1914 point to the superior- 

 ity of the spring pruned. It will require a number of years of experimenta- 

 tion to prove satisfactorily the superiority of one period over the other so 

 far as the pruning of Concord is concerned. 



Judicious pruning of the grape is more essential than the training to 

 any particular system, but there does necessarily exist a relationship be- 

 tween pruning and training. It is quite obvious that varieties short pruned, 

 will have their fruiting wood disposed somewhat differently on the trellis 

 from those that are long pruned. Where the vigor of a variety permits and 

 its fruiting habits are consistent with, it may be pruned for training to one 

 or more of the common systems, but in many instances a variety is such a 

 poor grower that it cannot be adjusted to a preferred system. There is no 

 doubt that certain varieties do best when pruned to conform with the train- 

 ing of some particular type. Further the disposal of the fruiting wood, as 

 made possible with some systems, favors the development of fruit of better 

 quality, and wood for the following crop so placed on the arms and stem 

 that it can be utilized to the best advantage. Other systems favor the best 

 development of wood at points unsuitable for future use, although the fruit 

 may be of good character. We have found that the sugar content of the 

 Concord fruit, when pruned to the Chautauqua System, varies from different 

 parts of the same vine. The fruit from the higher half gave for an average 

 thirteen per cent more sugar than from the lower portion. While the amount 

 of acid was greater in grapes from the lower portion of the vine than from 

 the upper. Some of the systems now in common use favor this difference 

 in even greater degree than the Chautauqua. Others operate to lessen the 

 differences by promoting a more equable sap flow. 



It is generally agreed that strong growing varieties like Concord, 

 Niagara, and Clinton do their best when trained according to the drooping 

 type, while weaker, slower growing ones, like Delaware, Dutchess, and lona, 

 can best be trained to some form of the upright type, all conditions being 

 the same. The terms here used refer to the position the bearing shoots 

 assume, rather than that of the canes. The drooping and the upright types 

 are commonly used to-day, while the horizontal type has generally been 

 discarded. 



The drooping type is best represented by the Kniffen system and its 

 various modifications. The growing shoots of the season are not tied but 

 are allowed to hang free. Thus there is but one tying at a time previous to 

 the starting of the buds. The type is characterized by a relatively long 

 stem, and two to four short arms or branches. In all the modifications of 

 the type the fruit is carried at a considerable distance from the ground and 

 well disposed between the two wires and just below the lower one. 



In our experiments we have used three forms of the Kniffen type, 

 namely, the Single-Stem Four-Cane, the Umbrella and the Two-Stem Four- 

 Cane. Inasmuch as the trellis is practically the same for each, it will be 

 described at this time for the three. Two wires are employed, one placed 

 at a height of about three, or three and a half feet above the ground level, 

 and the other above it two or two and a half feet. Posts eight to eight and 

 a half feet in length are required to allow for this height of wires. They 



