60 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF VITICULTURE 



in the basal canes of the fruiting wood of the year previous. A combination 

 of both methods of renewal will in the long run work out the better, as the 

 repeated spurring in of the basal canes will result in greatly lengthened 

 spurs that will require frequent cutting out. While the canes that arise 

 directly from dormant buds on wood two years and over are not funda- 

 mentally the best fruiting ones, they can, however, be utilized for renewal 

 purposes. The ideal vine pruned to this system now consists of a stem 

 reaching from sixteen or eighteen inches above the ground level. From 

 the head two arms arise, one extending to the right, the other to the left 

 and tied along the lower wire, each arm not extending for more than two 

 feet and a half to either side of the head. From the arms two canes on each 

 are tied vertically or obliquely to the top wire. In addition there are left 

 two or three spurs, growing from the upper side of each arm, located at well 

 spaced intervals and preferably in proximity to the head. 



One of the chief faults of the Arm system is the tendency of the best 

 matured, and most desirable, canes to be developed at or near the upper 

 wire, while those lower down are often too short, or so poorly matured as to 

 be unfitted for fruiting purposes. When the wood, bearing the well-developed 

 upper canes, is brought down for arms, a considerable interval of the arm 

 from the head to the point where the canes arise is without fruiting wood. 

 Under such conditions the growth will be again thrown to the extremities. 

 If spurring on the arms has been practiced, this undesirable condition is 

 eliminated. With either type of renewal, spurring should be practiced. The 

 fruit from vines trained to the arm system reaches its highest development 

 at or near the level of the upper wire, that on the lower shoots is, as a 

 rule, quite inferior. This, from the fact that sap flow is more vigorous at 

 these points, resulting in more and healthier leaves. These in turn influence 

 the fruit for the better. 



In the vineyard of Concord given to a test of the various modes of train- 

 ing, the Chautauqua (Arm system) has .returned an average yield of 5.7 

 tons annually for the past four years. 



With the High Renewal system the trellis always includes three wires, 

 placed as has already been described. At each pruning for the first two 

 years the vines are cut back to two buds. However with strong growing 

 varieties like the Concord, Niagara and Isabella, and under good soil con- 

 ditions, the stem may be formed the second year. With moderate growers 

 and under average conditions the formation of the stem is left till the third 

 year. The cane that is the most direct and straightest as well as the best 

 matured is chosen for the purpose. This is carried to the lower wire and 

 there firmly tied. As soon as the shoots have made sufficient growth they 

 are loosely tied to the wires so that they are kept away from the tillage 

 tools. The fourth year the head of the vine is formed. This should stand 

 a few inches below the lower wire. Two canes that have grown from the 

 stem near this position are selected, and one is tied to the right and the 

 other to the left of the stem along the lower wire. In the Keuka Lake 

 District, the canes are tied with willows. In addition, at least two spurs 

 of two buds each are retained near the head. With the Concord, the canes 

 may carry about ten buds each, but with the Catawba as grown on the hill- 

 sides of the Central Lakes Region of New York, the canes should not carry 

 above six buds each. As the shoots develop from the horizontal canes, they 



