242 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



state of nature it will mount to the top of the tallest object within its 

 reach, in order to secure to itself the light and sunshine that it 

 requires to perfect its growth of wood and fruit, and as its fruit is 

 always borne on the current year's shoots, the grapes would be far out 

 of reach when harvest time came. In order, therefore, to restrain its 

 natural habit, and to adapt it to domestic requirements, the vine 

 ^ust be pruned into a shape better adapted to conditions. 



In the autumn of the third year the vine is fully established, 

 .with its permanent upright stem and its two horizontal arms, each 

 with its three or four shoots or canes trained upward to the top wire of 

 ,the trellis, each of which has borne one or two bunches of grapes. 

 When autumn frosts suspend vegetation the vine is ready for its an- 

 nual pruning before entering upon its winter's rest and preparatory 

 to bearing a full crop in its fourth year. 



Renewal Pruning. Each alternate upright cane on the hori- 

 zontal arms should be cut down to a short spur at a point near the 

 arm, and the others cut off even with the top wire of the trellis. 



The following spring a single shoot is allowed to grow from 

 each of the spurs on the horizontal arms to be trained vertically to 

 the wires above, and the eyes (from six to ten) on the canes that are 

 left from the previous pruning will send out the fruit-bearing shoots 

 for the current year. These fruit-bearing shoots are to be trained 

 on the wires of the trellis, and may be allowed to bear on.e or two 

 bunches of fruit each. If there are six eyes or buds on each upright 

 eane, and there are three or four of these, the number of bunches of 

 fruit to each vine may be estimated at from twenty-five to forty. 



"When the grapes have been harvested and the season (late fall or 

 early winter) has again come for the annual pruning, the canes that 

 have borne fruit are to be cut down to short spurs, a few inches from 

 the horizontal arms, and the shoots that have grown from the spurs 

 of the preceding year are to be retained for fruiting the succeeding 

 season. In this way new w r ood, that is absolutely necessary to the 

 production of fruit, is always provided for each succeeding year, and 

 that, too, within the limited space allotted to each vine. 



When to Prune. An annual pruning should be given all grape- 

 vines at some time during the period of rest, between the late fall 

 frosts and the early movement of sap the following spring, but never 

 prune when the wood is actually frozen. Good authorities agree 

 upon this, though they may differ as to the exact time that it is best to 

 prune. In the latitude of central Indiana it has been found best, 

 for several good reasons, to practice fall pruning. If done then, it 

 is out of the way of the rush of spring work. Also the weather is 

 usually pleasant, and the work may be done with less personal 

 exposure to the operator. If pruned in the fall, there can be no 

 danger from "bleeding," a term used to designate the waste of sap 

 from the newly made wounds which follows late spring pruning. If 

 pruned in the fall and the prunings are immediately burned, many 

 disease germs and insects will be destroyed that would otherwise 

 survive the winter, and that would prey upon the vines the follow- 



