AND WINE MAKING, 60 



ing them equally, and when the young shoots appear, 

 thin out the weakest, leaving the others to grow un- 

 checked. Next fall cut back the weakest of the canes 

 to two buds each, the stronger ones to three or four buds, 

 the spurs at bottom to come in as a reserve, should any of 

 the main arms become diseased. 



Others prefer the Thomery or horizontal arm training, 

 but I think it much more complicated and difficult. 

 Those who wish to inform themselves about it, I refer to 

 the books of Fuller and Mead, which are very explicit on 

 the subject. 



CHAPTER XV. 



OTHER METHODS OF TRAINING. 



These are almost without number; one of the most 

 common is to place three stakes around the vine, about a 

 foot from it, and to wind the canes or arms around them 

 spirally, until they reach the top. They are then 

 '* spurred in" every season, and no young canes grown, 

 except to replace a decaying arm. This mode is much 

 more inconvenient than a trellis, and it crowds fruit 

 and foliage too much, inducing mildew. Another, much 

 in vogue in Europe, and also in California, is the so- 

 called bush or stool method of training. The vine is 

 made to form its crown, i. e., the part from which the 

 branches start, from 12 to 18 inches above the ground 

 and all the young shoots are allowed to grow, but sum- 

 mer pruned or checked above the last bunch of grapes. 

 The next spring or fall all of the young shoots are 

 " spurred-in " to two buds ; this system of spurring-in is 

 kept up, and the vine will at last present the appearance 

 of a bush or miniature tree, producing all its fruit withiu 



