AND WIKE MAKma. 68 



allowed to droop down, without further pruning and 

 tying. Each of the spurs is supposed to produce two 

 canes, of which one is cut back to a spur, the other to a 

 bearing cane, and the cane which has produced the fruit 

 is cut off. A very simple form of renewal training, and 

 if it produces as good fruit as some more complicated 

 methods, it is well worth following. Modifications of it 

 are as follows : 



The Low, or One-armed Kniffen". — In this the 

 trellis is only three or four feet high, with a single wire. 

 A spur and a bearing cane are left on each side, and the 

 whole mass of bearing cane, fruit and foliage, is carried 

 by it. The advantages urged for this are (1), the pro- 

 tection of grapes from wind ; (2) larger size of the fruit, 

 in consequence of the small amount of bearing wood ; 

 (3) the ease of laying down the vine ; (4) the readiness 

 with which the top may be renewed from the root; 

 (5) cheapness of the trellis. 



The High, or Umbrella Kniffen. — In this method 

 the vine is carried, as soon as its strength permits, to 

 the upper wire, and the young cane cut back even with 

 it. The top is then formed from the upper four buds, 

 or rather, from their shoots, which appear during the 

 summer, of which two are led along each side of the 

 wire. In pruning them the next winter, one of them 

 on each side is cut back to a spur, the other to a cane of 

 a length corresponding to the strength of the vine, 

 which cane is bent from the upper wire to the lower, 

 forming a sweeping, or umbrella top. The renewal is 

 the same as with the other forms. 



Six and Eight Cane Kniffen.—Iu these, which 

 require three, or even four wires, there is little if any 

 apparent difference from common fan training, as it dis- 

 tributes the growth of the vine over the whole trellis. 



Overhead Kniffen Training. — In this method 

 the vine is carried to the top of the trellis as soon as it 



