The Planting of the Fruit-Farm loi 



the ever-lengthening stock, rising above the wires, 

 for the stock, as it ages, acquires much loose rough 

 bark which easily becomes the refuge for fungi 

 and insects. The arm system, which prevails in 

 the Lake Shore Valley, keeps the stock low and 

 permits new canes each year. This year's grapes 

 grow on last year's wood, so that in trimming 

 provision must be made for a year ahead. By this 

 system the strength of the root is annually concen- 

 trated upon the fruitage of buds on the four or more 

 canes. These buds, stimulated to growth by trim- 

 ming, fertilizing, and cultivation generally, develop 

 rapidly into leaf, tendril, stalk, and fruit. The 

 trimming of the vine determines the character of 

 the vineyard and is doubtless the most important 

 part of grape culture. The root stalk, growing 

 constantly, tends to become a thick, heavy stump, 

 having short stubs sticking out as memorials of the 

 poor trimmer. These stubs split and crack at the 

 ends, under sun and rain, and give entrance to 

 fungi and insects, — fertile culture ground for the 

 countless spores ever floating in the air. To avoid 

 evil results, the vine should be trimmed close to 

 the stock, making a clean cut. Small wounds heal 

 over, but large cuts must be covered over with some 

 artificial surface that will exclude the spores, — 

 say, pitch or paint. The stock below the bottom 

 wire becomes ultimately at the top a mass of scars. 

 The trimmer allows a sprout to grow from the root 

 and to take the place of the old stock, which he 

 saws off and btims. By this procedure the vine- 



