100 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



a foot from the crown, and without further support than 

 its own stem. Very old vines, sometimes, have from a 

 dozen to twenty spurs, and present, with their fruit 

 hanging all around their trunks, a pleasing, but odd 

 aspect. This method could not be applied here with any 

 chance of success to any other than very slow and stocky 

 growers. The Delaware, the Alvey, and also the Eumelan, 

 would be the most suitable, as they are very close-jointed, 

 stocky, and hardy. It would be useless to try it with 

 strong growers. 



Another method of dwarfing the vine is practised to 

 form a pretty border along walks in gardens or along ter- 

 races, and is as follows : Plant the vines about 8 feet 

 apart, treat them the first season as in common vineyard 

 culture, but cut back to two buds. Provide posts 3 to 

 3 1 /., feet long, and pointed at one end ; drive these into the 

 ground for 18 inches, and nail a lath on the top. This 

 is the trellis, and should be about 18 inches above the 

 ground, or 2 feet, if you prefer. Allow both of the 

 shoots from the vine to grow unchecked, and when they 

 have reached the trellis, tie one to the right, the other to 

 the left, allowing them to grow at will along the lath. 

 The next fall, cut back to the proper length to meet the 

 other vine, and in spring, tie firmly to the lath. When 

 the young shoots appear, all are rubbed off below the trel- 

 lis, but all those above the trellis are pinched, as in vine- 

 yard culture, beyond the last bunch of grapes. The 

 trellis, with its garland of fruit, will look very pretty. 

 In the fall, all the shoots are "spurred-in" to one or 

 two buds, one being allowed to grow from each spur, to 

 produce fruit the next summer ; the same treatment is 

 repeated every year. 



During a trip among the vineyards of Western New 

 York, on the shores of Lake Erie and Keuka, or Crooked 

 Lake, I observed a method of training which seems to pro- 

 duce good results there, but which I think would not 



