Pruning. 17 



This annually lengthening portion is called a spur. 

 Spurs are rarely or never made in this exact posi- 

 tion, however, although this diagrammatic sketch 

 illustrates clearly the method of their formation. 

 The common method of spurring is that connected 

 with the horizontal arm system of training, in which 

 the canes A and B are allowed to become perma- 

 nent arms, and the upright canes, A i, A 2, B i, B 2, 

 B 3, etc., are cut back to within two or three buds 

 of the arms each year. The cane A i, for in- 

 stance, is cut back in the fall of 1892 to two or 

 three buds, and in 1893 two or three canes will 

 grow from this stub. In the fall of 1893 only one 

 cane is left after the pruning, and this one Js cut 

 back to two or three buds ; and so on. So the spur 

 grows higher every year, although every effort is 

 made to keep it short, both by reducing the num- 

 ber of buds to one or two and by endeavoring to 

 bring out a cane lower down on the spur every few 

 years. Fig. 4 shows a short spur of two years' 

 standing. The horizontal portion shows the per- 

 manent arm. The first upright portion is the re- 

 mains of the first-year cane and the upper portion 

 is the second-year cane after it is cut back in the 

 fall. In this instance, the cane is cut back to one 

 fruiting bud, , the small buds, a a, being rubbed 

 out. There are serious objections to spurs in any 

 position. They become hard and comparatively 

 lifeless after a time, it is often difficult to replace 

 them by healthy fresh wood, and the bearing por- 



