46 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



trellis is somewhat more convenient in tying up the 

 young vines and lower canes, but is also costlier, while 

 the two-wire trellis is more economical, and when the 

 vines are once established in their proper shape, just 

 as good, while it is more convenient for cultivation be- 

 low, and allows freer circulation of air below the bearing 

 canes. Fasten your vine to the post at one end, drawing 

 it along the line, and pass it through the hole in the end 

 post. Have pieces of 1 inch boards, l ! / a inch broad, and 

 a foot long, with a hole bored through the center. Draw 

 your wire also through this, and then by turning the 

 board, you can, in wrapping the wire around it, tighten 

 that at your pleasure, and loosen it also, which should 

 always be done in the fall, as the cold contracts the wire, 

 and the strain would be too great. Now you can fasten 

 the wire to the intermediate posts by small staples, which 

 are manufactured for this purpose, and can be had in any 

 hardware store. If your vineyard slopes to the south, 

 and the rows run parallel with the hillside, fasten on the 

 south side ; if to the east, fasten to the east. Laths will, 

 of course, do instead of wires, but the posts must then be 

 set much closer ; laths always need repairing ; the wires 

 are much more convenient to tie to, and in the end 

 much cheaper. Many train to stakes. Where timber is 

 plenty, stakes may be cheaper, yet it is much more 

 labor to tie to them, and the vines are always in disorder, 

 while they will cling to the wires with their tendrils, thus 

 doing most of the tying themselves, and the bearing canes 

 can be distributed much more evenly, producing more 

 and better ripened fruit. I am satisfied that the addi- 

 tional cost of trellis will be more than paid by the larger 

 and better crop the first bearing season. Fill all va- 

 cancies, if any occur, with extra strong vines in the fall. 



