62 AMERICAN GllAPE GROWING 



shoots on his canes along the first wire to one to two 

 eyes, growing his fruit on these, and leaving the old arm, 

 pruning back the young shoots to spurs every year, leav- 

 ing the bearing shoots unchecked, and tying them to the 

 wires above. While it succeeds there, I have my doubts 

 :LS to its applicability with us, for the reasons already 

 uiven, nor do 1 believe that he can grow any better fruit 

 even there, than could be obtained by our simpler method. 



Prof. L. H. Bailey has written a little book on Amer- 

 ican Grape Training, a copy of which he has kindly 

 placed at my disposal, with permission to make such ex- 

 tracts as may be found useful for this volume. It dis- 

 cusses almost every method of training practiced in this 

 country except those set forth in the preceding chapters, 

 which are, however, still followed, to some extent, 

 everywhere. 



THE KNIFFEN SYSTEM, so named after its originator, 

 William Kniffen, or some of its modifications, is largely 

 followed in many parts of the State of New York, at 

 least for strong growing varieties, as Concord, Worden 

 and Niagara. The fundamental idea underlying the 

 Knift'en system, in all its modifications, seems to me to 

 be the obtaining of grapes with the smallest amount of 

 labor. The method known as the four-cane Kniffen 

 seems to have been the original of the system. Two 

 wires are used, and as soon as the vine becomes strong 

 enough a spur and a cane are grown from the lower trel- 

 lis ; that is to say, four canes are grown from two spurs, 

 one on each side of the vine, of which one is cut back to 

 a spur when pruning, the other to a cane, which is car- 

 ried along the lower wire and tied. If the vine is 

 strong enough to be carried to the upper wire, it is 

 pruned in the same manner there, so that each of the 

 wires carries a separate load of wood and fruit. Both 

 tiers thus carry two spurs for renewal, two canes for 

 bearing, and the shoots from the bearing canes are 



