104 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



to the wire, one in each direction from the main stalk, 

 forming four arms. The next year each of these arms 

 is to be cut back to from four to eight buds, according 

 to the vigor of the vine. These shortened arms are to 

 be firmly tied to the wire, and shoots springing from 

 each bud encouraged to hang down with their clusters 

 of growing grapes. 



This system of training the vine is believed to be the 

 most economical, and one of the most successful known. 

 It is almost universally used in the Hudson River valley. 

 Its methods and merits are being studied, and it is being 

 adopted in other sections of the State. 



MODIFICATIONS OF THE KNIFFIN SYSTEM. One of 

 these is The Trunk System, where two stalks are grown 

 from root, and two arms trained from the one to the 

 lower, and from the other to the upper wire. 



The Umbrella Training, where the trunk is tied to 

 each wire, and two arms with nine to fifteen buds each 

 are left at the upper wire, and none suffered to grow at 

 the lower one ; these long arms are, near their base, fas- 

 tened to the upper wire and then bent down and the top 

 fastened to the lower wire. This method finds consid- 

 erable favor. 



The Overhead or Arbor Kniffin is another popular 

 modification of this system. The overhead arbor is 

 formed by spiking cross-bars three feet in length at right 

 angles to the row, to posts set in the row of vines, about 

 six feet from the ground. Three wires are stretched 

 the length of the row, and fastened equidistant on these 

 cross-bars. The vine is trained without branches to the 

 center wire, and six arms are trained, one in each direc- 

 tion on each wire. This method allows working both 

 ways with a horse, and the fruit hangs below the foliage, 

 and when ripening, becomes more perfectly covered with 

 bloom, it is claimed, than when grown by any other sys- 

 tem of training. 



