238 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



spurs), and the nearest strong cane used to form the vine. The 

 following season the shoots growing from these spurs will prob- 

 ably be strong enough to be used to renew the vines. As the 

 vines become well established, it is customary to leave the upper 

 renewal canes longer than the lower. Under this method a 



Fig. 113. One form of the four cane Kniffen system of training 

 the grape. 



strong growing variety, like Concord, should be allowed ten buds 

 for each of the canes on the upper and five buds each for those 

 on the lower wire or a total of fifty buds for each vine, while 

 such varieties as Delaware should not bear more than thirty 

 buds. There is no summer pruning practiced in the Kniffen 

 method although the young, superfluous, summer shoots should 

 be broken out when they start, as is necessary for best results 

 in any system. 



Two-cane Kniffen system. Since the greater part of the 

 fruit under the four-cane Kniffen system is borne on the upper 

 canes, a modification of this system, in which the lower canes 

 are dispensed with and the upper canes left longer, has come 

 into practice in some sections. In this case the lower trunk is 

 tied to the lower wire to steady it, and two canes, each bearing 

 ten to fifteen buds, are left on the upper wire. Sometimes the 

 lower wire is not used at all. 



