HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



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an inch in diameter, when the lateral should 

 be pinched back to its first leaf. The bud in 

 the axil of this will soon begin to swell, and ere 

 long produce another shoot, which must also 

 be pinched back to its first leaf, which in time 

 will produce another shoot, to be treated in the 

 same way. As cool weather approaches the 

 laterals may be allowed to have their own way. 

 We have spoken of only one lateral from the 

 young cane, but there will be a lateral from the 

 axil of almost every leaf, and these should all 

 be treated as above directed. The cane itself, 

 however, should be allowed to extend itself at 

 pleasure. This pinching really requires but 

 little time, but insures a strong cane with well- 

 developed eyes. In the fall, after the leaves 

 have fallen, the cane should be cut down to 

 three or four eyes, and covered for the winter 

 before the ground freezes hard. This comprises 

 the training for the first year. Culture consists 

 in keeping the ground mellow and free from 

 weeds by the use of the cultivator. Cabbage 

 or a root crop of some kind may be grown be- 

 tween the rows this year, but not Corn or any 



other plant that grows high. 

 In the spring 



spring of the second year the first 

 thing to be done is to uncover the Vines ; butthis 

 must not be done too early, especially at the 

 North and in exposed localities. It is better, in 

 such places, to wait till danger from frost is past. 

 Keeping them covered retards growth up to a 

 certain point. If the pruning were not done 

 last fall, it should be done now. We propose 

 the second year to grow two canes. We have 

 three or four buds or eyes to start with. Let 

 them all grow till they are three or four inches 

 long, and then select the two strongest, one on 

 each side, or opposite each other. If the two 

 upper ones should be of about equal size, (as 

 they will generally be the strongest,) select them 

 in preference to the lower ones, and rub the 

 others off. These two canes should be tied up, 

 and the laterals pinched in, precisely as was di- 

 rected for the single cane during the first year. 

 There may be a number of canes sufficiently 

 strong to bear a single bunch of fruit this year; 

 but, as a rule, it will be better to remove the 

 fruit from most of the canes, and take a larger 

 crop in the third year, unless it be intended to 

 grow the Vines to stakes and a single cane. It 

 happens at times that a Vine here and there will 

 grow too weak during the first year to produce 

 two good canes during the second; and in such 

 cases it is better to grow only one cane during 

 the second year. If everything has gone well 

 we shall have in the fall two strong canes as the 

 beginning of any system of training that may 

 bo adopted, and the system must be selected be- 

 fore the next pruning can be properly done. 



There are many systems of training of varying 

 degrees of merit; some simple and some com- 

 plicated; some adapted to the vineyard and 

 others to the garden, or a wall, or the side of a 

 house. Few of these could be made intelligible 

 without much detail and the aid of illustrations, 

 and would require a good deal more room than 

 could be given to the subject in a work like this. 

 We have carried the treatment of the Vine up to 

 a point where any of these methods can be 

 adopted, either for the vineyard or the garden. 

 We will, however, mention a few of these, and 

 refer the reader for details to some work spe- 

 cially devoted to the training of the Vine. To 

 begin with, there is the Double Horizontal Arm 

 System, which is one of the best either for the 



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vineyard or the garden. It consists of two 

 horizontal arms running in opposite directions 

 on the same level. These are spurred. It is 

 better to reverse these arms when laying them 

 down, as it makes the spurs stronger near the 

 stock. The Single Horizontal Arm is the same 

 in principle, only there is one arm instead of two. 

 The Guyot System consists in growing three 

 canes each year from a low stock. One of these 

 canes is laid down horizontally, and the other 

 two are grown upright. There may be three of 

 these upright canes, but two are better. The 

 horizontal cane is shortened to about four feet, 

 and fruited its whole length. A new horizontal 

 arm is laid down every year. It is a kind of re- 

 newal system, and has decided advantages. It 

 is susceptible of several variations, and an im- 

 provement consists in making the horizontal 

 arm permanent, and "spurring" it. This sys- 

 tem is also a good one for the vineyard. The 

 Upright Stock System is a good one for either 

 the vineyard or the garden, and is a very neat 

 method for covering trellises, walls, arbors, etc. 

 It is adapted to either stakes or wires, and can 

 be made quite ornamental. The Bow System 

 is practiced at the West, and was introduced by 

 the Germans. Stakes are used instead of wires. 

 It consists in growing two canes, one of which 

 is cut to a spur, and the other bent in the form 

 of a bow around a stake. It may be modified 

 by making two bows instead of one. The bows 

 are renewed each year. This system is not prac- 

 ticed as much as it used to be. The Jura Plan 

 is simple, and better than the preceding, and 

 gives more fruit. The Vines are grown to 

 stakes, one to each Vine. The plan consists of a 

 single upright stock two or three feet high, 

 which is double spurred. This plan enables 

 one to plant a Vine here and there about the gar- 

 den without taking up much room. We men- 

 tion next the celebrated Thomery System, which 

 takes its name from Thomery in France, where 

 it originated and is found in perfection. It 

 consists in growing Vines with horizontal arms, 

 one above the other in tiers, no Vine having 

 more than two arms. It is a beautiful plan 

 for covering arbors, high walls and trellises, 

 sides of dwellings and barns, etc. Any attempt 

 to describe the methods of its formation without 

 the aid of illustrations would be simply futile. 

 It is a beautiful system of growing the Vine, but 

 is complicated, and demands knowledge, skill, 

 and care. There are many other systems of 

 training, the most of them, however, interesting 

 chiefly to the amateur and experimentalist, but 

 requiring too much time and labor for the vine- 

 yard. 



The reader must examine the different meth- 

 ods named above, make his selection, and prune 

 his two canes, as we left them, to meet the re- 

 quirements of the system he adopts; and to da 

 this intelligently he will require the aid of some 

 good book or specialist. We may add, however, 

 that though the native Vine is hardy, it will be 

 better at the North, as a rule, to lay the Vines 

 down, and cover them with a few inches of earth 

 or litter. This laying down should be begun 

 while the Vines are young, as it keeps the stock 

 somewhat pliable. If left till the Vine is old it 

 is apt to crack and be injured, unless the opera- 

 tion is carefully performed. We may also add, 

 that the varieties of Grapes should be selected 

 with reference to the climate and location in 

 which they are to be grown, there being a great 

 difference in varieties in this respect. So many 



