668 GEAPE 



of the grower. The Concord is one of the strongest and 

 most productive of Grapes. Twelve to 15 Ibs. is a fair 

 crop for a mature vine; 20 Ibs. is a heavy crop; 25 Ibs. 

 is a very heavy crop. An average cluster of Concord 

 will weigh %-% lb. The vine may be expected to carry 

 from 30 to 60 clusters ; and the annual pruning will leave 

 from 15 to 30 buds. 



Since the bearing wood springs from new canes, it 

 follows that the fruit of the Grape is each year borne 

 farther from the main trunk of the vine. Observe that 

 the fruit of wild vines is borne beyond reach when they 

 climb over thickets and trees. It is a 

 prime object of the Grape-grower to 

 obviate this difficulty. The third prin- 

 ciple in the pruning of Grape vines is 

 this: The bearing wood should be kept 

 near the original trunk or head of the 

 vine. When one 

 cane is sending 

 out fruit-bearing 

 shoots, another 

 shoot is taken out 

 from near the 

 main trunk or 

 head to furnish 

 fruit-bearing 

 shoots for the 



GRAPE 



any time. These are usually weak and are removed > 

 but now and then a strong one arises. Spur pruning i j 

 now rarely used except in Grapes grown on arbors oj 

 under glass, in which cases it is necessary to have I 

 long, permanent trunk. On arbors it is best to can- 

 one arm or trunk from each root to the top of the frame i 

 work. Each year the lateral canes are cut back to spur I 

 of two or three buds. The pruning of glasshouse Grape j 

 is discussed under Grapes under Glass. 



The current systems of pruning renew to a head o 

 to the main trunk each year. The trunk of the vine i 

 carried up to the desired height to one of the wires o ! 

 the trellis and one or more canes are taken out fronj 

 its top each year. The object is to keep the bearinj 

 wood near the main trunk and to obviate the use o I 

 spurs. This type of pruning is illustrated in Fig. 96] 

 This engraving shows the head of a vine seven year, 

 old, and on which two canes are allowed to remain afte 

 each annual pruning. The part extending from b to 

 and d is the base of the bearing cane of 1892. In th 

 winter of 1892-3, this cane is cut off at d, and the nev 

 cane, e, is left to make the bearing wood of 1893 

 Another cane sprung from f, but it was too weak t< 

 leave for fruiting. It was, therefore, cut away. The ol( 

 stub, b, f, d, will be cut away a year hence, in the win 

 ter of 1893-4. In the meantime, a renewal cane will hav< 

 grown from the stub c, which is left for that purpose 



953. Hybrid of Vitis Linsecomi and a Fox 

 Grape derivative Husmann (X %). 



954. Hybrid of Vitis Linsecomi and an aestivalis off- 

 shootHermann Jaeger (X %) 



next year; and the other or older cane is entirely cut 

 away after the fruit is off. That is, the wood is con- 

 stantly renewed; and the new shoots which are to give 

 bearing wood the following year are called renewals. 

 There are some systems of Grape training which renew 

 back to the root every year or two, and these have been 

 called renewal systems ; but every system of Grape 

 pruning must practice renewal in one way or another. 



An old system of renewal was by means of spurs. 

 Fig. 960 illustrates this. The horizontal part is a per- 

 manent arm or branch. We will suppose that it grew in 

 1890. In 1891 a shoot grew upward. It bore two or 

 three clusters of fruit. In the fall it was cut back to a, 

 two buds being left to supply the shoots of the succeed- 

 ing year. This short branch is now called a spur. Only 

 oue shoot was wanted for the next year, but two buds 

 were left in case one should be injured. In 1892, a 

 branch grew from one of these buds: it bore fruit: in 

 the fall it was cut back to b. In 1893 a shoot will grow 

 from one of the buds, c. Thus the spur elongates year 

 by year, becoming a forking, complicated, stubby branch. 

 After a few years it may become weak : the grower sees 

 this, and if a new shoot should start from the main arm 

 near the base of the spur, he encourages it and cuts off 

 all of the old spur: thus he renews back again to the 

 main vine. Shoots from adventitious or secondary buds 

 are likely to spring from the main arm or the spur at 



and the old cane, b d, will be cut off just beyond it, 

 between c and f. In this way, the bearing wood is 

 kept close to the head of the vine. The wound a 

 shows where an old stub was cut away this winter, 1892- 

 3, while 6 shows where one was cut off the previous win- 

 ter. A scar upon the back of the head, which does not 

 show in the illustration, marks the spot where a stub 

 was cut away two years ago, in the winter of 1890-1. 

 This method of pruning can be kept up almost indefi- 

 nitely, and if care is exercised in keeping the stubs 

 short, the head will not enlarge out of proportion to the 

 growth of the stock or trunk. 



There are two common styles of training in use in the 

 northern states, but each of them practices essentially 

 the system of renewals which is described in the last 

 paragraph. One style of training carries the trunk only 

 to the lowest wire of the trellis. The caries usually 2 

 in number are tied horizontally on the bottom wire, and 

 the bearing shoots are tied, as they grow, to the two 

 wires above (Fig. 962). This is anupright system. The 

 other style carries the trunk to the top wire. The canes 

 are tied on the top wire, and the bearing shoots hang. 

 This is the drooping or Kniffin system. If the shoots 

 run out on the top wire by clinging to it by tendrils, 

 they are torn loose, so that they will hang: this is a very 

 necessary practice. There is controversy as to the com- 

 parative merits of these systems, which proves that 



