A CITY FRUIT GARDEN. 61 



come the green shoots bearing the crop. Your young 

 plant will consist of a short stem with half a dozen 

 buds (more or less) and a bunch of roots. In the 

 spring nearly all of these buds will swell and send 

 out tender young shoots. Wait till all are firmly 

 started, and then with the fingers break off all but 

 the largest and best nearest the ground. Do not use 

 a knife, as the young plant may " bleed " or lose sap 

 and be injured. Then carefully train this one shoot 

 straight up the trellis or fence, tying it up as it grows 

 and letting it grow as long as it will. About the middle 

 of August pinch off the tip end of the growing shoot, 

 and the green wood will slowly harden or ^'grow 

 ripe" through the fall months. If side shoots start 

 out from this stem, pinch the tips of each as soon as 

 they appear to prevent them growing any longer. 

 Better one good, stout shoot or cane, thickly covered 

 with buds, than six poor, thin shoots with weak buds. 

 After the leaves fall, this shoot should be cut down 

 to about three feet from the ground. You now have 

 a short, stout cane, from which will spring next year 

 both fruit-bearing shoots and new canes for another 

 year. 



Having obtained a good cane with a dozen buds, 

 any system of training may be followed that you 

 fancy. Permanent canes may be trained along the 

 bottom of the trellis, or spread over it in a fan-shape, 

 or in any other way you please, provided always there 

 is space between the canes for the new crop of wood 

 that bears the fruit crop. In such a small fruit garden 

 perhaps the best plan is to train up a single straight 

 cane to the top of the fence, and to keep it there year 

 after year. The bearing shoots will spread out three 

 feet on each side, and the eight vines on the fence 

 will cover all the wall space you have. The training 

 gf grape vines is an accomplishment well worth study- 



