508 VINIFERA GRAPE TRAINING 



The Fig. 317 represents the simplest form of 

 this style of pruning. The vine should be given 

 as nearly as possible the form of a goblet, 

 slightly flattened in the direction of the rows. It 

 is important that the vine be kept regular and 

 with equally balanced arms. This is the chief 

 difficulty of the method, and calls for the ex- 

 ercise of some judgment. From the first, the 

 required form of the vine should be kept in 

 view. On varieties with a trailing habit of 

 growth, vertical spurs must be chosen, and 

 with some upright growers it will be found 

 necessary to choose spurs nearer the horizontal. 



The arms must be kept short for convenience of 

 cultivation and to give them the requisite strength 

 to support their crop without bending or breaking. 

 For this reason the lowest of the two or three 

 canes coming from last year's spur should be left. 

 For instance, on Fig. 315 the cane should be cut 

 at K 2 or K 3 , according as two or three eyes are 

 needed, and the rest of the arm removed at K. 

 As even with the greatest care some arms will 

 become too long or project in wrong directions, it 

 is necessary to renew them by means of canes 

 from the old wood or watersprouts. For instance, 

 if the other arm represented on Fig. 315 were too 

 long, it should be removed and replaced by an- 

 other developed from the cane (ws). As the 

 cane comes from three -year -old wood it cannot be 

 depended on to produce grapes. For this reason 



