50 THE GRAPE. 



wood, branches from the main cane, may be trained to form a new 

 main cane. The main cane so laid down will become rooted and 

 thus strengthen the new vine formed from one of its branches. 

 Under this system no summer pinching is necessary. After the 

 vines have been trained in this way for eight, ten, or more years, 

 there should be many flexible main 

 canes, and as they get old and too stiff 

 to bend easily they should either be cut 

 out and replaced by some young bear- 

 ing shoot or layered as recommended. 

 Trained in this way a vineyard does not 

 look as symmetrical and pretty as when 

 grown on some more regular plan, but 

 it will produce as much fruit as any 

 system. A little experience will soon 

 show the beginner the amount of wood 

 to leave each year. Vines may be grown 

 on this system for covering high arbors, 

 trees, the sides of buildings or other Fig S7.—A Spur. The dotted 



objects. In fact it is better adapted to ^.''''' '^''''l^.'.'d'Zil^'^^'^^' 



^, , . , , , mg should be done. 



a rather high than to a low support. 



Training vines against buildings or walls is a good 

 plan, and such treatment will hasten the period of ripening and 

 protect from early and late frosts. Of course, the southern ex- 

 posure is always preferable. The trellis for this purpose should be 

 about one foot away from the wall or building. In such locations 

 it is possible to mature good varieties of grapes where otherwise 

 they would be a failure. It is doubtful if there is a habitable sec- 

 tion of northwestern United States where fairly good grapes will 

 not ripen nearly every year in such positions, and almost every 

 farm offers several favorable opportunities of this sort. The soil 

 close to buildings may not be such as is desired, but it can easily 

 be improved, or entirely removed and a better kind substituted. 

 And sometimes what would be a very poor soil for many other 

 crops is just what is needed for the grape. There are cases where 

 in such locations single vines have borne several hundred pounds 

 of grapes in one season. 



Pruning Neglected Vines.— When vines have been neg- 

 lected for several years it is often a difficult matter for the begin- 

 ner to bring them under any system of pruning, and they are on 

 this account allowed to go un pruned and unproductive. Some- 

 times such vines may best be brought into shape by cutting away 

 nine-•^enths of the wood and then carefully thinning out and pinch- 

 ing the young growth that may start. At other times again it may 

 be best to cut the whole vine off at the surface of the ground. If 

 \ih.is is done at the proper season for pruning several sprouts will 

 start from near the root, but only one, or at most two, should be 

 saved. These sprouts should be trained the same as a newly 

 planted vine, except that in one season they will make a vine large 



