THE GRAPE. 



51 



enough to bear a good crop of fruit the following year. By either 

 method only one fruiting season is lost, but as a rule the greatest 

 success attends the latter method. 



Time of Pruning.— The best time to prune the grape is late 

 in the fall or very early in the spring. If the vines are to be laid 

 on the ground in winter of course they should be pruned in autumn, 

 as doing it then will greatly facilitate the laying down process. If 

 for any reason the vines have not been pruned until the buds have 

 started, it is far better to do it then than not at all. The so-called 

 "bl*=eding" of vines does not appear to seriously injure them, 

 though pruning when the sap will run from the cut surfaces is a 

 bad plan. 



Fig. 3714.— J./2, old grape vine pruned on the one-cane, spur renewal system 

 as recommended. From a photograph. 



Thinning th«3 Frnlt.— Under almost any system of pruning 

 some varieties will set more fruit than they can properly mature. 

 Where this is the case the poorest bunches should be cut away as 

 soon as the berries are well formed. As a rule, the improved ap- 

 pearance of the remaining fruit is so great, as the result of this 

 thinning process, as to make the operation a paying one. 



Manures.— Ordinarily the new soils of the northwestern 

 states contain an abundance of plant food. Grapes do not require 

 much manure, and the best kinds for them are those which have 

 but a small amount of organic matter, such as wood ashes. Yet on 

 gravelly or sandy lands they may be much benefited by the liberal 

 use of stable manure. Never apply manure so long as the vines 

 are making a saLisfactory growth without it. A very rapid, long 

 growth is not nearly as desirable as that which is well matured 

 and moderate in quantity. 



