Trellis. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Training. 45 



durable wood, 3 inches in diameter and 6i to 

 7 feet long, are placed between the vines, at 

 equal distance from each vine, and in a line 

 with them, 2 feet deep in the ground. When 

 the posts are set, nail on strips about 2i 

 inches wide and 1 inch thick, one strip or bar 

 being placed 1 foot from the ground, and the 

 other at the top of the posts. Then take No. 

 16 wire and put it on perpendicularly, twist- 

 ing it around the lower and upper bar, at a 

 distance of about 12 inches apart. As a 

 pound of No. 16 wire gives 102 feet, the ad- 

 ditional expense is but \QYy small. This 

 trellis will probably cost less than one with 

 horizontal wires, and is preferred b}^ some. 

 Practical experience, 

 however, speaks in favor 

 of horizontal wires. A 

 good man}' grape-growers 

 train their vines to stakes^ 

 believing it to be cheaper ; 

 and the decline in the 

 price of grapes and wine 

 induces many to adopt 

 the least costly plan. 



This method has also 

 the great advantage of 

 allowing us to cultivate, 

 plow and cross-plow the 

 "*„ ground in all directions, 

 leaving but little to hoe 

 around the vines. Some 

 use one stake only, as 

 shown in Fig. 67, but 

 with our strong growers 

 this mode is apt to 

 crowd foliage and fruit 

 too much ; others there- 

 fore use ttoo, and, where timber is plenty, even 

 three stakes, placed around each vine, about 

 10 inches from it, and wind its canes around 

 them spirall}^ until they reach tlie top. The 

 disadvantage of training on stakes is, that 

 these soon rot in the ground, and must be al- 

 most annually taken out, repointcd and driven 

 into the soil, consequently require more 

 labor, and are not as durable as trellis, un- 

 less cedar poles, or other very durable timber 

 is used. A very simple combination of the 

 trellis and stake system (as shown in Fig. 

 68) requires but one wire for the bearing 



Fig. 67 



canes and much lighter stakes ; but this 

 method does not afford the advantage of 

 cross-plowing. 



To secure this advantage and at the same 

 time to give to our strong growers more space 

 and the benefits of high training, we recom- 

 mend an '^ Arbor Trellis," the construction 

 of which is shown in Fig;. 69. Though more 



Fig. 68. 



Fig. 69. 



expensive in construction than the ordinary 

 trellis, this overhead system affords many 

 advantages, especially for our strong growing 

 and hardy varieties. A comparatively greater 

 freedom from fungoid diseases, increased 

 productiveness, with the cost of cultivation 

 and hand labor reduced to a minimum, are 

 the principal advantages. 



For this method of training the vines should 

 be tied up the first summer already' to a high- 

 er stake or pole, and if the}' make a sutficient 

 growth, the permanent stakes, which form the 

 support of the overhead trellis, may be set 

 during the first winter. These stakes should 

 be about 7^ feet long, of some durable wood. 

 They need not be veiy heavy as they are tied 

 or braced together at the top in each direc- 

 tion by the slats running lengthwise and 

 crosswise, which gives this trellis an unusual 

 strength of construction. The height of the 

 trellis should be six feet above the ground, 

 enabling an ordinary horse or mule to pass 

 underneath in cultivating. The young vine 

 at the end of the first season should be 

 pruned long enough to reach up to the trellis, 

 and allowed there to branch out and spread 

 over the horizontal wires. In subsequent 

 years a modified form of renewal pruning, or 

 simplj^ spur pruning, or a combination of 

 both may be adopted. In tieing up the cane 

 of the first season's growth, it is well to wind 

 it in a long spiral around the stake or post. 

 This gives it a better hold, and as the vines 

 grow hea\ier will hold the stakes in place even 

 if it should rot off at the bottom. Summei'- 

 pruning and tying is almost entirely dis- 

 pensed with. The fruit-gathering is, how- 

 ever, less convenient, and none but quite 



