CHAPTER XIV. 



GEAPE TRELLISES. 



The usual manner of making grape trellises is with 

 wire running horizontally, and this answers very well 

 wifch all the various systems of training, except in thn 

 arm and upright hearing canes and spur pruning, which 

 is described in the succeeding chapter. For the ami 

 and spur pruning I much prefer a trellis built as shown 

 in Fig. 38, consisting of two horizontal bars and perpen 

 dicular wire. Everybody who has made trellises in the 

 ordinary manner is aware of the difficulty of keeping the 

 wires straight, even if the posts to which they are fas- 

 tened are not more than eight feet apart, as the wires 

 will contract and expand at every change of temperature, 

 being loose on hot days and tight on cold ones. Besides, 

 much larger wires must be used, if put on horizontally, 

 to support the fruit and the vine. But the most serious 

 objection that I have found is, that the wires, unless 

 very near together, are not where they are most needed 

 when the young upright bearing shoots first start, for 

 they must be tied to something to support them whe? 

 only a few inches long, or they are very liable to b? 

 broken off by heavy, driving rains. If the wires are eight 

 inches apart (which is nearer than the usual custom to 

 place them), the young shoot must be at least twelve to 

 fifteen inches long before the strength of the vine wiU 

 admit of its being tied to the horizontal wire ; besides, 

 when tied, the strings will allow the shoot to slip length- 

 wise of the wire, and often it will crowd, or become 

 entangled with its neighbors, To tie the vine verj 



