192 



THE GRAPE CULTURIST. 



require any great amount of experience or skill in prun- 

 ing, but the vineyardist and his assistants must know 

 something of the nature of the plants, in order to deter- 

 mine how much or little bearing wood to leave at the 

 time of the annual pruning. The young canes of the 

 season should be spread out and tied to the trellis during 

 the summer, somewhat in the form of the ribs in a fan, 

 this affording a uniform exposure of the foliage to the 

 sun and air. The laterals may be pinched back, or 

 entirely removed, and the strongest canes checked by 

 pinching, as in other systems, thereby equalizing and 

 distributing the sap among the bearing canes. 



At the time of pruning, the vineyardist can see, at 

 a glance, how each cane should be cut, as they are all 

 spread out before him, and not in a tangle, as they are 



FIG. 75. 



certain to be in some of the systems in vogue. He can 

 prune long or short, according to the strength of the 

 plant, or of the individual canes, and if the vines, at 

 first, have been pruned too low, he can gradually change 

 the form by leaving one or two of the central canes 

 longer than the others, as shown in Fig. 74. This sys- 

 tem is specially adapted to the smaller varieties, which 

 are raised exclusively for wine-making, because it will 

 enable the vineyardists to obtain a fair crop of fruit from 

 some that are naturally unproductive. 



The Kniffin System. Of this system perhaps 

 more has been said and written than any other, of late 



