No. 4.] PRUNING THE GRAPE. 195 



PRUNING THE GRAPE. 



PROF. U. P. HEDRICKr 



Why prime grapes 'i Grapes are pruned to prevent over- 

 bearing, to increase the size of bunch and berry, to maintain 

 the vigor of the vines, and to keep them within proper 

 bounds. A glance at the reasons for pruning shows that the 

 operation has to do with the modification of the vigor and 

 the fruitfuhiess of the plant, which is pruning proper, and 

 with training, which aims to keep the vines in manageable 

 size and shape. A man can care for his vines better if he 

 keeps clearly in mind these quite distinct objects of pruning. 



Whatever the method of pruning and training chosen, and 

 as we shall see there are many, the gi'ower must take in 

 account the relationship of the wood to fruit-bearing. 

 Grapes are produced on the base of the shoots of the same 

 year, which in their turn spring from the canes of the pre- 

 ceding year. This important fact must be emphasized by 

 an illustration. The average yield of a Concord grapevine 

 is about 15 pounds ; it requires from forty to sixty clusters 

 of grapes to produce this quantity of fruit. As a shoot bears 

 from two to three clusters, twenty to thirty buds must be 

 left on the previous year's growth to furnish the required 

 number of clusters. Therefore two, three or more canes are 

 selected and are variously distributed on one or two main 

 stems in accordance with the system of pruning. Good 

 pruning, then, means removing all wood except canes or 

 spurs sufficient to furnish the shoots necessary to produce 

 the desired number of clusters of grapes. 



