No. 4.] PRUNING THE GRAPE. 201 



Time to prune. 



Grapes may be pruned from the dropping of the leaves 

 in the fall to the swelling of the buds in the spring. Prun- 

 ing after sap begins to flow is devitalizing. It is seldom 

 advisable to prune when vines are frozen, as the brittle canes 

 are easily broken during handling. 



Summer pruning is far less practiced now than formerly, 

 with a tendency to do less and less of it. It is used to re- 

 move surplus shoots and in heading back canes to keep them 

 within limits. Very often shoots grow from weak buds on 

 the fruiting canes to the detriment of the fruit-bearing 

 shoots. These weaklings should be rubbed off. So, too, 

 shoots often break from arms, spurs or even the trunk where 

 they are not wanted. These should be removed. Secondary 

 shoots sometimes appear on fruiting shoots, especially in the 

 axils of the latter; these should be rubbed off. Here, for 

 the most part, summer pruning should end. 



Tying. 

 Tying the canes and shoots to the trellis is a task requir- 

 ing quickness, skill and good judgment. Canes are tied be- 

 fore buds swell in the spring, and the shoots must be tied 

 during the summer. The materials used in tying are vari- 

 ous, such as raffia, wool twine, wire, willow, carpet rags, 

 green rye straw, corn husks and bass wood bark. The canes 

 should be tied to the windward side of the wire, and this 

 tie is now almost always made with a IsTo. 18 gauge, an- 

 nealed wire about 4 inches in length. The tie is a double 

 loop about wire and cane made by the workman standing 

 on the opposite side of the wire from the cane. The wire 

 should be soft, but even then the work must be done with 

 mittens or gloves. The cane is bound snugly to the trellis 

 that there may be no chafing. Shoots are best tied with 

 raffia or wool twine, the tie being made very loosely to permit 

 growth in the diameter of the shoot. 



