164 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



be injured. In such a case the second shoot should be allowed 

 to grow until it is known whether the first has been injured. 

 In case of injury the second shoot can be tied up the next time 

 the vines are visited and the injured shoot removed. 



At the tying up of the reserved shoots, all new shoots which 

 have developed since the first disbudding should be removed. 

 The shoots should be tied up loosely, as they are soft and easily 

 injured, and they should be brought around carefully to the 

 windward side of the stake. 



The shoots will require tying once more when they have 

 grown another foot or eighteen inches. There will then be two 

 ties, one at two or three inches from the top of the stake and 

 the other at about the middle. If the vines have a tall stake 

 and are to be headed very high, another tying higher up may 

 be needed later. 



With vines making only a moderate growth, no other prun- 

 ing will be needed until the winter. Exceptionally vigorous 

 vines, however, may make a cane eight, ten or more feet 

 long. Such a cane is heavy and is very likely to break the 

 ropes by which it is attached to the stake. In this case it 

 may break off at the bottom, or at least will form an awkward 

 crook near the ground when it matures. In either case it is 

 difficult to form a good trunk the following year. Even when 

 the ties do not break, the cane will riot be well suited for 

 the commencement of a trunk, as the joints will be so long 

 that it will be impossible to leave enough well-placed buds at 

 the winter pruning. 



Both these difficulties are avoided by timely topping. When 

 such vigorously growing canes have grown twelve or eighteen 

 inches above the top of the stake they are cut back about level 

 with the stake. This is most conveniently done with a long- 

 bladed knife or piece of split bamboo. After topping, the 

 cane ceases to grow in length and laterals start at most of the 

 joints. It is less exposed to the action of the wind, and the 



