ROEDING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



85 



Muscat vines and other vines which do not make long 

 canes a three-foot stake will answer. For Malaga and 

 stronger growing vines in its class use a four-foot stake, 

 and for Emperor, Flame Tokay, Cornichon, Sultana, 

 and Thompson Seedless the stake should at least be 

 six feet long. 



In making my recommendations in reference to 

 pruning I am going to discuss varieties on a basis of 

 "Standards." In other words, a Muscat and vines in 

 its class, making short canes, will be referred to as low 

 standards, meaning that the height of the cane would 

 not exceed twenty-four inches. The Malaga should be 

 termed as a medium standard, cane not to exceed 

 thirty-two inches, and the Thompson Seedless high 

 standard, cane not to be longer than forty-two 

 inches. 



No difficulty will be encountered under ordinary con- 

 ditions in securing a low standard cane the first year, 

 provided the growth of the vine has been tied up as 

 directed. If the cane shows by its size that it is not 

 strong enough to be carried to its maximum height in 

 the first winter pruning, it should be cut off to a point 

 where it is sturdy, and during the growing season the 

 strongest shoot from it should be selected and firmly 

 tied to the stake. In tying to stake use nothing smaller 

 than a three-ply baling rope. Anything smaller than 

 this, should the cane grow vigorously, will cut it in two. 

 On low and medium standards rub all the laterals off, 

 starting not closer than ten inches from the surface of 

 the ground, and on the others anything below fourteen 

 inches should be rubbed off. It is of the utmost im- 

 portance to have the stem of the vine tied firmly to the 

 stake to have it as straight as possible, for it will ulti- 

 mately form the body of the vine. In the second winter 

 when pruning the low standard, leave at least four 

 spurs, getting them as evenly distributed as possible, 

 and be sure to have one at the tip end of the vine. The 

 medium standard should have at least six and the high 

 vine not less than eight. None of these spurs should 

 exceed five inches in length. A light crop of grapes may 

 be expected from the vines in the second year by this 

 method of handling. In the third winter each one of 

 these spurs will have several canes, and in the case of 

 the low and medium standard vines which ordinarily 

 would not be trellised, two spurs with not more than 

 three eyes in each should be allowed to remain. In 

 succeeding years these eyes from the original stock may 

 be increased, depending on the growth of the vine. In 

 the third year the trellising of high standard should 

 commence; when this is done one cane and one short 

 spur with three eyes or buds should be allowed to grow 

 from the stock of the preceding year. The object of 

 this is to furnish wood for renewing the cane in the 

 fourth year, for the first one will be cut off close to the 

 original stock. This method permits of the renewal of 

 the bearing wood of the vine annually and promotes its 

 vigor. There are several advantages in this method of 

 pruning: One is that the vines eventually become self- 

 supporting, making an immense saving in stakes, when 

 after a number of years they must be renewed. There 

 is a tendency on the part of all vines as they grow old to 

 have large spurs die. When the vines are trimmed to a 



A two-year-old Emperor 

 vine, properly trained. 



An eight-year-old Emperor vine 



with spurs well distributed 



along the body of the vine. 



head say twelve inches from the ground it very fre- 

 quently happens that decay sets in where the heavy 

 saw cuts are made in removing the old spurs, and the 

 vine either dies prematurely or there is such a slow re- 

 newal of new wood that it becomes unprofitable. 



For trellising, use a twelve-gauge wire and either 

 staple it to the stakes, using a medium sized staple, or 

 bore holes through the stakes and pass the wire through. 

 To prevent the wires from becoming slack the end 

 stakes in each row are braced, the braces being of 

 sufficient length to reach from the top of the inside 

 stake to the base of stake on the next row. At three 

 years old a trellised vine should not have more than 

 four canes. This may in later years be increased, but 

 eight should be the outside limit. 



A great saving can be made in tying up vines or 

 canes, for that matter, to the stakes by stripping off the 

 leaves from the California fan palm and using these 

 strips in place of rope. These palm-leaf strips are 

 not only very strong but are also very durable. The 

 leaves should be cut two weeks in advance of using 

 and exposed to the weather to cure before tearing them 

 into strips. 



In trellising, the cultivation of the vineyard is some- 

 what more expensive, as it only permits working the 

 rows one way, so that the center between the rows must 

 be worked out with a horse hoe. It has been found 

 that by trellising, the harvesting of the crop is facili- 

 tated, the bunches are more evenly distributed, the 

 vines produce larger crops and in addition to this there 

 seems to be less danger from damage by early spring 

 frosts. 



