FORMS OP THREE -YEAR-OLD VINES 



357 



Fig. 3. Three-year-old vines after pruning. 



a. Average vine with two spurs. 



b. Vigorous vines with three spurs, the lowest of which is to be removed the 



following year. 



c. Vigorous vine with three spurs. 



should be done as soon as possible in such a way that it is never 

 necessary to remove a shoot more than 3 or 4 inches long (see Fig. 

 1, b). If the thinning is deferred until the shoots are a foot or 

 more long the vine will be weakened by the removal of so much 

 foliage. If the thinning can not be done early, it is better not to 

 do it at all. The object of this thinning .is to throw all the force 

 and growth of the vine into the cane which is to form- finally 

 the trunk of the vine. If it is done too late not only does the 

 growth not go into this cane, but the vine is weakened so much 

 that this cane does not grow so well as it would have done without 

 thinning. 



The first thinning can be done with the first hoeing, and the 

 second with the suckering. The suckering consists of the removal 

 of all shoots which come from below the ground. These also 

 should be removed as early as practicable, both to avoid weaken- 

 ing the vine by the removal of mature leaves and also because a 

 young sucker is much more easily separated from the vine at this 

 time. Every sucker must be cut or broken off at the point where 

 it originates. If a little piece of the sucker is left, several new 



