LONG PRUNING OP VINES 361 



THIRD YEAR 



Winter Pruning. After the leaves have fallen at the end of 

 the third summer every vine should have a well-formed, straight 

 stem with two, three, or more canes growing from the upper part, 

 and the formation of the "head" or crown should commence. Any 

 vines which have not been brought to this condition must be 

 pruned like two or one-year-old vines, as the case may be. 



If the work up to this point has been well done, the formation 

 of the head is a simple matter. It consists in leaving two, 

 three, or four spurs, arranged as symmetrically as possible near 

 the top of the vine. The stronger the vine, as evidenced by the 

 number, length, and thickness of the canes, the larger the num- 

 ber of spurs and buds that should be left. 



A spur consists of the basal portion of a cane, and normally 

 of two full internodes. This leaves two buds besides the base 

 bud. The number of buds to leave on a spur depends on the 

 strength or thickness of the cane from which the spur is made. 

 A thin, or weak, cane should be cut back to one bud or even to the 

 base bud. A strong cane, on the other hand, should be left with 

 three buds besides the base bud. 



The pruning of each vine requires judgment, and it is impos- 

 sible to give an inflexible rule to follow. The ideal of a perfect 

 vine should be kept in mind and each vine pruned as nearly in 

 accordance with this ideal as circumstances permit. Fig. 3 and 

 Fig. 4 represent nearly perfect three-year-old vines consisting of 

 two or three symmetrically placed spurs of two buds each near 

 the top of the stem. 



Sometimes it is necessary to leave a spur lower down (see 

 Fig. 3, b). This spur will be removed the following year after 

 it has produced two or three bunches of grapes. Sometimes a 

 vine may be very vigorous but have only two canes properly 

 placed for making spurs. In this case the spurs should be left 

 longer three buds and even in extreme cases four buds long. 



In stump pruning there is a difference of practice as to low 

 heading according to locality. In the interior regions the vine 

 is now headed almost at the surface of the ground; in the coast 

 regions there is usually a stump of one to two feet or more. As 

 with trees so with vines, the practice is to prune to make lower 

 heads than during the early years of California fruit growing. 



Long Pruning. Some varieties grown for market and for 

 raisin making do not thrive if pruned by the short-spur system. 

 Notable among these are the Sultana, Sultanina, (Thompson's 

 Seedless), Emperor and Sabalskanski. There are also a number 

 of wine varieties which must be pruned long. Whatever the vari- 

 ety of vine and whatever the system of pruning to be ultimately 



