CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



indicates that more eyes are necessary. On the contrary, if the 

 canes are small, and the bunches of grapes numerous and strag- 

 gling, and the ripening not even, it indicates that the number 

 of eyes left should be less. 



Pruning may be regulated to produce a good second crop of 

 grapes or to prevent the formation of a second crop. The second 

 crop is often desirable in raisin and table varieties, but unde- 

 sirable in wine varieties. 



Attention should be paid to the tools used in pruning. Let 

 the blades be kept sharp and thin; large shears are very apt to 

 bruise the wood more than small ones. 



Pruning is done after the fall of the leaves and before the 

 swelling of the buds, usually in January and February. Early 

 pruning has a tendency to make the vines start growth early, 

 consequently in frosty situations pruning is often deferred till 

 late in the winter as late as the middle of March in some cases. 

 In such situations it is advised to leave more buds at pruning, 

 so if the frost kills the first shoots there are buds below to make 

 later growth. This practice has been followed with marked 

 advantage in some regions liable to late spring frosts. 



The treatment of vines injured by spring frosts is clearly the 

 immediate removal, by a sharp downward jerk, of the frosted 

 shoots. P. C. Rossi, a large vineyardist, recites this experience, 

 both in the San Joaquin and Santa Rosa Valleys : 



We had all the vines affected by frost entirely stripped of the damaged shoots, 

 and we had the pleasure of seeing that, in a short time after, all the dormant buds 

 came out finely, with their regular two bunches of grapes ;, therefore we have lost 

 only one-third of the crop. In order to make careful experiment we left a row 

 of vines untouched, and the result proved that the vines that were not stripped 

 did not do as well as the others, as the dormant buds in many cases did not come 

 out, and those that came out were not healthy and strong, and hardly had any 

 grapes. The damaged shoots that were not removed died gradually, and at the 

 junction with the cane new shoots came out without any grapes at all. The 

 result clearly proves that we will have fully two-thirds of the crop out of the 

 frost-bitten vines which were stripped of the damaged canes, while we had hardly 

 any first crop and only a second crop on the vines which were not attended to. 



DISEASES OF THE VINE 



One of the most prevalent diseases of the vine in California 

 is caused by a fungus which affects leaves, canes, and berries, 

 and is locally known as "mildew." This disease is recognized 

 by grayish white coloring of the affected leaves, which, as the 

 disease progresses, shrivel and dry up ; the young cane also black- 

 ens and dries, and the berries show whitish patches, which be- 

 come darker colored and the berries crack open. The usual rem- 

 edy for the trouble is finely-ground or sublimed sulphur applied 

 several times during the season, as will be described in the chap- 

 ter on diseases of trees and vines. 



