GRAPE PRUNING AND TRAINING 



301 



the greater the retarding effect on bud swelling and the flowering 

 season. 



In a progress report on experiments in pruning grapes at various 

 times of year, L. Ravaz* concludes that pruning after the terminal 

 shoots have started serves as a partial protection against spring frosts 

 and increases production without materially affecting the vigor of 

 the vine. The chief value of this late pruning appears to be due 

 to the removal of the outlying buds which are the first to open in 

 the spring. 



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FIG. 260 PRUNED AND UNPRUNED VINE AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE 



RENEWAL SYSTEM 

 A, Second year; B, third; C, fourth; D, unpruned vine in its fourth year. 



He questions whether the bleeding caused by pruning after the 

 shoots have started is harmful. (Compare 15.) To avoid this, 

 however, and still prevent the vines from starting too early in the 

 spring, all unnecessary growth may be removed during the dormant 

 period, the fruiting shoots shortened somewhat, and all eyes re- 

 moved except the two nearest the base. Since the basal eyes are 

 affected by the length of the shoot rather than by the number of eyes 

 beyond them, they will not start any earlier in the spring for having 

 the remaining eyes removed. He found also that sulphate of iron, 

 which has been suggested as a dressing to prevent bleeding, has a 

 tendency to increase the sensibility of the tissues to cold. 



* Taille Hative au Taille Tardive, Montpelier, 1912, Page 15. 



