PRUNING AND TRAINING. 140 



danger of injuring it than if we wait until it has spread its 

 roots and branches far and wide before we undertake to 

 confine it within certain contracted limits. 



This fact should be borne in mind, that the expansion 

 and multiplication of roots depend as much upon the ex- 

 tent and number of branches that are allowed to grow, as 

 the growth of the branches does upon that of the roots. 



Therefore to control the whole plant we have only to 

 control the top, and this is done chiefly by checking the 

 branches while growing, for if the vine is allowed to per- 

 fect its canes, it wiU certainly perfect a corresponding num- 

 ber of roots, each of which is capable of absorbing a cer- 

 tain quantity of nutriment, and sending it upward into the 

 branches ; and every year that the vine is allowed to grow 

 unchecked, so much more does it increase the difficulty of 

 bringing it under control. 



OBLIQUE ARMS. 



In many parts of the country the grape vine is not suffi- 

 ciently hardy to withstand the cold of winter without pro- 

 tection, and there are very few locations in the Northern 

 States where this would not be beneficial to many of the 

 varieties now in cultivation. Even if the vine itself is not 

 materially injured, the fruit buds are often so weakened 

 by cold that they fail to produce as much or as good fruit 

 as they otherwise would. With the systems of training 

 that I have given and others frequently adopted, it is not 

 only inconvenient to protect the vines, but it would also be 

 very expensive. There is no method of protection that is 

 so cheap or practical as that of laying down the vines and 

 covering them with earth ; but to do this they must be 

 trained in such a manner that they may be bent down with- 

 out breaking the main stem or otherwise injuring them. 



When trained with the two arms, they can not be laid 

 down without bending the main stem over to one side. 



