REVIEW OF PRUNING AND TRAINING. 



245 



trouble upon this score, and the few single buds have each 

 produced a strong cane suitable for fruiting ; we proceed to 

 cut back those that have fruited down to the arms the 

 small cross line near the base of each shows where they 

 are to be cut. They are all supposed to have borne fruit, 

 like the one at c ; and here we meet the same difficulty 

 that we did with Bright's single-stem system ; that is, there 

 is no bud at the base of the bearing canes to produce a 

 new shoot ; but according to the rule laid down by the 

 advocates of this system, we will cut them back and trust 

 to luck for another cane. The other four canes will now 

 throw out their side branches and produce fruit ; and this 

 brings us to the end *of the third season : and unless some 

 of the latent buds at the base of the previous season's 

 canes have produced good strong new ones, which they 

 will seldom do, our alternate renewal is run out. Various 

 expedients will have to be resorted to in order to carry the 

 vine successfully through even to the end of the third year 

 after the first pruning of the upright canes. In the first 

 place, the buds at the base of the four-feet bearing canes 

 will not push unless the canes are bent in 

 some manner so as to check the flow of sap. 

 A serpentine form is the one usually adopted 

 to force out the lower buds. Fig. 95 shows 

 an upright cane bent in what is called the ser- 

 pentine form, in order to check the flow of sap 

 and force out the bud on its entire length. 

 And again, these upright canes will set more 

 fruit than they can mature, and a portion 

 of it, or of the buds themselves, when they 

 first start, must be removed. But the great 

 difficulty is that the vine is thrown out of bal- 

 ance, and the sap is drawn into the canes 

 where there is the greatest number of buds. 

 Where one cane has ten buds and the other but 

 one, it is easy to see which will have the ad- F ig . 95. 



