14 THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 



ward to the root after it has gone to the leaves and has absorbed carbonic-acid 

 gas from the air. The roots need this carbon as well as the leaves, fruit, and 

 branches. If a vine were girdled thus near the ground, its roots would have 

 their supply cut off and would perish. That would kill the vine. Usually, how- 

 ever, only one or, at most, two shoots on a vine are girdled, and as these are all 

 cut away in the fall pruning, no harm results to the vine. Where the ringing of 

 the shoot is done there is a material enlargement of the shoot, caused by the re- 

 turning sap. Some of this goes into the fruit, causing it to grow to a larger size. 

 But there is too much of this sap for the good of the grapes, which taste as if 

 they had been grown in a wet, cloudy summer. The highest flavor of grapes can 

 only be secured where there is an unobstructed flow of sap back to the root, so 

 that they do not get too much of it. Still, if you have varieties that will not 

 ripen in your section, it may pay to ring some, for a grape thus artificially 

 ripened is far better than one that remains green until frost stops further ripen- 

 ing. 



HOW RINGING AFFECTS GRAPES. 



Ringing grapes is practiced by many growers to secure early maturity and 

 larger bunches. It consists simply of removing a ring of bark from the bearing 

 arm between the main vine and the buds which are to produce fruit the first 

 season. This does not interfere with the ascent of the sap, but it does prevent 

 the return of the food that has been formed in the leaves. The parts of the 

 branch above the ring can draw upon all the food formed in the leaves of that 

 branch. As a result the overfed bunches grow faster and become larger than 

 they otherwise would. 



This matter is fully treated by F. H. Hall, in Bulletin No. 151 of the New 

 York Experiment Station, where results of quite extended experiments are re- 

 corded. These experiments tend to show that ringing will mature grapes of 

 some varieties earlier and will also produce larger and more compact bunches. 

 The difference will vary with the variety, season, condition of foliage, amount of 

 fruit allowed to mature on one vine, etc. The quality of finely flavored grapes, 

 however, is liable to be lowered. This may be remedied to some extent by trim- 

 ming the ringed vines so that but little new growth forms. With careful man- 

 agement the vitality of the vines need not be seriously injured. The whole 

 question of the desirability of ringing and the profit from the process is one 

 which the grower must decide for himself. 



FALL PRUNING OF THE VINEYARD. 



Vineyards located where the winters are so mild that the vines need no pro- 

 tection against cold, that they need not be covered in order to save them from 

 destruction, may be pruned either in autumn or spring, at the option or conven- 

 ience of the owner. 



But vineyards in middle and northern Minnesota, where the vines for safety 

 must be put under ground, necessarily must be pruned before such work can be 

 done, as it would be impracticable to remove the vines from the wire trellis and 

 bury the entire season's growth. If the vines were trained to stakes rather than 

 to wire trellises, the vines might be given a preliminary pruning by which the 



