THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



27 



MR. BXTRNERS MODE OF TRAINING. 



Ah ! here is Mr. Burner, busy gath- 

 ering those fine Hogers 4-i. 



Would you mind. Sir, telling me the 

 secret of your great success in produc- 

 ing such ivimense grapes as those you 

 exhibited at the Fairs ? 



No secret at all, said Mr. Burner. 

 There are just a few points to the ob- 

 servance of which I attribute my suc- 

 cess ; first 



TRAINING. 



I follow the renewal system. I see a 

 good many of my neighbors still spurring 

 away, but I believe I get moi-e and bet- 

 ter fruit by tliis system. In the spring 

 I cut down every old branch to within 

 one bud of the main lateral, leaving the 

 u})right of last season's growth for fruit- 

 ing. 



We noticed these old laterals had 

 now become very large and strong, and 

 tliroughout the whole vineyard the 

 vines looked as i-epresented in the cut. 



Another advantage, said Mr. Burner, 

 which I get by this method of pruning, 

 is the ease with which I can lay down 

 the vines in winter and cover them. 



Do you think it pays in this section to 

 lay down such varieties as the Concord ? 



Well, I know this, that I can't afford 

 to leave them up. 



Do you summer Prune ? 



Yes, a little. I stop the growth of 

 the vine just beyond the last bunch of 

 grapes, and thus stop the side shoots 

 after one or two leaves. I find two 

 advantages from this ; ( 1 ) the grapes 

 ripen eai'lier and (2) the size is much 

 increased. The next point is 



THINNING. 



No wonder some people's grapes never 

 ripen. They leave so many bunches 

 on the vine, that it has no sti'ength to 

 mature its fruit. 



Those berries of Rogers 44 f'^'^ tremend- 

 ous in size ; why they are over an inch in 

 diameter ! and those No. 15 and No 1^> 

 are almost as large. 



Yes, that brings me to speak of an- 

 other means I use to get fine sized 

 fruit It is 



RINGING THE VINES. 



It was at one time considered a great 

 secret, but it is a very simple matter. 

 I simply girdle the bearing wood in 

 the summer, just above the main lat- 

 eral taking off a circle of bark about 

 two inches long. The sap is thus pre- 

 vented from descending, and must go 

 to develop the grapes. It does the vine 

 no harm, because these ai-e the branches 



