22 



BUSH BERG CATALOGUE. 



to the next spur, on the opposite side, where 

 we also leave one cane to grow unchecked, and 

 pinch off the other. 



"We now go over all the shoots coming from 

 the arms or laterals tied to the trellis, and also 

 pinch them beyond the last bunch. Should any 

 of the buds have pushed out two shoots, we rub 

 off the weakest ; we also take off all barren or 

 weak shoots. If any of them are not sufficiently 

 developed we pass them over, and go over the 

 vines again, in a few days after the first pinch- 

 ing. 



The bearing branches having all been pinched 

 back, we can leave our vines alone until after 

 the bloom, only tying up the young canes from 

 the spurs, should it become necessary. But do 

 not tie them over the bearing canes, but lead 

 them to the empty space on both sides of the 

 vine, as our object must be to give the fruit all 

 the air and light we can. 



By the time the grapes have bloomed, the lat- 

 erals will have pushed from the axils of the 

 leaves on the bearing shoots. Now go over 

 these again, and pinch each lateral back to one 

 leaf, as shown in fig. 25. In a short time, the 

 laterals on the fruit bearing branches which 

 have been pinched will throw out suckers again. 

 These are stopped again, leaving one leaf of the 

 young growth. Leave the laterals on the canes 

 intended for next years' fruiting to grow un- 

 checked, tying them neatly with bass or paw- 

 paw bark, or with rye straw to the wires. 



If you prefer training your vines on the hori- 

 zontal arm system (fig . 22) the mode of summer 

 pruning will be in the main the same. Pinch 

 off the end of each upright shoot as soon as it 

 has made two leaves beyond the last bunch of 

 fruit ; the shoots after being stopped will soon 

 start, and after growing a few inches should be 

 stopped again, as we wish to keep them within 

 the limits of the trellis, and the laterals should 

 be stopped beyond its first leaf. Thus we try 

 to keep the vine equally balanced in fruit, foli- 

 age and wood. It will be perceived that fall 

 pruning, or shortening-in the ripened wood of 

 the vine, and summer pruning, shortening-in 

 and thinning out the young growth, have one 

 and the same object in view, namely, to keep 

 the vine within proper bounds, and concentrate 

 all its energies for a two-fold object, namely, 

 the production of and ripening of the most per- 

 fect fruit, and the production of strong, healthy 

 wood for the coming season's crop. Both ope- 

 rations are, in fact, only different parts of one 

 and the same system, of which summer pruning 

 is the preparatory, and fall pruning the finishing 



part ; but while the vine will bear, without ap- 

 parent injury, any reasonable amount of prun- 

 ing during its dormant state, in fall or winter, 

 any sef ere cutting during summer is an unmit- 

 igated evil. G. W. Campbell, the well-known 

 horticulturist, says: "All the summer pruning 

 I would recommend, would be the early rub- 

 bing out of superfluous shoots, upon their first 

 appearance ; leaving only what is required for 

 next years' bearing wood. This, with the 

 pinching or stopping the ends of such shoots or 

 canes as were disposed to be too rampant in 

 growth, would be all I would ever consider 

 necessary. Some of the most successful grape 

 growers within my knowledge, carefully prune 

 their vines in fall or early spring, and then 

 leave them entirely without summer pruning." 

 The importance of this matter is so great that 

 we subjoin 



HUSMANN'S METHOD OF SUMMER PRUNING 



THE VINE. 



[Extract from his excellent articles in the "Grape Cul- 

 turist " on this most important operation.] 



Without proper and judicious summer prun- 

 ing, it is impossible to prune judiciously in the 

 fall. If you have allowed six to eight canes to 

 grow in summer where you need but two or 

 three, none of them will be fit to bear a full 

 crop, nor be properly developed. We prune 

 longer in fall than the majority of our vintners, 

 which gives a double advantage; should the 

 frost of winter have injured or killed any of the 

 first buds, we still have enough left; and should 

 this not be the case, we still have our choice to 

 rub off all imperfect shoots ; to reduce the num- 

 ber of bunches at the first pinching, and thus 

 retain only strong canes for the next years' 

 fruiting, and have only large, well developed 

 bunches. 



But to secure these advantages we have cer- 

 tain rules, which we follow strictly. We are 

 glad to see that the attention of the grape grow- 

 ers of the country is thoroughly aroused to the 

 importance of this subject, and that the old 

 practice of cutting and slashing the young 

 growth in July and August is generally dis- 

 countenanced. It has murdered more promising 

 vineyards than any other practice. But people 

 are apt to run into extremes, and many are now 

 advocating the " let-alone" doctrine. We think 

 both are wrong, and that the true course to steer 

 is in the middle. 



1. Perform the operation EARLY. Do it as 

 soon as the shoots are six inches long. At this 

 time you can oversee your vine much easier. 

 Every young shoot is soft and pliable. You do 



