116 



Care must also be taken to make provision for a new leader for the 

 ensuing pruning. Except great care be exercised in the green 

 pruning, as we shall see hereafter, none of the shoots growing off the 

 rod or leader of the previous year are eligible for the ensuing one. 



FIG. 36. 



Fig. 36 illustrates this clearly. The leader left here had eight 

 buds on it. Of these the first two, a and b, have not developed 

 themselves; c and d have only grown slightly, the shoots result- 

 ing being too small to constitute a new leader. It would be 

 necessary to go as far as f before obtaining a shoot of sufficient 

 length and strength to form a new leader. If this were done, it is 

 obvious that in a very few years the elongation of the arm of 

 the vine bearing the leader would become so considerable as to 

 seriously interfere with other operations. In order to obviate this 

 difficulty a short spur is left at the base, which, by the development 

 of the two eyes left on it, gives rise to the two shoots, c and d\ 

 the one resulting from the development of the lower one (D, Fig. 36) 

 is cut back to two eyes, in B, and forms a new spur termed the wood 

 spur, although also capable of bearing fruit. The shoot resulting from 

 the upper bud ((7, Fig. 36) forms the new rod, commonly termed the 

 fruit rod. The old rod and fragment of two-year-old wood are re- 

 moved by the cut marked A (Fig. 36), the two shoots resulting from 

 the development of the buds on D (Fig. 36) will in turn provide for a 

 new wood spur and fruit rod for the year succeeding their develop- 

 ment, the rod formed by C being removed. 



This is the main point to master in the rod system of pruning. If pro- 

 perly carried into effect, the elongation of the arm bearing the leader 

 will not be more rapid than with the ordinary short spur system. 



