126 



Tying up must be had recourse to in all cases where the vines are 

 not trained gooseberry style or let to grow wild ; it necessitates the 

 employment of some support to tie the vine to, which may consist of 

 either wire or stakes. The suitability of either of these is decided, 

 as we saw in the preceding chapter, by the mode of pruning 

 adopted ; the only method admitting of either sort of support being 

 employed is that illustrated in Fig. 41, where it will be readily under- 

 stood that, if the vines are staked, the rod or leader must be brought 

 round and tied down to the crown, whilst if trained on wire it may be 

 tied along it. 



With this mode of pruning, it becomes a question of expense which 

 method of training be adopted. The absolute cost of either depends 

 upon a variety of circumstances, such as proximity to good timber, 

 facilities for carting, wire, &c., &e. The relative cost, however, is 

 more easily stated, and depends chiefly upon the distance apart at 

 which the vines are planted. Under ordinary circumstances, with 

 vines planted at 5 feet x 5 feet, stakes will cost almost twice as much 

 as wire ; at 7 feet x 7 feet, the expense will be almost the same in 

 each case ; whilst at 10 feet x 10 feet, wire will cost considerably more 

 than stakes. The cost of cultivation with stakes is naturally less than 

 would be the case with the wire. With the former this can be 

 executed entirely by horse labour in two perpendicular directions, 

 whilst with the latter there will always be a narrow band of soil 

 between the rows, which must be cultivated by hand labour. 



Whether tied to stakes or wire, the tying should be done as early 

 as possible, so as to give the leaves time to grow in all directions and 

 completely protect the berries from the sun. In warm climates great 

 damage is done by postponing the tying until the fruit is of the size 

 of large shot ; the sudden exposure to the sun's rays causes them to be 

 scorched, and thus injures both the quality and quantity of the crop. 

 Vines should be tied up, especially in a warm climate, as soon as the 

 flowering is over and the fruit properly set. 



The material used for tying vines is not of great importance, the 

 cheapest being the best. In districts where rushes are to be found 

 growing on river flats they will be very useful, and may be cut, dried, 

 and stacked away during the slack time after the vintage. The men 

 may be employed to cut and trim them on wet days during the winter 

 when no other work can be done. Before employing rushes to tie up 



