CURRANT-GRAPE GROWING. 9 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL, PLANTING, AND CULTURE OF 

 CURRANT VINEYARDS. 



When virgin soil is to be used, and even when the land has pre- 

 viously been in vineyard, it can be put in better shape if a crop of 

 grain is grown on it the season before planting. After being plowed 

 and subsoiled, the land should be thoroughly harrowed and the clods 

 crushed with a drag or roller. 



Since the currant grapes are true Yiniferas, the usual practices in 

 growing and caring for such grapes will apply to them. Some plant 

 the vines 8 feet apart each way, others plant them 6 by 10, 9 by 9, 

 8 by 10, or even wider distances apart when stakes are used as sup- 

 ports. When trellises are used the vines are planted 12 by 6, 14 by 

 6, 14 by 8, or 16 by 8 feet apart. In the first plowing the soil is 

 usually thrown away from the vines, and in the second plowing it is 

 thrown up against them again. (PL VI, fig. 3.) When stakes only 

 are used as supports the grower can plow and cultivate lengthwise 

 and crosswise. (See PI. VI, figs. 1 and 2.) In doing this the vine- 

 yards are plowed twice annually. The soil is kept level and more 

 evenly worked up. If the first plowing is north and south, for 

 example, the second should be east and west, while the next year the 

 opposite course is pursued. Furthermore, the cultivation or har- 

 rowing given after each plowing is at right angles to the plowing 

 and not parallel with it. (See PL VI, fig. 1.) In the Vinifera 

 regions all plowing and culture is abandoned after the spring rains 

 are over. Where irrigation is not necessary it should not be prac- 

 ticed. 



PRUNING AND TRAINING THE VINES. 



In our experiments with currant grapes a number of pruning and 

 training methods have been tried. With simple stakes as a support, 

 the following, among others, have been used : Spur, stools, or short 

 pruning ; long, or cane pruning (fig. 1) ; canes with laterals ; and long 

 canes bent over and tied as a circle (fig. 2). With trellises as a 

 support, the following systems have been tested : Two-cane renewal, 

 4-cane renewal, fan system, high renewal, low renewal, Munson 

 system, etc. The best all-around results with these grapes have been 

 obtained by training them according to the long or cane pruning 

 system. (Fig. 1.) For explanations and illustrations of the differ- 

 ent pruning systems, see Farmers' Bulletin 471, entitled " Grape 

 Propagation, Pruning, and Training." For Panariti vines in fruit 

 trained in this way, see Plate IV, figures 1 and 2. The cheaper 

 training systems, permitting cross culture of the vineyards, give 

 good results with Panariti grapes, but since annual ringing is neces- 

 sary in order to obtain full crops and since stakes would interfere 



