The Drooping System. 63 



on the wires the third season. The year following 

 the tying to the trellis,, the vine should bear a 

 partial crop. The vine is usually carried directly to 

 the top wire the first season of training, although 

 it is the practice of some growers, especially out- 

 side the Hudson valley, to stop the trunk at the 

 lower wire the first year of permanent training, and 

 to carry it to the top wire the following year. 



Yields from good Kniffin vines will average fully 

 as high and perhaps higher than from other species 

 of training. W. D. Barns, of Orange county. New 

 York, has had an annual average of twenty-six 

 pounds of Concords to the vine for nine years, 1,550 

 vines being considered in the calculation. While 

 the Delaware is not so well suited to the Kniffin 

 system as stronger varieties, it can nevertheless be 

 trained in this manner with success, as the follow- 

 ing average yields obtained by Mr. Barns from 200 

 vines set in 1881 will show : 



l836 

 18S7 

 l838 

 1889 

 1890 

 1891 

 1892 



Z% pounds to the vine. 



9'/^ 

 7 

 , 16 



13 



Modifications of the Four-Cane Kniffin. — Various 

 modifications of this original four-cane Kniffin are 

 in use. The Kniffin idea is often carelessly ap- 

 plied to a rack trellis. In such cases, several 

 canes were allowed to grow where only two should 

 have been left. Fig. 23 is a common but poor style 



