The Drooping System. 



75 



ground — in each direction, forming a check-jow 

 system of overhead wires. The grape-vine is set at 

 the foot of the stake, to which the trunk is tied for 

 support. Four canes are taken from spurs on the 

 head of the trunk, one for each of the radiating 

 wires. These canes are cut to three and one-half or 

 four feet in length, and the bearing shoots droop as 



31. CROSS-WIRE TRAINING. 



they grow. Fig. 3 1 shows this training as it appears 

 some time after the leaves start in spring. Later in 

 the season the whole vineyard becomes a great arbor, 

 and a person standing at a distance sees an almost 

 impenetrable mass of herbage; as in fig. 32. This 

 system appears to have little merit, and will always 

 remain local in application. It possesses the ad- 

 vantage of economy in construction of the trellis, 

 for very slender posts are used, even at the ends of 



