Miscellaneous Systems. 85 



at the winter's pruning. So the vine starts every 

 spring with but a'single cane. 



Excellent results are obtained from the slender 

 growing varieties by this method of training, but 

 it is too expensive in trellis and in labor of tying to 

 make it generally practicable. Delaware, however, 

 thrives remarkably well when trained in this 

 fashion. 



Post Training. — There are various methods of 

 training to posts, all of which possess two advan- 

 tages — the saving of the expense of trellis and al- 

 lowing of cultivation both ways. But they also 

 have grave disadvantages, especially in the thick- 

 ness of the head of foliage which harbors rot and 

 mildew and prevents successful spraying, and 

 hinders the fruit from coloring and ripening well. 

 These faults are so serious that post training is 

 now little used for the American grapes. The 

 saving in cost of trellis is not great, for more posts 

 are required to the acre than in the trellis systems, 

 and they do not endure long when standing 

 alone with the whole weight of the vines thrown 

 upon them. 



There are various methods o^ pruning for the 

 stake training, but nearly all of them agree in 

 pruning to side spurs upon a permanent upright 

 arm which stands the full height of the vine. 

 There may be one or two sets of these spurs. We 

 might suppose the Kniffin vine, shown in fig. 22, 

 to be tied to a post instead of stretched on a trel- 



