668 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



of tlie grower. The Concord is one of the strongest and 

 most x>roductive of Grapes. Twelve to 15 lbs. is a fair 

 crop for a mature vine; 20 lbs. is a heavy crop; 25 lbs. 

 is a very heavy crop. An average cluster of Concord 

 will wei^^h l^-l'-i lb. The vine may be expected to carry 

 from 30 to GO clusters; and the annual pruning will leave 

 from 15 to 30 buds. 



Since the bearing wood springs from new cnnes, it 

 follows that the fruit of the Grape is each year borne 

 farther from the main trunk of the vine. Observe that 

 the fruit of wild vines is borne beyond reach when they 

 climb over thickets and trees. It is a 

 prime object of the Grape-grower to 

 obviate this difficulty. The third prin- 

 ciple in the pruning of Grape vines is 

 tliis: The bearing irooil sliou/d he kept 

 flu 0)iqnutJ ttioik oi kiad of the 

 I iiif When one 

 tane is sending 

 out fiuit bearing 

 shoots, another 

 shoot 19 tiUen out 

 f 1 om mar the 

 mam tiunk or 

 head to furnish 

 f ruit-be ar ing 

 shoots for the 



any time. These are usually weak and are removed, 

 l>ut now and then a strong one arises. tSpur pruning is 

 now rarely used except in Grapes grown on arbors or 

 under glass, in which cases it is necessary to have a 

 long, permanent trunk. On arbors it is best to carry 

 one arm or trunk from each root to the top of the frame- 

 work. Each year the lateral canes are cut back to spurs 

 of two or three buds. The pruning of glasshouse Grapes 

 is discussed under Grapes under Class. 



The current systems of pruning renew to a head — or 

 to the main trunk — each year. The trunk of the vine is 

 carried up to the desired height— to one of the wires of 

 the trellis — and one or more canes are taken out from 

 its top each year. The object is to keep the bearing 

 wood near the main trunk and to obviate the use of 

 spurs. This type of pruning is illustrated in Fig. 961. 

 Tliis engraving shows the head of a vine seven years 

 old, and on which two canes are allowed to remain after 

 each annual pruning. The part extending from 6 to ^ 

 and d is the base of the bearing cane of 1892. In the 

 winter of 1H92-3, this cane is cut off at d, and the new 

 cane, e, is left to make the bearing wood of 1893. 

 Another cane sprung from f, but it was too weak to 

 leave for fruiting. It was, therefore, cut away. The old 

 stub, h, f, d, will be cut away a year hence, in the win- 

 ter of 1893-4. In the meantime, arenewal cane will have 

 grown from tlip stub o, which is left for that purpose, 



953. Hybrid of Vitis Linsecomi and 

 Grape derivative— Husmann {Y '■' 



Hybrid of Vitis Linsecomi and an arstivalis off 

 shoot— Hermann Jaeger (X ^--i). 



next year; and the other or older cane is entirely cut 

 away'after the fruit is off. That is, the wood is con- 

 stantly renewed; and the new shoots which are to give 

 bearing wood the following year are called renewals. 

 There are some systems of Giape training which renew 

 back to the root every year or two, and these have been 

 called renewal systems ; but every system of Grape 

 pruning must practice renewal in one way or another. 



An old system of renewal was by means of spurs. 

 Fig. 960 illustrates this. Tlie horizontal part is a per- 

 manent arm or branch. We will supjmse tliat it grew in 

 1H90. In 1891 a shoot grew upward. It bore two or 

 three clusters of fruit. In the fall it was cut back to a, 

 two buds being left to supply the shoots of the sncceed- 

 itig year. This short branch is nowcalird a spur. Only 

 one shoot was wanted for the next year, l)ut two buds 

 were left in case one should be injured. In 1892, a 

 liranch grew from one of these buds: it bore fruit: in 

 the fall it was cut back to b. In 1893 a shoot will grow 

 from one of the buds, e. Thus the sjiur elongates year 

 by year, becoming a forking, comi)lie;ited, stul)l)y Ijrancli. 

 A"f ter a few years it may become weak : the grower sees 

 tliis, and if a new shoot should start from the main arm 

 near the base of the spur, he encourages it and cuts off 

 all of tlie old spur; tlius he renews back again to the 

 main vine. Shoots from adventitious or srcondary buds 

 are likely to s]»ring from the main arm or tlie spur at 



and the old cane, h d, will be cut olf just beyond it, 

 between c and f. In this way, the bearing wood is 

 kept close to the head of the vine. The wound a 

 shows where an old stub was cut away this winter, 1892- 

 .'{, while b shows whereon© was cut off the previous win- 

 ter. A scar upon the back of the head, which does not 

 show in the illustration, marks the spot where a stub 

 was cut aw;iy two years ago, in the winter of 1890-1. 

 This method of pruning can be kept up almost indeti- 

 nitely, and if care is exercised in keeping the stubs 

 short, the head will not enharge out of proportion to the 

 growth of the stock or trunk. 



There are two coinm(m styles of training in use in the 

 northern states, but each of them practices essentially 

 the system of renewals which is described in the last 

 jviragraph. One style of training carries the tnink only 

 to the lowest wire of the trellis. Tlie canes — usually 2 

 in number— are tied horizontally on the bottom wire, and 

 the bearing shoots are tied, as they grow, 1o the two 

 wires above (Fig. 962). This is anupriijJit sijsfnn. The 

 other style carries the trunk to the top wire. The canes 

 are tied on tlie top wire, and the bearing shoots bang. 

 This is the droophig or Eniffhi system. If the shoots 

 run out on the top wire by clinging to it by tendrils, 

 they are torn loose, so that they will hang: this is a very 

 necessary practice. There is controversy as 1o the com- 

 parative merits of these systems, which proves that 



