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W. F. ALLEN, Strawberry Specialist SALISBURY, MARYLAND 



showing the different methods by which the effort is made 

 to keep the vines in an exact shape, all of which is very 

 pretty in garden culture, but is seldom seen in practice. 



The old method of pruning to two or three buds of the 

 last year's wood has been largely abandoned, and the 

 pruning is now directed to the renewal of the long canes 

 annually, as it is found that the buds near the base of 

 the shoots do not make as fine clusters as those a little 

 further out on the cane. Hence, some modification of 

 what is called the renewal system is best. I have found 

 that Grapes trained horizontally on arbors or horizontal 

 trellises are far less liable to rot than those on vertical 

 trellises. I once had an arbor over a garden walk on which 

 Grapes were trained. On the sides of the arbor the Grapes 

 rotted badly if not sprayed, while overhead they never 

 rotted even when not sprayed. 



The best trellis I have ever used was a modification of 

 what is called the Munson trellis. For this trellis the 

 vines were planted 8 feet apart in the rows and the rows 

 ID feet apart. Stout posts were set along the rows and 

 crossbars of 2 x 4 scantling, 23^2 feet long were nailed to 

 the tops of the posts. One line of wire was stretched along 

 the tops of the posts and two other wires stretched on 

 each side of this line at the ends of the cross-bars. The 

 vines were trained up with a single cane to the center 

 wire, and arms taken each way on this wire. The fruiting 

 shoots were then taken over the outer wires and the fruit 

 cluster hung below. Strong canes were grown each season 

 from near the fork of the branches, and these were laid 



out as the arms the following season, and the old ones 

 cut out. 



It must be remembered that our Grapes, with the 

 exception of the southern Scuppernong, always produce 

 their fruit from the wood of the previous year's growth, 

 and in order to have fruit we must have a good supply of 

 strong canes of the previous year's growing. Hence, 

 whether you train on a vertical trellis or on an arbor, or 

 other horizontal fixture, the pruning should be directed 

 to the production of a sufficient amount of young wood 

 for the following season's fruiting; the younger the stock 

 the easier trained. So long as you have this it matters 

 very little just in what shape you train the vines. 

 When to Prune ^^^ general practice in the North 

 IS to prune m the fall, but as we come 

 southward I have found that it is always better to prune 

 just before the vines start in growth. When pruned in the 

 fall they start in growth often at an untimely season and 

 may get the shoots injured by a return of cold, while 

 pruned late they will not have started their buds. Some 

 object that they will bleed when pruned in the spring, but 

 if it is done just, before the buds swell the opening leaves 

 will soon stop the bleeding. I have seen, in North Carolina, 

 vine3^ards that were pruned in the fall start and make strong 

 shoots while the unpruned vines had hardly swelled their 

 buds, and a sudden freeze cut off the young growth from 

 the pruned vines, while the unpruned ones were not hurt 

 at all. Therefore, from Maryland southward, I would 

 always prune Grapes in spring'rather than fall. 



