GRAPE 



429 



In order to understand the pruning of grapes, the operator must 

 fully grasp this principle : Fruit is home on wood of the present season, 

 which arises from wood of the previous season. To illustrate : A growing 

 shoot, or cane, of 1909 makes buds. In 1910 a shoot arises from each 

 bud; and near the base of these shoots the grapes are borne (1 to 4 

 clusters on each). While every bud on the 1909 shoot may produce 

 shoots or canes in 1910, only the strongest of these new canes will 

 bear fruit. The skilled grape-grower can tell by the looks of his cane 

 (as he prunes it in winter) which buds will give rise to the grape-pro- 

 ducing wood the following season. The larger and stronger buds 

 usually give best results; but if the cane itself is very big and stout, 

 or if it is very weak and slender, he does not expect good results from 

 any of its buds. A hard, well-ripened cane the diameter of a man's 

 little finger is the ideal size. 



Another principle to be mastered is this : A vine should bear only a 

 limited number of clusters, — say from 30 to 80. A shoot bears clusters 

 near its base; beyond these clusters the shoot grows on into a long, 

 leafy cane. An average of two clusters may be reckoned to a shoot. 

 If the vine is strong enough to bear 60 clusters, 30 good buds 

 must be left at the pruning (which is done from December to late 

 February) . 



The essential operation of pruning a grape vine, therefore, is each 

 year to cut back a limited number of good canes to a few buds, and to 

 cut off entirely all the remaining canes or wood of the previous season's 

 growth. If a cane is cut back to 2 or 3- buds, the stub-like part which 

 remains is called a spur. Present systems, however, cut each cane 

 back to 8 or 10 buds (on strong varieties), and 3 or 4 canes are left, — , 

 all radiating from near the head or trunk of the vine. The top of the ?^ 

 vine does not grow bigger from year to year, after it has once covered 

 the trellis, but is cut back to practically the same number of buds each 

 year. Since these buds are on new wood, it is evident that they are 

 each year farther and farther removed from the head of the vine. In 

 order to obviate this difficulty, new canes are taken out each year or 

 two from near the head of the vine, and the 2-year- or 3-year-old wood 

 is cut away. 



The training of grapes is a different matter. A dozen different 

 systems of training may be practiced on the same trellis and from the 



