THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
507 
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January's Work in the Garden 
| By Henry Gibson, Pennsylvania 
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AS these notes are the first in the calendar of another 
year, it may not be amiss to remind our readers 
that New Year's resolutions are in order. Let 
every member of the profession hereby record his deter- 
mination to accomplish something, better and nearer the 
ideal in at least one phase of horticulture than ever before. 
If everyone will take upon themselves this obligation, 
what a wonderful degree of progress can be reported ere 
another New Year is ushered in. 
One has only to turn up the pages of one's notebook 
to find the record of such crops and plants that did not 
come up to expectations during the past season. It is 
these that should be selected for special attention dur- 
ing the coming season. 
Perhaps the results of spraying the hardy fruit trees 
were not all that was expected. Why this was so, is 
something worth while trying to solve. 
It may be that the material was not strong enough or 
it may have been applied too late, as in the case of spray- 
ing for the coddling moth ; or you may have omitted 
applying the later spraying for the second hatching of 
this pest, and the apples suffered in consequence. Again 
the combinations of sprays used may have been the source 
of your trouble, as in the case of Bordeaux, and arsenate, 
the Bordeaux we believe to be the cause of russeting in 
apples. 
But whatever the cause, now is the time to consider 
the spraying campaign for 1917. 
The clearing away of large tracts of forest trees, on 
which many of the insect pests that attack fruit trees, 
have hitherto lived, has caused spraying to become an 
economic necessity. It is no longer necessary to put 
up an argument in favor of spraying, since few if any 
doubt the effectiveness of it. It is a form of insurance 
that should be practised whether insects are present or 
not. 
On the commercial fruit farms in Canada the first 
question a fruit buyer asks is not, "has the fruit been 
sorted, or is it hand picked," but "did you spray in due 
season ?" Fruit dealers are alive to the value of spray- 
ing, so why should not the gardener be, who grows for 
home consumption ? 
There is plenty of information to be had on the sub- 
ject. Books, pamphlets and bulletins have been pub- 
lished galore, and afford very instructive reading. But 
to our way of thinking they instruct and tell too much. 
The writers thinking no doubt to do full justice to the 
subject, seem unable to omit even the slightest detail, and 
find a different spray for every pest. One has not to 
read far before being appalled by the vastness of the 
subject. The whole world seems to be swarming with 
legions of insects which have but one purpose in life, 
and that to destroy the fruit trees. The only salvation 
is mixing a score or more different concoctions and ap- 
plying them every day in the year. To say the least, this 
literary conglomeration of insects and mixtures is con- 
fusing and disheartening. 
Few gardeners have had experience with half the insect 
pests or fungi mentioned in the literature on the subject, 
nor with half the mixtures. 
There are, however, certain troubles that are more or 
less prevalent everywhere, and if we will endeavor to 
control these it will be a long step in the right direction. 
Fortunately commercial mixtures are now on the market 
in highly concentrated form, and only need to be diluted 
with water to be ready for use. 
It is of course necessary to know just a little about 
the habits of the insects in order to know just when to 
spray and what with. 
Our space is too limited to give even a brief resume 
of these here, but we hope to be able to go more into 
detail at some future time. 
Grape Vines Outdoors. 
For some reason upknown to the writer, pruning of 
outdoor grapes is nearly always done during the month 
of January. Any other time after the leaves have fallen, 
and before the buds swell in spring would, we contend, 
be just as good. The only thing that we see in it is 
that there is perhaps more time during January than 
any other month to attend to it. 
Grapes are strong growers, many canes in one season 
averaging over 20 feet in length, and as the bearing 
wood springs from new canes it follows that fruit will 
be produced further from the main stem each season. 
Anyone who has observed the habit of the wild vine un- 
derstands what it would mean if the cultivated grape 
vines were allowed to go untrimmed year after year. 
Not infrequently the wild vines have climbed so high 
over old trees and buildings that the fruit being pro- 
duced on the youngest wood is far out of reach. 
Several systems of training are in vogue, some growers 
even practising the spur system that is adopted in indoor 
grape culture. 
What are considered the two best systems, and which 
are most generally practised are known as the "Upright" 
and Kniffen systems. 
In the Upright system the main stem of the vine is 
allowed to extend to the first wire of the trellis only. 
Then two canes are carried along the wire, one each way, 
like a pair of outstretched arms, to the limit of the space 
the vine is to occupy. The Kniffen system allows the 
trunk or main stem to be carried to the top wire of the 
trellis, and the arms, or laterals, are carried along the 
wire the same as in the Upright system. 
The bearing wood then hangs down the trellis instead 
of being tied upright. One of the advantages claimed 
for the Kniffen system over the Upright is that no tying 
is necessary during the summer. Each system has its 
adherents and no doubt certain varieties do better under 
one system than the other. 
In pruning, certain principles are to be considered. 
First that a vine produces the best fruit on wood of the 
current season, which have their origin on wood of the 
previous season. Second, a vine should only be allowed 
to carry a certain quantity of fruit. Third, the bear- 
ing wood should be kept as near the main stem or trunk 
as possible. 
In carrying out the first principle it will be necessary 
to tie out as arms wood of the past season's growth ; 
from the buds of which will arise the wood that will 
carry the fruit. Next season these arms will be cut 
away and others of this season's growth will take their 
place and so on. 
How much fruit a vine should be allowed to carry 
will depend upon the variety of grape, the age and vigor 
