26 
but allow enough play for the wires to be tightened when nee 
essary. If some device could be devised to relieve the tension owing 
to the contraction of the wire in winter, and take up the slack as 
warm weather expands the wire, the annual work of tightening 
wires would not be called for. As a matter of fact, however, the 
posts need straightening and firming and this is done also each 
spring. 
All- wood Trellis. — Before the days of wire fences, the vineyard 
trellis was made of wooden slats and in some cases even yet it may 
be found convenient to make such a trellis. It calls for more fre- 
quent repair, however, and on this account is much more expensive 
than the wire trellis. The posts are set 8 feet apart. The slats are 
16 feet long, the low r er and upper pieces are 3 inches wide and the 
middle one or two pieces may be 2 inches wide, cut from inch boards. 
Another form suitable to an upright system of training is to use 
only the two three-inch slats and tack strong plastering lath per 
pendicularly across the trellis at intervals of a foot. 
Posts. — In many parts of Pennsylvania where grapes are grown, 
particularly in small vineyards, posts or strong stakes are employed 
as supports for the vines. Where the land is very hilly and uneven 
it is probably the most satisfactory form of support. 
The stakes are 8 or 9 feet long of chestnut or oak and split to the 
thickness of a fence rail. The splinters should be removed with a 
carpenter's drawing knife and the base should be sharpened to a slen- 
der point to make driving easy. Such a stake is driven close to each 
vine. 
TRAINING. 
The training of the grape is for the purpose of developing the best 
quality of fruit, with the greatest convenience. The vine naturally 
runs over trees high in the air. Fruit is borne by the native vines, 
but it is not of the best quality because of the lack of light and air, 
and it w r ould be very inconvenient to harvest a crop from such vines. 
Hence, the trellis and the vineyard afford better conditions for the 
cultivation of the grape. Among the vineyardists who cultivate the 
American grape, there are many systems of training. Some of thein 
guarded as great secrets without which no success can be attained 
in grape culture. Advocates of different systems argue with each 
other in conventions, citing experiences that discredit every system 
but their own. The important matter is to so dispose the vine over 
the portion of trellis allotted to it that there shall be freedom of air 
and light about all parts of it. 
There are three systems of training that are most prevalent in the 
Eastern states. These are known as the Khif&n system^ the High 
renewal system and the Chautauqua system. Each of these will be 
