340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
What Shall I Do with my Grape Vines? 
This question, though not always expressed 
in these words, forms the burden of numerous 
letters which have recently been addressed to 
the Agriculturist. We cannot answer these many 
inquiries separately, but 
must make a compre¬ 
hensive reply, leaving it 
to the intelligence of our 
readers to apply gen¬ 
eral principles to their 
particular cases.—We 
prefer pruning in the 
early part of Novem¬ 
ber, to postponing it to a 
later season, as the cut 
surface has time to 
harden and partially 
heal before severe 
weather sets in. Those 
who have followed our 
directions given with regard to the young 
vine planted last Spring, will have this Fall a 
single stem. This is simply to be cut back to 
within a foot of the ground. Next Spring, when 
the buds start, all but two of them are to be rub¬ 
bed off, and „ 
these two al- M 
lowed to grow 
during the next 
Summer, tak¬ 
ing care to 
keep the stems 
tied to a trel¬ 
lis or a stake, 
as in fig. 1. The 
side branches 
which start are 
permitted to 
grow until they 
have made two £ 
or three leaves, 
and are then 
pinched back 
to a single leaf. 
It is also well to check trie growth of trie stem 
in September, by pinching off the growing point. 
A vine in tliis condition, having two strong stems 
or canes in the second year of its growth, 
is ready to make two arms to be laid down 
to the trellis. If the vine is a poor grower 
and the new canes are too weak to form arms, 
they are again to be cut to a single bud each, and 
two new and stronger canes obtained the follow¬ 
ing year. Whenever two uprights of strong 
wood are obtained, they are to be cut back to 
three feet or four feet in length, according to 
the plan of training proposed. It is from these 
arms that the upright fruit-bearing wood is to 
grow. If the vine is intended to cover a trellis 
6 or 8 feet high, the arms should be 3 feet long, 
and if the trellis is to be only 4 or 5 feet high, 
the arms may be 4 feet each. The next Spring 
the arms are to be fastened to the lower bar of 
the trellis, which may be built with wooden 
slats, on the plan of Mr. Knox, described in 
the April Agriculturist, or of wire, as directed by 
Mr. Fuller in the August number. The buds 
along the arm will all start, and all those which 
are not needed to form upright canes should be 
rubbed off, leaving buds—as far as possible upon 
the upper side—at 8 or 9 inches apart. In this 
third year of the new vine, the upright canes 
will be formed, which are to be tied to the 
trellis, and in a strong vine will bear three or four 
bunches each. Whichever of the two most 
generally employed methods of pruning is 
adopted, the treatment of the vine up to this 
point is the same, but the future management 
is quite different. The mode of training and 
pruning adopted by Mr. Fuller and many other 
cultivators, is to grow the vine upon a trellis 
4 feet high, and lay down the arms 4 feet in 
Fig-. 1.—SECOND TEAR. 
ypLrofrEua.tj.n 
Fig. 2. —fuller’s method of fall prunin'®. 
length each. The treatment of a vine the first 
Fall after the arms are laid down, and which has 
single canes from each bud, is to cut back all 
these uprights to within two buds of the arms; 
this will leave the vine as represented on the 
left-hand side of Fig. 2. ' The next year a cane 
will proceed from each of these two buds, as 
shown on the right-hand side of the figure; these 
are to be kept tied up to the trellis, and allowed 
that season to grow to the top, where they are 
pinched off. The Fall of the fourth year, one 
of the canes is to be cut back to two buds, and 
the other cut away altogether, as in figure 3; 
the cross lines show the place of each cutting. 
By following this treatment each Fall, there 
will always be produced two upright canes 
from each spur upon the arm—one of which at 
every Fall pruning is to be cut back to two 
buds, and the other one removed altogether. 
During the Summer, the laterals, which do not 
bear fruit, are pinched off to a single leaf, and 
the uprights should be pinched at the third 
or fourth leaf beyond the last bunch of fruit. 
A quite different system of pruning is follow¬ 
ed by Mr. Knox and others. The trellis is 8 
feet high, and the arms are 3 feet in length; each 
producing 4 upright canes, which are to have 
the laterals or side shoots pinched off to a single 
leaf during the summer, and in September the 
end of the upright shoot should be pinched off 
to induce the wood to ripen. The vine in the 
Autumn, after the 
arms are laid 
down, will pres¬ 
ent the appear¬ 
ance shown in fig. 
4. The pruning 
consists in cutting 
back each alter¬ 
nate cane to two 
buds only, and 
shortening in the 
others according 
to their strength; 
thus, a vigorous upright will be left to occupy 
the whole hight of the trellis, while a weak 
cane is cut back to four feet, more or less. The 
vines will present an alternation of long canes 
and of short spurs, each bearing two eyes. The 
next Spring the long canes will throw out fruit 
bearing spurs, which after the fruit is set, are to 
be pinched off at the 3d or 4tli leaf beyond the 
last bunch, and all other laterals stopped off 
Upon the short spurs, both buds will start, and 
the most promising is allowed to grow while 
the other is removed. New canes will be form¬ 
WHERE TO CUT. 
ed from these buds which will fruit the follow¬ 
ing yeai\ At the next Fall pruning, the old 
canes are cut back to two good buds, just as the 
others were the year before, and the new canes 
shortened or not, as circumstances may require. 
In this way of pruning, each alternate shoot is 
cut back every other 
year to buds, only one of 
which is allowed to 
grow. The advocates of 
this system of pruning 
claim that it is better 
adapted to our native 
vines, than the one first 
described, as ours are 
such rampant growers 
that they will not sub¬ 
mit to the close confine¬ 
ment required by that. 
—Whatever method of 
pruning is followed, the 
pnes should be removed 
from the trellis and laid down at the approach 
of cold weather, and in northern localities, 
where the Winter is very severe, covered with 
a layer of light soil. All varieties of grapes 
are benefitted by laying down, even if they are 
not covered. With perfectly hardy varieties, 
merely removing from the trellis and laying up¬ 
on the ground, is all that is needed, but more 
tender sorts, like the Diana, require protection. 
They may be protected by a covering of soil, 
if it is not too wet, by cedar boughs, or by a 
few rough boards carefully laid over them. 
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Fig. 4. —MR. KNOX’S METHOD OF TRAINING. 
Advice is asked of us very frequently about 
pruning old and neglected vines, by those who 
wish to get them into a shape for proper train¬ 
ing. As such vines differ much as to age, and 
have been subjected to different degrees of care, 
or neglect, it is very difficult to give directions 
without seeing each particular vine. The best 
way to treat an old vine is, to layer good 
vigorous branches and start arms from them, 
as directed above for young vines. 
-—.--«»•-->-•■- 
Plants Suited to House Culture. 
Persons who visit a florist and buy those 
plants which flourish well in the green-house, 
are very apt to find that they droop soon after 
they are taken home, and if they do not die al¬ 
together, they drag out a lingering existence. 
The conditions of our dwellings are so different, 
in respect to temperature, moisture, and light, 
from those of the green-house, that there are 
but few plants that will stand the change with¬ 
out injury. It is much better to start cuttings 
out of doors during summer, for winter bloom¬ 
ing. Plants obtained in this way will be much 
