Pruning  Grapes  in  a  Commercial  Vineyard 
Systems  of  Traning  in  General  Use 
IIE  picture,  Fig.  110,  illustrates  a  Michigan 
viueyunlist  engaged  in  the  annual  practice  of 
pruning.  The  grape  is  one  of  the  few  fruits  that 
must  he  pruned  yearly  in  order  r<>  secure  commer¬ 
cial  crops.  It  is  true  that  wild  and  many  vines  in 
the  home  garden  receive  no  pruning  at  the  hand  of 
man,  and  yet  they  thrive  and  produce  fruit,  hut  of 
such  quality  that  we  are  not  satisfied  with  it  if  we 
are  aide  to  get  that  from  well -cared -for  vines.  The 
pruning  in  Michigan,  as  in  New  York,  is  oil  her  done 
hy  the  owner  of  the  vineyard  or  by  men  who  have 
become  expert  in  the  practice  and  go  from  vineyard 
to  vineyard  during  the  dormant  season,  hut  who 
have  no  financial  interests  in  the  vineyards  they 
prune.  Much  can  he  said  pro  and  con  about  the 
merits  of  the  two  plans.  In  the  illustration  one  of 
the  two  methods  of  training  that  are  common  in 
Michigan  is  pictured.  This  is  known  throughout 
the  Eastern  United  States  as  the  single-stem  four- 
cane  Kniffen  system,  and  in  addition  to  being  ex¬ 
tensively  used  in  Michigan  is  common  in  the  Hud¬ 
son  Valley  and  the  Central  Lakes  regions  of  New 
York. 
The  trellis  consists  of  two  wires  Listened  to  posts 
that  are  from  seven  to  eight  feet  in  length  before 
they  are  driven.  The  lower  wire  is  placed  at  a 
height  of  three  to  3 %  feet  from  the  ground  level. 
The  upper  wire  is  usually  located  two  to  feet 
above  the  lower.-  The  stem  or  trunk  is  carried  from 
the  ground  to  about  the  level  of  the  top  wire  as 
straight  as  possible;  and  in  the  tirst  few  years  when 
the  system  is  being  established,  it  is  tied  at  the 
upper  wire,  and  rather  loosely  to  the  lower  wire. 
The  trunk  is  a  permanent  part  of  the  vine  for  sev¬ 
eral  years,  hence  the  need  for  starting  it  as  straight 
as  is  possible,  A  crooked  trunk  in  the  beginning 
appears  to  become  more  so  in  later  years. 
The  fruiting  canes,  which  arc  usually  four  in 
number,  arise  directly  from  the  stem  the  tirst  year 
that  it  lias  been  tied  up.  Two  of  these  are  tied 
along  the  lower  wire,  one  to  the  right  and  the  other 
to  the  left  of  the  stem,  and  two  are  tied  in  the 
same  manner  along  the  upper  wire.  At  the  end  of 
the  season,  after  the  leaves  have  fallen  these  canes 
are  cut  back  to  the  ones  that  have  developed  during 
the  current  season,  nearest  the  stem.  Short  two- 
hud  spurs  are  left  in  addition  to  the  four  canes  in 
order  to  provide  for  fruiting  wood  for  a  year  later. 
At  each  subsequent  pruning  two  canes  at  or  below 
each  wire  level,  and  snllicient  spurs  should  he  left. 
Often  the  spurs  are  utilized  for  several  years  in 
succession  by  in  turn  spurring  on  them.  It  is  best, 
however,  to  keep  the  spurs  only  a  very  few  years, 
as  the  younger  wood  as  a  rule  hears  the  best  fruit. 
Often  a  secondary  stem  is  allowed  to  develop  some 
distance  down  the  stem,  and  from  this  the  fruiting 
© he  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
canes  for  the  lower  wire  are  obtained.  Several 
vines  in  the  photograph  have  such  secondary  stems 
or  arms.  When  the  stems  have  served  a  number  of 
years  it  is  advisable  to  renew  them  from  the  ground 
hy  allowing  a  well-placed  sucker  to  develop,  and 
tying  it  up  in  the  same  manner  as  the  original  stem, 
when  the  old  one  can  be  completely  cut  away. 
With  some  systems  of  training  it  is  impossible  to 
do  a  good  job  with  lunch  snow  on  the  ground,  hut 
with  the  Kniffen.  one  is  quite  independent  of  the 
amount,  on  (he  ground,  as  a  large  part,  of  the  new 
growth  that  is  to  lie  cut  away  is  not  near  the  ground. 
There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
when  the  grape  should  be  pruned,  whether  in  the 
Fall  or  the  Spring.  Experiments  on  this  point  that 
have  been  running  now  four  years,  indicate  that 
there  is  no  one  best  time,  but  that  one  should  wait 
till  the  leaves  have  been  off  at  least  two  weeks,  and 
better  still,  till  after  a  hard  freeze.  (Vines  that  ap¬ 
pear  normal  before  a  freeze  may  show  considerable 
withering  after,  and  sueli  never  are  good  producers 
of  fruit-  Again,  it  is  not  advisable  to  prune  when 
the  canes  are  actually  frozen,  as  the  handling  at 
this  time  results  in  much  breakage.  Aside  from 
these  two  exceptions  pruning  of  the  grape  may  be 
done  in  the  interim  up  till  the  vigorous  flow  of 
sa]i  in  the  Spring. 
A  strong' pair  of  pruning  shears,  a  short  narrow 
pruning  saw  and  a  heavy  snagging  shear  are  the 
tools  required  in  most  instances.  These  require 
frequent  sharpening  for  effective  work.  f.  e.  g. 
Qualities  Needed  in  Seed  Potatoes 
Part  II. 
BTAINING  GOOD  YIELDS. — rrofit  in  potato 
growing  depends  largely  on  using  the  right 
seed.  A  poor  start  is  something  hard  to  make  up 
afterwards.  Ever  since  I  have  been  growing  pota¬ 
toes  I  have  been  looking  for  some  marvellous  now 
variety  which  would  give  immense  yields  of  beau¬ 
tiful  potatoes.  Instead  I  have  found  that  large 
yields  and  good  appearance  are  only  to  he  secured 
hy  hard  work  and  attention  to  many  details.  Much 
of  the  history  of  potato  growing  is  made  up  of  the 
displacement  of  old  varieties  by  new.  The  long  va¬ 
rieties  !  remember  in  my  boyhood  days,  like  the 
Burbank  and  the  red  Early  Rose  and  Dakota  Red. 
were  the  successors  of  the  older  Red  Chili  and  Blue 
Victor,  and  are  now  replaced  in  popularity  by  the 
Rural.  Cobbler  and  Green  Mountain.  I  have  tested 
over  50  kinds  without  finding  any  better  than  these. 
This  is  not  strange  when  we  consider  that  the  va¬ 
rieties  now  in  use  are  the  survivors  of  tests  of  many 
thousands  of  new  seedlings.  The  possibility  c“  a 
new  variety  being  superior  to  those  we  have  is  in  the 
same  proportion  of  one  chance  to  thousands.  Po¬ 
tato  varieties  are  often  said  to  “run  out”  when 
the  real  trouble  is  that  poor  care,  unfavorable  sea- 
363 
sons  and  the  use  of  small  culls  as  seed  that,  have 
come  largely  from  diseased  or  weakened  hills  is 
the  cause  of  the  reduced  yields.  Often  new  seed¬ 
ling  varieties  are  bought  from  seedsmen  that  have 
been  grown  with  care  and  stored  in  Winter  under 
good  conditions.  These  outyiehl  the  o  for  a  few 
years,  hut  fall  hack  just  as  soon  as  i.'rv  are  sult- 
•r  in' 
jected  to  the  treatment  which  destroyed  the  vigor 
of  the  old  varieties. 
VARIETAL  GROUPS. — The  National  Department 
of  Agriculture  lias  tested  hundreds  of  our  old 
varieties  as  well  as  over  30,000  new  seedlings.  Prof. 
Win.  Stuart  has  classified  these  into  11  groups  or 
types,  each  made  up  of  varieties  more  or  less  re¬ 
sembling  each  other.  Each  of  these  groups  is 
adapted  to  different  conditions  of  climate,  markets 
and  soil.  For  example  the  Triumph  is  the  earliest 
type  we  have.  It  is  much  used  in  tlu*  far  South  for 
the  Spring  trucking  crop,  in  which  a  few  days  of 
extreme  earliness  bring  larger  profits  than  greater  . 
yields  a  little  later.  In  the  section  around  Chesa¬ 
peake  Bay,  which  Ships  millions  of  bushels  to  city 
markets  in  late  Spring  and  early  Summer,  the  Cob¬ 
bler  is  the  favorite.  Though  a  few  days  later  than 
the  Triumph  this  is  less  important  here  than  its 
greater  yield. 
NORTHERN  VARIETIES-— The  great  potato 
growing  belt  which  extends  from  New  York  to 
Minnesota  furnishes  most  of  our  Winter  supply. 
Here  the  Rural  typo  is  the  favorite,  including  be¬ 
sides  the  Rural  New-Yorker  No.  the  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  Carman  No.  3,  and  many  others. 
This  is  the  leading  type  of  the  United  States  be¬ 
cause  of  its  reliability  in  yield,  color,  smooth  skin, 
and  ability  to  grow  good  crops  in  seasons  when 
more  tender  varieties  fail.  Its  worst  defect  is  poor 
quality  unless  fully  matured.  In  seasons  of  drought 
or  of  blight  it  may  die  before  enough  starch  has 
been  made  to  give  good  cooking  quality.  I  have 
found  that  thorough  spraying  with  Bordeaux  gives 
fine  quality  under  either  of  these  conditions  hy  pro¬ 
longing  the  life  of  Hie  crop  until  a  full  supply  of 
starch  is  made.  Another  defect  disliked  by  city 
people  is  too  large  size,  easily  prevented  by  closer 
planting  and  seed  selection.  The  Green  Mountain 
type  or  white-sprout  with  its  immense  growth  of 
tender  foliage  is  the  favorite  in  the  cool  region  of 
Northern  Maine  and  on  Long  Island.  Burbanks 
are  grown  in  California  and  Minnesota,  Pearls  in 
Colorado,  and  Early  Ohios  in  the  Middle  West, 
other  eases  of  variety  adaptation  are  the  American 
Giant  in  parts  of  New  Jersey  and  the  McCormick 
as  a  Summer  crop  ill  Virginia-  The  latter  kind  is 
capable  of  standing  more  Summer  heat  than  any 
other  variety  we  have  and  is  also  the  poorest  in 
quality. 
MARKET  REQUIREMENTS.— In  all  cases  the 
grower  should  know  what  his  market  wants  and  is 
willing  to  pay  the  best  prices  for.  For  example,  in 
Pruning  Grapes  in  a  Michigan  Vineyard.  Fig.  110 
