Grape Growing. ii 
vineyard often rather than allow all the suckers to grow until one 
general cleaning up. Removing any large amount of foliage 
weakens the vines. 
The fruiting shoots should be pinched back a week or ten days 
before the blossoming period, the fruit seems to set better. It is a 
general belief that vines should not be pruned during the blooming 
season. If the vines are to be pruned with long canes, shoots that 
are intended for fruiting canes should not be pinched back or cut 
back. If the bush system of training as illustrated in Fig. 1 is to 
be followed, the vines are generally pruned back again after the 
fruit is set, sometimes twice. Summer pruning is weakening, es¬ 
pecially if the shoots are allowed to grow long and are then slashed 
off at some distance from the tip. Such pruning is also liable to 
expose the fruit to the sun, and a sunburned bunch like that shown 
in Fig. 4 is the result. In all summer pruning the idea should be 
to prune by only removing tender growth. It would be safer to 
make the hired man use his thumb and finger for this pruning. If 
the grower wants to use a corn-knife, that is his business, but it is 
a shame to tempt a boy, or a hired man by giving him such a tool. 
Native grapes are generally suckered, but receive no further 
summer pruning. 
Winter Protection .—In most parts of Colorado, the vinifera 
grapes need winter protection. In localities where one can rely on 
the minimum temperature not going below zero, well-matured 
vines will pass the winter without protection. American grapes 
are seldom given any protection, and possibly vinifera grapes would 
stand much more severe temperature if the vines were well ma¬ 
tured by withholding water late in the season. The injury is more 
probably due to excessive drying out of the tissues, rather than 
to severe freezing; in other words, the immature canes freeze dry. 
The vines are protected by giving them a light covering of 
earth. This covering need not be heavy, just enough to hold the 
canes down to the ground, if the vines are pruned long, or enough 
to cover the new wood of those pruned shorter. The vines are 
covered any time after they shed their leaves and before the 
ground freezes. They are uncovered in the spring after danger of 
frost is past. Yet the uncovering must not be delayed too long, 
lest the buds start and the tender, bleached growths may be broken 
off in the process of uncovering or killed by the hot sun afterwards. 
One may as well take the risk of having the shoots killed by frost 
as to leave them covered after growth starts. If they can be un¬ 
covered during a spell of cloudy weather, some of the tender, 
bleached growths may be saved. In covering large vines the plow 
is generally used to throw as much dirt to the vines as possible, 
and the job is finished with the shovel. 
