laid in, or cut back to two or three feet long for fruiting; one shoot to be trained without fruit for the next year’s crop. There may be on the vine four shoots, or the number required, one-half of which lay in to fruit every year, and cut back the other half for fruiting the following season. This is termed the long cane system, and is the one we recommend.
Spur System of Pruning, which is exceedingly simple in detail and practice, and the largest crops of Grapes we have ever seen, were from vines trained on this mode. It is as follows: Allow one shoot to extend from the plant, the whole height of the house. If every thing is in good order, this shoot will be at least three inches round. If under, there is a deficiency; cut it back, and give it another year’s growth. If over it, the vines are too strong, cut this shoot to about four feet of the old wood; from the sides of this stem, young shoots or spurs push forth, which bear fruit. Take only one bunch from each, and stop the growth two eyes above the bunches. At each Winter pruning, these spurs are cut back, leaving two or three eyes to each. These again send out other spurs; take one bunch from each, and so continue from year to year, and you will have fruit in great abundance, though not so fine as on the former method.[1] Many err in this system in taking two bunches of fruit from each eye, instead of one only. Winter pruning should always be done as soon as the leaves have fallen, otherwise the vine is deprived of matter which would have been
- ↑ Since the above was prepared for the press, we have had an inter- view with one of the best grape-growers under glass, in the country, at whose Grapery, last year, we saw fruit of the finest quality, in regard to color, size, and flavor. He adopts both methods of pruning, but greatly prefers the cane training as being most simple—the vine having only one or two wounds made on it, the fruit swelling faster, coloring better, and maturing two weeks before that of the spur pruning, where the comparison was fair; being without fire heat. He also syringes his vines freely, till the fruit is about the size of peas, and never afterwards. He never saw red-spider on his vines, and very rarely mildew. Observe that all our remarks apply to grape houses without artificial heat.
