Show rHU luning TUNING NING AND TRAINING THE GRAPEVINE GRAPE grare VINE BY LOUIS A BERTRAND every fruit tree according to its ita nature and peculiar mode of vegetation needs to be pruned to answer the expectations of the cultivator tho the grapevine particularly is cultivated in order that the grower may get froin froik it the largest possible quantity of me the beitt fruit now that would never occur if the fruit was abandoned to itself without being pruned although cultivated with the most judicious care in order to fully comprehend the princ principle ipie upon which the pruning of the vine is founded it is necessary to study the natural law of vegetation on pi a shoot w which is not pruned the first year the ae hoot oot produces a cane which remains afen dreen in a herbaceous state till the second sap that cane bears one or several bunches of grapes to its lower end in proportion as these bunches get ripe the wood of the cane becomes more and more ligneous at the fall of the leaves the cane is provided from space to s space ace aca and upon its whole length with sudi zudi buds e each 20 h 0 of f w chichin bc ehin chin h ortho follo following wing year will I 1 1 lan ian brin forth a hova new branch or cane jf if it is no not t pruned the e ilu liu cane pr produces indeed a vast u umber e of or lateral br branches aiches short N ri and meagre bearing a few small bunches of grapes in which you can so arcely scarcely find again the trace of the qualities proper to their species let us abandon that eine vine another year and it wil wid ba be totally ruined it will become entirely barren barlen without any chance of re lish men t the pruned cane on the contrary retains jains only one or two buds to its lower end three at most if the vine 13 very strong having only two ty 0 o or three buds to nourish it Is able to provide a sufficient quantity of sap for them in order that they tiley may fully develop themselves and feed i suitably every bunch which grows fro from in their basis A branch having once oace produced fruit cannot bear another crop it may only bring forth buds buda which will become fruitful the following in 0 year the fecunda fecundity y of f the grape g rap nap vine is in this manner maintained aint alne d forever or ter ten by its pruning without that pruning in it will cease immediately the above statements show at once the necessity of pruning the vine its aim and the general rule which must govern it the there re is is one well authenticated fact in the fruiting of the grape viz that the finest fruit the beat best earliest and largest crops are produced upon the strongest shoots of the previous years yearb growth there therefore fore foro the begin beginner non nor must remember that the fruit always grows rows on young or new now shoots which start aart from the wood of the year preceding this thio fundamental principle will serve as a general guide in pruning the vine vide under all circumstances Jwill I 1 will only mention here two modes of pruning viz the spur system and the long pruning or long cane renewal method the spur system is generally used is southern europe and in several california vineyards the vines are trained free without stakes or trellis like dwarf apple trees the principal stem ip abut ab UE alsteen inches high the pruning is done in the months of december and january the best wood of the vine tine is selected and cut down to spurs of three buds the spurs are in accordance with the age and strength of the vines the old ones are pruned to weight and even ten spurs to bear from fourteen to twenty pounds of good healthy grapes the above process sis is only ohly practicable in semitropical semi tropical countries numberless experiments made in the 73 departments of france extensively engaged in the grape culture have conclusively clu established the fact that the long pruning method is far more preferable in every respect than the spur system but specially in northern localities local 4 the new theory ably propagated by doctor J guyot of paris is is now considered by every experienced dign ign eron as the most beneficial innovation odthe of the present at age i e that gentleman is a great living iu authority dhority tho rity dr guyots gayots method suppresses entirely any kind of spurs it commits every year to a single cane at least the strongest and best 11 shaped 1 p d 0 one t the he office of bearing fruit that a t C ane cane rl called al led the fruiting branch is tr trained an ie d horizontal rl lynear the ground and attack ed to t an iron wire or small arup of all its buds for the most part art wig apen in a proper time to produce a large crop the faulting shoot should be win Tin pinch clied ed off with pruning shears above the s sixth ix JI th leaf two or three days after the tha blooming period the other shoots all intended f for or wood do not bear grapes they are attached to a stake and nod trained trained vertically in this thia manner mariner they cani not deprive the fruiting branch of any portion of air nor of sunshine among these last shoots the very vers best are selected for bearing fruit and cut out down yearly the performance of the same operative details ia Is thus indefinitely pursued the reader can see in the agricultural repot of 1866 page an engraving representing a vine vine winter pruned according to the above rules I 1 recommend to every northern grape grower to try next nest spring this valuable process they will find that the perfect ripening of the table grapes as well as those for wine making making depends more upon the heat radiated radiate from the earth than upon that which comes from the sun qun As for myself I 1 will certainly adopt it for my strongest seedlings of foreign origin but with the following modification instead of a single fruit ing branch I 1 will train two canes horizontally zon tally one on the right side and the other on the left I 1 chy in order to get a double crop a IS WINTER wincer PRUNING preferably preferable TO SPRING PRUNING this interesting question has haa been considerably discuss edby the european and american vine dressers go oe 0 bearly early arly carly pruning the th grape in bahng nga advantage ofte whole period between the t faill fall of the leaves evidence of the tho beginning bagi fridg of its vegetative sleep and the e jbf that sleep ia is according to my jovn oz notions and experience preferable in all semitropical semi tropical countries but residing in a cold region and writing specially for the northern utah grape grapo growers I 1 humbly advise them to adopt the spring pruning for the following reasons the shoot which is not early pruned as agpoon poon boon w asit it feels the influence odthe first spring heat conveys its whole amount of sap sip towards its top tho the buds which open the first are those of the superior extremity of the branch whilst the inferior buds remain repa in sleepy sleeps now in ill the occurrence of a late frost the buds too soon boon developed would certainly be killed but aa as in nil au cases casses they are to bo be cut down their loss is no loss at all for the grape grower therefore rhe he must prune his vinea vines according to tho the local climate in the tho first or second week of may when the return of a treacherous frost is no more bore to be apprehended ended the inferior bude j tho the only onis on y ones which are to bo be preserved when they are pruned to produce the tiie next crop remain safe and can not be injured by tho late froats frosts As soon aa as they aro arc pruned those these buds buda will expand pau pan the bap eap powerfully enticed by then them having no other opening will cause them to recover the lost time the young shoots born from them will produce grapes well constituted which will bloom and form their berries as soon as those of the vines early pruned according to the custom custo 1 too generally practised practiced such is tze twe tile theore theoretical ti eal cal explanation of late pruning and such are in in reality its beneficial results it is to be remarked that the above rules pan can oan be used for every kind of hardy grapes as aswell well weli as the fendor fender ones among the latter the black mission grape unfortunately takes the lead in our gardens I 1 say unfortunately because it is a common coarse gra grape e its true origin ia is unknown but eving baving been cultivated in california luring during nearly two centuries that grape grapo is too tender and so very late that it cannot fully ripen in northern utah at least under its present management it is to be hoped that it will soon be discarded the tho black hamburgh and the chasselas family particularly the golden chasselas one of the most excellent table grapes are far more worthy of the attention of our grape growers the chasselas Chasse Chate elas laa are so hardy that they can be cultivated without any protection in the coldest regions of france franco among tho the tender kinds I 1 1 desire to mention the frontignan white muscat a delicious fruit it is fully ripe about the middle of august in southern era fra france nce nee and on the C of september in salt lake city the white muscat of alexandria more showy but bub less highly flavored iia fla vorea than the last named is also a most ex 4 cellena fruit it is a late raisin grape they both deserve to be admitted in every garden now in order to practice successfully success the long pruning process for eve eye every ry kind lind of tender grapes the only thing tobe to be done is to preserve the strongest and the best shaped shoot olevery of every vine and to cover it according to the usual usual method with three inches of earth after you lave have have cut down the other branches ek to the tte buds in so do doing ing lug you will always alwa gb a large crop of your tender grapes SUMMER PRUNING NI NG after the we blooming period and as soon as es you aeo hee tile the berries succeeding the tle flower the vine wants again to be pruned if the bearl bearing ng shoot was given up to the natural fire of its vegetation the sap bap would only be instrumental in causing that shoot to grow longer beyond measure the buds of the inferior portion of the shoot destined to produce the fruiting branches of the tha following year would remain weak and ill shaped and the clu ciu clustena clusters stera of grapes would ripen imperfectly imperfect lyL therefore the summer pruning has a double end it must cause causo the sap to flow back so that the clusters might increase and ripen and to assist the formation of fruiting buds for the next crop the most propitious time to practice tica the summer pruning is pointed out by the state more or less forward of the vegetation a state which depends on the condition of the temperature in the beginning of tho the spring the intelligent vino dressers suppress athe atthe time the superfluous 9 u pel pei young shoots in separating them from their basis which sticks slightly I 1 feel satisfied that every northern grape r a pe grower in practising practicing the above rules will get got better crops than by any other method be before fore closing my remarks I 1 would state here that I 1 have been favored with an autograph note from the hon horace cafron commissioner of the department of agriculture asking ak my acost most promising gra beebi bt shall bo be sq t 0 AO o him hir in id 0 e thap that Y v may be trial arit in the expert experimental e al garden r dyb n of washington 1 4 1 9 |