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Show The Planting and Care of Grapes' By Prof. 0. M. Morris Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station y J Popular Form of Trellis. There arc two forms of trellis in general use. The most common form is an upright trellis composed of two or three vvrcs placed one above another. The wires arc placed from fifteen to twenty inches apart, with the loweiwirc twenty or twenty-four twenty-four inches fronr the ground. This trellis is seldom more than five feet high and usually less. It is simple and easy to build and admits of many different forms of training. It is intended that this form of trellis will hold the vines so that the fruit will be expofed to the sun and the air the same as if trained to a wall. 9 GRAPE vines can readily be grown lrom ced, but is they do not come true from Keed thld method of propagation ii seldom sel-dom employed and only when It Is proposed to rear new varieties. Tho Jnes aro usually grown from cuttings. ThesQre mode In the lato fall or winter from the mature wood of tho last season's growth. The cuttings are made from six to twelve inches long. Some prefer a three-Joint cutting, but this la too long to bo handled economically In lon;J-jolnted lon;J-jolnted vines. The cut at the base of each cutting should be made Just below the undo. The cuttings should be made as soon as th wood is cut from the vine and placed In moist earth or sawdust, out of the reach of trust, but In n cool place, until spring. Tho best practice' Is to bury the cuttings In well-drained well-drained soil, covering them with about six lnchi'8 of loose soil. They should be kept In their winter storage until l hi. trees and vines have started well Into growth. They are then taken up and placed In the nursery row. If the cuttings contain three buds they are Iilaced so that tho top bud will bo just above the ground; If tho quttlngs have but two buds they are placed with the top bud at or a little below the surface of tho soil. The soli is well firmed around the cutting to keep it moist and to give the roots tho best opportunity oppor-tunity to grow. Tho cuttings arc sit from ten to eighteen Inches apart In the row. Tho rows tiro about four feet apart. Tho soil should be rich and ln u high state of cultivation. culti-vation. The age of the plants dates from the time the cuttings are set. They arocom-tnonly arocom-tnonly cultivated In the nursery until they are two years old, when they aro ready to be transplanted to the vineyard. Good, strong plants can bo started from layers ot the ripe wood. To start plants in this way the strongest canes should be selected se-lected and bent to tho ground In the spring and covered with soil. The vines will send up a new plant at every bud and If strong plants are desired It Is best to remove all but one bud on each layer. The plants should be separated from tho parent vine In the fall and transplanted either to the nursery or to tho vinej ard. Some varieties do not start well from cuttings. cut-tings. These may be grafted on cuttings or roots of other varieties and grown with entire success. It is usually best to leave tho work of grafting to the nurserymen, j Vineyard lands should be In good cultivation cultiva-tion beforo the plants are set. Bad weeds can be eradicated more easily while the land Is planted to annual crops than after It Is set In vineyard, and every precaution should be taken to see that it is free from such. Coarse trash and litter should bo removed and not plowed under, so that the soil will be In h uniformly flne condition. It Is best If tho land l'g plowed early ln the fall before tho vlr.es are set Tho land should bo cropped for several enrs before being set to a vine-j vine-j yard, in ordr that a good deep bed may bj 1 ready to receive tho plants. t Some land does not contain much vege- table matter, henee It bakes and crusts badly and does not retain moisture as well as It should. This defect should be corrected as much as posslblo before permanent planting I Is done. The best treatment for such land Is to add large quantities of barnyard manure ma-nure and turn under green crops. This work should bo well done In order to give tho vines a good start. After tho vineyard started the manuring will be rather a dllll-cult dllll-cult rrocess and usually shallow cultivation distinct operation? Pruning la 4hc cutting away or removal of some part of tho plant for the purpose of benefiting the plant or Us fruit. All the different modes of pruning are Intended to bring about the same results and aro based on tho same principles. Tho vines can mature only a small portion of tho fruit and wood I hat would be formed from all of the buds of one season's growth. This fact makes pruning a necessity. The fruit Is borne on a few clusters near the base of the shoots of the season; these shoots 9tart from buds on wood of the previous year'R growth. These are the facts and conditions upon which all Intelligent grapo pruning rests. Training refers to the arrangement of the vines on the trellis. Some systems of training are better adapted to certain modes bf pruning and cannot be used with certain others. While there are only two principal methods of pruning, there are as many different dif-ferent systems of training as there aro fancies fan-cies among grape growers. Tho green leafy branches are called shoots Tho ripening shoot Is called a cant. An arm Is a branch two or more years olJ and bears the canes and shoots, but does not change Its form from year to year An arm Is designated as upright, horizontal or sloping, slop-ing, according to Its position on the trellis. Hy some writers an orm is called a cordon. A spur Is a cane cut back from one to four buds, A renewal Is a cane left for bearing wood, but tut much longer than a spur. A stem or trunk Is that portion of th old vino that, reaches from the ground to tho trellis. Grape lncs should be cut back to two or three buds when set and to about tho same nurnler the following winter. If the vines arc strong they may form the cano the second sec-ond summer, but little more than the cane should be left. If tho plants aro weak thoy should be cut hack about the same as after tho first year's growth and not be permitted to form the cano until tho third-summer, The pruning should be so done as to prevent heavy bearing for tho first thrco or four years. The pruning may bo done at an tlmo during the winter. The vine ceases to grow when the Ieave9 fall and is dormant until I growth starts In the spring. Tender varieties varie-ties do best when pruned ln the fall and laid down and covered with earth or straw to protect them during tho cold weather. The strongest growing and most hardy varieties 1 suffer less from winter drought If pruned in the fall. The root9 are dormant and tako up but llttlo moisture, ond when tho winter is excessively dry the vines suffer for water and many of the buds aro killed. If the most of the vines wero removed In tho fall much loss from winter-killing would bo avoided. The pruning should not be done while the vines are frozen, as tho canes will bo broken and split In removing the extra wooiL The work should bo finished two or three weeks before growth starts In the spring In order to avoid bleeding. The cut should be made two or three inches from the last bud that Is Intended to grow, so that the cane drying at tho end will not Injure the bud. Ten or fifteen buds will usually be j enough for the vine to support for Its first crop. This number can bo Increased from year to year until the fourth crop, when lh vine3 should be in full bearing and should support from twcnty-flvc to thirty buds of bearing wood. j The most convenient tool for cutting tho vines Is a pair of small hand shears. These may be purchased from any hardware store for CO or 75 cents. will be the. only stimulus and aid lo the fertility fer-tility of the land. The plants arc sot in the fall or spring. The arrangement of the farmer's work Is usually the controlling factor In this matter. There seems to be but llttlo difference In results whether the plants are set ln the foil or spring. If they are In good condition and well set If the plants arc received In tho fall they will usually have better winter uuarters If set In the. vineyard Immediately. The plants should be set the same depth In the vineyard that they were In the nursery row, but better be set deeper than shallower. The room are placed In their natural position posi-tion and the soil well firmed around them.; Iut III tie If any pruning will bo needed. The roots should not bo exposed to tho nlr and become dry. Nec'.ectlng to keep the roots dajnp while transplanting causes nearly as muchloss ns all other cnilses combined. The plants should be set In rows eight or nine feet apart In the row The weak and medium growing varieties like Dclawaro and Moore's ICnrly may be placed from six t" eight feet apart In the row, while the stronger growing varieties like JJerbcniont and Lenoir should be placed from ten to fourteen feet 1 hi art In the row. The character of the soil and the method of pruning and trimming will also have some lnlluence over the amount 'of space that each plant should occupy. If . the plant Is pruned very close each year It will require but a small amount of space, 'but If a large amount of wood Is left the space for each plant should be Increased j.roporlionally. '' It will be of advantage to have the rows run north ami south This will place tho . trellis so that the trunk and base cf the vine 1 will receive the most protection from the sun This will be of great advantage In sf raying, as a spray can he thrown across a strong current of air better than It can be thrown against It. The wind will not tear so .many vines from the trellis lf tho rows run parallel to the prevailing winds Pruning and training aro separate and |