29. OVERHEAD KNIFFIN.
Overhead, or Arbor Kniffin.—A curious modification of the Kniffin is employed somewhat on the Hudson, particularly by Sands Haviland at Marlboro'. The vines are carried up on a kind of overhead arbor, as shown in figs. [28], [29] and [30]. The trellis is six feet above the ground, and is composed of three horizontal wires lying in the same plane. The central wire runs from post to post, and one upon either side is attached to the end of a three-foot cross-bar, as represented in [fig. 28]. The rows are nine feet apart, and the vines and posts twelve feet apart in the row. Contiguous rows are braced by a connecting-pole, as in [fig. 29]. The trunk of the vine ends in a T-shaped head, which is well displayed in the vine at the extreme right in the foreground in [fig. 30]. From this T-head, five canes are carried out from spurs. It was formerly the practice to carry out six canes, one in each direction upon each wire, but this was found to supply too much wood. Now two canes are carried in one direction and three in the other; and the positions of these sets are alternated each year, if possible. The canes which are left after the winter pruning are tied along the wires in spring, as in the Kniffin, and the shoots hang over the wires. The chief advantage of this training is that it allows of the growing of bush-fruits between the rows, as seen in [fig. 29]. It is also said that the clusters hang so free that the bloom is not injured by the twigs or leaves, and the fruit is protected from sun and frost. Every post must be large and firmly set, however, adding much to the cost of the trellis. Several styles similar to this are in use, one of the best being the Crittenden system, of Michigan. In this system, the trellis is low, not exceeding four or five feet, and the vines cover a flat-topped platform two or three feet wide.
30. OVERHEAD KNIFFIN, BEFORE PRUNING.
The Cross-Wire System.—Another high Kniffin training, and which is also confined to the vicinity of Marlboro', New York, is the Cross-Wire, represented in figs. [31] and [32]. Small posts are set eight feet apart each way, and a single wire runs from the top of post to post—six and one-half feet from the ground—in each direction, forming a check-row system of overhead wires. The grape-vine is set at the foot of the stake, to which the trunk is tied for support. Four canes are taken from spurs on the head of the trunk, one for each of the radiating wires. These canes are cut to three and one-half or four feet in length, and the bearing shoots droop as they grow. [Fig. 31] shows this training as it appears some time after the leaves start in spring. Later in the season the whole vineyard becomes a great arbor, and a person standing at a distance sees an almost impenetrable mass of herbage, as in [fig. 32]. This system appears to have little merit, and will always remain local in application. It possesses the advantage of economy in construction of the trellis, for very slender posts are used, even at the ends of the rows. The end posts are either braced by a pole or anchored by a wire taken from the top and secured to a stake or stone eight or ten feet beyond, outside the vineyard.
31. CROSS-WIRE TRAINING.