Remodeling Old Vines.—Old and neglected tops can rarely be remodeled to advantage. If the vine is still vigorous, it will probably pay to grow an entirely new top by taking out a cane from the root. If the old top is cut back severely for a year or two, this new cane will make a vigorous growth, and it can be treated essentially like a new or young vine. If it is very strong and ripens up well, it can be left long enough the first fall to make the permanent trunk; but if it is rather weak and soft, it should be cut back in the fall or winter to two or three buds, from one of which the permanent trunk is to be grown the second season. Thereafter, the instructions which are given in the preceding pages for the various systems, will apply to the new vine. The old trunk should be cut away as soon as the new one is permanently tied to the wires, that is, at the close of either the first or second season of the new trunk. Care must be exercised to rub off all sprouts which spring from the old root or stump. If this stump can be cut back into the ground and covered with earth, better results may be expected. Old vines treated in this manner often make good plants, but if the vines are weak and the soil is poor, the trouble will scarcely pay for itself.
These old vines can be remodeled easily by means of grafting. Cut off the trunk five or six inches below the surface of the ground, leaving an inch or two of straight wood above the roots. Into this stub insert two cions exactly as for cleft-grafting the apple. Cions of two or three buds, of firm wood the size of a lead-pencil, should be inserted. The top bud should stand above the ground. The cleft will need no tying nor wax, although it is well to place a bit of waxed cloth or other material over the wound to keep the soil out of it. Fill the earth tightly about it. [Fig. 37] shows the first year's growth from two cions of Niagara set in a Red Wyoming root. Great care must be taken in any pruning which is done this first year, or the cions may be loosened. If the young shoots are tied to a stake there will be less danger from wind and careless workmen. In the vine shown in the illustration, no pruning nor rubbing out was done, but the vine would have been in better shape for training if only one or two shoots had been allowed to grow. Such a vine as this can be carried onto the trellis next year; or it may be cut back to three or four buds, one of which is allowed to make the permanent trunk next year, like a two-year set vine.
37. A YEARLING GRAFT.
If it is desired, however, to keep the old top, it will be best to cut back the annual growth heavily at the winter pruning. The amount of wood which shall be left must be determined by the vigor of the plant and the variety, but three or four canes of six to ten buds each may be left at suitable places. During the next season a strong shoot from the base of each cane may be allowed to grow, which shall form the wood of the following season, while all the present cane is cut away at the end of the year. So the bearing wood is renewed each year, as in the regular systems of training. Much skill and experience are often required to properly rejuvenate an old vine; and in very many cases the vine is not worth the trouble.
