Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

At the tying up of the reserved shoots, all new shoots which have developed since the first disbudding should be removed. The shoots should be tied up loosely, as they are soft and easily injured, and they should be brought around carefully to the windward side of the stake.

The shoots will require tying once more when they have grown another foot or eighteen inches. There will then be two ties, one at two or three inches from the top of the stake and the other at about the middle. If the vines have a tall stake and are to be headed very high, another tying higher up may be needed later.

With vines making only a moderate growth, no other pruning will be needed until the winter. Exceptionally vigorous vines, however, may make a cane eight, ten or more feet long. Such a cane is heavy and is very likely to break the ropes by which it is attached to the stake. In this case it may break off at the bottom, or at least will form an awkward crook near the ground when it matures. In either case it is difficult to form a good trunk the following year. Even when the ties do not break, the cane will not be well suited for the commencement of a trunk, as the joints will be so long that it will be impossible to leave enough well-placed buds at the winter pruning.

Both these difficulties are avoided by timely topping. When such vigorously growing canes have grown twelve or eighteen inches above the top of the stake they are cut back about level with the stake. This is most conveniently done with a long-bladed knife or piece of split bamboo. After topping, the cane ceases to grow in length and laterals start at most of the joints. It is less exposed to the action of the wind, and the laterals supply the buds needed for forming the vine at the winter pruning.

Plate XIII.—Dutchess (×2/3).

The result of the second season's growth, then, has been to produce a single vigorous cane with or without laterals. This is the cane which is to develop into the final and permanent trunk of the vine. It must not only be large and vigorous, but must be properly matured. If the vine is allowed to grow too late in the season, an early frost may destroy the unmatured cane, and much of the results of the year's growth will be wasted. Such a frost may indeed kill the entire vine. Grafted vines are particularly liable to injury from this cause, as if they are killed down to the union they are completely ruined. Ungrafted vines when killed to the ground may be renewed from a sucker next year. This sucker, however, is likely to grow with such vigor that it is even more liable to injury from an autumn frost than the original shoot.

This late growth is much more likely to occur with young vines than with old. The old vines stop growing earlier because their energies are directed into the crop, and as they produce a larger amount of foliage they draw more upon the moisture of the soil, which therefore dries out earlier.

Late growth of the young vines must be prevented and the wood matured before frost if possible. This is accomplished by means which promote the drying of the soil in autumn. Late irrigations should be avoided. Cultivation should usually stop by midsummer. In very moist, rich soils, it is often an advantage to grow corn, sunflowers or similar crops between the rows of vines to take off the surplus moisture. In some cases it is good practice to let the summer weeds grow for the same purpose.