Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-06-04
Farm, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Summer Pruning ofthe Vine.

bummer ffuntng OF the vine.
4. Williams, Montclair. n. j.. whose
long experience entities his opinions on
all subjects pertaining to horticulture TO
deserved attention, not only believes in
the summer pruning Of grape-vines, but
practices il. In an essay on the subject
of summer pruning read before the
Amerit an Horticultural Society, he gives
expression to the following statements:
As the vines awaken from their winter
sleepin the spring and the buds Begin to
swell and burst forth, it will be observed
that two buds often appear from what
seemd but one in a dormant state. The
first and simplest operation in summer
pruning is to rub off one of these and al
super1uous ones wherever and whenever
they appear. A simple touch of the
finger will do it. The weakest and gen
orally the lowest one has to 90. If the
buds from any cause start feebly, the
sooner this is done the better for those
that remain; It in cases where they
start strong and vigorously, indicating a
super abundance of steam at high press
urc, it is well TO let some of it escape
through these channels, and defer their
removal until the embryo clusters have
appeared. II these shoots have grown a
foot or foot and half, no matter; the
check to the vine will be the greater and
their removal none the less demanded.
The only trouble likely to attend lay in
their removal will be want of courage in
the operator. 1t is apt to hurt ones feel
ings to destroy so many prosp ctive clus-
81 x,,,t and tlNn fn,,,,Nfotiny - nIlp,,r
them to remain is very strong. The re-
naming shoots are pinched off at one or
two leaves beyond the last cluster of fruit,
and all lateralS are stopped in the same
way as recommcn led for the young vines
to one leaf.
Those bearing cones and laterals, after
recovering from the check thus given,
will soon recover and make fresh start
in wood max no, and the pinching pro-
cess is repeated as before, leaving an
additional leaf each time. The effect of
this treatment is to retard the sap and
retain it where it is needed for the full
Ceyelopm Mt of buds, leaves and fruit.
The leaves roma Mug increase in size
much beyond their normal proportions
and strong, vigorous leaf of this kind
is most capable OF resisting the attack of
mildew, and the larger the leaf area next
the fruit the larger and ti2cr the fruit
will be-
This pinching process also results in
full, plump and we'll developed buds on
the canes to be left for the next years
fruiting. Some advocates Of long prun-
ing urge as u reason for it that the third
and fourth buds on a cane produce the
best clusters, and some even as ert that
the axillary buds-those that cmanate at
the Junction of the young cane with the
old wood-will never produce fruit.
That depends altogether on the treat
ment the vines have received. If they
have been allowed to grow at random
and take caro- of themselves, Mr.. Will
liams admitted, they sci lom fruit, purely
from lack of development. The sap be-
ing allowed to pursue its natural course
unmolested, it has no time to stop and
pay proper attention to these buds, but
with judicious summer pruning these
base buds are equal to the emergency. In
fact, the short spur system heretofore
described depends absolutely for success
on this summer pruning.
Mr.. Williams cited the case of a very
successful amateur who has vines ten
years old treated on this system, some of
the spurs on which are not over one and
half inches long; indeed, in some in
stances they are so short that the base
bud seems to start almost out of the old
wood, and yet this bud will give as good
fruit and as large clusters as any, and
does so year after year, and it is simply
due to this full development resu ting
from summerpruning. AZ York World.