m ■4m. Wl PRUN NG m i: W mmif ^■^--^ Class _rr- ^/^V< r^ Boole U^ /ears the fruit-bud. ^ In sinne eases, the two sexes — the stamens and pistils — are in ditTerent tlowei-s on the same plant, as in hickories, walnuts, oaks: in a few trees (,as willoA\-s imd poplars) tliey are on ditfeivnt plants. When the stamens and pistils are separate on the s:mie plant, the species is sjiid to be nunuvcious: when they aiv on differiMit plants, the species is ditvcious. In both cases, it is necessiiry that the inquirer should tind two kinds of bU>sson\-buds, if he desin^s to locate the parts. Fig. ti5 is a twig from a filbert taken in winter. The catkins, or tlower-clusters. are two at each joint. With the first warmth of spring, the cat- kins elongjite and dangle in the wind. But they bear only stamina te or male tlow- ers. The pistillate or fruit- bearing tlowers aiv hidden in short r^nindeil buds, imd , ^^■*- ■^"ii>" ^^' >'i'K'/^ shoots; <• IS a mnt- the pistils do not pwtrude bud. l>o. AN iiitor oatkins of tillH>rt. WIXTKIi KlLI.Kh HI l)S 61 until .spring. Fig. 00 shows a twig of hazol (filberts and hazels are very closely allif;dj tak(;n in (jarly spring, and the stylas of the pistillate flow(;rH are protriiding from the two lower buds. In the walnuts and hickories, the pistillate flowers are co-tf;rminal, but the starninat(i flowers arise from lateral wintf^r flower-buds on the last year's growth. 'Jlie xvwiV'x will ask how to tell when fruit-buds are winter-killed. It is usually the embryo flowers that are destroyed by cold, although, in severe wintfTS, the entin; bud of the mixed fruit-bud type may be kill(;d, so that th(! bud does not swell on th(! approach of spring. The normal color of the int(!rior of fruit.-buds is green or greenish. When the interior i.; black or very dark brown, it is generally safe to infer that the bud Is dead. Figs. 07 and 08 illustrate differ- ences between live and dead buds, the dead buds being on the left in (;ach case. It should be added, however, that much of the reporting on condition of pistiiiate fmit-buds is little more than "*'C'd.°' guessing. The surest way to de- termine the condition of the buds is to examine them carefully under a lens or dis- secting microscope. Having determined just how a dead bud looks, in the particular plant under con- sideration, the inquirer may then extend his observations to a more general examination in the field. f)7. Apricot budh, d<;!wl and livo. Loii- Kitudiiial H';(;tioii. 68. Peach buds, dead and live. Cross- seotion. rmo OEVELOPMENT OF THE FLOWER-BUD OR FRUIT-BUD At what epoch the differentiation takes place in the bud, de- termining whether it shall produce only leaves the next year or 62 THE FRUIT-BUD whether it shall produce flowers, probably depends on very many circumstances as well as on the particular kind of plant. In the case of all common orchard fruits, the destiny of most of the normal buds is probably determined so early in the season of their formation that little influence can be exerted on them after mid-spring or early summer. At first, these buds are merely growing points; and long before they have begun to take on their familiar bud-shape their course is probably fixed. The studies of Drinkard at the Virginia Experiment Station (Report, 1909-1910, with many micro-photographs) showed that the fruit-buds of the Oldenburg and some other apples began to form the last week in June. "There was evidence of a prolonged period of fruit-bud formation imtil late into the sum- mer, though a large majority of the fruit-buds formed in early July." Of Kieffer pear, the fruit-buds did not begin to differ- entiate until after the middle of July; of Luster peach, the first week in August. In plums the epoch was found to be variable. On Japanese varieties of plums, fruit-buds began to form the second week in July; on varieties of the Americana group, the first week in July; on Whitaker (one of the native class), the first week in September. Cherry Louis Philippe began to form fruit-buds the first week in July. His general sum- mary is as follows: "Buds which produce the crop of bloom for the current year are formed the preceding summer; initial fruit-bud formation has its beginning during June or July, depending on seasonal conditions and the kind of fruit. "The proper development of the fruit-bud would therefore be influenced by factors which are brought to bear upon the tree prior to and during the period at which fruit-bud forma- tion takes place. In the practice of such orchard operations as are designed to mfluence or control fruit-bud formation, it appears that such operations should be more effective in the spring and early summer than at other stages of development." EARLY STATE OF ERUIT-IiUDS 53 Ono must not overlook the fact that fruit-buds may con- tinue to differentiate throughout the active season, if conditions are right, as Drinkard's studies indicate. The early and excel- lent studies of ({off at Wisconsin clearly indicate this fact. "In the year 1899," as Goff's summary conclusions are reported in the Twentieth Report, Wisconsin Experiment Station, 1903, "the first evidences of flower formation in cherry was from buds cut on July 11th. In plums the first evidences of flower-bud formation was July 8th. In apple from buds cut June 30th and in pears from l>uds cut July 21st. This seems to show that the begirming of the development of flower-buds follows the season of most rapid growth, and continues until intermpted by low temperature in the autumn, at which time the buds are well developed and ready to be unfolded with the warmth of spring." It was found by Goff that "embryo flowers sometimes forai in the apple and pear in September as well as in July. The summer and autumn periods of flower-formation may be dis- tinct. The late-formed flowers in the apple and pear may pro- duce, alone, a good fruit-crop the following season. "The 'side-buds' that developed the past summer on fruit- spurs of the apple that flowered last spring, formed embryo flowers in several varieties before the middle of October. "The embryo flowers began to form in a tree of the Bokara peach in our Station orchard about September 14 the past season. "In the Clyde strawberry, the first indications of embryo flowers appeared September 20. In the rooted runner plants the flowers appeared at about the same time as in the parent plants." What exact influences determine the destiny of a bud, aside from its position, is mostly unknown, although a knowledge of this kind is crucial to the best horticulture. The influences are probably to a large extent those of soil conditions and fertility, as shown by Pickett, Gourley, and others; and with these we are not immediately concerned in a discussion of pruning. Goff .)l 77/ A' run T inn ivports that ttowor-buds do not oftcMi, if over, ro\'ort to loaf-lnuls. although they are apparoutly not striu'turally ditYoivnt from loaf-lnuis. "Partial defoliation of the buds h\ the pear on July 5 hastened rather than retarded the formation of embryo tlowers. In the plum and eherry partial ilefoliation of the fruit-spurs just as the enibryo tiowei"s were eonnneneiui!; to form did not prevent their formiuii;, but slightly redueed their size." It is not generally understood that dormant buds may develop tlowei"s and fruit, when eonditions are right, although CiotY reeords this to be the ease. Whether the dormant buds, in these eases, were originally tlower-buds or whetlier they sub- sequently developed into tlower-buds from leaf-buds, is a ques- tion for mueh investigation, although Cuit^'s statements indi- cate that the change in character may take place after the first yeai*: "In the apple, a bud may form tiowere the first, second or third season or even after that. If imduly shaded, it ma>' never form tlowei"s. In favorable seasons for tlower-for- mation, mimy of the buds formed that season, and nearly all of those formed the preceding two seasons, that have not alreatiy flowered, will become tlower-buds. An excessive apple crop results, which is necessarily followed by a light one, because the supply of reserve buds is exhausted." SUMMARY SYNOPSIS OF THK POSITIONS OF FKUIT-BUDS ON THE COMMON FRUIT-TREES ^^'e ha^•e now found that one must know the flower-bearing habit of any plant before one can cultivate it intelligently for blossom or fruit. The measure of intellectuiU satisfaction hi cultivation lies in undei-staiuling the plant as well as in se- curing the product. The positions of the fruit-buds in any species vary with the age and vigor of the plant, with the variety, food-supply, probably with irrigation, and other conditions; but the habitual CLASSIFICAriON OF FRUIT-BUDS 55 modes of fnjit-hcarin^ may h(; nonvcniontly presented in synop- tical form, if tlu! n-ader b(;arH in mind that every species may now and then exhibit exceptions and departures: I. Flowers commonly produced immediately from distinguish- able winter buds. (o) Buds lateral, and usually no spurs; Peach, almond (mostly), Japanese plum (in part), apricot (in part), filbert, hazel. (6) Buds for the most part on spurs, in some species ter- minal: Apple, pear, cherry, plum (mostly), apricot (mostly), almond (in part), currant (in part), goose- berry. II. Flowers (or fruits) on shoots of the season. (c) Co-terminal — borne in early spring on the end of a very short shoot which arises from a winter bud: Quince, medlar, hickory, walnut. id) Terminal, or approximately so, on lateral summer shoots: Rasj)b(!rry, blackberry, dewberry, orange. (e) Lateral on strong shoots (or on canes): Grape, chest- nut, persimmon, mulberry, olive. (/) Terminal on terminal shoots: Loquat. CHAPTER III THE WOUNDS AND HOW THEY HEAL Ik tho pninor is to umlorstaml tho lirMlinji; of tl\o wounds that ho makes in sovorinii; limbs, ho must oonsiilor for a nunuont tho gonoral makiMip of tho plant oylindor. Tho youup; shoot is tightly onvolopod with bark. In n\any ]>lants tho inoroaso in dimnotcr of tho stoni oomos about b> [\\c formation of rings of now tissuo (or now wootl) unilor tho bark, and we know that in all plants tho growth hi thiok- ness takes plaee within tho I'vlindor, and not on the very outside. It is evident, then, that the oovoring of bark must give way to allow of tho expansion of tho woody oylimior within it. The tissues must, therefore, bo untior oonstant pivs- suro or tension. It has boon estimated that tho pn^ssure within a growhig tnmk is often as nnioh as fifty poimds to the square hieh. A pioee of an elm bvanoh ten yoaivs old is dra\Mi in Fig. 09. It is an iueh in diaineter, yet the bark at the top is smooth and intaet. At one time, the shoot was not moi\^ than ^ >.s the variations in thickness of tl\o annual vinj::s. and especially of the stune m\2; at ditYereut plnees in the eireinnfereuee. AN OKSKKVAriON OF KM>rS We have seen tliat son\e of the side branelies mi the little chern- tnv (Fig-, o") died, and that all the othei-s will probably perish. Fij;. 71 v^^lunvs a dead limb on an oak tnw The lunb 71. A dead branch ami the elevation of healing tissue at its base. 72. A knot-hole. became weak because the shade was too dense, and probably also bec.Huse branches above it took more thai\ an tH\ual share of food. Finally, borers and fungi attacked it, and it ditxl. It rotted slowly away, year by year its twigs fell, and finally a heavy fall of snow broke it off as we now see it. As soon j\s it died, it became a menace to the trtv, for the rot in its tissues might extend into the trunk. The tree made an effort to cover it up.' The tissue piled higher ;ind higher about its base, as if it'aching for the end of the wound. The limb was eaten away by deca>', and became smaller and smaller m dimneter, leavmg a cup-like ring about its base. Finally it broke otT. and a knot- KNffTH AS I J K.\Or JIOLEH y.) hole, w'.ui \i'Si. Sijcli a knotz-hoK; in w^m in V'\^. 72. Kriot-holc-s o/i lh<; \> th*; cAtiiUtr. 'ihi.-; knot iij the rt'.r{iix]TiH of a limb, and w rwjarly a« old a« the trunk, YxttiSixmi it «tart« from the very cA'.xiU'.r; that iw, thr; limb Htari/'A when the tree was a more :-:ap- ii/ig. 'J*h(; fjrofjabiljt.y i.n timt it i>i jij.st one year younger tl'ian the trunk iteelf, for branches mostly Ktart on the second year's wood, unless s^^me stnjss of circumstances starts out the older and dormant buds. The limb finally di^xl and broke off, and 7.'<. Kiml ill :x }i<:llAo<:k \<)il.. 74. A buried branch or kiiot. tlie stub was buried. The tissue has now grown out to the end of thu; stub, an(J nothing remains but to closfi over the hole. If t,he limb hji/J rott<;d away, a Sf^uirrel or a woodpecker might liav(j takfm up his quarU;rs in the cavity. The wood-<;hopper, liowever, found only a knot; and a board sawwJ from the log wf>ijld iiave had a knot whenever tlie saw cut ijucrom the old stub. If the knot were loow;, it would fall out, and the Vxjard would hav(5 a knot-hole. Fig. 74 shows an old branch complet^:;Iy l>uri(;d in the trunk, all the tissue around it being finn and sound. This knot is kjng enough to have run through many incli boards if the log had been taken to the saw-mill. 60 THE WOUNDS Knot-holes iii boards, therefore, represent cross-sections of branches; and each one is the record of an event in the history of the tree. We are not hero discussing burls. A lunb was sawed from a tree. Several yeai-s aftei*ward a drawing was made of the stub (Fig. 75). The limb had not yet 75. Improper cuttiug of a limb. 76. Proper cutting of a limb, and a good ring of covering. healed-in. The reason is apparent: the stub had been left of such length that the tissue had not yet been able to pile up over it, and, havmg no life in it itself, the branch could not make healing tissue of its own. The stub is now a monmnent to the man who pnmed the tree. Fig. 76 shows how another limb was cut, and although the wound is not nearly so old as the other, it is rapidly closing in. There are most important practical les- sons, then, to be learned from this study of knot-holes — two of which are that nature is a heroic pruner, and that limbs should be sawed ofif close to the parent branch if the wounds are to heal well. WHAT WOUND IS 61 THE NATURE OF THE WOUND The increase in diameter of the stem or trunk is made by the growth of cells from the cambium and adjacent merismatic cells, which, in such kinds of plants as we have been considering, is a tissue lying upon the outside of the woody cylinder and beneath the bark. From its inside, speaking broadly, the cam- bium produces wood, and from its outside, it produces the soft or inner bark. As the outer bark is ruptured by the expansion of the stem, parts of the inner bark give rise to the corky external and protective layers. A mere abrasion or surface woun5, which does not expose the wood, is healed by the for- mation of new cork cells from the iimer bark; but a wound which exposes the wood is healed by growth from the cambium. The cambium region, then, is the active propagating tissue of the plant cylinder. The wood-cells soon become Hfeless, and have no power to grow or to multiply. In some plants when young, the pith-cells have the power to develop a callus, but these cases need not concern us here. It is apparent, therefore, that when a limb an inch or more in diameter is cut off, the exposed hard wood can never heal, as a wound heals in flesh. A mass of tissue, known as a callus, grows out over the wound and covers it. Fig. 76 is a picture of this callus-ring. The ring will eventually cover the wound; and if a longitudinal section of the healed wound were then made, we should find the condi- tion shown in Fig. 77 — the end of the old stub remaining as sharp-cut as it was when left by the saw, and capped over with wood, much as a fruit-jar is capped with a metal cover. This Fig. 77 is one of the most important pictures in the book, and it is drawn accurately from a normal and average example. It is important because it shows that the end of the old stub has no organic or vital connection with the callus which covers it, but it is merely hermetically sealed in, as a nail or a plug of wood might be. So far as the vital functions of the tree 62 THE WOUNDS are concerned, this stub is a foreign and useless body; and no dressing can be expected to hasten the heahng-over process except as it may keep the parts free from uifection. The reader will readily understand why the solitary end of a projecting stub has no healing power within itself, in the usual fruit- and forest-trees. The plastic or tissue-building substances Cross-section of callus on an apple tree. are compounded or manufactured in the leaves and are trans- ferred through certain tissues (the phloem) of the inner bark to repair and extend all active parts of the plant body; it is only when the wounds are located along the lines of transfer or at some actively building part that healing tissue develops. In paths of main transfer, circular wounds are likely to heal more rapidly on the sides parallel with the branch rather than crosswise (top and bottom). The callus-ring grows rapidly for a year or two. But hard bark forms on this callus, as it does on other growing wood, and growth is checked. This bark even forms on the under side or lip of the callus. Over the end of the stub in Fig. 77 there is a thin layer of bark. We have already found (page 57) that slitting the bark on a trunk may relieve the pressure and allow of extra rapid growth at that point. If the callus ceases to grow and the operator makes a cut with a knife-point around the inner edge of the callus-roll, it is said that the growth of new HEALING OF WOUNDS 63 callus may sometimes be stimulated; but this is doubtful prac- tice. It is probable that any application or treatment that prevents the callus from becoming very hard and bark-bound will facilitate the continuous spread of the tissue. In surface wounds that expose the wood, the callus also forms and covers the denuded area. If the injury does not extend below the sapwood, or if the wood has not dried out and died, the callus may make a vital connection with the exposed surface of the wound. If the side wound goes deep, however, the healing tissue forms no real union with the denuded surface, any more than it does with the end of a Stub as shown in Fig. 77. This is well illustrated in Fig. 78, which shows a truncheon taken out of an old trunk. The side of the tree had been hacked with an axe, as shown on the right. This depression was filled in with tissue, as the tree grew, and finally there was no mark on the exterior; but when the trunk happened to be split years afterwards by the chopper, the two areas fell apart hard and clean. The healing of the wound serves as protection. It checks evaporation from exposed parts, and prevents decay by protect- ing the wood from the weather and by excluding bacteria and fungi., A rotten heart, or rotten wood of any kind, is a diseased condition; and this disease is the work of living organisms. 78. The filling of a deep wound on the side of a tree. 64 THE WOUNDS The exposed wood dies. It cracks and checks. The surface collects dust, which, with the dead cells, makes a thin soil in which germs find congenial conditions for growth. Even after the wound is covered by the callus, the mycelium of fungi may continue to extend itself in the wood, often reaching the heart and causing the trunk to become hollow. Normally, the heart of a tree should never decay; but sooner or later most Nail buried in the wood. Tap-hole buried in the wood. trees are exposed to injuries, either in top or root, through which the organisms of destruction may enter. The pictures will help us to understand. Fig. 79 shows a cross-section of a maple trunk in which a nail is imbedded. The wood closed tight about it and no harm resulted. Now, this was the nail upon which a sugar-maker hung his bucket. Just below it was the tap-hole; and this hole, now completely cov- ered by the wood, is seen in Fig. 80. But mischief has come to pass. The tap-hole was an open wound, and fungi entered; and the discolored tissue shows the progress of the decay. THE ROTTEN HEART 65 Pictures of ash logs are shown in Fig. 81. The one on the right had a perfect-looking trunk, although a scar was discern- ible at one point. A section of the trunk shows that a large limb was once broken off and its stump completely buried under the new tissue; but the log is rotten-hearted c' (a), and the decay of the old stump (6) shows where the mischief began. The stump on the other log is not yet closed in, and its end is decayed; and a colored streak (c) running down the heart of the old limb shows the trouble that is coming. A hickory stub has been covered (Fig. 82, left) and, from outside appearances, the tree is now safe; but a section (Fig. Diseased areas in an ash log. 82. A diseased trunk, but all healed externally. 66 THE WOUNDS 82, right) shows that the injury is serious, and probably the decay began before the heahng was completed. Even in the apple stub in Fig. 76, wound-rot is serious. The rougher and more broken the surface of the wound, the greater is the likeli- hood that fungi will g:iin entrance. On smooth and solid wounds, the greatest danger is probably on the lower edge, where the up- rolling ring forms a cup that holds water; therefore it is well to shape the wound to a point. It would be untrue to con- clude that decay follows from all serious and exposed wounds. Fig. 83 shows a section of a maple log in which the buried stump is hard and sound; but such cases are probably the exception. We are now able to under- stand that while dressings or applications to the wound cannot directly hasten the healing process (page 63), they may aid it by pre- venting the decay of the parts, and they may be the means, thereby, of saving the tree. That is, dressings are preventive, not curative; and in this they are akhi to the antiseptic dress- ings of the surgeon, which prevent contamination of the woimd and thereby allow nature to heal it. A large literature has now developed on wood-rots, a subject, however, quite foreign to the present discussion. A sound knot, HOW TO CUT THE BRANCHES The reader will see how futile it is to attempt to construct any theory of the management of wounds from a few isolated CUTTING TO A BUD 67 Poor and good heading-in of dwarf pear. experiments; for the interpreted results of such experiments often contradict fundamental principles, and therefore cannot be true, however clear and unequivocal they may appear to be. First of all, the pruner wants to know how and when he shall cut the limbs so that they will heal as quickly as possible. Let us think about the question, and see. A twig of a peach tree was cuf back in autumn. By spring it had died back an inch, as shown in Fig. 84. This stump or stub will not heal over of itself. If it is ever inclosed, it will be buried by the growth of a branch which shall spring from a side bud. There is such a bud on the twig, and if a branch arises from it, the stump may be over- topped in the course of a few years ; but the probability is that this bud will not grow, because the drying out of the twig has injured it. The responsi- ])ility must fall, therefore, on a lower bud. Two dwarf pear shoots are reported in Fig. 85. The one on the left was cut at some distance above a bud, and the dead and dangerous stub persists. The twig on the right was cut just above a bud, and the wound is already securely covered. 84. The dy- ing-back of a win- ter-cut shoot. 86. The proper way to cut above a bud is shown at a. At h, the cut is too long and sharp ; at c, too far removed ; at d, too close. l« Tin: wovsDS Fig. SO (from Corbet t") shows proper :ind improper wnys of cutting above a bud. Two important lessons are to be tirawn from these simple examples — the nature of the healing pnu-ess, and the relation of the length of the stub to the welfare of the uppermost buds. In i*espect to the healmg process, it may be said that stubs \\hich project far beyond a branch or far fron\ a trunk rarely heal over. The end of the branch bemg removed, the stub camiot heal itself, but the healing nuist depend on the activities of other paj"ts or branches (page 62) ; this statement is unportant, and we s]\all see its applications as we proceed. In respect to the welfare of the buds near an open wound, the pictures seem to tell contra- dictory stories. In Fig. 84, the bud is in danger; but ui Fig. 85, one wound liealed over because the bud was near it. These apparent contradictions are ex- plained by two circumstances. The twig in Fig. 84 was on a The roots had not yet taken hold of the soil, and could not supply the moisture which was lost from the wound. The cell contents were therefore injured. The twigs in Fig. 85 were on welK^stablished trees. Again, the cut in Fig. 84 was made in autumn, and those in Fig. 85 in late winter. Conditions, therefore, greatly modify the problem. The healing of the stub takes place most quickly, other things being equal, when a strong bud or branch stimds close to the womiil, provided, always, that this bud is not injured S7. In niemoo' of the pruner. newly set fall-planted tree. THK ijangkhouh stub 09 hH. The bulge or enlarK':- nient at bane of a branch. by the drjing out of the Btub. How long this stub may be and not allow injury U) conifi to the bud dajXindn, as we have mum, on circuniHtances. If the cut h ma^le in Hpring, the bud may usually stand close to the edge of the wound; if it is nxa/le in wintfir on rn^wly s(it or sfjft-growing trwiS, in regions of severe winters, the stub should uKually \)fi alxjut ^ inch long. In the pruning of train(^i tranH, European gar- deners often take off the shoots in win- ter when time is to spare, leaving the stubs 2 or 3 inches longer than daaircA; in spring an assistant, who may have had insufficient experience to enable him to block out the pruning, goes over the trees and cuts back the stubs to a fresh bud. The readier has already seen in Fig. 75 the monument that a man plaf;ed Uj his own memory. It is a stump so long that it cannot be healed over; for, 38 we have seen, a leafless and branchless stump has little or no reparative power in itself. The only chanc<; for this stub tplies to receive much benefit there- from. Having no vital part in the life of the tree, it is side-tracked and must starve. Fig. 87 is another ca.se. Above the stub at the righit a cluster of toadstvercd this bulge is usually largest on long and wound. Thr; pmning 1 • 11-1 r.„ • 11- 11 , was dow^ BO that no horizontal hmbs. 1 his bulge m well shown stub wa« left. 70 THE WOUNDS in Fig. 88. It is a common notion that the cut should be made just beyond the bulge, and at right angles to the direction of the limb. Usually the better way, however, is to cut closer, for all parts of the wound are then in more intimate relations with the trunk, which supplies the materials to be used in covering the exposed surface (Fig. 89). The area of the wound is larger, to be sure, but to very large wounds 90. A wound in the process of "healing," by being covered 91. Good resvilts in the healing of side wounds. it is expected that the operator will apply a dressing. Fig. 90 shows the progress of the healing on such a wound; and Fig. 91 is a good example, the largest wound showing a four years* growth of callus, the one at the side being entirely covered in the meantime. Wounds on strong limbs, especially those which are vertical or ascending, heal best. Very long stubs die back, instead of healing. Wounds lying close to the parent branch heal best, and those cut well beyond the bulge or shoulder are intermediate between these and the very long stubs. Whether a large wound exactly parallel with the trunk will heal sooner than the smaller wound made at the bulge of the branch, depends on the extent of the bulge and other conditions. HOW TO MAKE THE CUT 71 Very large flat wounds are comparable to a partial girdling. The point is that a projecting stub is not to be left, and that the wound should be in intimate contact with the trunk on which the severed branch stood. In his introduction to the American edition of Des Cars' pruning book, Professor Sargent says that "it is necessary to prune in such a manner that no portion of an amputated or dead branch shall be left on the trunk. The cut should always be made close to and perfectly even with the outline of the trunk, without regard to the size of the wound thus made. This is the essential rule in all pruning, and on its observance the success of the operation depends." Des Cars himself speaks as follows: "It follows that a wound caused by the amputa- tion of a branch must, in order to heal properly, be 92. Careless pruning. 93. How to prevent the splitting of the wound. made perfectly even with the trunk, that every part of its outer edge may be brought into direct communication with the leaves through the net-work of cells destined to convey the descending sap." If the danger to wood wounds arises mostly from the absorp- tion of moisture and the entrance of germs from the atmosphere, then it must follow that a wound which is smooth and solid is safer than one which is haggled or splintered. We conceive, 72 THE WO VXDS also, that the progress of the callus is greatly obstructed by notches and splinters. Most of my readers need no explanation of Fig. 92. The dis- aster would have been prevented if the operator had cut the limb as suggested in Fig. 93. A cut is first made as at a, saw- ing the hmb half in two, and then the cut is made at b. The stub is then sawed off close, as shown in Fig. 89. Every pains should be taken to prevent the splitting of the wound or the tear- ing away of the bark, for ragged wounds seldom heal without becom- ing seriously diseased. Fig. 94 (from Chandler & Knapp, Cornell Read- ing-Course) shows the first cut at E and the complete or final cut at A. The limb will break at E, after which the cut may be continued to A. Although this is not the proper place for the detailed discussion of pruning tools (see Chapter V), it may be said that for the severing of large hmbs no tool leaves a better wound than a sharp saw. If the wound is not torn or spUt by the weight of the limb, it will not be necessary to smooth the cut with a knife — as some persons recommend. Chisels leave good wounds, although they are likely to split the wound near its upper side when they are operated from the ground with a mallet. It is surprising how careless many persons are in the making of wounds on trees. Axes and hatchets are often brought into requisi- tion, and the operator goes at his work as he would attack a stick of timber. Leonard Coates' remark will apply to more states than one: "Many pruners in California have mistaken their vocation: they are carpenters." 94. Preventing the splitting of the limb. TIME TO PRUNE 73 WHEN TO CUT THE BRANCHES At what season of the year wounds shall be made is a sub- ject of many opinions. This is evidence that there is no one season in which wounds always heal better than in all other, seasons. It is indication that the time of the year at which the wound is made is less important than some other considerations or factors. We have seen that the healing of serious wounds is a process that depends primarily on the cambium. Healing cannot proceed, therefore, when the cambium is inactive, as it is in late fall and winter. We have also seen (Fig. 84) that exposed tissue on young shoots or twigs may die back in a long winter. There is a tendency for the tissue and bark to die about the edges of a wound made in late autumn or in winter, and this sometimes progresses so far that the edge of the bark becomes loose. This is clearly a disadvantage to the healing process; and the wood- checking of the stub from its longer exposure is also to be con- sidered. In practice, however, these disadvantages are usually negligible. On the other hand, pruning in the growing season of spring exposes the plant to bleeding. It is not germane to the present discussion to consider the effect of this bleeding on the plant, although it may be said that injury rarely follows. It is stated, however, that the sap sours upon exposure to the air and injures the bark and tissue about the edges of the wound, but con- firmation of this opinion seems to be lacking. Fruit-trees rarely bleed to any extent, and on trees that do bleed, it is doubtful whether this injury follows. The Japanese walnut bleeds profusely. On the 10th of one April, a limb 2 inches in diameter was cut from one of these trees. The sap ran freely, and kept the bark wet two weeks for a distance of nearly 2 feet below the cut. After two seasons, the wound looked as shown in Fig. 90. It healed well on all sides, and there was never 74 THE WOUNDS the least injury from the bleeding. Moist wounds, however, do not allow of the efficient application of permanent antiseptic dressings. Tests were early made at Cornell on apple trees to determine the best season for the making of wounds and the best dressings for covering them (reported in part in the original "Pruning- Book"). The wounds that healed well were made in February, March, May, June, July, October, November, December — eight months. The wounds that did not heal well were made in January, March, Maj% June, July, August, September, October, December — nine months. We are forced to conclude that some factor other than season was controlling in the heal- ing of these wounds. These important factors are two — the position of the wound in the tree, and the length of the stub; and of these the former is the more important. Wounds were made when the wood was solidy frozen. Of these, some healed well, showing that pruning when the wood is frozen does not of itself delay the healing process. Others of these wounds healed poorly, but the reason was to be sought in the position and nature of the wound, not in the fact that the wood was frozen at time of cutting. We may draw the following statement from experience in respect to season of pruning, so far as the healing of wounds is concerned: The theoretically best time is probably in spring, before growth begins (late Februaiy, March, and early April in New York), but more depends on the position of the wound in the tree and the length of stub than on the time of year. Practi- cally, the best time for main pruning of orchards and street trees is whenever the wood is dormant. In the case of tender trees or shrubs it is well to wait till spring, so that the extent of winter injury may be known. If much pruning is in prospect and other labor is pressing, the work may well be begun in November and December, and more care can be given to it if it is not hurried. TREATMENT OF EXPOSED PARTS 75 DRESSINGS FOR WOUNDS A dressing for a wood-wound must possess two positive qual- ities — it must check the weathering of the wound, and prevent the entrance and growth of bacteria and fungi; and it must also be of such a nature as not to injure the cambium and bark. In other words, the ideal dressing is a protective compound and an antiseptic. In certain plants, natural dressings are provided, as gummy substances that fill the cells, or as the pitch of the Conifers which is a perfect wound-covering in those trees. The proper dressing for wounds, or whether any dressing whatever is advantageous, is a controverted problem. The various experiments are not conclusive nor even harmonious. It is probable that there is much variation in composition in substances passing under one name. It is difficult to explain the confusing reports on the use of "coal-tar" on any other basis (this material differs with the coal from which it is made, and the process of preparation or manufacture; the injury to fresh wounds undoubtedly comes from creosol and similar products that have not been eliminated) ; and it is very likely that "white- lead paint" and other materials are not uniform in the various tests or in the experiences of different pruners. In Chapter IV, in the discussion of street-tree and shade-tree pruning, another side of the question is considered (page 93). The first thing to be sought in a wound-dressing (when the pruner is sure that it is not injurious) is adhesiveness and dura- bility; and these qualities are conditioned to a considerable degree on the penetrating power of the material. Paint and coal- tar answer this requirement. It should also have intimate con- tact with the wood. The various waxes do not satisfy this require- ment, for they tend to peel off and to crack, and moisture lies beneath them. Lead paint and coal-tar are antiseptics, whereas wax, grease, tallow, and the like, are not. Bordeaux mixture is also a good antiseptic, and if it had the power of persisting and 76 THE WOUNDS of preventing checking or weathering, it would be an ideal wound-dressing. On quick-healing small wounds it can probably be used with satisfaction; and it is a question whether it would not pay thoroughly to spray trees, from which many small limbs have been cut, with the mixture. This advice has other recom- mendations than its suggestion for the preserving of wounds, for bordeaux mixture is an excellent general fungicide ; it cleans the trunks and branches of lichen or "moss," and probably aids to some extent in driving away certain insects. Paint and coal-tar are the dressings most commonly recom- mended. Coal-tar is said often to injure the cambium and bark of fruit-trees. Dressings of tar, and even bandages of tarred paper, made to protect plants from borers, often destroy the bark, particularly on young trees. Asphaltum is an excellent dressing, but it must be dissolved in a fluid and this makes it troublesome; and sometimes the solvent itself is injurious. Asphaltum dissolved in benzine has been recommended for some purposes. Des Cars strongly advises coal-tar for forest- trees, but makes this remark respecting its use on fruit-trees: "The application of coal-tar should not be made except with considerable caution in the treatment of wounds on drupaceous fruits (cherries, peaches, plums, etc.), and especially on the plum tree. It has often been observed that the bark of fruit- trees of this class has suffered from the application of coal-tar. This is not the case, however, wuth pome-bearing trees (apples, pears, etc.); to these coal-tar may be applied with perfect safety." Card reports that in experiments in Nebraska "coal- tar seems to have been a positive hindrance to the healing pro- cess, not one wound having been reported as healing extremely well." In the Cornell experiments, already reported, tar did no damage. In those experiments, paint, grafting-wax, lin- seed oil, and tallow were also used, but all the differences in the healing of the wounds were evidently the result of other con- ditions than the dressings. Why there should be any difference WOUND DRESSINGS 77 in the requirements of fruit-trees and forest-trees is not clear. Perhaps the orchardist is impatient for too rapid results in the healing processes, and he deals with fresh wounds. The experiments of Howe at the New York Experiment Station (Geneva) gave negative or even injurious results with the usual dressing materials when used on young apple and peach trees, on small wounds (not over 2 inches across). "The substances used as coverings were white lead, white zinc, yellow ocher, coal-tar, shellac, and avenarius carbolineum. The dressings of these materials were applied when the pruning was dt)ne at different seasons of the year and upon wounds of various ages. "In all cases undressed pruning wounds have healed more rapidly than those whose surfaces have been protected. Shellac seemed, the first season, to exert a stimulating influence upon the wounds, but the second season this effect disappeared. Of all the materials used shellac was least injurious. On the other hand, it adheres to the wounded surfaces least well of all. Avenarius carboHneum and yellow ocher caused so much injury that neither substance should ever be used. Coal-tar not only caused injury but quickly disappeared either through absorption or evaporation. White lead and white zinc caused some injury at the time of apphcation, but the wounded tissues recovered rather quickly and at the close of the first season the injury was not very marked; at the close of the second season it had nearly disappeared. These two paints are the best of the protective substances used and of the two white lead is the better. "Nothing is to be gained in the treatment of wounds in waiting several weeks before applying any of the various dress- ings used in these experiments. "The treatment of peach-tree wounds with any of the sub- stances under experiment caused so much injury that it may be said that the wounds of the peach should never be treated with 78 77/K worxDS any of thoin, anci it may bo int'iMTod that (his is (mo of wounds on troos of all stont^fruits. "Thore is nothing to show in this oxpoviniont that it is worth whilo to treat woinids, larji;o or small, of troo-friiits with any of the svibstancos in con\n\on use. Had thoro boon a longor period of observation, it niijiht have developed that the wood exjiosed in the larger womids would have been sonun\hat saved from the deeay whieh often sets in on exposed wot)d of fruit-trees. It may prove to lie worth while, tlierefore, to cover large woimds; in W'hich case white lead is imdoubtedly the best dressing to use." Very little in the way of demonstration can be dra\Mi from either the exporunents or the experience in the dressing of wounds, altlunigh the practice rests on good rational principles. It is reasonable to suppose that a dressing may alTord useful protection from weathering and against the entrance of fungi, if one can be foimd that is not injurious to the tissues, and that it will be most desirable on large wtninds (of say 2 and 3 inches antl more across) antl on old or weak trees in which the repara- tive processes are likely to be slow. The hidications seem to be that good white-load paint, with linsood oil, is the best covering yet tested for fruit-trees and usual subjects, if it is renewed as needed; and the suggestion naturally arises that we are yet in need of a permanent, safe, antiseptic and easily applied protective dressing for orchard and home-grounds work. CHAPTER IV THE MENDING OF TREES; STREET-TREES US to under- Plants an; itxposcA to injuries of Ktorrri, weathering, and animals, and to the disasters that result from the struggle for existence; and they are maimed by careless pruners and work- men and by electric wires and acci- dents of traffic and building. They are subject to the attacks of boring and oth(;r insects and to the incur- sions of fungi. Many of these injuries can be repaired, and the preceding discussions will help stand how. A f(;w typ(;s of cases may be ex- plained, however, as a means of further eluci- dating the subject. Label-wires were care- lessly left on the trunks The results are seen in It will be noticed that tlie larger diameter is above the girdle. This is easy of explanation. We have found (see page 121) that the ma- terials taken in by the roots in solution are not directly available or useful in the making of plant-tissue. They ascend to the leaves, and are th(!re elaborated, in r.^ t, ■ , ^ . . . . 96. Ruuiod by a conn(!ction witii material taken from label-wire. 95. Thi; riiischiev- otiH lubd-w'ire. (jf young trees. Figs. 95 and 90. (79) 80 SURGERY: STREET-TREES the air, into organized compounds, or become incorporated with such compounds. These organic compounds — of which starch is one of the chief — are transferred to every part of the plant to build up its tissues. The transfer takes place in the OV inches inches 97. A girdled pine. The lower part had four annual circles of wood and the upper part eight circles. 9J^. Bridge- grafting of a girdled trunk. inner layers of bark; therefore, whatever food passes do^vn the stem is intercepted at the girdle and is there deposited as abnor- mal tissue. Fig. 97 shows how a girdled pine tree lived, and piled up tissue above the barrier, until the roots Avcre starved and the tree died. We now see the importance of preventing the girdling of trees by label-wires and by careless tying to stakes; but we are REPAIRING GIRDLES 81 also informed that a girdle is not necessarily fatal to a tree. If the young wood remains live and moist, the crude food-materials may pass up from the roots, and the plant continues to live for some time, and, in the case of coniferous trees, often for several years. If the girdle is made early in the season, the tree may cover the part with bark the same year, and thus live on; but if the girdle is made late in the season, the sapwood is likely to dry out and die, and the tree to perish before the return of another season. If it is desired to kill trees quickly by girdling them, the girdle should extend through the sapwood. In -the treating of girdled trees, it is first necessary to see that the exposed wood does not become dry and diseased. Trim away the rough edges of bark, apply an antiseptic, then cover the entire surface with melted wax, and bind it up with MM 99. Details of bridge-grafting: A, the trunk of a tree girdled by mice; B, the wound cleansed and the bark along the margins trimmed back to healthy, growing tissue; C, cion with beveled ends ready for insertion; D, longitudinal section of the trunk with cions in place, showing their insertion under the bark of the trunk (w;); E, cions in place ready for waxing. 82 SURGE RYi STREET TREES cloth bandages. Certain fruit-trees may be saved in this way, even if the girdles completely encircle the tree and if they are as much as a foot long, providing the trees are vigorous and the treatment is applied immediately, before the wood becomes hard and dry. If the tree is particularly choice, or if the girdle is unusually serious or of long standing, and especially if the wounds extend 100. Cross-section of bridgo-grafted tree. into the wood, it may be advisable to supply a connection be- tween the separated parts of the trunk. Fig. 98 explains how this may be done. The edges of the girdle are trimmed, and cions are inserted under the bark so as to bridge the wound. These cions are cut to a wedge shape on either end as for ordinary BRIDGE-GRAFTING 83 101. A cushion to prevent galling of a staked tree. cleft-grafting, and they are inserted between the bark and wood. A cloth bandage is tied about each edge of the wound, to hold the bark in place over the cions (some- times a small tack is driven through the ends of cions that do not fit snugly), and melted wax is then poured over the entire work, covering the exposed v/ood and also the edges of the bark for 2 inches or more back from the wound. It will do no harm if the cions are buried in the wax. Care should be taken that the cions do not send out shoots from their buds. Some persons prefer to cut the buds from the cions to avoid this difficulty, but it is probably better to leave the buds on, inasmuch as their effort to grow may hasten a union. In Fig. 99 (W. F. Fletcher, Farmers' Bulletin No. 710, United States Department of Agriculture) the details of bridge-grafting are well explained. Fig. 100 is a cross-sec- tion of such a bridge-grafted tree, as it looked seventeen years after the work was performed. This specimen was reported in The Rural New- Yorker by Leroy Whitford: the pic- ture is reproduced from that paper. Trees are often much injured by rubbing against stakes to which they are tied. Fig. 101 suggests a way of avoiding this. The splitting of the trunk by , , • ... „. 102. A neglected weather-split cold raises many inquiries. Fig. on a sweet cherry tree. 84 SURGERY; STREET-TREES 102 is a tree split to the heart by a cold winter and then neg- lected. The bark has rolled back through the action of alternate wetness and dryness, the wood has become lifeless and the crack has gaped. Fig. 103 is a peach tree which was similarly injured; but in this case the bark was trimmed back to the quick as soon as spring opened and the injury discovered, and the area was treated with antiseptic. At the end of the same year, the wound was nearly healed, and the tree is probably the better for the accident, since the pressure of a hide-bound trunk has been released. In these cases of split- ting it is very important that the bark be trimmed back at once, before it begins to roll and loosen itself; for as often as the bark rolls the healing is interfered with and forced further back from the original wound. In the cherry and some other trees, there is a strong tendency for the bark to roll, and in such cases it is advisable to bind the wound with cloths, having first applied melted wax to keep the parts fresh and soft. The treatment of "bad spots" on trunks and branches may well follow the general method advised by Jehle (Cornell Cir- cular No. 26) for cankers: ''Whenever the cankers occur on limbs that can be removed without detriment to the tree, it is best to remove them while pruning, care being taken to cut several inches below any visible injury, as the livmg fungus in the brown-rot canker extends back beyond any external evi- dence of the disease, and if allowed to remain will continue to infect healthy wood. If the cankers occur on hmbs that it is 103. A treated split. TREATING CANKERS 85 desirable to save, they should be cleaned out by removing all the diseased wood a short distance back of any visible evidence of the disease. The diseased wood and bark can be readily de- tected by their brown color. In the brown-rot cankers it is very important to remove all this discolored tissue, as it is in this tissue that the fungus hves, and if it is not removed the disease will spread. The amount of bark that it is necessary to remove depends on the extent of the diseased part. Sometimes the fungus has extended so far beyond the healthy callus that it is necessary to remove it entirely, while at other times the fungus may Rave extended but slightly into the upper and lower ex- tremities of the callus and it is necessary to remove only a small part. It is always well to leave as much of the callus as possible, to facilitate healing. All the dead bark and twigs should be removed. It is not necessary to remove any of the solid wood except to smooth the treated part. The wound should be pointed at the upper and lower extremities and the bark should 104. In need of repairs. 86 Sl'RGKRY: STREET-TRKKS wmmM bo cut at right nnjjlos to [\\c wood. As somi as tlio wound has dried out it sliould bo ooatod with i^as-tar. 'This is ivsiduo in tlio inaiiufaoturo of iUuiuinat- inii lias from ooal. and oau bo obiainod at any gasworks, rho gas-tar aots as a disinfoot- ant and ]irosorvativo. and no t>iiior troatniont is ntH'ossary." ^^ hat is to bo dono in such a oaso as Fig. 10-t? It would probably bo bost to out otY tho twi> hn\bs at A ami R. and allow tho romaining branoh to form tho top. In that oaso, tho wound at A must bo trinnnoti baok smooth and oloan, and paiiitod or othorwiso protootod. It may bo dosirablo, howevor, to savo tho brokon part. In that oaso, hoad it baok. raiso it h\to position, and bolt it fast. An iron bolt may bo rim ti\rtnigh the base, holding it securely in place, and a brace (a boll. lOo. CrvUoh tu'lil In a K^lt. 100. Liviiii; bi;u'i- in ;i Talniau Swoot apj liiiAt is(; THI-: ioukh 87 chain, or wire cabU;) may Ik; Kupplicd hi^cr up, a« Bhown in P'if?, 105 and ax f;xplainf;d farthf;r r/n, 'i'hf; b(;Kt \.r<'M.\.uu-.r\\, JK to provont crotches from splitting. This can \><; a^icornpii.slifjd by not having the crotch, or by bra- cing it U;fore it showH KigriH of wf;aknf«.s. The Vxjlt (Tig. 105; may hx; iiw;d for thifi purpow;. A living bra^i may be grown acroKH the f;rotch, aw shown in Figs. 106 and 107. Two small limbH, prf;ff;rably not larger than thr; little fingf;r, arining from Opposite branchf«, are twisted tightly together, the fre-e ends being allowed to project as they may beyond the opposite branch. In a year or sfj, the two will begin to knit txjg(!ther, at which time ' the free tips — and shoots which have arisen from lateral buds — are headed-back or removed. As the branches continue Uy unite, 107. Living brace in a Newtown the leafy parts are curtailed, and '''^'^'^"- ^'''^• in a few yc^ars a perfectly solid and continuous living brace will be formed from limb to limb. Fig. 106 is from an actual example, which the writer hafl under observation for many years. The connection shown in Fig. 107 was made in a different way. The braf;c is a single branch arising at the right. When as large as one's finger, it was tlmist tlirough a slit made through the large branch at the left, allowing it to project 2 or 8 feet beyond the wound. It soon grew fast, and the free part was then remov(;d; t}i(; result is a pf;rf(;ct union and a strong living brace. Natural grafts or unions in roots and branches frequently occur in nature, and may incidf-ntally serve a similar purpose. 88 SURGERY; STREET-TREES TREE SURGERY; PRUNING STREET-TREES By George E. Stone (Pages 88-106) The practice of repairing and saving valuable lawn- and street-trees that have been injured, and particularly those that contain cavities of decay, has lately gone largely into the hands of specialists and the subject has come to be known as "tree surgery;" this subject may now have a special treatment. The rational discussion of it naturally involves a consideration of the pruning of shade and ornamental trees to prevent injury or disaster. The term "tree surgery" is legitimate to use in describing modem methods of treating trees, as the methods are similar to those used in human and animal surgery; that is, the treat- ment of trees is based on aseptic and antiseptic methods. In the same way that modern surgery is successful in correcting deformities, performing operations, and the like, so a young and vigorous, although often imperfect, tree may be improved and rendered more valuable by the use of sLnilar methods. While old and decrepit trees are often treated to extend their period of usefulness, it should be borne in mind that it is more desir- able to care for the younger and more promising trees, and it is only too apparent that if more attention had been given to the care of trees at the proper time in their youth, they would never be in the condition in which we often find them. Unhke the surgeon, who has no choice of subjects, the tree expert may choose his individuals at the start and eliminate the imperfect specimens, although in the process of development trees need constant attention. It is desirable that antiseptic methods of treatment shall be adopted following pruning and mechanical injuries. Pruning shade- and street-trees. Besides the necessary pruning at the time of transplanting shade-trees, the removal of dangerous dead wood and branches FORM OF STREET TREES 89 every two or three years is essential, and in the case of street- trees the lower branches should be taken off. When limbs are so close as to interfere, it is best to remove them, and this should be performed when the trees are young in order that a better crown may be ultimately obtained. Some persons make a practice of thinning and shaping trees when young, thus obviat- ing the necessity for too much thinning when the trees reach maturity. The amount of dead wood annually found in trees is frequently large, and it costs about as much to dispose of it as it does to prune. In" villages, a distance of 10 or 12 feet or more may be left between the ground surface and the lowest limbs, but in cities the nature and amount of traffic necessitates higher pruning. When trees are growing thickly on streets, it is often necessary to prune them high to let in sufficient sunlight, and when different types of trees are planted together, such as maples and elms, high pruning is often necessary so that the high canopy or gothic-arch effect formed by the elm trees may not be des- troyed; and if a more or less symmetrical type is desired in individual specimens, the removal of certain limbs often changes the contour of the trees, much to the advantage of the surround- ings. It is not desirable to prune the feathery growths often found on the trunks of elms, as they are apparently protective in nature; moreover, they add to the character and beauty of the tree, taking away much of its conventional appearance. As a rule, the limbs on vigorous maple trees will droop about 1 foot or more a year owing to their increased weight, and it is only a short time before they become too low. Limbs over a sidewalk may be left lower than over roadways. In rain and sleet storms, limbs are heavily weighted and often give trouble when too near the ground. On country roadsides, pruning should be high enough so that limbs will not interfere with the hay and wood traffic. All limbs should be cut as close as possible to the tree, and cuts over 90 SURGERY: STREET-TRKES I'o (o '2 ini-hos in ilinmeter sliouUi bo troatoil aiitisopticiill'y to prevoiit docay. Striolly horizontal outs should novor be left, siuoo tlioy rotaiu wator. ami ix>t is likoly to rosult. Tho oloanor tho out, tho bottor it will hoal; and thoiv is, nioroovor, loss ohanoe for subsoquont rottinji'. TSvo or nioro outs shoulil bo mado in pnnune; jiraotioaUy all largo limbs to provont pooling, and on limbs of any sizo it is necessary to make tho inoision on the imdor side for the samo reason. After ronuning tho limbs with a saw, a mallet ami ohisol may be used to smooth up tho out surfaoe. This induoes a better oallus growth. Fig's. 108 and 109 illus- trate poor and good methods. These and some of the other illustrations in this disoussion are adapted from Bulle- tin No. 125 of the JNIassaohusetts Experiment Station on "Shade-Trees." It is well to prune oarefully at the time of transplanting, when all sti-eet trees should be trimmed up 8 or 10 feet or more. It is also often necessary to cut back some of the branches to balance the root-system, and when this is done some of the less desirable branehes may be sacrificed, ami those remaining may be out back to some extent. The praotioo of topping trees is injurious and should never ^ -'Is* M lOS. A ooinmon luothod of pruniiiji linihs, result- ing ill tho distiguration of tho troo: a, Troo hoforo prvniins; h, limb out too oloso. rosult iiiji in tho pool- ing of tho hark: 0, luisishtly wound oausod by this mothod of pruning. 800 also Figs. Ol!, 93, i)4. PRUNING YOUNG STREET TREES 91 be resorted to except in special cases. All of the reserve material in the tree is stored in the roots, stem, and branches, and in a transplanted tree this is sufficient to develop the foliage. It is necessary that a young transplanted tree should have a certain amount of foliage for growth and development, since the rapidity of growth is dependent on leaf development. The type of trees termed "bean poles," or trees with the tops cut away to such an extent that there are no limbs left, is not suited, therefore, to transplanting. Such trees as the willow will survive any amount of mutila- tion, but elms, maples, and others must be handled more carefully to give the best results. Pruning has a marked effect on the conformity of the tree. Pruning the branches or second- ary organs directs the energies of growth to the trunk, whereas topping, or the destruction of th(; header, has the reverse effect. Continual pruning of the lower branches induces the tree to grow taller than otherwise, and in some locations is advantageous to the tree. Topping is destructive to the formation of typical crowns in such trees as the elm, hornbeam, and others, whereas in other trees, as the Carolina poplar, topping or pollarding has a tendency to thicken them up and to make them more desirable shade-trees. The configuration of the crowns of maple trees is modified to some extent by topping when young, and this modification is mani- fested by the branches assuming more of a vertical direction. 109. The proper method of pruning large limbs: a, Tree before pruning; b, .showing relative dis- tance of first cut from the tree-trunk; c, the same with limbs cut close and the scars finished with a mallet and chisel. 92 SURGERY: STREET-TREES The cutting back of old trees is visually followed by dis- appointment, and it is often a question as to whether it is worth while, although such trees, if not too far gone, may be restored to a more or less vigorous condition by judicious prunmg, tillage, and feeding. When ehn branches a foot or more in diameter are topped, nothing but a bushy growth results. By removing all but a single sprout, much better growth may be secured. The tools required in pruning street-trees are as follows: for general work, a good coarse-tooth wide-set saw, (five teeth to the mch) ; for larger limbs, a small hand cross-cut saw, and for smaller Ihnbs not easily accessible a pole-saw is convenient. Pole-saw blades may be ordered through hardware dealere. These may be fitted to poles of any desired length. A pole- hook, which can be made by a blacksmith, is often useful for removing the small dead branches. In the letting doAra of large limbs, a set of blocks and strong ropes are necessary, and in the felling of trees, a cross-cut saw is indisjiensable. The above are the most essential tools for pruning shade-trees, although there are many others which are extremely useful and time-saving, such as ropes of various sizes, iron wedges for felling trees, axes, mallets, and chisels, laddei-s, and spurs for climbing trees. Disinfectants for ivowids and cavities. There are many erroneous ideas concerning the effective- ness and use of disinfectants in general. This is particularly true of those used in tree work. Because a certain disinfectant is used successfully for one puipose, it does not follow that it is applicable to all. As a matter of fact, all disinfectants are limited in their usefulness owing to the great variation in organisms as regards amenability to treatment by chemical substances. Disinfectants therefore possess specific rather than general properties. Copper sulfate, for example, is remarkably effective DISINFECTANT DRESSINGS 93 when applied to reservoirs and ponds for cleaning out objec- tionable growths of many kinds, even when used at 1 to 1,000,000 parts or at 1 to 10,000,000 parts, while to be effective against the common blue mold (Penicillium), which is often found in the wood of dead trees, a solution of about 1 to 30, or several thousand times stronger, is required. In the disinfection of wood-tissues the following points should be considered. The disinfectant should be capable of penetrat- ing wood-tissues. An oily substance which has more penetrat- ing power is far better adapted to this purpose than a watery solution. The substance should be only slightly volatile and should keep its original form, or at all events, its antiseptic properties, indefinitely. Copper sulfate, corrosive sublimate, formalin, lime-sulfur, and bordeaux mixture, have been used as disinfectants and preservatives in the treatment of tree cavities, scars, and wounds, and while all of them have specific disinfecting properties it does not necessarily follow that they are adapted to wood-tissues. The physical properties of a chemical substance as a preservative for wood-tissue, must, therefore, be taken into consideration, as well as its antiseptic properties. The above-named substances possess limited powers of penetration and have little or no permanent antiseptic value when applied to tree-wounds. Coal-tar is also objectionable because of its lack of penetrating power, and as it becomes hard it loses its fungicidal value. A thick non-penetrating material applied to wood is not only of no value, but becomes an inju- rious agent, as shown by the treatment of shingles on roofs: the old practice of tarring roofs simply induced decay because the • tar coating conserved moisture in the shingles, and decay followed more rapidly than in the untreated shingles. Coal- tar, however, is useful in covering surfaces having previously been treated antiseptically. And in fact the use of creosote, followed by coal-tar, constitutes one of the best scientific 94 SURGERY; STREET-TREES treatments known, especially for exposed wounds. On the other hand, paint which contains plenty of oil is valuable, as has been proved by years of experience, but it lacks durability. Shellac dissolved in alcohol is serviceable in filling the pores of wood and ]ireventinj!; diH'ay, and therefore is of some value as a wound-dressing. Gas- tar and liquid asphaltum are also sometimes used to cover woimds, and there are si)e('ially pre})ared paints and other substances. Even common painter's oil is ex- cellent for the treatment of wounds, as it prevents checking of the wood-tissue, and as the transpiration current remains practically normal by reason of obviat- ing the checking of the wood, trees will support a large amount of foliage when badly girdled. It is especially suitable for bark-wounds, which should first be properly shaped and their surfaces scraped before oil or other substances are applied. Practically all disinfectants injure delicate tissue, such as the cambium layer, but it should be borne m mind that the cambium always dies back to a cer- tain extent when exposed to the air and more of this injury results from desiccation than from the use of antiseptics. The requirements, therefore, for a wound-dressing for street- trees are, first, a permanent penetrating disinfectant, and, second, a durable covering. The substances which best meet the requirements in deep wounds in old non-growing tissue are creosote followed by coal-tar. no. A jiiHid i''<^ii braco on the loft; :ui improper dovioo on the rijiht. HOLDING THE PARTS TOGETHER 95 Chaining and bolting trees. In many cases it is necessary to r-ender trees more secure by bolting or chaining the parts together. As this process is not necessarily always expensive, it should be much more used than at present, for many valuable trees are rendered practically worthless by the loss of large limbs in wind-storms and from accidents. The elm, although a very tenacious tree with wood extremely difficult to work up into fuel, is very likely to split, and for this reason it is advisable to chain and bolt the main branches. For an outlay of $10 to $15 it is often possible to save a-tree worth $150 to $200. Different devices are employed for strengthening trees, some of which are objectionable and do more harm than good. It 111. Two nietliods of bracing a crotch. The lower method is never admissible. The upper method is good, although chain or wire cable is sometimes preferable to a rod. 112. The hook-bolt and small chain. has been a common practice to place chains around limbs to prevent their splitting apart, but as the tree develops the chain is imbedded in the bark, resulting in partial girdling and ulti- mately disfiguring and injuring the tree. Another method which invariably results in girdling consists in placing strong 96 SURGERY; STREET-TREES bauds of iron around limbs and trunks. Figs. 110 and 111 illustrate these points. In rendering trees more secure, some operators prefer to use an ii-on rod rather than a chain, but the chain system is the better for most purposes. If it is necessary to fasten branches near the point of forking, when swaying is limited, an iron rod is preferable; but for connecting limbs a few feet apart more or less remote from their junction with the trunk (^when swaying is more pronounced), the chain method is superior, since a rod is likely to break owing to its 113. Lonjiitudiual section of limb, showing Tiicthod of bolting: B, bark; X, wood; II, eye- bolt; W, waslier; C, elastic cement. 114. The bracing of the branches. The chains show ineffective positions, and they are of little use. The dotted line ^0 shows the proper angle of attachment. A bolt to hoki a split or cleft is shown at B. rigidity when the tree is swayed. A chain is easier to place tiian a solid rod, as less attention has to be given to boring the holes. If one or two Imks, however, are placed in the rod, as is some- times done, this difficulty is obviated to some extent. Figs. 112, 113, and 114, display methods of bolting and chaining. The use of galvanized stranded guy wire, or cables, such as are employed by electric companies (Fig. 115), is superior to either chains or rods for holding in place defective limbs and CUMNINCJ rilK liliANCHEH 97 tt^:^- 115. I{olt;-arifJ-wir<; uicXhod (A l;raf:in«. branch(.'S. Thowj wiic cabhj.s may ho .secured in various Hizos and arc much cheaper and stronger than chains. The tensile strength of these cables varies according to size and quality, from a few thousand pounds to a number of tlifjusands of pounds; but the more flexible cables are best suited to this work. A chain is as strong as its weakest link or member, which sometimes may be very weak: whereas a strand(;d wire cable is much more homcjgeneous in its structure. The strain which it is necessary U) overcome in swaying trees is often very great and many chains lireak when the links are composed of ^ or ^- inch iron. Wire cables and chains are oft(;n used with eye- bolts, provided with wa.sher and nuts (Fig. 113), but the eye-bolt often constitutes the weakest feature. It is important, therefore, that only th(; best quality of iron should be used in the construction of eye-bolts. Morover, work of this nature demands skil- ful blacksmithing. When stranded cables are used, the eye-bolt method is sometimes dis- pensed with. In this case, the wire passes through a hole in the tree, and around an embfidded pi(!ce of iron. The wire method is also valuable in temporarily rendering weak or danger- ous limbs safe, and in G 110. The braciriK of i\\i: branches. IJotted linoH (\) and (jrokon lint^H Ci) show incorrect method. The Holid iinew (2) show the correct arrangement. OS srin;t:iiY: sTiih:h:T /wa'avs' At J 1 1 :ii\i'l\orin,ii' moiv or loss lioi'ivpit tiws, whii-h nmy still iiave soiitimoutal valiu\ (o stroi\,ij; supports. JMuoh of tho t'haiuiujj; and boltinjj; ohsorvinl in troos follows cxtivnioly poor nioohanioal prinriplos, Tho chains or bolts aro ofton too small, and aiv soUloni plai'od advantajioously as ivijanls loviMaiio, most of thom Ivinji too low or too near tho orotoh, thus roi\uiring too nuioh strain to ho ovoroomo. \\'hon largo limbs aro involvod, most o\i^-lnWts sln>uUl bo 1 inoh in diamotor, and o\- tond through tho tivo, thoso boing suppUod with a ii- tn- -I - inoh washor and nut (Fig. li;i\ Tho praotioo of sorowing oyo - bol t s or hooks into a troo for a sliort distanoo I IX. niiViMoiit tiK-tlunls of att.'U'hiiis wirt^s to tivos: r . .. A. wiivnttMohod to l:tsl>olt and troo {>rotoot»\l ti-om it l<^^l' l'^^^ purpOSO Ot liv wihhIoh lUoi'ks; Z. on>!*s-S(.vtiou of saiuo: M, wiiv ,if f ,>,.l,nio' '* t luun sl\(nvin>; attaohnuMit of tivlloy i:uy wiros: ,1, li>oso loop iosotod oak thoy may bO inilloil lUooks with s:ri>ovo X to support tho wiro. A, B, aiul ^,,i ^„ u., ^i. >„ .iv F possess oloinonts of dans^'r to trvvs. ^^^J^ ^^l brokoU otl with tho vslightost strain. Only a bolt passing through tho tivo and providod with a washor and nut is suitablo for suoh work. In any systom of stivngthoning troos. whotiior by wiros or othor mot hods, tho bost moohanioal arrangomont shouUl bo obsorvoil and a oaroful ostiinato of tiio amount of load tiiat is iiooossary to oariy siiouUl bo dotornuni\l, togothor witii tlio propor anglo of attaohmont. Tho chain or wiro shouUl bo far within tho limits of safotv. ai\d sinoo tho limbs or bi;uu'ln>s havo rill': iikAri\(. (,h Till: Toi' 09 a toration« are often attacfied to trees by guy-wires, care should be taken to prevent injury to the tree from girdling and nibbing (Tig. 117). A larg(! wire loop surrounding a tree and properly insulated from the trunk by special hardwood blocks, is generally harmless and is more desirable on streets than any other method. Treating fkep ami decayed cavities. Decay(;fl cavities are very undesirable, since the fungi and insects extend their range of activity, causing decay anrl shorten- vr 118. Th'; 'evolution of a ciavity and rnothod of tr<;atint< th<; harri':: a, lonj< Mtuh i';ft fror/i pnjninK; b> h<:ujiiiiirin of d';f:ay; i;, rnoro su\v- jeet of treating i"»vi- ties. Upper tiijure .showing eavity of long standing, with callus g r o w t h s curved in, whieh, if it had been tilled, would be as repre- sented below. 121. Preparing a body wound for iilling. lion, also, is often important. The tree may furnish sliade whieh cannot be dispensed with, and even if old and decayed it is often more satisfactory to treat it than to wait for a new tree to grow. The rationale underlying the cleaning and tilling of cavities is similar to that in dentistry, and if the work is properly per- formed and if antiseptic conditions are maintained, the length of a tree's life n\av be considerablv extended. CA vrriES 101 For centurifjs trcoH have Vxjen treated in ono way or anothfir, and caviiioH have hern') filled withi wood, brick, nUmc., and other HubKtaneeH; but, a« a rule, this work ha,s \)(Uin very crude, and }ia« probably a(;cornpliKh(;d little or nothing toward the pre- venlic^n of decay. In thf; pa«t few yearn, however, more tech- nical attention haw been given to the treatment of decayed cavities in trees, and many exarnplfjK may be Wien, here and tliere, although it must be confessed that as yet the work is in more or less of an experi- mental stage. The object of treating decayed cavities is to prevent further decay and to prolong the life of the tree. The first requisite, therefore, is to re- move all decayed and infected tissue, which is accomplished by a thorough cleaning out of the cavity. The second requi- site ifi to treat antiseptically all exposed tissues susceptible to decay, preventing further disintegration. The disinfect- ing substance sliould be one that can be saf(;ly used and be pennanently effective. Creosote is one of the best antisep- tics, since it possesses superior properties of penetrating wood and is quite permanent as a disinfectant. Third, to fill the cavity with some substance if necessary, or at least to cover the surface, or orifice, that the callus may grow over the cavity. Trees are s(;ldom if ever strengthenc^d by filling, as is fre- quently maintain(;d; on the other hand, they are too often weakened by ov(;rloading, although ultimately, as new tissue 122. Cavity in valuable yellow oak being prepared for filiinK. UVJ SIRGKRY: STRKKT TRKES devolops ovor tho surt'aoo of the tilUiiii'. stivugthoiiiup; may fol- low as a ivsult of ixiowth. Whou Portland conioiit has boon omploYiHl in tilliuji' oavitios, a tolorably dry romout i^about ono part coniont to thuv parts of sand), thoroiijjhly tanipod and woll trowoUod on the surface, has proved most elYeetive ajiainst eraekine;. The use of l\>rtland cement has many drawb.aeks in the tilling of cavities, sii\ce its physical properties are entirely ditYerent from those of wood. If the cavity is not well cleaned and thoroughly tivateil with antiseptic, tlecay is greatly acceler- ated and in such cases it would be better not to till the tree at all. Moreover, there are many trees with cavities that do not neoii tilling, and when theiv is nothing to be gaineii b\ the work it is better to omit it. Sometin\es trees are greatly weakened by cutting away too much sound wood, and when they are unfortimately overloaded with cen\ent they are likely to fall a pivy to the tii"st tempest, thus defeating the fundamental object of tree surgery. Old decrepit trees that liave in\ly a few years to survive and which may possess largely sentimental value, may be successfully treated by simply removing the decayed substance and applying antiseptic treatment; and in r:.> ^« 123. The cavity cleanwl on tho rii;ht; IiIKhI uu tho loft. I'lLLlSC (A VITIES 103 c{iw;h in which the calliiH ha« j^rown into the cavity to Buch an (;xt<;nt JiH U> forrn coriHifJ<;rnbl<; wood, which naturally Ktrfirij^-hciLS th(; tn^;, it in oft<;n ina^lvihahlc t,o int'-rfcrc with if. Filling Ih not an end in itw;lf, hut only a mcanw. 124. A wr;ll-fiJl<.'J buhul cavity. 12.0. Fillc^J cavity arnoug the l/ratitihttH. The chani/;t(!r of the trfiatrnent must vary with each cavity, yet all calhch ff>llow the applif;ation of one w;t of principh^s. The (IJHCUHHion will be aided by can;fui attention to Figs. 122 ix) 127, which illustrate, variouH standard practices. JiesideK the U;ndency of Portland cernent to criutk, it pos- scisWiH othier disadvantages, such as hability to dis|jlacement from frost, shrinkapfe from the wr>od on drying, inducing a tendency to bleeding, and, under certain conditions, favoring the growth of organisms causing decay. ()n the other hand, the hard sur- face produced by cem(;nt has its advantages in directing the callus growth, also in bf;ing plastic when applied, and it is well mlaptx;d U) irregular surface requirements. Cavities near the ground are rnucli better adapted to Portland cement than those higher up where; there is constant swaying. T}i(;r(5 is nf> real object in filling a cavity completely, and 104 SURGERY; STREET-TREES '4'i^'' there are some important, disadvantages. A surface-covering of cement about 4 or 5 inches thick is better than sohd filhngs. After a thorough cleaning of the cavity has been accomphshcd and properly treated with reliable antiseptic, it is better to Jeave as nuich of the interior of the cavity open or untilled as pos- sible; but in order to direct the flow of the callus growth, the sur- face covering of cement or other material is essential in most cases. If cement is used, however, it is not necessary to have it more than 3 to G inches thick but it should be well reinforced with two or more heavy layers of strong wire mesh securely stapled ; to the wood, and in large cavities other reinforcement with iron is essential. To secure a completely sealed cavity, grooves made in the cement near its junction to the wood and filled witli elastic cement are effective in keeping out moisture, when properly apjilied. Various methods of reinforcing cement with iron rods and wire mesh, have been utilized for the purpose of prevent- ing the dislocation of the cement in cavities, and much stress has been laid on the practice of laying the cement in sections. Such devices have proved of value to a certain extent, but they have not solved the difficulties to be met with in cavity work. Some attenipt has been made to use otluu' substances than Portland cement in such work but these substitutes have not all ])roved satisfactory. In some cases, metal has been effective as exterior coverings of cavities, but usually it has failed to give }HM-manent results, and since it is affected by changes of temperature, it becomes .,„.c..„ 126. A cloaiiod jiirdlo, ready for fho tillitis;. FILLING CAVITIES 105 loose and under certain conditions it readily disintegrates. On the whole metal has proved of less value then cement in tree repair work. Asphalt has been employed to some extent for cavity work as has also a combination of asphalt and sawdust mixed in pro- portion of one part asphaltum to three or four parts of sawdust, for cavities in swaying branches, and one part of asphaltum to six parts of sawdust for cavi- ties in the trunks. The sawdust is mixed with the asphaltum when hot and the material is applied in a heated condition. This combination is not so rigid as cement, adapting itself more read- ily to the movement of the tree. Cavities arc affected materially by changes in temperature and other meteorological agencies, and any filling substance must adapt itself to these conditions. What is greatly needed in cavity work is a material that possesses physical properties similar to wood, and at the same time it must be dur- able, easily and cheaply applied, and readily adjusted to the cavity orifice. To meet these require- ments, use is now being made of chemically treated wooden blocks as a surface covering of cavities. These blocks are laid in cement and are reinforced by metal strips securely fastened to the sides. The interior is left open. 127. A wtll-fillcd and reinforced body crack. 106 SURGERY; STREET-TREES In the treatment of cavities with antiseptic it is important that they should be thoroughly disinfected. To accomplish this it is frequently advisable that the cavity, after being cleaned, should remain open for a few days and the antiseptic treat- ment repeated, as the wood in freshly cleaned cavities is often too moist to disinfect thoroughly. It should also be borne in mind in treating cavities that the filling substance should not extend outward beyond the wood. Neither should metal or other material be extended over the bark, inasmuch as it always gives rise to bad conditions. The shape of the cavity is important; it should be such that the healing substance or plastic materials should flow more or less uniformly along the edge. Therefore, the cavity, or at least the bark surrounding a cavity, should be more or less pointed or rounded at the top, and when the cavity does not extend to the ground it should be pointed in the same way at the bottom. It is not necessaiy, however, that the cavity itself should be round or pointed at either end. There is no objection to a square opening if the bark is cut so as to be round or pomted at the top and bottom. The same holds true in large wounds resulting from pruning, and for the shapmg up of bark wounds on the trunks. CHAPTER V THE PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING We are now prepared to entertain a discussion on some of the more underlying considerations governing the rational pruning of plants. It is a difficult field, for no two plants are alike, and many and various objects are to be attained. It is impossible to instruct any person in pruning merely by show- ing him how to do the work on a given plant; for the very next- plant may present a new set of problems. If there are no gen- eralizations or principles to be announced, then writing on the subject is well-nigh useless. The numbered statements or "principles" in this chapter are not intended to be dogmatic, for there are undoubtedly exceptions, or apparent exceptions, to all of them; but it is hoped that they separate some of the most important truths from the great mass of assertions and contra- dictions. There are two great classes of ideas concerned in the prun- ing of plants — those associated directly with the welfare and behavior of the plant, and those associated with the mere form or size or convenience to which the plant shall attain. The former includes questions of pruning proper; the latter com- prises questions of training, which depend primarily on the taste and abilities of the pruner. Shall I grow my trees to round heads or conical heads, high heads or low heads, one trunk or two trunks? Whichever you like; it is largely a question of personal preference and opportunity. Of all the operations connected with horticulture, pruning, shaping, and training bring the person into closest contact and sympathy with the plant. One directs and cares for the (107) lOS THE PRIXCIPLES plant tenderly and thoughtfully, working out his ideas :is he would in the training and giiidh\g of a child. There an? some persons, to be sure, who cannot feel this s\nnpatlietic contact with a plant: they are the ones who, if they prune at all, use :m axe or machete or a com-knife. If a }>erson caimot love a plant after he has pnined it, then he has either done a poctr job or is devoid of emotion. It is a pleasure to till the soil and to smell the fresli crumbly earth, but the earth does not grow; it is still a clod. The plant responds to everj* :vfltectionate touch. Sprajnng, that modem warfare of horticulture, is not to be compared with pruning in producing a sense of fellowship with phmts. In fact, spraying h:is the opposite effect \\-ith me. When I have sprayed a plant, I am conscious that I have besmeared it and have taken a mean advantage of a lot of imiocent :md defenseless bugs; and I w:int to quit the premises forthwith. The reasons for pruning may be ranged under sev^eral general heads: 1. To modify the \igor of the plant. 2. To produce larger and better stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits. 3. To keep the plant within manageable sliape and limits. 4. To change the habit of the plant from more or less wood- bearing or fruit-bearing (or flower-bearmgV 5. To open a tree to Hght and air, for the betterment of the product. 6. To remove superfluous or injured parts. 7. To control the spread of disease, as in pear-bUght. S. To protect the plant against winds and snows, inasmuch :is some om:iiuental trees and shrubs are particularly liable to uijur>- if allowed to take their natural shajx\ 9. To expedite spraying and harvesting. 10. To facihtate tillage and to improve the convenience of the plantation. 11. To train the plant to some desired shape. FHUNING FO/i WOOD 100 1. Heavy pruning of the top of a plant in any year, .so lomj an the plomi ifi not injured in its nutrition, lev/In to incrcMHe the production of atromj vegetative grcnuth of the remaining partn. A plant growing under normal conditions has a balance of top and root. These two partes mutually supply, support, and nourish each other. The one must respond to the otiier. The more root, the greater the amount of crude mat^irials taken in; and the greater the amount of thesrj materials, the greater must be the elaborating leaf -surf ace (all other things being the same), an(^the greater, therefore, the growth of all parts of the plant. If a large part of the top is removed and the root is untouched, the balance is broken. An equal extent of root supplies a smaller extent of top. There is more supply for all the remaining })ranches. The usual result is greater inunediate growth of these parts than they normally would have made, although some tipie may be required to grow as much wood as was removed, and it is not supposed that the tree will grow larger thereby; or new parts may arise either as suckers from adventitious buds or shoots from dormant buds; or the destiny of some buds may be changed from flower - bearing to shoot - making. These vigorous growths are spoken of as "wood" by the horticulturist in distinction from "fruit;" but this "pruning for wood" does not at all imply that a greater total weight of actual ligneous structure is pro- 128. Heavy pruning induces duced. Continuously repeated, year vigorous wood growth (in thLs ■^ ' . ' "' case, a profusion of water- by year, very heavy pruning tends sprouts). 110 TUK riilACIPLES to decrease size; but occasional pruning of this kind tends, as stated, to produce sti-onp; shoots. Let the reader consider tlie behavior of the dwarf ]iear tree in Fig. 128, an example that every pruner can duplicate from exi)eiience and observation. All these considerations exjilain the gardener's rule that in roses, and other onianiental jilants, weak kinds should be heavily pruned and strong kinds lightly pruned. The testimony in support of the statement that heavy prun- uig tends to promote wood growth is not uniform, and some of the experiments seem to contradict it. Much depends on just what is meant by the words, that is, on the nature of the meas- urements. At the Woburn Exjx'rimental Fruit Farm (England), Pickering foimd that on dwarf apple trees "hard pruning has cer- tainly not induced extra growth, but, on the contraiy, has diminished it." He writes, however, that it no doubt "favors the fomuition of a large number of new shoots and probably these will grow to a greater length during the season than in the case of a more lightly pruned tree," and this affirms the general pomt at issue. Of course it is to be expected that hard pruning year after year is a dwarfing process, but this continuous and repeated practice is not assumed by those who state that heav>' pruning induces strong growth of wood-length. If it is necessary to resort to severe pruning for the purpose of correcting the sliape or trainmg of a plant, and it is desired at the same time to avoid excessive shoot groAvth, the operator should remove the superfluous parts gradually. This caution is important, even in the training of herbaceous plants. A grower of winter tomatoes writes that when planted thickly in the beds the foliage needs heavy trimming to keep it within bounds; and this trinuning must be performed frequently, and only a moderate proportion of the leafage removed at one time, for if hea\y trimming is practised it will cause a fresh strong growth which splits open the partly developed fruits, exposing the interior or seed cells of the fruit and rendering it unfit for HEAVY PRUNING 111 sale. His practice is to remove the outer end of the leaf and afterward take off a joint at a time as the leaves on the inner part increase in size under the trimming, as the first two leaflets eventually attain almost as large size as the entire leaf under ordinary treatment. The gardener tells me that the sphtting of the fruits would also result from stopping the ends of the shoots while the plants are still in growth. Of course, the fresh shoots coming up from the roots would tend to overcome this vigorous growth of the plants and consequent sphtting. As heavy pruning is a violent process, so is it to be practised with caution. In some cases special injuries are Hkely to follow; for example, it is said that in the Missouri section it greatly increases the ravages of canker on the Ben Davis apple tree. 2. Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen the production of wood. The food-supply is cut off. Root-pruning is to be compared to reduced feeding. The reader knows that he prunes the tops of transplanted plants because the roots have been cut, and he must thereby reduce the area to be supported. Root-pruning is practicable chiefly in the growing of specimen plants, or in small amateur plantations, particularly when trees are trained on walls, cordons, and the like, that is, when it is desired to dwarf the plants. It has little place in usual American horti- cultural operations. (Consult Chapter VI, page 163.) 3. Vigorous pruning of the top for a year or two tends to rejuve- nate weak or declining plants. The rej uvenation following rather heavy pruning is probably because the remaining parts receive more supply. The proposi- tion is really a corollary of Section 1, but it has such distinct and important applications that it is well to give it an independent statement. When plants begin to fail from general debility (not from the attacks of insects or fungi) , manure or prune them heavily, or do both. It is generally best to remove the weakest 112 THE PRINCIPLES parts, particularly if the decline has progressed far; but if it is desired to save the particular branches which are involved, a heavy pruning of the healthy part may be expected to throw- new activity into the weak part. In many cases, however, it is impossible to rejuvenate weak branches; but suckers or water- sprouts may be developed, and these may form a new head. Old and decrepit peach trees are often headed-back severely for the express purpose of securing this new wood. Under Section 1 (page 110) we found that weak kinds or varieties of plants may be pruned severely and strong kinds moderately. These remarks were meant to apply to plants of different habits, not to weakness due to disease or debility; yet the rule holds good in either case — heavy pruning for new wood, light pruning to maintain the habitual condition. One must be careful, however, not to apply these contrasts to differing branches on the same plant, for one branch may appropriate the food of another (see page 117); if, therefore, it is desired to even up the branches on any plant, prune the strong shoots severely and the others only moderately, and thereby throw the energy into the weaker shoots. This type of pruning is often performed in the summer. Meehan's Monthly gives the following advice on this point: "This sum- mer pruning is especially effective with coniferous trees. In the case of pines, we know that in the springtime three or four branches push out at the end of last year's sprouts, looking like gas-burners. The central one is very vigorous and those on the sides are weaker. If we pinch out the point of the stronger ones the sap at once flows into the weaker ones, and they become strong, and new buds form at the place where the strong one was pinched off. Next year this bud continues the growth of the branch almost as straight as if it had never been pinched back. We can pinch off the terminal bud of the main stem, a new bud forming a leader without any bend. One who understands this business of summer pruning of evergreens can so manage that WINTER INJURIES 113 trees form an absolutely perfect specimen from the ground to the top, no one branch bemg any stronger than another. The chief thing to remember is that, in summer pruning, the weak branches of the shoot should not be touched; it is only the stronger ones that require checking." These remarks have an important bearing on the treatment to be given to severely win- ter-frozen trees. There are many unsolved problems associated with the pruning of winter- injured trees in very trying climates. There are evidently two factors concerned in the question — the general effect of heavy pruning on the tree, and the injury resulting from the wounds. It is a common opinion that there is excessive and injurious evaporation from win- ter-made wounds in cold and dry climates, but this lacks proof; and in any event the pruning of winter-injured trees is performed late in winter or in spring, after the injury becomes apparent. The greatest danger Hes in leaving prongs or too long stubs. There is no uniformity of experience and advice on the pruning of winter-damaged trees. Much depends on the nature of the injury and the condition of the trees previous to it. Sometimes the injury is in the top of the tree and sometimes it is in the trunk and main branches; in the former case, heavy pruning would not be injurious. The dead wood is no longer of use to the plant, and this should be removed as soon as the extent of the injury is deter- mined, preferably when growth starts i! 129. Showing the new tissue formed around winter-injured wood. H 114 THE PRINCIPLES in spring; the parts should be cut back to clean live wood. If the plant was well matured before going into the winter, so that it has "heart" enough to withstand the treatment, a heavy prun- ing beyond the limits of the dead wood is likely to invigorate the tree or vine and aid it to overcome the injury. Fig. 129 shows the new wood of a recuper- ated tree fonning around the old mjured part. How to treat grape-vines that are frozen after growth has begun is also a perennial question. Much will depend on the severity of the freeze, and on the extent of growth that had taken place. As with trees, the injured parts are of no further use to the plant, and they are likely to weaken it by causing it to lose much of its moisture. The rational procedure, therefore, is to strip off all the frozen shoots soon after the disaster, so as to allow the energies of the plant to divert themselves to the production of new shoots. When the injured parts ai'e soft and small, it is customary to remove them by pulling off, rather than by cutting them. In well-pruned vineyards the cost of stripping ought not to exceed 130. Renewal of the upward direction in a broken tree. an acre. 4. A pruned plant tends to resume its natural habit. One plant is unlike every other plant. It may be round- headed, conical-headed, veiy straight or strict, prostrate, and the like. In whatever way or however nmch the plant may be pruned, it makes an effort to regain its former or habitual shape and behavior; and the more vigorous or younger the plant, THE PLANT RESUMES ITS HABIT 115 the more rapidly and completely does it resume its former direction. Vigorous firs and spruces make a new leader without difficulty; the Northern Spy apple tends to grow erect, how- ever much it is pruned, whereas the Longfield tends as persis- tently to droop. It is evident, therefore, that the most rational pruning — when fruit and the welfare of the plant are chief concerns — is that which allows the plant to take its natural form, merely correcting its minor faults here and there. In a pear orchard, for example, there should be as many types or methods of pruning as there are marked varieties of pears. Arbitrary patterns are useful only when it is desired to sacrifice other considerations to mere form and looks. (See page 215.) Patterns are chiefly useful in the growing of plants for certain ornamental effects, and when it is necessary — because of lack of space, or uncongenial climate, or growing under glass — to train to some definite form. In fruit-growing it is well to remember that mere handsomeness or comeliness of the plant is unimportant. On this point, A. J. Downing writes as fol- lows: "Every fruit-tree, grown in the open orchard or garden as a common standard, should be allowed to take its natural form, the whole effort of the pruner going no further than to take out all weak and crowded branches." 131. Renewal of leaders on trunks crushed to the horizontal. 116 THE PRINCIPLES One cannot visit a forest or woodlot without observing that pnmed and injured trees tend to regain their formal stature. Observe how the leader was renewed m Fig. 130 — a tree which was once broken over. The new leader, which sprang from the declined trunk, now continues the bole of the tree in its upward direction. In Fig. 131 several leaders have started from the prostrate trunks, each one simulating the upward growth of the original bole. These remarks apply also to the roots. It is the commonest notion that a tap-root should not be cut, else the plant will be shallow-rooted; but a new tap — or, what may be better, two or three tap-roots — arises from the old (from a, Fig. 132). The tap-root is one of the ancestral bogies of horticultur- ists; and, as with the sap, being out of sight, almost any assertion may be made of it without danger of disproof. The direction of the roots is much influenced by the particular piece of earth in which they grow, but, beyond this, roots behave much as do branches in respect to pruning. 6. The habit of the plant varies from youth to age. Young plants are vigorous and rapid-growing. They tend to make, strong gro^vths. Eventually they reach a limit of stature, and the nearer they approach that epoch the less rapid is the groNvth. Fruit-bearing tends to reduce growth and to broaden the top. Young pear trees, particularly of the Kieffer type, make very long and erect growths, but when bearing- time arrives the growth is less marked and the limbs spread. The treatment of a young tree, therefore, may be very different 132. Renewal of the leader on the root. WATERSPROUTS AND SUCKERS 117 from that demanded by the same tree when it arrives at maturity. 6. One part of a plant may live at the expense of another part. Wo know that the plant cannot make use of the materials taken in by the roots and leaves until they have been elaborated in the green parts. The elaborated material is distributed to every living and growing point. Some of this material is stored, particularly in autumn, and from this store the early bloom and growth of spring is partly and sometimes largely made. Strong spiTng shoots are supplied from other parts of the plant as well as from materials newly appropriated Vjy the roots. Sorauer writes that "it must not be forgotten that at the commencement every young shoot draws like a parasite upon the food-matter of the older branch ; this applies as much to the consumption of water as to the stored-up material." More than this, one shoot probably may rob another, and thereby grow the faster. Shoots may be both parasites and robbers. Very vigorous shoots may not have sufficient leaf- surface to supply their own needs. Being profusely supplied with water, they appropriate building-materials which have been elaborated by other branches. Such shoots are water- sprouts or suckers. Robbers should be arrested. 7. Watersprouts are results of a disturbed equilibrium of the plant; and the formation of watersprouts is influenced more by the vigor of the plant and the amount of pruning than by the season of the year in which the pruning is performed. This is really a corollary to Section 1. We know that heavy pruning induces vigorous growth of shoots, and this rapid pro- duction may arise either as an elongation of existing shoots or as wholly new shoots. When these new shoots are particularly lusty, they are watersprouts. Fig. 128 shows an outcome of heavy pruning. 118 THE PRINCIPLES If the reader agrees to the above propositions, then he must admit that the season of pruning exerts a secondary stimulation on the production of watersprouts, however confidently he may have asserted to the contrary; for if the plant is not vigorous, and if the root force is not in excess of the top, watersprouts cannot arise. To be sure, watersprouts may follow the bending or twisting of the top, but even in this case the equilibrium of root and top is disturbed, as we shall find in Sections 10 and 13. It is probable that the season of pruning exerts some in- fluence on the appearing of watersprouts. After midsummer, watersprouts cannot arise, as a rule, for growth has then ceased or has slowed down; and if the plant is pruned at that epoch, it may have opportunity to readjust its energies before another year, and thereby exert its redundant forces rather more in the prolongation of existing growths than in the estabhshing of new. The operator should not allow the fear of watersprouts to dictate the season of pruning. In fact, watersprouts are a result of pruning as weeds are of plowing, and the likelihood of the appearing of either is in proportion to the preceding neglect. Subsequent pruning is the remedy for watersprouts, as tillage is for weeds. 8. The tendency of 'plants is to grow from the uppermost buds, if the shoot arrives at full maturity; and this tendency is most pronounced in young plants. We have had ample proof of this assertion in Chapters I and II. We know that it must be so, also, from the fact that it is the natural outcome of competition for position, light and air. We may prune in such way as to maintain or augment this natural tendency, or to thwart it. The means of checking it are of two types — heading-in, and hindering the upward flow of sap (as by girdling, notching, bending, twisting, and the like, dis- cussed again on page 181, in Chapter VI). To a consideration of these means we shall now proceed in Sections 9 and 10. CUTTING BACK YOUNG GROWTHS 119 9. The heading-in of young growths tends to develop the lateral and . the dormant buds. This is equivalent to saying that heading-in thickens and broadens the tops of plants. The objects of heading-in are two — to correct an objectionable habit, and to induce fruit-bearing. The latter consideration is discussed specifically in Section 15. Inasmuch as the shape that a plant shall assume is largely a question of personal preference, it is impossible always to give good advice respecting the heading-in of trees and shrubs, and it may not be necessary to have reasons. The rational heading-m of trees for the puipose of correcting the habit devolves upon four conditions or factors — the rapidity or extent of growth, the distance apart of the plants, whether dwarfs or standards, and the personal choice of the owner. In fruit-trees, annual growths of 3 feet or more may be headed-in, particularly if the trees are close together and it is necessary to reduce the size of head. This operation is necessary only with young and imfruitful trees, as a rule, for we have found (Section 5) that mature and fruit-bearing trees rarely grow wantonly. If mature trees are making too much growth, the fundailiental remedy is to check the growth rather than to cut it off, for heavy heading-in may tend to augment the difficulty (Section 1). The growth may be checked by modifying the tillage or fertilizing of the plantation, unless the excessive growth is due to excessive pruning. In dwarf trees, it is essential that heading-in be practised, in order that the top shall not overbalance the root. This ques- tion is discussed in its special aspects in Chapter VI. In general, heading-in resolves itself into a question of per- sonal preference. If the owner wants a thick-topped and round- headed tree, heading-in is necessary. If he wants a free-growing open-centered tree, heading-in should be avoided, except, per- haps, while the tree is very young. A Kieffer pear tree is shown in diagram in Fig. 133. It is two ILM THF rfilSCiriKS yoni's sot. Whou plauto^i. it wns ;i mcro whip. Vhc t'li-st s(\'\son it soul out four vory stiXMij; latiMul braurhos. !us slu>\vu in the piotuiv. .\t tho oml of that season tl\o gnnvths wviv out haok half thoir loujxth. Tho soooiul soasoi\, throo to tivo vshootvS startod fi\Mn noar tho top of oaol\ shortouod hranoh. If a siuiilar troat- mont bo jxivou at tlio ond of tho soooiul yoar. still othor lattM-al i:;ro\vths will aviso tho f^>llo\vin.ii' yoar. and li\o troo will havi^ far too uiany branohos. Thiw kinds of tivatniont oau now bo siivon: tho oxistins; branohos may bo hoa^lotl-in as roprosontivl by tho two lonj; linos; son\o of tho branohos may Ih^ out away bodily as shown by tho sovoral short bat's: tho troatmont n\ay bo a oombina- tiou oi thoso two. Ono thinsi; is oloar: tho tiw now has too many branohos for its si/0, and somo of thom i,say half of tho sooondary onos^ should bo out away. Whothor any furthor hoadinij;-in shall bo givon, is a spooial tiuostion. If tho triv is makinii a i^rowth of ,> lotM or n\oro, hoadiug-in would probably bo advisablo, althoujih by no n\oans ossontial. 'Phis hoadiuii-in toi\ds to mako tho bram-hos thiok and stooky, thon^by onablinii thon\ to support tho fortlu'ominj:: orops of fruit. As tho troo ajiproaohivs maturity, hoad- ii\ji-in may bo loss froquont and U\^s sovoro. and it may ovontually ooaso. To ono who oontomplatos tho outtinjj;- baok of troos. it should bo said that ho.ad- inij-i'^ nooossit at OS miMV pruniusj in tho intorii>r of tho top. 'Phis is partioularly '.C5fc5|r*V Iruo of o.arly summor hoadiuji-iti, whioh i.s.s. iM.iirr.iiu to n>p- oft ou oausos uow latoral liunvtiis to bo- youuK troo. oouio SO nuuiorous as to bo vorv troubU^ HEADJNO-IN 121 fiomr; CaH, for (•x!i.rt\\>h;, in Hurnrnor pnjninj;? of grapes) and t/j caiiw; much f;xtra labor at a vf;ry buHy w;a."/>ri. Thf; writer would practiw; hoa^Jing-in over-growing young fruit-trecjH of vfjry ntrc^ng-growing varieticH, for the puryK^H^; of inducing u. Htockier growth of the }>rane}if« and of promoting the early brandling of thf; main or .scaffold limbH. Ah the tree inceawjH in age, the hea/Jing-in should ^xjfciHH and less, and should g(!nr!rally cease, when bearing arrives, unU^;s perhaps wit}) peaches, I^lums and afuicots. If the mature tn;e grows too rapidly, the fuiKlamental corr(^*tive is to withhold tillage or nnanure. Another reason for heading-in is merely to keep the tree in shape, or to trim into some desired form. Although the writer's taste, in g(;neral, is counter to this, there is no arbitrary standard by whif:h t}ir; f>nr; pattern or the other is to be judged. Tlje writer tliirjks tfiat an opf;n-centered and natiiral-growing fruit- tree is g(;nerally preferable; tfj a cornpact-heax^iwl and sheared-in tre^;, but excf;llr;nt commf;rcial results, paHicularly in stone- fruits, an; offx;n secured unfjer tlif; latter method of tree-growing. The orchardist should deUjmriine his own purpose when he b(!gins to prune liis trees, and then carry out )iis plan syst^;mati- cally and consistently to tljc; (tnd. Aside from these; pury;osf3S, th(;r(; remain tfie ncicessary liea/Jing-in of dwarfs (page 176) and the heaejing-in ff;r produf;tif>n of fruit-buds (Section 15). 10. A deep ohdruction just ahfwe a hud (rr lirnh teruls to j/roduce Hlromj lowjilvdirud yrwjAh in that part; an ohHtructian beUru) it temln to '[iroduce a thirkenirLg of ths part and a qtjdeHcerd date. (I'or d(;tails of the practices, see section 13.) The obstruf;tion Ijelow thr; bud tends to cut off the supply of root-water, upon wliicli rapid growth largely df;pends; but the deposition of elaborated mat<;rials from the leaves builds up tissue above the; constriction or dam. Since rapid wood growth is liindered b(;cauHe of tlic; obstruction to the; upward-moving 8ap-wat(;r, the parts tend to thicken rather than to elongate. We 122 THE PRINCIPLES are already prepared for these assertions from the study of girdling (Figs. 95, 96, 97, and 111). A complete obstruction amounts to a severing of the shoot or hcading-in; and we have already found (Section 9) that head- ing-in tends to develop strong growths from the lateral buds. The common methods of obstructhig the movements of sap are by girdling or rmging, notching, and bending or twisting the shoot. Girdling by the removal of bark, however, is such a complete obstruction as to starve the part below the girdle, and the statements which may be made concerning its effects do not always apply to notching and bending the shoot. (See discussion in Chapter VI.) It should be remembered that the upward movement of water takes place in the yoimg or sapwood, and a notch only through the bark does not directly affect this movement. The dowTi- ward or distributive movement of elaborated materials takes place in the inner bark, or bast, and a notch only through the bark is, therefore, able to check it. A notch through both the bark and sapwood cuts off both movements and is nearly equivalent, in this respect, to cutting off the shoot. 11. Checking growth of vigorous non-productive plants, so long as the plant remains strong and healthy, induces fruitfubiess. This is a very old horticultural maxim; and although many tests seem to disprove it, the statement is undoubtedly true as a working hypothesis and we must understand and explain the exceptions. Very strong gro"wi:h is usually, or at least often, at the expense of fruit-bearing. Tilling and manuring may be carried so far as to make the plant over-vigorous and under-fruitful, although this danger is rare in practice with fruit-trees but is not unusual in other plants. Heavy pruning may have the same effect. Other conditions aside, deep notching of the twig above a bud tends to make the bud produce a long woody shoot; notching below CHECKING GROWTH 123 the bud tends to make it develop a fruit-spur (Sections 10, 13). Hcading-in tends to start woody shoots from the buds near the cut. Girdling just through the bark (or ringing) tends to develop fruit-buds above the wound. If, however, the girdle is below the foliage (that is, on the stem or trunk), new shoots arising below the wound must grow at the expense of material stored in that part; and if such stored nutriment is small, shoots may not be able to start or to thrive. Girdling by cutting through the young wood tends to develop strong growth below the girdle and to starye and kill all the parts above it. In a word, a strong supply of root-sap tends to stimulate wood growth; a pronounced deposition of elaborated food tends to develop fruit-buds. If checking the growth tends toward fruitfulness, then we are to expect that the marked stimulation of shoot growth by means of heavy pruning will tend in the opposite direction ; and this is borne out in practice. Pickering asserts, from his studies at Wobum, that with apples the crops were diminished by excessive pruning, "for this must tend to force into growth buds which otherwise would have produced fruit." 12. Fruit-hearing is determined more by the habitual performance and condition of the plant than by the kind or extent of pruning; it is associated with a quiescent or continuous rather than with a stimulated or unsettled state; and the habit is more amenable to treatment when the plant is young than when it is old. Plants of the same species vary greatly in fruit-bearing. Some of this variation is a matter of individuality. No two trees are alike in this respect any more than they are in form of top or length of life. Some of the difference is due to soil or other environment. It is natural, however, for plants to bear, and when they once come into bearing they should be maintained in that habit by continuous good care. With such plants, any 124 THE PRISCIPLES treatment that greatly disturbs the oquilibriiini tends to break or upset the bearing habit. If, however, through negleet or poor management, plants have never acquired a bearing habit, the grower may experiment, hoping to find a \\ay to bring them into fruit. One type of experunent is to change the management of the land; another is to modify the food supply; another is to change the method of pmning; another is to apply remedies for insects and diseases. The principle under discussion is the most unportant one enunciated in this book, from the fact that it advises the fruit- grower to depend more on good, thoughtful, and consecutive management of his plants year by year than on any disconnected, spasmodic, or unusual treatments now and then. A good plan moderately and consistently worked out is better than a hundred spurts. Let us apply these reflections to the treatment of a neglected and unfruitful apple orchard. The general advice is to till, fertihze, prune, and spray; and this advice is good. The prun- ing, how'ever, has more effect in bringing the trees into shape and in correctmg the neglect of preceding years than in directly inducing fruit-bearing. A heavy pruning of such trees acts as a renewal (Sections 1 and 3). The orchard is renovated and rejuve- nated, and the grower may then begin and carry forward a consecutive treatment, which he should have begun when the trees were planted. After tw^o or three years, the trees begin to steady do^^^l, and fruit-bearmg should then begin; but fruit- bearmg camiot be maintained if the orchard is allowed to lapse into its former condition. We are now able to see that the common habit of priming the orchard heroically every two or three years and neglecting it in the meantime is one of the best means of keepmg the trees unbalanced and upset, and of inducing raw wood growth, and thereby preventing fruit-bearing. All etYorts to make plants bear amuiallv must fail unless consecutive good care is given CONTINUOUS CARE Vl^i year by year. Light pruning every year is probably more useful than tho .sarrifi aggn^gatfi pruning given only in occasional or even in alternate years. Over-lxiaring is itself a disturbance of equilibrium, and is almost necessarily followed by a rea^;tion of under-lxiaring. This corollary has such important Ixjaring on pra/;tice tliat it should receive careful attention. One extreme follows another, and the oftener thesf; extremes occur the greater Is the likelihood that they will become an unremediable or fixed habit of the plant. It is interesting to note that the habit of alternate bear- ing'is most pronounced in plants of long life, suggesting that the habit is largely, if not wholly, the result of the frequent occurrence of over-bearing while the plant was young. Apples and pears are particularly given to alternate bearing, plums and peaches less so, bush-fruits still less, and strawh>erries not at all. It is a question, therefore, whether any treatment can set some old orchards into repeated annual bearing; and, at all events, pruning is only one of the means of overcoming and correcting the habit (see Section 14j. Although it is an ancient principle in horticulture that check- ing growth may induce fniitfulness, it is only one means of inducing a Vjearing habit; and (to repeat) when this habit has once been secured, every effort should be exerted to maintain it. It does not follow, however, that trees of slow growth are neces- sarily most fruitful. The most fruitful orchards are usually those that have made strong growth from the }>eginning; but the bearing habit was early induced Vjy good tillage and good fcicding, and the extra growth enables it to bear the more fruit. The practice of checking growth, therefore, is for the most part a remedy for. ot?ier deficiencies. "Je weniger wir zu schneiden haben am Baum, desto gesunder bleih)t er und desto schoner entwickeln sich die Friichte" (The less we are obliged to cut a tree, the sounder it remains and the [finer its fruits develop), writes Karl Koopmann in "Elemen- 120 THE PRI.WIPLES tarlohren aiis doiii Gobioto lios Bamnschnittv^," 1800. This soutonoo must not bo takou to moan that Koopmami would dis- I'ourago pniuhig. but tliat it is tl\o part of wisilom to resort to pruning as little as possible and yet reaeh the desired results. 13. AU mean^ of obiitntctimj the movement of sop — os notehing, shredding, bending, tiristing, girdling — ore motters of special and loeal application, and are to be assix^ioted more icith modes of training and the practice of gardening than with pruning proptr. They are not cardinal nor normal practices: their success depends on the skill and experience of the particular gardener. This prmciple is the complement of Section 12. If the habit- ual perforn\anee of the plant — hidueed by consecutive rational tivatment — liet ermines its usefuhiess, then the treatnient of individual buds jmd spurs must be merely incidental and special matters. The fact is, that the advice hi respect to notching;, bend- ing, and the like, is born of the amateiu" and garden-culture fruit-growing of the Old World. Whether the authors were conscious of the fact or not, the older American pomologicjil writings are direct otYshoots of European small-area practices. The emphasis is placed first on varieties, and always on facts rather than on principles. In vegetable-gardening literature the same has been true, and it was not until Henderson WTOte his "Gai-dening for Profit" that the lai-ge-area and commercial American gardenmg found its voice: but even Hendei-son fol- lowed the detached and cyclopedic method of arrangement, which is bom of a desire for facts and ready reference rather than for great truths and principles. But the transcendent merit of Henderson's book — which marks an epoch in American horticultural hterature — is the fact that it caught the rising com- mercial spirit of the tune and threw otY the bonds of tradition. These remarks. I hope, will put the reader in the right atti- tude toward all these petty matters of pruning, as it will toward NOTCH INC AN I) HINGING Vll the common fault, of jjlafint? (;rnphaHiH firKt on varietie« and oih(!r JKolaUid, local, and pf;fwjnal fa/;tH, If a porn^jn muKt train liJK pear Ui'M or jjoaoh tn;(; to a wall or a trcllLs, thon ho miiHt yj<:rforce count hi« budn, force Hpurs to ari«c at HtaU'A intervabi, and Ik; familiar with thr; n;r)n<;mr;nlK of pindiinj?, rinj^inj^, and nolf;hin^. (^jrafXi-lrainin^ in njijf;}) confiJW;d Ixicauw; pf;rHonK do not. diHtin^uiKli that it involvoH two ht-Xn of ideaw — the pruning U) removf! HUfK-rfluous wood, and th(; training int/> wjme hcX form. 'J'hc niimlx'.r of budK U) leave on tlie cane depends more on the fiystem of training than on the principlcH of pruning. T^jtdiing into th<; wof>d above a bud U;iu\h to produce strong growtJj from tliat bud (page 121^. Xotcliing junt through the l;ark above a bud tends to weaken the bud, because the root- Haf> \H not Ktopp(;d and th(j elaboratxid .sap is checkwl. Notch- ing into the wood U;low a bud tends to pile up rancrva mattjrials at the bud and thereby U> induce fruit-bearing. Notching just through the bark below a bud tends to pile up tissue at the bud, but since the root-sap Is not cut off, tJie bud may us<; this tissue in rapid growth, and fruit-bearing may not \Hi inducwJ. In practice, these n^finements are likely tf; be undiscernible. CJirdling or ringing (prjucAACM discusw^d in C^hajjters VI and X) tends to develop fruit-buds above the girdle. Bending the shoot to a hfirizontal or deflexed position U-ndn taijrnw;hnitf<«." Kooprnann'H 8tudif« in pninirij? were commended by Htate and wxiety rnf;*Jal«. This memoir gives copiourt referenccB U) the German literature of pruning. 128 THK i'Hi.\i'iri.h:s "Xotoh<\s »»» fho hark uiulor ••» bud an^ tH]uiv;vlont to oiu^thinl v>r oiu^ fourth jjirvllo. juul onn bo nitulo jvs jiinlU\«« aiv. 'V\w otTtvt of tho i>pornlioi^ in i\'Uisijv>i tho pixnluotion of fruit is oontimxl, in this oaso, to a singlo buti; «t loast a moiv oxtotidtxl intUionoo oi\ tho parts abovo it is hani ti> obs(>rvo, juul ptvKably dm^ i\ot oxist. as tho hindranoo to s,'»j>-t>\ovotnot\t is vory vsmall. auvi tho rvx^t is not i\ssontially ilrawn into partioipalion. If. Iiowovor. n»any suoh notolu\-< or partial giixilos aiv mado on a Iwij!: and folKnvin^; oaoh othor oUvsoly. as jvrhajvs in fl\o oaso of l\>llo\ving tht> natural spiral of tho bvul jHVsitions. tho otToot must bo n\on> and n»on> noarly that of a iH>tn- ploto ijirvilo, "A not oh abovo a bud into tho sai^-oarryinji woihI has a ovM\trary otToot. 5U! Kti A om^thinl or ontM'ourth outting-baok. which roally is dono. If tho twijj was out off at tho sanio point, a larjn* nutt\bor of r.apidly-nnnvinjj WiKHly sluH^ts would bo oxpoottnl. p;»rtii'ularly if tho outtinui-b.-u'k woix* tlono in oldor wixvl. Tho dtvpor into tho sa{M'arryinjj; tissuos tho knifo advanc\^, tho n\on^ prtMunu\»H\l nuist bo tho nwilt. Tht^ orudo sap takon up by tho uhM and not diivotly i>f uso iji buiUlinii tissuo. oan do only tho work of tittiivjj for uso tho stoiwl tvsorvo nu\torials. I'or thoso nv^orvo niatorials, thus sot into sohition, thon^ is no i>thor outlot than that thoy bo worki\l up aiul ustni in a loaf-bud that h.ad ivtnaim^l donn.ant or in jv nowly fonning advontitious bud bolow tho not oh. Howovor. .as siH>n sis j:rv>wth h.as takoi\ plaiv. tho orgaix. whothor imgiiially woak or stnniji of oonstitution, is stimulattxl to tho iin\itost activity thnniuh tho onorgotio upwar\l-pushii\g n>ot-sap. anil tho rt\>- sot\oo of a bvid or of a location for oiu\ If ut\towar\l conditions of nutrition an^ pn^ot\t. it n\ay passibly bo duo to a doftvtivo storaj^^ of tho nooossju-y rt^orvo niatorials. This latter svi]ipiviition it niijiht bo dillicult to pnn'o. "Tho fnv*injt of buds oan call forth similar rv\>st wo«.xi as thivso just dt\f!oribtHl for old wixxl. on which thotv aiv. in gononil, no buds ablo to jinnv. (.'►it many plants tho bvids sutTor siHMior th:u\ the oainbivnn Layer of the whhmI. This is loss noticeable on orchaixl woihI than on many natural wihhIs; oi\ tho latter, in spite of the stixMigest tlow of s;ip, the sprvnits will bo missixl vu\dor such circiunstances. ■■ The notchings spokot\ of ii\ tho fon^goinji p.arajiraphs have gn^at importance to tho fruit -gnnvor. partly in tho shapii\g of the tiw .and psirtly in tho priHluction of a balaiuv in the bnvt\chii\g (,or clothiiAg"* of tho so.atTold litnl^s of dwarf oroh.aril-tnH^. Uut tho notches abovo a bud into tho bju-k, :u\d under a bud into tiio wixxl. c:uu\ot attJiiu !U\y imiK^rtiUiw in practice. NOTCIIINa \2'.) "I'roffi w}i!it, Im known nhout, fix; circulation and rrfffM cif the «ap, it limy follow with w»rn'! lUfin-^- of f;l«;arfi<«« thai a riot/;}i above a bufj, which rv<-H hut (Ik-, bark an'] bjtHt laycrx, fnij«t t^;n'J t/> cnf«^;bl»: and pn;v*;nt Kjjroutinj^, bccauw; thf ufjwanJ-rnovinK Map in not HU)f)]H'A at the bud, and the prfxluct^ of JiHHirnilation, whieli are a Hurj^luH from the leav';H, are with- h'ld from the bud ;t« lon^ ;i« t)i<; wound in o[*en. Many practical exfXTi- rnentx with thiH nr>tch K.ave, h'^wever, chiefly two n«ultj<. In rnr^t caw* no marked clianj^f; rxiuld be rJet^;rmin»^J on the bud. It remained dormant, ;ind thereby puHW/l naturally f/O it>i d«s*truction, whether more rapidly than other bijrJH nf>t artifir;ially influenwjfl we have ho far not \x'j:n able U> < HfK>ot. ThiH a[;j>eararic<; ma/le the rnatt/T very unclear, until it wan jkA'umA tliat in Huch fia-^-H the cut h>fJ not be«;n rna/ie with the care which \n rf;fjiiire,fj. The bark anrj b;tHt layer-i ha/J \><-^:u removal, but at the, Hame tim<; the yfoke/l upon hh a partial cutting-ba^;k, Throii^li Huch a notch thr; bud iH cut ofT from the; rf>*jt, and the cambium fluidH are pilwl iif> at the bud, which \h, therefore, ixx) abun'iantly Hupplif;^] with r-carrying wof^fJ-layern are cut, the IcHH iH the tendency of the bud U> develof> a Hh'Xjt, and it UHually remains aH a well-(jr; execuUjrJ betwfjf;n two btidH that both an; equally influenf;*d, n«ulf>4 alwayH in a wrxxJy Hhrx>t from the lower one, and a fniit/-bud, or a very Hrnall fnjitz-spur t/;rminaf/^i by a fruif/-bud, from thr; uf>f>er one; the w^xxiy Hlif^ot in H<;lf-active, the fruit/- bud H«;erningly a panxHitic creation. Ah the notch int/i the bark under the budH, with reference U) the f^rrxluction of fruit/-«purH, haH gf;nerally the name «;fTr;ct aH a not^;h intx< the wofxJ, the latt/;r i.s HUfX;rfluouH. A nlig^it damage 1x> th(; outer wfxxl ("HfilintHchicht;, however, dfx;H not in any way len.H^^'n the (;\\x:<',\ji-x\ n«ult. "Whih; in thf; foregoing we have kf;pt in view the efTf;ct of notch's* on Hingje biidH, an exhauntive treatment of the Bubject/ requin* a «hort not'uu; of the influence which Hirnilar notchf« exert, on alrearJy exinting branch<;H. i'ark-notchf;« above or below a branch bearing Hpurs a^;t in a very Hiight degr';*; on the branch in qu'^tion; a c/)iri])\i:U: girdle around the base of the branch actH, of courHC, aH an ordinary girdle. A quart<;r girdle on the I 130 THE PRiyCJFLES under side oaiisos the Siime effect, but in a sanall decroo, for the stopping of the canibiiun tlxiids is tUinost complet-ely obviatixl by the possibiHty of their nwving off to one side. An xipper cut out of the bark can also have but the same small intluentv on the spui-s of the braneh vnuier experiment, as the out attains the importanoe of a quarter ginile to the spui-s while the bnmeh itst^ll" eaw in no way be intluonetxl by this bark-not ehing, because the downwanl-tlowing oatnbiuni tUiid tn^n the spurs Ciin, of course, be held back, but oaimot exert an intlueitce on the branching below the.ginile. In giMtenU pnactioe, thon^forc, such bark ittjuries have no inijx^rtancc whatever. "It is otherwise with vigorous notches in the wood below or above a branch. By means of these notches the root-sjip is either cut off or led to these bntitches. The moiv vigv^rous the notching on a spiu- above one of its brancht^. the more the latter nveive of the crude sj\p, and the leaves arc the mon^ stimulattxl to activity: the leaves become Larger, the inter- no<.les of greater length, the mnnber of shoots and leaves is increaseil, and an incn^ast\l pnxluction of wv.hx1 is tlie result. Diivctly op|x>site is the eiTect of a notch mider a brattch or twig. .\ large portion of the supply destintxl for the assimilating orgtuts is cut otY from the branch, and the diminished production of woo> are bf>me, or the removal of fruit-BpurH. 1'he opf;rat^^r munt first know the mode in wliichi the plant y>ears its flower-but season, or that liave a cot^.-rminal liabit of fruit-lxiaring. The great disa^lvantage of thinning fruit by means of pruning is the impossibility of knowing how many buds or young fruits may subsequently be destroyf^ by cold, insfjcts, or dmatJHefi. Yet the practice should Ui more general, for in most cas^js of too heavy prospective fruit- Ixiaring the danger can be partially averted by a cheaper means than liand-pickjng the young fruits. With tf^nder fniits and in cold climates this thinning by pruning should be delayed until danger of winter-injury is thought to be past. The second part of the proposition Is very important^ — the fact that the energies of the tree can l>e conserved by thinning the fruit. Thiis is really a corollary of Section 12. It is necessary to discover just how this con^/irvation comes about. We have obBf:!rved (see Figs. 14, 15 and 10; that there is commonly an alternation in fruit-bearing on the individual spur because the demands made by the fruit are so great that a fniit-bud does not develop the same year. In the year of fruit-bearing, therefore, a small leaf-bud develops to continue the spur the following year; and in this follo^v'ing and barren year, a fruit-bud is developed for bearing the succeeding year. Alternate years' fruit-bearing, therefore, is apparently largely a question of food- ia2 THK rKlXrU'l.h'S supply. If. then, wo :uo u> atttMupt to mako [\\c iwc \x\\v every year, we must sui^ply nunv l\HHl-n\ateii;»ls to the tree or ivuiove part of {\\c fruit. Hemovu\u; the fruit atYeots el\ietly the spur on which it is borne; in large fruits, as a rule, one spin-, or one braui'h i>f a spur, niatinvs one fruit: therefore, it n\ust follow that if thin- i\iug the fruit imluet^s ani\ual bearing in si»nie spur-fruits, it must be m».>stly beeause i>ue spur is made to be.ar one year anii another spur to bear another year. Th.at is, there n\.ay be an alternation in fruit-bearing on the spur, tlie same as before, but the bearing year of part of the spurs juobably may be ehanged by means of the thinning. It wouUl seem, therefore, th.at the tiiinning will have most etYeet in imiui'ing annu;»l bear- ing when it renunes all the fruits from certain spurs, thereby allowing these spin's to bear in the alternate yeai-s. Rut it is probable that no anunmt of thinning oan proihuv an annual-bearing habit imless the plants iveeive other necessary consecu- tive good care. It is a question whether it would not be advisable to endeavor to change the bearing year of entiiv plants, theivby allowing part of the trees in an oivhard to bear one year and the other trees to bear the following year. 134. The bearing year of fruit-tnvs can sometimes n^^viitiS^Iin'Vho be changed by i-emoving the ci*op veiy early in rNamnu'^ii)'"" ^^^^' reason: but the tiws tend to revert to their accustonunl habit, and it is pivbable that this revei-sion is the more mpid and the more complete the older the tree (v)age lit") and the more indifferent the giMieral treat- ment of it. In fruits which aiv mo^^t systematically thinned (either by picking the fruit or by means of the accustomiHi methods of priming), annual bearing is the most prenounctHl or at least the most to be expected. The grape and peach are exjunples. Yet, as we have already saiil, the reavsons for alter- A I/I l:li'. A 7 I: 1:1'. A III Sd 1 '/'/ It Hi \ >h\()mi!fu-\f\u\n Uava t\itw(i\(f\xA \\u; Harn'i «<;a><^/n. In Oiij-, Kpur lh<; Urarinjr y<;ar I« chang^^l. VV<5 alw> foijfj'J that fix- \Mh.niti£, y-'rir wiur', one/-, (:\m.uiL(A in tlirr rxjar Kf;ijr xhown in Iij<. 20. However, thi» change; in fT)'; \)t-M.r\u\L, year d^^^^r', not ftlwayn follow the n-MUiwA of 1 hr; HowerH or young fruifx. The ffi^rt that work i.H frx- \X'.x\(\fA in the U;aring ^^ fruif rnay U; undernf/xxi if one exaniin'#, th<; KwellingH on the KfiurH or fruif/-U;aring twigH of fM;arH. In Fig. 135, t.h- ]HiV('U\.\y a building up of mechanical tiKwue ha« taken plac*;; and it i« proIj>abl/; that tfie U;ng growth frf tlu; lat<;ral hrancMf^ (^ which, in thi« ca«c, ^x^r only leaf-hudnj hax U'/;n nia/le iXfUHWAc, by the r;xr;/;«« r/f nutri- nirrnt, Tlie readier rnuftt not (umUmud thr«/; KwellingH with the thickening due tf> mere arrf«t of 1/ingitudinal growth, a« Hhowii in Ji, Fig. 02. Cliernical U^ii nhow tliat the Kwelling« in Fig. Uio wrjrc not .nU^rage rt^-.rvoirn of \)\ixn\A(xA, althougli thi« c^mdwiitm rnay lot nit: rKJ.\civu:s -ot apply to all cjv:«t\:5 in view of the rts^vrtions of other a\ithiM"s. I1\e staivh-like content of the swellinp*. in winter, was less than that of Yi^ij\>i\nis normal shoots of the vS'une a^e. In noimal twiji-s. the moist niv was fovu\il to Iv 50.1M jnn' ^vnt; in the swel- hnji-s. oO.'it) iHM- ivnt. In both siunples, the contents (a^s starcli, dextrine, jvntOiSims. and the like'* weiv calculateil as ivduciui;- sujinr. In normal whiter twig's, the ixHlucinjj; sugar was 'JS per ivnt; in the vSwelUngs. at the siue.e date, it was 27.1 per cent. C'alculattHi to fivsh sul^stamv, the percentagi^s weiv 18.74 for the twigs and n.iH> for the swellings. ThiN^e tt^ts still further suggvst that tht^o swelling's aiv mecluanical tissue, n\suhing fixnn the stniin of fruit-lvaring, and that thev aiv ni^t to be lookinl upon as conducing to sul^seiiuent fruit fulness of the pljuit. lo. Cairful pinching or sh&rt heading^in of non-pnxiuctit'f ahm^ts or plants of htanng age thtoreticaUy temia toicani fntit^ fulnesii by checking exuberant groicth and by enamroging the formation of ifhoii lateral gnncths. In StH'tiwi 9 we have discusstnl etYects of headh\g-in on the ganvth of wixxl-length and the form of the top of the plant. We aiv now inquiring what etYtvt it has in inducing fruit-lnvn^ ing. So far as headvng-in tends to check wvH>dy grvnvtl\ iti trtvs or plants imder norn\al conviitions of gixnvth and tiv.atment, it conduces to the formation of fruit-buds: but very l\eavy heatl- h\g-back an\ounts to a heavy prvn\ing and it n»ay, theivfiMv, conduce to the very opposite of fruit pixnluction. The heading- in of young and rapidly givwing titvs usually ivsults in still givater non-pi\xluctive wixxl. Theivfoiv, theiv can be no specific staten\ents as to how nuich or how fiw^uent the heading-in sliall Iv to induce productiveness. Every thit\g depends on the vigor and agt^ of the tnv. extent of cutting, and (UhtM- local conditions, timelmess. and particularly on the skill of the pruner. In tlie traiiuxl tnvs of Enropeim and shniliu- planta- tions. he;iduig-ui may give nioiv dependable ivsults. but k Wj.ti«l i/r KfHmf^, ■ -■• '-';t^>«:j#' / k^^ili^ 'atff.. '». V> '^'^ifx^ f .' -'-#■, - ' 'i7>: Va^ivr '/ k-'/fd*- r »^. it fy. '■-»- tkjft fniit ki a laitnil^ >■. if tbe )*'•« 136 THE PRINCIPLES the lifetime of the tree may be a question, but, at all events, it may conform the tree to the climate, to the methods of tilling and harvesting, the distance apart of planting, and to the gen- eral conception of the section as to what a fruit-tree should be like. W. L. Howard, of the University of Cahfomia, writes as follows on this subject: ''In the great mterior valley section of California, a region some 500 miles long by 50 to 75 miles wide, together with the adjacent Sierra and Coast Range foothills, where the bulk of the deciduous fruits of the state are grown, it is customary to prune all trees except almonds and walnuts very heavily in late winter. With peach, apricot, and plum trees, all of the new growth, except stubs 6 to 12 inches long, is cut away. This means the annual removal of 2 to 4 or 5 feet of practically all the new branches. While these trees m the main are shaped so that the heads are open, the early spring growth is so rapid that the new branches quickly shade the main branches of the interior so that they are not injured by the hot sun. In this region there is little or no rain between April and Novem- ber, and in summer the temperature may range for days or even weeks, above 100° F. This kind of pruning would not be possible without great danger of injury to the trees from sun- burn, unless the soil were very deep and moist, so that the trees make a rapid gro'wih early in the season and continue in a highly vigorous condition until late autumn." 16. The season in which pruning is performed has some influence on fruit-hearing, other things being the same, for winter prun- inglends to produce wood-length, whereas summer priming does not. Summer pruning for fruit is a special practice. Plants cut in midsummer, or later in the growing season, seem to have the power to adjust themselves to the new con- ditions the same season (page 118); the effect of the pruning seems to be very largely taken up before spring. Plants pruned in winter, or any time in the dormant period, expend their SUMMER PRUNING 137 redundant energy at once in growth on the return of the grow- ing season. Aside from all this, the heavy removal of leaves in summer reduces the working or elaborating surface, and thereby tends more in the direction of starving or weakening the plant than in feeding or strengthening it. Watersprouts are less frequent following summer pruning than winter pruning (page 118). Summer pruning is of two kinds or purposes — (1) to thin the plant of too much growth, and (2) to induce some desired defi- nite^result, as increased fruit-bearing. Confusion of ideas may result if these two objects or practices are not kept in mind. These remarks are necessarily very general, and the con- dition of the plant and extent of cutting may be expected to obscure results which might be expected to transpire in repre- sentative cases. If the pruning is such as to check wood-growth without perceptibly weakening the plant, fruit-bearing is generally promoted; and herein lies the value of summer pinching of strong or leading shoots. In respect to the proper time for pinching, Sorauer remarks: "The greatest success will attend the process if the pinching takes place just at the period when the buds have still sufficient time to swell up and become stored with food material, but when the supply of water begins to diminish, so that the upper buds do not grow out into long laterals. ... To prevent disappointments, we state emphat- ically — as the practice is very common — that no fixed rule can be laid down for the commencement of summer pruning. Trees may even be pinched to death. The favorable time for this operation depends on the climate, the soil, the variety, and even upon the individual characteristics of the plant." The reader should know that the effect of this pinching depends very much on the general habit and vigor of the plant, and that it is difficult to predict results unless the particular plant has been under training for some time (and preferably from the time it was planted). The best results in pinching the 138 THE PRIXCIPLES tips of shoots arc seouroil whon plants are trained to definite forms, as on walls, cordons, in glass-houses, or in arbitrary pyramids or other geometrical tigures. The practice, there- fore, is of little use in the commercial fmit-grow'uig of this country. The operator must not expect fruit-buds to form in the same year in which pinching or heading-back is performed, although such immediate results are sometimes secured. If heading-in takes place before active growth has ceased, mischievous lateral growths may be expected (Section 9) ; if tifter the leaves have ceased to be active, little if any results may be anticipated. Theoretically, the proper time is just as growth begins to cease, which, in the North, is in early summer. The shoot in Fig. 13 (Stark apple) was cut back in winter, and the following season the fruit-bud a was formed. This was a comparatively weak shoot on the lower part of the tree. Had it been a strong tenninal twig, the bud a would probably have produced a long shoot. The injury to the shoot 3 ui Fig. G2 (at e) occurred about mid- summer. The two lateral buds received an extra food-supply and gave rise to late-season branchlets. The parts became greatly thickened, but only Iciif-buds formed. It is probably correct to say that headmg-in and pinching exert more marked effects in inducing fruit-bearing in subse- quent >ears and in proportion to the pei^sistency with which they are practised, than in the very year of the operation ; and an>' good result depends on the judgment and skill of the operator. The results of experiments with summer pruning are ver>' uiconclusive. Inasmuch as it is practically impossible to find closely comparable conditions in any two sets of tests made in different years and different places, much study of the subject is demanded before conclusions can be dra\\ii; and in particular nuist the interpretation of !>mall <^lisconuectetl tests be made with caution, in view of the affirmative experience of gardenei*s. HUMMKIi PRUNING 139 One experimr'nter writefi that his experiments indicate* clearly that the witting of friiit-budK may be very materially influenced by special pruning practices. "Ordinarily \a,Ut wintfir or spring pruning w*ems U) stimulate wood-growth at the expemi^i of fruit-bud fonnation. Summer pruning HoemH to stimulate; the fonriation of fruit-buds. Rfxjt-pnining at the time the leavf^ are fully dev(;lo7>ed gave a very decided increase in the n\nn\xtr of fruit-buflw; also girdling and stripping without top-pruning se(;m(jd to give a mark(;d increawi in fruit^bufls." ()n the other hand, Pickering, at Wobum (England), scicured unsatisfactory results, and w;es "nothing at pres<;nt t'-farming methods of cultivation are practisfjd, this does not seem to result in visible injury to the trees. However, if the orchard is irrigat<;d aftf^r a midsummer pruning, the trees may be badly injured from a trouble popu- larly known as "scjur sap." There is much interest at pres^'nt in California in summer pruning, and experiments are under way. 140 I'Hh: t'HiSi'U'i.h'S Tho ivsult of pini'hiiij; or dipping io imhuv iirontor fruit- boarinix is i-onditioninl on its timidly porformain'o. It is osson- ti.'iUy ;i sunnnor opor:\tion. ami usually a small amount of Avootl is ivmovod. Tho skilled opiaatm', with his plants woll in hand, loarns by oxporiouiv tho propor timo and tho propor amount. I'ndor usual gross oroh.ard oomlitions. tho oporator can hanlly know oxaotly tho right timo for tho phiohing or hoading-in so th;a ho may soouro roally useful ivsults; and in tho prosont stato of our knowUnigo, no one oaii dotormine it for him. Smnmor pruning for fruit-boaring, thoivfoiv, pinohing-in, notching, and such liko opiM-ations. aro intonsivo practioos to bo applitxl undor known conditions an^l to plants undor oontn>l, and thoir suoooss doponds on tho skill and applii-ation of tho particular gardener or pnn\er. who ha^ learned by experieneo ^Yhat results he may expo^'t. 17. The effect of pninitig, as uvW n.s the nea'ssity of it, lieiiemis greatly on locality and climate. Not only dix^s the vigor of plants ditTer wideh- in dilYeivnt places, but theiv are local dat^gers to be avoided. In the hot and dry interior regions, sun-scalding often follow^! very heavy pruning, and theiv has tluis arisen a feeling that tives sliould not bo pruned on the Plains, and the heads should bo sttirteil low. It is undoubttHlly true that in those ivgions out- door plai\ts need less pruning than in humid climates, but tivos which luvd to be so heavily prumxl that they aiv injmvd by sun-^cald jvre usually tliose that have been neglected in the beginning. The reader may tind entertaining conhrmativn\ oi the modi- fying inthiences of locality and climate b> reading tho advice on prmihig as given by men in ditYcrent places across the con- tinent. 7///; CONCLUHJON 141 18. 7'A« hf/din/j of Umjc vAmrulH in injliutrvrj'A chif,fly fry Ih/i html of fjl/int, th/i fjf'/n/'/rai vi/jf/r of th/i '[tl/ird, th/^ir ponti/m ira th/i 'pUint, iM ierL{/ih of Ih/i dump, ari/i Ih/i ch/ira/i^r — fift to Hm/jothri£HH f/r rwj/jhn/;HH — of ttie Hurfarji; oUunr fa/itrrn ore the h/'/iUhfutriJiHH of Uhc, v'^ood, a/n/i Itm Hc/mm in vAich Hue cat in nuul/i. Thititti qucHtirmw have Vxj*ni (^mHvUtrcA in retail in CJiaptcr III. Thwjrotically, t,h(; U^ty time to make tFio cut, no far an h'ulinj? iH concMrucA, i« in the early part of the Rowing i¥'/al-tar, or for daup wood woun^ls (tr('/jHf)Ui followfid by coal-tar, for shade- and forest-trf^is. 20. 71ie bed pruning is that which renuUn frma a djejinile 'fmrpom (ft pl/m, o.ri/1 v;h:i/:h in ffmri/)/-A f/a a rj/ay.id^ro.ii(m of fun/hi- rnenUd '[/rirvcipleH arul a mrefal Hlv/ly of oil th/'. loryji cjyn^ ditu/rt^; and speci/d pruning trexdments dem/jrwA to pro- rn/jte fruif^hefjrin/) ore of nef/rrt/lory irapf/rton/^. to the ehmr/i of vorielieH, in1,er-p(AiinMi(m, or A the cjmmoitive (jood wre of the plant. pAliT U TilK INCIDENTALS CHAPTER VI SPECIFIC ADVICE Having now travcrwi^l the funriarrujntal problf;mfi involved in ihf; pruning of plaritn, wf; may giva att/;nlion U) varioiiK details of j>iw/;ticf;, 'l'h(;.s<; detail.s are larj^ely pern^jnal opinionK, and are, tlierefore, of ritnincUid application; for priu^i'mt muKt vary with every pernon and every eonditioninj^ iiuttor. THIS, FOKM ()¥ UJK TOP 'J'he fonn of the top Is largely a matter of pers^jnal preference; hut there are argumoTitH in favor of variouK patt^^niw. It in not the province of thiw hook to connider th(^; arj^iment.s, for they are not primarily quewtioriij of pruning. In time we hiiall prol^>- ahly det<;rminrj whether there are forms or shap^js of fruit-trrxjH West a^lapt^^] U) maximum yields. Ah yet we do not clearly kriow wfiat Uj axjx-j-A from KyKte.mH of Hhaping, Ixicaum we have not had careful comparable experiments on a Hufficient scale, and therr; are a^ivocatijH of the low head and higli head, the of^en hf;a^J and do.se hea^l, the ovoid head and the flattened \KiiuL We may find tliat the form of the head is related Uj the fjf-rffjrmance of the plant and to economical management of the [plantation. The mental choicf; has freest scope in ornamental plants, for qu(!stionH of profit-and-loHH enter very little into the problem. As a question of art, it should Ix; said that the natural habit of the fjlant is far lx;ttf;r than an artificial or geometrical habit, unless, of course;, the plants are part of a formal df^;ign. This Is both because; of tlie great ;^t'*' height and make a nm'mal systtMU f.^^^,': 5^..v (^fbranohes. IVo \ery important points in ^ , \ .: ^-;„- .^-.^ - tiie pruning of fruit-trees are, I to il'y'' '6^'^^^^^" detern\ine the pn^por framework for * the top. and (.'J^i to kiH^p the tree open and shajH^y. allowing it to eontinue its natural habit of growth. " It must be thi^ aun, while prunnig all that is neeessarv, not to overdo the operation. Continued heavy pruning is umlesirablo for most purposes, and on young trees it delays the period of fruit-bearing. >;> HOW TO TUIM NKWl.V SET TUEKS When trees are transplanted, it is advisable to out away all broken or badly torn roots. These slunild be out otY just baok of the injiuy. It is the oustom to out od the ends of all roots of the size of a lead-penoil or larger, for a olean smooth wtnmd is supposed to heal quioker than a ragged one. These outs aiv made from within outward, and so that the out surface i^est^ tirmly on the grcnnul when the tree is set. When the tree is planted, all the roots should bo straightened out to nearly or quite theii' noniial position. If one or two roots run otY to an hiordinate length, they may be o\it baok to i'orros]Hnnl somewhat with the nuun root-system. (See pages Ui-l, U),").) rUIMMISfJ Y(Ji:S(J THKEH 151 Peryjaps half the rooi-nyHUtrn in lr;ft in thr; j^round whrm the troAi m dug from the ruirwiry row. The top Hhould \x', cut back U> a r^fjrroKf>onding c.xUtni. In far;t, the Ujp Hhould yx; more w;v(;rely h}iort/;rj<;^l-in tlian the nxjt, \x'/:mii¥t the nxA, in a/Jdition fxj Uiin(4 rwiucwl, ih alisfj dirUxigf'A from the wjil, with which it muKt f^tabhwh a new union \)<'.i<)rf> much t/>p when planU^l muy fail outrij^lit i/) grow, parlJcularly in rej^onu of very hot HumrnerH and Bcant rainfall; or if they ntart, they are likely to Ixj^verlaken by drouj^ljtK. Kven if they live, the growth m iwually Hrnall and unwrtain, and tluj tree may fall a prey to lK>re,rK or a victim to higli win'lH. On tlie. other hand, ircjtH may Ix; imnrfuui too nevcrely when »et. Ex('Aii)t prjjsMibly in the caw; of ]xtiU'\i(% or otlwjr tre^js Hct whfm one year old and lx;aring fn^li bu^ln along the axi«, it h^ unwiw; U) trim t}je trf;<;H U) a mcsH pole (page 01); and with pea^ihr^H, it may Ixi Ixjtter U) leav(; KpurH with at leawt one bud than U) trim to a whip. 'I"?iere Khould Ix; a nurnlx;r of strong briglit buflH left on the t/;p, for thew; are the pointH where early and active growth Ixjginn. Thef^fi burJH are on Ktrong branchr^s. If thf;y arf; removed, the weaker or half- iq>urH of one U) ihrcAt budn; or wjmetim(;H, par- ticularly with dwarf \Ht'd.m K(;t wh^m two yf;arH old, the side branchf;H may Ix; cut cmtirely away, leaving only the bu^lK on the main Kt/;m or trunk. 'I'he ircAt, therefore, "f(;ath<;r« out" the first w;aHrjn, making many Hmall (shootn along the; main trunk. Th(; following autumn or spring, tlie top Is Ktartx;^! at thf; df;Kirf;rl bciglit. Fig. 14o sljowh a pea^;h tree as rcceivwi from the nurs- 152 SPECIFIC ADVICE ery, and Fig. 146 the same tree trimmed in this way, ready for planting. This method is the one generally best adapted to the peach, which is always set when but one season old from the bud; but for other fruits, unless the trees are slender and with- out good branchy tops, it is doubtful whether it is the best practice. If the bodies are not thought to be stiff enough, this way of trimming may be used to good advantage. The main shoot should usually be headed-back, to make the trunk stocky. (2) The second method aims to start the top at the required height when the tree is planted. It is adapted only to strong and well-gro^\^l stocks with a more or less branching and forking top. From three to five of the best branches are left, and these are headed-back to a few \ \ / 146. The tree pruned. 148 The same pruned. 149. Spur- pruuing of a plum stock. TRIMMING YOUNG TREES 153 buds each. Fig. 147 shows a pear tree, trimmed in Fig. 148, and the illustrations may be considered to represent a good example of its class. It may be said in general, then, that peach trees and all small or slender trees, should h)e well headed - Vjack and spurred (Fig. 146); but that strong well-branched trees may havtt the head started at the desired height at the time of setting, all the branches being well headed-back (Figs. 147 and 148j. Some persons object to any pruning of the nursery tree beyond the removal of injured parte, when it is tran.s- planted to its permanent posi- tion; but experience has de- monstrated its value, as have also the tests of Pickering at Wobum, Chittenden of the Royal Horticultural Society (London), and others. Other and special examples of pruning young trees may be given. Fig. 149 shows a small plum tree cut to spurs, and the roots have also been properly dressed. Fig. 1.50 shows second-class apple trees. In these the tops are not well formed, and it might be best to trim to a whip, allowing the branches m to become the leaders. Such whips may look very crooked and scrawny, but they will straighten as they grow. The extent to which cutting-back may be desirable in young 1.50. Second-class trees, showing the leader at m. 154 SPECIFIC ADVICE trees is shown in tlio various preceding pictures. It is also illus- trated in Figs. 151 and 152, in each of which the marks across the branches show where the cutting may be made. Fig. 153 is designed to show where the branches may be severed in trees which it is desired to head-in very closely. One or two of the lower branches have been entirely cut off, and others are cut back to one or two buds, as at c. Fig. 154 (from Chandler) shows a desirable spur- system of priming a peach tree if it has good branches when it comes from the nursery. Fig. 155 shows the result at the close of the first season, the cen- tral shoots having been pinched out to make a spread- ing head (both fig- ures redrawn from Bulletin No. 55, Missouri State Board of Horticulture). Pear and apple trees of various kmds and grades are slun^Ti in Figs. 150 and 157 as received from the nurscr>' and as pruned by an experienced practical fruit-grower. In all the examples so far considered, it is assumed that the operator desires to have a distinct tnmk to his tree, and to start the top at a height of 2 feet or more from the ground. It is upon this assumption that American nurserymen prune their trees, making a single shaft. Persons who wish a very low-topped tree, therefore, may find difhculty hi obtaining it from the strong-bodied trees which the nurserymen supply. When it is .f^Wlf' TSS^Ms-^:rr 151. ShowiuK where to out the limbs, 152. Showing where to cut the limbs. TRIMMING YOUNG TREES 155 desired that the Hmbs shall start low, it is usually best to buy yearling trees. These carry strong live buds on the main shaft, with very f(!W or w(;ak sid(! branch(!S. What side Vjranches may exist are cut off, and the; tr(!(! is head(;d-back to a single whip, so that side branches are thrown out fn^ely near the base of the plant. Fig. 158 illustrates such treatment. At the expiration of the first year, th(; tr(;(; should look something like that at the left in Fig. 159, at which tinu; some of the branches may be removed, kiaving only as many as it is desired shall form the main- or scaffold limbs. Some fruit-growers prefer to allow the leader to continue in trees of this kind; but it is usually desirable to take out the leader and to allow the tree to form all its top on four to six main branches, which arise at intervals along the short trunk. Two-year-old trees may f / also be trimmed to a whip, and if / 153. Trimming to stubs. 154. Spur-prun- ing of a poach tree, at setting time. 155. The tree shown in Fig. 1.54 at the close of the first season. 15(> SPECIFIC .xnvich: thoy aiv ho;\«.U\i-iu. or tho youiig growths nonr tho top ;uv taken ofY :u^ thoy start, ouo mayoxixH't to soouiv branolios i\oar tho baso. A t\\\>->oar-<.>Ul troo triininoil to a singlo oaiio is shown at tho riglU in Fig. liV,>; a branoli is st;\riing noar tho groui\d. l\v hoading-in this tiw when it is sot. or soon ivftor gnnvth bogins. tho bottom branohos may bo still fnrthor onoonragini. AUhongh poaoh tiws aiv plant od whon thoy aiv ono yoar oUl. thoy havo gonorally bivn trimmod lip in tho nm^sory. so that tho lowor bnmohos aix^ dostroyod. Tho ton- donoy for snoh tiws is to tlnxnv ont branohos noar tho top. and it is ofton impossiblo to make thorn branoh within 2 fix^t or loss of tho givund, whoiv n\any pooplo dosiiv tluit tho top sliall arise. Fig. 100 is a tiw that has thixnni out two sots of branohos. ono noar tho top of tho long trunk, and tho other near the base. After this tiw has growni one season, it n\ay Nursorv trxvs hotort^ and :»ttor pruning. , „ . . for tnuisplautiii^ to Uio orvluml. be CUt Ott at tllO pomt i:hv 167. Nursery trees before and after pruning. (167) 158 SPECIFIC ADVICE indicated by the bar; and the tree should then make a low and vase-formed top like that sho\\Ti in Fig. 141. Trees may be trimmed before they are planted, although it is generally better to prune the tops just after the plants are set, especially if the tree is trimmed after the pattern of Fig. 148, for one can then better estimate the proper height, the operation is easier performed, and there is no further danger of breaking off the Hmbs by the handling of the tree. One foot is planted finnly at the base of the 158. Trimming to a whip. 159. The second year's growth; a two-year-old trimmed to a "whip. 160. Opportunity for a choice. tree, and then with one hand the branch to be removed is bent upward and with the other the knife is applied to the under side, and the cut is made neatly and easily (Fig. 161). Never cut downward on a limb, for a ragged wound nearly always follows. With fall-set trees it may be inadvisable to prune com- pletely before spring (unless the tops are so heavy and the bodies so weak that they are likely to be injured by wind), PRUNING TO A BUD 159 because the cut surfaces are likely to dry out, although the moisture loss would undoubtedly be less than from the twigs themselves should they be allowed to remain. They should be cut back part way, and they may be cut again, to fresh wood, in spring (page 67). We have already discussed the im- portance of pruning near a bud (Figs. 84, 85, 86), because the part projecting beyond the bud dies and remains a dangerous part. The stubs are, there- fore, cut back to a fresh bud in the spring, just before growth begins, leav- ing a stub above the bud not more than H inch in length. Figs. 162 and 163 illustrate the proper pruning of trees with reference to the buds. It is con- sidered important by some pruners to cut to a bud that stands on the outside of the twig, thereby causing the top to spread. It is usually the top bud that grows, providing the stub is not dried back and the bud is strong and healthy. If this top bud is on the inside of the limb, it does not tend to spread so far from the per- pendicular as one on the outside.. Figs. 163 and 164 are made from the same plant, the latter illustration taken 161. Trimming a newly set tree. m 162. Shaping May. It Will be the top. 163. Shaping the top. 160 SPECIFIC ADVICE seen that the top buds have grown, and that the tendency of the upper growth at 3 is more nearly peipcndicular than that at 1. As growth progresses, however, the shoot 1 will turn upward and will very nearly approach the perpendicular. It is not often worth the while to pay much attention to the loca- tion of the upper bud, with respect to the axis of the shoot, but it is important to trim back to a strong healthy bud. The illustrations Figs. 162 and 163 show a good way of leaving the mam scaffold branches. They arise alternately from the main stem, and therefore do not form crotches, and there is little danger that such injuries will occur as 164. How the growth starts on Figure 163. 165. The scaffold limbs. that shown in Fig. 104. If it is desned that the leader shall continue to form a two-storied tree, like that in Fig. 144, the shoot from the uppermost bud may be allowed to grow for this puipose. That is, even though the leader is cut off, the plant throws out a new one. It is often impossible to start the top in the form we desu-e, and our desire may change from year to year, so that we may be called on to modify the form at first projected. It will also be STARTING THE TOI' 101 IGO. Raising the top. necessary to thin the top considerably, else too many scaffold limbs may arise. Fig. 165 shows a Bartlott pear tree at the end of its s(;cond year in the orchard. At the left, the unpninf.'d tree is shown; and at the right, all the limbs have lx;en re- moved except three, which it is desired shall form the framework of the tree. When set, this tree was cut back to three limbs, as may be deter- mined by the method of branching of the tree at the left; and from the end of each of these stubs two or three branches arose the next season. Now that the tree has estaVjlished itself, and it is no longer necessary to head-in the young growths, this forked branching will not recur, and the tree will need comparatively little attention in pruning, except, of course, that all the superfluous growth should be removed each year. Fig. 166 shows the treatment of a Bartlett pear that the owner had started too low. He has now taken off the lower circles of limbs and has elevated the top Vjy aVjout a foot, leaving two or three stu?js for the foundation of his growth for the year to come. Often it is necessary to cut back very heavily the second year, in order properly to shape up the 167. Pear tree pruned the Hecond time. 168. A common fault with peach trees. 102 SPECIFIC ADVICE top and to secure the necessary stocky framework branches, as in Fig. 107; this is specially the case when the tree was trimmed to a whip the first year. Peach trees are likely to die back from the top, especially if they have been set in aiitunni; and since they ha\'e few buds on their bodies, they may throw out adventitious shoots near the point of imion of the bud with the stock. Fig. 108 shows a case of this kind, in which the trunk A has died back nearly to the 170. Another trouble with young peach trees. 171. How to correct it. ground. The two lowermost branches arise from the stock and are, therefore, to be sacrificed; but the first strong shoot from the bud is allowed to grow, and everythmg else is cut away, as sho^^^l in Fig. 109. The grower now has the pUmt under con- trol, and can start the top where he may choose. Peach trees also have a tendency to throw out strong growths from one side and to be blind or dormant on the other side. Such growth is sho^^^l in Fig. 170. In this figure, the long trunk has been cut back to the branches, and these branches should now be headed- in to five or six buds. Strong shoots, with dn upward tendency, will now start from the base of these branches, and at the end PRUNING THE HOOTS 163 of the second year, a tree Bomething like that in Fig. 171 may bo secured. ROOT-PRUXIXG To understand the vexed question of root-pruning, it is necessary that the subject be analyzed. We prune the roots I. Of plants at transplanting time, to remove injured parts and to maintain a balance between root and top; II. Of established plants — 1. To keep the growth within bounds, particularly when * it is desired that the plant shall be dwarf; 2. To concentrate or contract the foraging area of the roots; 3. To make plants fruitful. We have already found (Section 2, Chapter V) that root^ pruning checks growth: it cuts off a part of the food-supply. The same principles govern the practice of root-pruning as of top-pruning. The wounds heal by the formation of a callus, germs of decay enter exposed wounds, new or adventitious roots start as the result of heavy pruning, the severed leader (or tap- root) tends to renew itself (see Fig. 132), and the general remarks on seasons for pruning apply to roots with nearly the same force as to tops. Since roots have no buds, the new h)ranches do not arise in a definite order as they do on tops, but this is a matter of no consequence to the grower. The direction of the roots is important — whether they run horizontally and near the surface, or perpendicularly. The direction, however, is not determined primarily by methods of pruning, but by the nature of the plant, by the soil, and the distribution of moisture and food. The root-pruning of established plants is practicable only on a small scale. It is performed sometimes in amateur plantations, or when it is desired to keep plants within definite Vjounds or shapes. It is essentially a garden idea. It is practised in Euro- pean inclosures, in the growing of trees to pyramids, cordons, 164 SPECIFIC ADVICE or espaliers, and the like. (See Chapter VII.) By cutting the roots, they are kept within a prescribed area, and do not inter- fere with other plants. The tops of the plants are thereby checked of exuberant growth, and are more manageable on walls and trellises. These small bearing trees are often taken up and replanted, in order to keep them within bounds. In the well- tilled gardens, and in cool and moist climates, it is often thought to be desirable to keep the roots near the surface; but in American orchard con- ditions it is desirable that the roots strike deep. Root - pruning is a very special practice, and needs no further treatment here. It should be employed with caution, for while the pruner may remove a large proportion of the top without causing in- jury, a relatively small reduction of the root has marked effects and may permanently injure the plant. Root-pruning when transplanting. Root-pruning naturally results from the removal of plants. The severed roots, when as large as a lead-pencil, should be cut back to live uninjured wood, and the wound should be clean- R A^" WN/^iL .^^ ~> ^^^^v'^'*^^^ ^m ^V^^^"*^^"^ ~^^7], iM^^wS^i^^"^^^^ & '^P\ ■"j^p Mp — ^ ^^ /'Y' \ 172 Roots do not start from the callus. TRIMMING THE ROOTS 165 cut. The main roots of nursery trees two to four years old may be left 6 to 10 inches long (page 150). There is much discussion as to where the new roots arise in transplanted trees. They do not necessarily, if ever, arise from the callus. From an apple tree two years old, one side of the root was shaved. The tree was planted, and after growing two years, was taken up and photographed (Fig. 172). The callus had formed on both sides of the w^ound, but no roots had started from it. Jhe new roots usually arise from firm strong roots the size of a lead-pencil or larger; but they may also arise from the hair- hke roots which are on the tree when it is transplanted. The place from which the new roots arise is largely determined by the habit of the individual plant. In some cases, all the roots spring from the main shaft or trunk, and in others they seem to arise almost indiscriminately from the tnmk, large roots and verj^ fine roots. The figures, carefully drawn, from actual examples of apple trees, illustrate the point. The root at the left in Fig. 173 was trimmed of all its fine roots when trans- planted. It is seen that the new roots start from different parts of the root-sys- tem. The root at the right in Fig. 173 had a few smaU but not very fine roots left. The new roots are starting from near the ends of these roots, 173. where the new roots start. 166 SPECIFIC ADVICE large and small alike. The roots do not start from the calluses. The notion that roots start directly downward if the old roots are cut diagonally on the under side, so that the callus looks downward, is a fallacy. In practice, it is usually inadvisable to exercise much care to save the very fine roots when transplanting shrubs and trees, for such roots are liable to be killed by short exposure to the weather, and to be injured in shipping and transplanting; but the opinion that they are of no use in a transplanted tree, and that new roots do not arise from them, is erroneous. Some years ago a so-called system of close root-pruning was advocated as the result of the experiments and writings of H. M. Stringfellow, of Texas, and it has come to be known as the stub-root or Stringfellow system. It cuts off practically all the roots, leaving only stubs an inch or two long; and it cuts back the tops to a mere stump 12 to 18 inches high. The best exposi- tion of the subject is contained in Stringfellow's "New Horti- culture," published in 1896, but the public interest in the subject has not been maintained. Persons interested in it will find a dis- cussion also in the original "Pruning-Book." SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT OF THE PLANTS Having now obtained a general conception of the type of tree we wish to grow, and having started off the main or scaffold branches, the subsequent treatment con- sists in cutting out all interfering and superfluous limbs and keeping the top within the shape that we have in mind. In fruit-trees, the head should be kept fairly open, so that all parts are exposed to sun and air, and the tree is made accessible 174. Greening tree of to pickers, and easy to Spray. Thick-headed two seasons growth, ^ ' . . . unpruned and pruned, trecs are modifications for climates m A GREENING APPLE TREE 167 which sun-scald is a menace. All limbs that tend to make an over-vigorous growth should be cut out or checked, in order that the tree may keep its balance; and limbs that run 175. The same tree, unpruned and pruned, two years later. directly crossswise the top, and those that rub each other, should be removed. Some of the problems connected with the form of the top may be suggested in a series of pictures taken from an individual tree of Rhode Island Greening. This tree was set in the spring of 1889. Having grown two years without pruning, in the autumn of 1890 it looked like the left- hand tree in Fig. 174. In the winter of 1890-1891 it was pruned, as shown at the right. The tree stands in rich ground and has made a heavy growth. As the top begins to expand, the ap- parent length of the trunk decreases, and in the fall of 1892 the tree looked as shown in Fig. 175; that is, tops which may look to be very high when trees are young may appear to be low when the trees have attained some age. These pictures are drawn to a scale, 176. The tree starting into growth in its third season in the orchard. 168 SPECIFIC ADVICE and the length of trunk bears a true proportion to the width of the top. In the winter of 1892-1893 the tree, as shown at the left in Fig. 175, was pruned to the extent sho^vn at the right, and the following summer (1893) the tree had the form sho^\^l in Fig. 176. Late in the season of 1894 the tree was draA\Ti again, as shown in Fig. 177. The following winter it was again primed, and in the spring of 1895 it had the appear- ance of Fig. 178. It will be seen that the long and stilt-like \11. The tree in the autumn of 1894. character of the tree has disappeared, and the very perceptible crook in the trunk has tended to straighten. The tree now begins to have character, and its four scaffold limbs are well established. The tree is not perfect in form, however, since it has perhaps too much of a crotch; eleven years later (1916), as showTi in Fig. 179, the trunk has good form for the variety and the scaffold Ihnbs have taken on their mature character; of course, the entire top is not shoA\Ti in this picture. A Tetofsky apple tree, two years planted, is showii in Fig. 180. This variety makes very few strong interior growths, and THE TOP OF THE YOUNG TREE 169 therefore needs comparatively little thinning. It is already making conspicuous fruit-spurs alongside the upright branches. I'lie pruning of the tree is shown at the right. There are three main or scaffold limbs. It may be necessary to remove some of the oth(!r branches as time goes on; but it is always difficult to determine in the beginning which ones are wanted, and it is well not to trim the tree too heavily, so as to reduce its leaf- ^^ ^^i^i 'h 178. In the spring of 1895, having been pruned in the winter. bearing capacity, or to set it into too strong growth of water- sprouts. A Longficld apple tree is shown in Fig. 181. The variety has a drooping habit, and an effort is made to encourage the upper limbs and to remove the lower or declining parts. How this is accomplished is shown at the right. The tree was started too low in the first place, and it has a bad crotch; and later on, the large fork on the right was entirely removed. It then had a good form, but the tree is now weeping as much as ever; that is, it is impossible to overcome the natural habit of the tree, 170 SPECIFIC ADVICE and however high such a variety may be trained, it will eventu- ally reach nearly or quite to the ground. A sweet cherry (Windsor) is shown in Fig. 182. This also has a bad crotch, and eventually one of the branches was cut i"^.'-*:. ■'■Wk -Vo- 179. The trunk and main branches in the summer of 1916. 180. Tetofsky apple unpruned and pruned. away, at a on the right, leaving a tree of good form, with the branches started about 4 feet high. The general thinning of the top is shown at the right. A sour cherry (Early Rich- mond) is shown, after pruning, in Fig. 183. This tree has an excellent type of branching, and the pruning is about as nearly perfect as one ordi- narily can make it. An apricot tree is sho^vn in Figs. 181. Longfield apple tree before and after pruning. 184 and 185. ThlS TOPS OF YOUNG TREES 171 tree grows against the south side of a building, although it is not trained on the wall. It is desired, therefore, to have a very flat and spreading top. The branches were started low, but they arise too nearly from a com- mon point, thereby making a bad crotch, yet the apri- cot is less hkely to split than trees that bear heavier loads of fruit. The tree was neglected for three or four years, and when pruning became necessary, it was thinned out to the extent shown in Fig. 185. The head can thereafter be kept free and open with only a slight effort of annual cutting. 182. Sweet cherry unpruned and pruned. 183. Well-formed sour cherry tree. 184. Apricot tree in need of pruning. 172 SPECIFIC ADVICE A neglected peach tree, four years planted, is shown in Fig. 186. It is very thick, and some of the lower branches are weak and almost dead because they have been overshaded by the dense top. This tree was pruned to the form shown at the right, and developed into a handsome and prolific tree. Fig. 187 is adapted from photographs pubhshed by J. H. Hale, to show the methods of treating a peach tree. In the transplanting of large or established trees, it is necessary that the tops be headed-back, and the more serious the cutting of the roots, the more extensive should be the cutting-in of the top. Fig. 188 shows a six-year-old cherry tree cut In all such cases, it is important that old and dry stubs are not left. The stubs should be cut back from time to time as new branches start, giving preference to the strong growth and cutting out the feeble wood. The pruning of a large or old tree when removed is a ^^ I ^ , subject for the spe- cialist. It is easily possible to stub- back so heavily as to prevent its re- suming its activi- ties. As much of the root-system is retained, so much of the top may 186. Neglected peach tree, before and after pruning, remam. 185. One way of handling the tree (Fig. 184). back after transplanting. GRAFTED TREES 173 MANAGEMENT OF TOP-WORKED TREES When trees are top-budded or top-grafted, it is usually the purpose to change their entire top to the new variety. In old trees it is mostly de- sirable to graft all the leading limbs, thereby endeavoring to maintain the original shape as nearly as possible. In young trees, only two or three of the limbs can be grafted or budded, and some- times the whole top is cut off and cions 1S7. Peach tree before and after pruning and heading-back. set in the main stock or trunk. The grafting of the main trunk has disadvantages, because a bad fork is hkely to occur at the graft, and it is usually better, therefore, to set the cions or buds in the branches. Fig. 189 shows the treatment of a small top-budded apple tree. Three buds are in- serted, one in the main trunk or leader, and one in each of the two side branches. The buds are in- serted in sunmier, and early the next spring the limbs are cut 34 inch above each bud, as in A. Fig. 190 shows another tree in which many buds have been set, all of which are growing. It shows , , ., , ,, , T . , 1 1 ii 188. A large tree headed-back that the stubs project beyond the on transplanting. 5S;5W?S&»-^^«''<> /£ ISO. Top-budded apple tree. 'iv^ ^A ^}-Mv- 191. Yoving pear tree top-grafted, from whieh the watersprouts or suckers had not been removed. (174) 190. Top-budded young apple tree. ^.-J^ 192. _ The tree pnmed (Fig. 191). TOP-WORKED TREES 175 buds. As soon as the buds have begun to grow vigorously, these stubs are cut back close to the base of the new branch to facilitate their healing over. A strong pear tree was grafted in three limbs in April. In September of the same year, the tree looked as shown in Fig. 191, being very much entangled with strong watersprouts, because of the severe prun- ^ /i?; ^ ing. Before growth began the following spring, all of this adventitious growth was removed, the tree then looking as in Fig. 192. Some of the branches of the stock were left, since the grafts were not yet large enough to form the whole top. If too much of the stock is cut off, the cions tend to grow too long and are likely to be broken by snow and wind. In trees set only two to four years, the top can be changed in two years by grafting; but apple trees fifteen to twenty years old ordinarily can not be changed so rapidly. Four or five years may be required in some cases. Fig. 193 is a Lombard plum tree grafted to a Japanese variety. The tree was four years old when grafted, and the second year thereafter all the old top was removed, as shown in the illustration. It will now be necessary to remove some of the cions and to thin out the top, much as if the tree were recently planted. The operator must look out for adventitious growths or suckers from the stock, after the tree has been changed to the desired variety. The equilibrium of the tree has been so much upset by the heavy pruning that these watersprouts and auxil- 193. A top-grafted plum tree. 194. The upright suckers should have been removed. 176 SPECIFIC ADVICE iary growths may arise for several years. Fig. 194 is a Kil- marnock willow, a weeping variety, grafted on a strong upright- growing stock. In this case, the stock has thrown out long suckers, and the drooping head is beginning to famish and die. These suckers should be re- moved as soon as they begin to fonn. This trouble of suckering from the stock is likely to occur in ornamental plants, as in top -worked weeping and variegated varieties. Such varieties are generally weak growers, and cannot take up the exuberant strength of the root ; and often the stock is not of the right kind or species. Usually not all the shoots arising the first year from the cions should be allowed to grow, for they may be too many to form a proper framework. One of the two cions stand- ing on the opposite sides of a stub is commonly removed to avoid the making of crotches; such forks are evident in Fig. 193. However, good results often follow the leaving of even too many of the cion-shoots, as shown in Fig. 195, which is an apple tree grafted sixty years ago. 195. Old apple tree top-grafted when young, the head being formed directly from the cion-shoots. MANAGEMENT OF DWARF TREES Dwarf plants are those that do not attain to the normal or habitual stature of the species or variety to which they belong. There are two general kinds of dwarf plants — dwarf varieties, and dwarf individuals. The former class retains its dwarfness DWARFS 177 of itself, without artificial aid. It is the nature of such plants to be dwarf, or small in stature. The second class is forced to be dwarf by some treatment which is applied to each individual plant, as — By grafting or budding on a slower-growing root or stock; By confining the tops by means of pruning or training; By confining the roots by means of pruning, or by growing in pots, boxes, or other restricted place. The first of these three categories is not a subject for discus- sion in a pruning-book, but it may be said that it is not enough that the plant be worked on slow-growing root: it must also be systematically headed-in if its stature is to be kept within bounds. This is true of dwarf pears, dwarf apples, dwarf cher- ries, and all the rest. Root-pruning, as a means of limiting growth, has already been discussed (page 163). Top-pruning of a dwarf has two objects — ^to limit the growth, and to train the plant to a desired form. Pruning to limit growth is merely heading-back. This should be performed every winter. How much the growth shall be headed-back de- pends on its length and the age of the tree. Dwarf pears and apples making an average growth of 18 to 30 inches on the uppermost twigs are usually headed-back one-half to five-sixths of that growth. This cutting-back will induce a lateral or interior growth (Section 9, Chapter V), and this must be thinned out. It is generally best to prune late in winter or early in spring, and to cut to within three-eights inch of a bud (see Figs. 84, 85). Pruning to secure some desired shape of the top must, of course, be governed by the ideal pattern of the operator. There are two general forms to which dwarf fruit-trees are pruned — the pyramid and the inverted cone. The pyramid is popular in Europe, and the Old-World writings contain minute descriptions of the details of pruning for it. Fig. 196 shows dwarf pear 178 SPECIFIC ADVICE pyramids. The essential feature of this type of training is a central shaft from which successive tiers of branches are taken. The flat-topped or inverted-cone-shaped style of training is the conunonest pattern in commercial American orchards, although there are few plantations in which it has been syste- matically worked out. Good trees of this form are shown in Fig. 197. The essential feature of this type of training — which is V ^ ^ A 'K 196. Dwarf pears in pyramid form. ^^ 197. Dwarf pears in the flat-topped form. probably best for orchard conditions — is a framework of several approximately coordinate branches arising near the ground. The training of such trees requires the following pro- cedure (Yeomans) : "A dwarf pear tree should never be planted at one year old. A good one-year-old tree consists of a single upright shoot or stem, from 3H to 5 feet high, and should be cut off at about 2 feet from the ground; and in order to give a smooth handsome stem or trunk, let the buds be rubbed off to the height of 1 foot from the ground, leaving on the upper portion six to nine buds, more or less. With the tree standing in its original position in full vigor, and cut back as above stated, each one of these buds will throw out a good strong branch, which gives a full round distaff form to the tree. This is the time and manner, and the only time, when that desirable shape can be given on which the future form and symmetry and beauty depend. To avoid what is termed a crotched or forked-top tree, in which the two uppermost branches are about of equal vigor and height, let the DWARF PEARS 179 second branch from the top be pinched off when about 9 inches or 1 foot long, which will chock and weaken it, while the uppermost one becomes a strong central leader. If the tree be transplanted at one year old, and cut back as above stated, the vital forces of the tree will be weakened half or three-fourths by transplanting, and as the result, only two or three (more or less) of the buds on the trunk will grow so as to form branches, and they, perhaps, only at the top or all on one side, while the remaining buds continue dormant, never afterward to be developed, as the other branches form new channels, which wiU more readily carry the sap to the other and upper portions of the trees. For transplanting, therefore, let a tree be two or more years old from the bud, well cut back at one year old, and with six to nineanain branches, which form the framework or foundation, which is to give form and character to the future tree, with proper care and manage- ment. "The cut (Fig. 198) illustrates a two-year-old tree, as above described, its lower branches about 1 foot from the ground, its upper branches being the strongest and most upright, and those below less vigorous and more horizontal. I speak of this more particu- larly for the reason that all the cuts which I have noticed in works on pomology, and in agricultural papers, represent a two-year- old tree, with branches much the longest and strongest at the bottom and diminish- ing in vigor toward the top, except, perhaps, the center top branch; while all experience illustrates the principle that the sap flows most freely and readily to the upper branches, giving them vigor, strength and uprightness, to the diminution of the same characteristics in those below. The dotted lines indicate where the branches should be cut back at the time of planting. "In cutting a tree, with the branches formed as above described, let the leader be cut down within 4 to 6 inches of the place where the one-year-old tree was cut off, and just above a good bud on the side of the tree over the previous year's cut, thus keeping the leader in a perpendicular position over the original trunk or bottom of the tree. If the side branches are too horizontal, upper buds are left for their extension; if too upright, lower buds are left. Side direction may be given, if desirable, to fill wide places, in the same way. Cut the other 198. Treatment of two-year-old dwarf pear tree. 180 SPECIFIC ADVICE branches at such a distance from the trunk that the ends of them will form a pyramid, the base of which should not be over 12 to 16 inches in diameter, and in smallish trees much less; thus the lowest branches will be left the longest, the object of which is to check the natural flow of sap to the upper branches, and induce it to flow more forcibly to the lower ones, increasing the vigor and force of the latter as much as possible, which must be done at that time or never. "The Fig. 199 represents a three-year-old tree, after it has been pruned at two years old and made the third year's growth, and showing where it should be cut back at that time. All subsequent pruning will become easy to anyone who has attended to these directions thus far — observing the same principles — thinning out or cutting back any secondary or other branches, as shall seem necessary to admit light and air, or give vigor or symmetry of form to the tree; but as the greater force of sap will flow to the central and upright branches, they will need to be cut back most, retaining as nearly as may be the pyramidal form. Pruning may be per- formed at any time from November to April. Gradually the p>Tamidal form disappears, and at full maturity the shape is that of Fig. 197, which represents a tree about fifty years old and 12 feet high." Other illustrations may explain some of the ways of treating dwarf pears. Fig. 200 is a tree at the end of its first season's growth in the or- chard. The forks near the ends of the branches show where it was cut at plant- ing time. The tree at the right shows the way in which it was again pruned. A dwarf pear tree three years set is shown in Fig. 201. The top was started wrong — with only two , ^ . . , . branches and these in 1 oung dwarf pear tree before and after pruning. the form of a crotch. 200. DWARFS 181 When pruned two sprouts were left. The tree will now have four scaffold branches; but it will never be a well-formed tree. The pruning of dwarf apples is essentially like that advised for pears. If the tree is on paradise stock, very close attention must be given to pruning, else the top will become too large for the root. If it is on the larger-growing doucin stock, a somewhat freer growth may be allowed. RINGING AND GIRDLING Girdling is a generic term used to designate the making of a wound completely around a stem. A girdle may extend only through the bark, or deep into the wood. Ringing is a specific horticultural term used to designate a girdle that extends only through the bark; the wound may be a simple incision with the point of a knife, or it may be made by the complete removal of a section of bark. In horticultural practice, girdling into the wood is rarely desirable, and, therefore, we shall use the word ringing in the present discussion. We have already considered the philos- ophy of ringing (page 121 and subsequently; it is discussed again, for vinifera vines, in Chapter X). It pro- motes fruitfulness of the part above the ring, because the elaborated food is held there, not being able to pass the girdle in its downward course. mi r J.J. • i« .1 201. Poorly formed dwarf pear tree before 1 he lattenmg OI the and after pruning. 182 SPECIFIC ADVICE top, SO to speak, is at the expense of the part below the ring. If the ba.rk is not allowed to cover the ring, the root must eventually starve, unless there is foliage below the ring to sup- port it. As a matter of practice, however, the ring is made in spring and is allowed to heal, and the direct effect is, therefore, confined mostly to the year m which the ringing is performed. Ringing is useful in two ways — it may set unproductive trees into bearing, and it may modify the fruit borne above the ring. The former effect usually does not appear until the year following the ringing — sometimes not till the second year. The latter effect is immediate. The philosophy of the one is that the extra food tends to develop fruit-buds, the philosophy of the other is that the extra food hastens the maturity and increases the size of the fruit already growing. Ringing to induce fruit-bearing is to be regarded as a special practice and always to be employed with caution. It is generally a last resort — not because ringing injures the tree, but because there are more fundamental and general means of promoting fruitfulness. (Read pages 123-126.) If a tree here and there persists in being barren, it may be ringed as an experiment. Ringing is sometimes employed on young trees in test planta- tions to bring them early into bearing, but such trees are often seriously injured thereby. Ringing is usually performed about the time growth begins. It is well to experiment on one or two branches first. Run the point of a knife-blade around the stem, sinking it to the wood. This will usually be sufficient ; but removing an inch of bark at this season usually does no harm if the tree is vigorous. Ringing to increase the size and hasten the maturity of fruits is such a well-known practice that reputable societies have long refused to award premiums to fruits which have been modified in this way. The quality usually suffers. It is custom- ary to make the ring just after the fruit has set, so that indi- vidual specimens may be chosen. A strip of bark l^ inch RINGING 183 wide is often taken out. The part above the ring should bear an abundance of foliage, else there will be insufficient food to support the fruit. Gaucher ("Die Veredelungen," 364) remarks that "the width of the bark to be removed from the whole circumference of the shoot or branch varies between 3 and 5 milUmeters (a millimeter is .039 inch, hence 1/10 to 2/10 inch). Wider than this, the cut should not be made, as otherwise it is to be feared the wound would remain open all summer and bring about the death of the part above the cut." "If performed extensively upon a tree," writes Lindley ("Theory of Horticulture," American edition, 255), ringing "is very apt, if not to kill it, at least to render it incurably unhealthy; for if the rings are not sufficiently wide to cut off all communication between the upper and lower lips of the wound they produce httle effect, and if they are, they are difficult to heal." Grapes can be made to ripen earlier and to grow larger if the vine is girdled in early summer, but the quality is supposed to be injured. The section of bark removed from the grape-vine is so large that the wound never heals, and the whole cane is cut away at the annual winter pruning. The renewal wood of the vine is not ringed, however, and this maintains the growth of the plant; but it is a question whether this renewal wood is sufficient to keep the plant strong and healthy. Grape-ringing has been practised by many growers, and mostly with good success so far as the precocity and enlargement of grapes is concerned. It is yet a question whether it is profitable through- out a series of years and with all varieties of grapes. In the Hudson Valley, ringing or girdling has been employed for many years, but is now mostly given up except now and then with Delaware and Champion.* *The subject of grape-ringing was discussed at length in the original "Pruning-Book," but it is a special practice of such doubtful utility that the account need not be repeated here. For the ringing of vinifera vines, see Chapter X. 184 SPECIFIC ADVICE All agree that heavy fertilizing is necessary to keep up the vigor of girdled vinos. All weak-looking vinos are loft ungirdloil. The time for girdling is shortly after the fruit is formed and when the young grape is about the size of a pea. It is performed by reniON-ing a rmg of bark nearly 1 inch broad from the arm or branch of last year's wood. One or two shoots of the present season's growth should bo loft back of the girdle for renewal, or for the next season's bearing wood. A knife is made specially for this purpose; its form is shown in the illustration (Fig. 202). It consists of two hooked blades, attached to a wooden handle, parallel to each other and about J^ inch apart. The mnor part of each blade is tiled to a cutting edge. A chisel-shaped knife is fast- ened on the back of the handle. In operation the blades are hooked over the vine and the handle passed around it, at the same time holding the blades firmly on the vine; this will cut two lines J/g inch apart through the bark. The knife is then lifted from the vine, turned over, and with the chisel- shaped part the ring of bark is severed and lifted from its place. The whole operation is performed in a few seconds. The grapes should be removed from the shoots left growing back of the girdle, as it is desirable that these shoots should make a vigorous growth of wood for bearing fruit the next season. The vine beyond the girdle makes a great growth of wood and fruit, and the edge of the girdled spot calluses and partly overgrows the naked wood. Shortly after the fruit has boon harvested the gmllod part is severed from the vino for the benefit of next year's bearing wood. 203. The incisions. The bark removed. The cane in autumn. RINGING 185 Thf3 accompanying picture (Fig. 203) shows the effect of girdling in augmenting the size of the cane above the girdle, and also tlic general shape of the wound. The ringing of herbaceous plants, as tomato and chrysan- themum, to jjromote fruitfulness, gave results so deleterious to the plant, at the New York Experiment Station (Geneva), that its practice wa« discouraged. At the same station, Howe experimented with the ringing of fnait-trees, drawing the fol- lowing conclusions: "Under certain conditions, ringing may indiipe and possibly increase fruitfulness of apples, but it rarely has these favorable effects on other fruits. It had no apparent influence upon the size, color, or maturity of apples. Only young and very vigorous apple trees, possibly now and then pear and cherry trees, can survive ringing, and even with these fruits the compeiLsating gains seldom offset the injury to the trees. "The practice of ringing stone-fruits should never be followed. The experiments indicate almost 100 per cent loss in the life of the trees. "Regular and successive increases in productiveness did not result from the ringing of several varieties of our tree-fruits. "The general effect of ringing on the roots of the trees was to decrease their size and number and to lessen their vigor." RENEWING OLD TREES; POLLARDING Old, weak, and neglected trees may be considerably revived and sometimes even renewed by pruning practices. The danger- ous wounds must be treated and general repairs be undertaken, as exx)lained in Chapter IV. Thereafter, a severe cutting-back, or "dehorning," may be given. Old apple trees are often brought into shape and condition again by the removal of several feet from the ends of long and pole-like branches. Fig. 204 shows two apple trees, forty to fifty 186 SPECIFIC ADVICE years old, three years after vigorous cutting-back. Side growths have started and the trees are beginning to bear acceptably. This treatment must be accompanied, of course, by good tillage, spraying, and other adequate care. If the orchard is very thick, part of the trees should be removed. Cutting-back to mere barren stubs is not to be advised in fruit-trees, except as a last resort. Fig. 205 shows such a case, of which Chandler writes as follows: "The tree has been de- horned in winter. Note the large amount of new gro^vth that has started out in the spring. When a tree has been injured in winter, or an old tree has become so weak that we want to renew its vigor, we can take advantage of the fact that the buds have been killed some whiter and cut it back. How- ever, cutting-back as much as this is never desirable. It will give us long dense growth, with slender whips. This wood looks healthy, but it is impossible to thin out enough of the twigs so that those left will have room to become stocky and strong without very seriously reducing the crop for the following sum- mer. If there is no thinning out of these shoots, we will get a tree with the branches long and slender and the fruiting wood only on the outer ends." The moderate cutting-back of old pole-branched peach trees often produces good results in the renewal of the tree; but usually it is better to gi-ow a new tree or to plant a new orchard. On the renovating process of cutting back old and neglected apple trees, Jarvis advises as follows for Connecticut (Bulletin No. 61, Storrs Experiment Station): "Most trees are too high and may be greatly improved by cutting back the upper 204. The renewal of old apple trees by "dehorning." CUTTING-HACK OLD TUKKS 187 branches. A tree that ia 30 feet or over in height often may be Khortcned by 10 or 15 foot, and one between 25 and 30 feet often may be cut back to about 15 or 20 feet. The horizontal branches, as well as the upright ones, may be cut back to advantage;, especially with trees seriously lacking in vitaUty, and also those infesUid with scale. In heafling-back the upright branches, the cut is usually made just above a side branch that points outward. This tends to make the tree more spreading in habit. With trees thatfc, are naturally >^ >^ spreading and where a more upright growth is desired, the cutting may be done just be- yond an upright side branch. If this method is followed with all horizontal branches, a much stronger struc- ture will be the result. "Th(; severity of heading-in will depend largely upon the vigor of the tree. Nothing will start a tree into renewed vigor like severe pruning during the dormant season. The cutting- back, therefore, should be more severe with weakened trees. With moderately vigorous trees, there Ls danger of producing a rank growth in the form of watersprouts. If it is desirable to severely head-back such trees, it is better to do it gradually, a little each year, and withhold all nitrogenous fertilizers. A still better plan would be to remove about half of the required amount of brush during the winter, and the remainder during the growing season. The effect of summer pruning upon the vigor of the tree is just the opposite to that of winter pruning 205. A cut-back peach tree. 188 SPECIFIC ADVICE and will coimteract the stinuilating oilVct of tho latter. With most of tho nogloctoil orchards, howovor, tho vitality is so low that most of tlio pruning may bo dono, without fear of injury, during a singlo dormant soason. "Tho sovority of out ting-hack will also depend upon the presence of scale. The work of spraying is greatly simplified and the chances for success in controlling tlie scales are greatly enlumced by extreme methods of prunmg. 200. Hoadins-iii. to show about tho usual proportion of cutting-back. "After the trees have been sufhciently headed-in, all dead and diseased branches should be removed, and also, such other branches as are necessary to produce a condition favorable to tho free circulation of air and tho admission of sunlight. While it is possible to overdo tho pruning process, especially with the best of neglected orchards, the average man is more likely to err in tho other direction." All tho foregoing is to bo sharply distinguished from tho ordi- nary heading-in which is designed merely to condense the top CUTTING BACK 189 207. PruninK-kriifc. and to restrain some of the most vigorous growths, and which is not a r(!ncwal process. Such h(;apiM-a(iHl \\'\\\\ a mallol struck on \\\c vwd oi (l»o hamllo. 'Pool // is also nunintiHl on a long haiuilc, ami is a ooinbiniition oi a saw and a sl\i>ar (oi^l. Long-handloii tools arc of ntinor valuo, }>ai(ii'ularl_v in oivhards, for (ho oporator slumiil bo vory oloso (o his woik. 'Thoy aro usoful in takinji; ou( limbs hiMO ai\d (horo and for uso on orna- mon(al troos whioh aiv ditliouU (o flin\b. Tho \\'a(ors* (rot^-prunoi' — which is V(M\v usoful ior hoading-iu midying limbs^ — works upon tho principle of tho knifo in //, Fia;. 211. A tool i>f (ho san)0]M-im'iplo is shown in Kiii'. 212. ln\pK>n\i>n(s of sin\ilar dovico aiv shtnvn in I'igs. 213 mid 211. A pruning ohisol is shown at - bo sovoivd by moans of a simplo thrust of tho tool, ami larii'o onos aro cut by striking tho ond of (ho l\andlo with a n\allot. Tools of this typo aro on tho n\arkot. Another tool with a chisol-liko odgo is sliowii in Fiii;. 21ti. This is an Furopoan tool, ami is used in iMiming foivsts. 21-. DoiibK^lovor !»iui siiijiU^ lovor polo v^runor. < 215. H' 21'i. A v,i,\>f:. (193) 210, lirambkhook- 194 SPECIFIC ADVICE Des Cars describes it as follows ("A Treatise on Pruning Forest and Onianicntal Trees," American edition, 22): ''The best tool for the purpose is one which has been used for many years in Holland, and which has lately been improved by Courval. It weighs two pounds twelve ounces to three pounds six oimces, or more, according to the strength of the workman [and is 16 inches long]. The blade is reinforced in the middle to increase its strength and concentrate the weight. In the north of France this tool is generally hung to an u"on hook attached to a leather strap buckled round the workman's waist, who is thus left perfectly free in his movements." Another European device is the dendroscope (Fig. 217). This is used when it is desired to reduce the top of a large tree to a given fomi. A figure of the desired form is cut in a piece of cardboard, and a thread or wire is stretched across the opening from top to bottom. The operator holds the card before his eye, bringing the wire against the center of the trunk, and walks toward the tree until the bottom of the opening strikes the ground line. He can then make a mental note of the places to cut the branches in order to produce the desired outline. For removing the canes from bush-fruits (as raspberries, gooseberries), roses, and other shrubs, various hooks and spuds are useful. Three styles of these are sIioami in Figs. 218, 219. There are also devices for cutting the runners from straw- berry plants, one thrust of the implement leaving the hill in proper size and shape. One of these is represented in Fig. 220. A writer describes the following mask (Fig. 221) to protect the face while pruning: "I am pruning, and for the past few years have found great comfort in a mask over the face to keep off the sun and wind. It often makes the dift'erence between being able to stay at work or not during some days at this time of year. I wear spectacles, and to prevent the breath freezing on them use a stiffish wire hooked behind each ear and bent around close to the face, just clearing the eyes, and over the BURSlSa THE PRUNINOH 195 c«og> iC3 rjowt; likii a Hpf^timtU* frame; on thi» w run a thick piece of cotton, covering the ru^i and faBe tape from the comers under the chin kf^ips the viind from get- ting under, and turning it up over the ay an." The foUowing device in which to bum the pniningH ifi described by Bahner ''see ali>f> Fig. '^67 in Chapter Xj : "A matter in c/mncA-Xion with pmning, and one which should always have the closest jitt5 thtat of gathering up the prunings. Thf:«e are oiUinihafnf-, the har- U>r of aphis e^s, and the eggs of other injurious wmiftijn, and if left lying on the ground Ux) long these eggs may hiatch and do a great amount of damage. Our practice iii to rake up the prunings into bunches and loarl them into a wagon, to be hauled away and burned. In parts of California where they have very large orchards, a kind of portable furnace is us^^J; this m a large sheet-iron receptacle mounted on four wheek, with an iron frame. In the center of the iron trough is a grate. On this a fire is light^irj, and the pmnings, having been previ- ously raked with a horsfj-rake into rows, are loaded on to this fire. A horsf; is hitched to this portable furnace, and the whole orchard gone over, the fire lx;ing kept up all the while. This hi said U) work well in vineyards, but may be too cumlxirsfjme for our Washington orchards. At all events, see to it that the prunings are bumwJ and the ashes returned to the orchard." 2'2fi. Htrawberry pruner. 221. Prumjig mask- 196 SPECIFIC ADVICE REMARKS ON GIVEN PLANTS With the foregoing discussion in mind, we may now consider the appUcation to particular kinds of plants. Naturally we must confine this explanation to a few leading separate fruits, and to the ornamental plants as a group. 222. A well-formed old apple tree for the eastern region, with open cen- ter (no continuing trunk). 223. A well-formed old apple tree for eastern conditions, with the trunk or leader continvdng into the top. A'p'ple The apple tree is a vigorous plant, and should be pruned moderately every year. Pruning in late winter is the rule. Yet the apple tree, like other fruits, may be pruned in early spring or late autumn. The average height at which the limbs of apple trees are started is about 4 feet from the ground; but the height must be governed by climate, variety, and the personal desire of the grower. From three to five limbs should form the scaffold of the top. When the general form of the top has been well established — by three or PRUNING THE APPLE 197 four years of thoughtful attention — the subsequent pruning consists mostly in removing all superfluous limbs in the center of the top; that is, those that run crosswise the top, that rub other limbs, or that tend to make certain parts of the top too thick. Avoid pruning all the side branches from the main limbs, else these limbs will become too long and pole-like. There are no particular precautions to be observed in the pruning of an apple tree. Illustrations on preceding pages show stages in the pruning of apple trees. Others are given herewith. With Fig. 143, on page 149, may be compared Fig. 222, representing an old tree of good form pruned on the open- center plan. With Fig. 144, may be compared the old tree with a more or less continuing trunk in Fig. 223 ; this illustration, as also Fig. 222, does not show the full spread of the branches. The pruning of apple trees to bush-forms, with systematic 224. Bush-form apple tree that was headed-back to A, B, C. 225. The growth of Fig. 224 after two seasons. P^^F 226. The growth of Fig. 225 after one season. 198 SPECIFIC ADVICE 227. A garden apple tree, after pruning. shortening of the annual or leading sluiots, is little practised in tliis country. Some of the special geometrical forms of training are explained in Chapter Ml; at this point we may examine bush - forms adapted from James Uilale's ''The Handy Book on Pruning," a recent English book. Fig. 224 is an Early Rivei-s apple, grafted on apple stock, hi the sprhig (April) of 1900 and cut back at A B C hi the late winter or spring of 1901; Fig. 225 shows the groAvth at the end of 1902; and Fig. 226 at the end of 1903. Fig. 227 shows a Pott's Seedling apple tree after pruning, exhibiting the bush-Uke form, the many side branches, and the abundance of spurs. Planted m November, 1896, this tree produced two and three-fourths bushels of first-class apples in 1904. Such trees as this receive detailed attention year after year. Pear Pear trees are usually started lower than apple trees, at least than the orchard apple trees of the East in the past gen- eration. This is because the top tends to grow more upright, and therefore to be out of the way, and because the trunk is very liable to be injured by sun-scald. Three to 4 feet is the usual height of pear trunks for eastern conditions. The top should be thinned every spring (preferably before the leaves start); but heavy pruning should always be avoided, because it causes a quick growth and thereby exposes the tree to danger from fire-blight. Removing the fruit-spurs — which are very prom- inent hi the pear, persisting for several or many years — is a fH(JMS(J I'hAU AM J I'EAC.H 19(i direct mearm of thinning the fniit, but it Hhould be employed witJi caution, if at all. It iw well Uj keep all spurK and Kprouts off tlje tfunk and t)je lower partH of the main limbH, for if bliglit attackij thfi«e shootH the disease is liable to run down into the trunk and cauwi irreparable flarnage. I'ear trt^js are rrjOKtIy narrow growers, and more framework branchfis may often be left than is advis*id for apple trees. (Fig. 228.) The annual pruning, aftfir the tre/; is well startfid on its way, is small in ext .siich as to f;ive the tree a low, spreading head, with a trunk about 4 feet high, and with the top built out on three to five nitun arms. We have piu'sued this method on the Windsor and other varieties, and the trees, instead of growing in the usual spire-shape, assume an apple- tree fonn. After the fii^st two or three years no pruning is needed, except to remove deatl branches, and to keep sui)er- fluous branches from intercrossing. The advantages gained from this fonn of tree are of great importance. First, the body of the cherry tree is less likely to be injured from the hot sim, which causes it, especially on the side of the prevailing wind, to crack and split, exude sap, and finally to die. The low, spreading head shades the tnmk and large branches, and obviates this difficulty to a great extent. In westcMii New York this trouble is not so serious as it is on the black kmcls farther west. A second advantage, of equal or greater importance, lies in the fact tliat, if allowed to grow upright, the limbs reach the height of 30 to 40 feet in twenty-five years, making it very difficult to gather the fruit and to spray the trees. The bearing branches are always found toward the extrenuties of the Ihnbs, and the time which men lose in going up and down long ladders is of no small account to the fruit-grower." Quince Quuice trees should be headed very low. Fig. 231 shows what may be regarded as good commercial trees. Some jiersons grow them to bush-form, but a distinct short trunk is generally to be preferred. The interior groAvth is thinned out each winter or spring, and if the growth is very heavy — say 18 to 30 inches on bt^aring trees — it may be headed-back, lleading-in tlmis the 231. Quince troos. BRAMBLE FRUITS 205 fniit, sinco tho flowers arc co-terminal; but cutting off all the tips generally removes txjo much of the fruit. The top Is kept ifuxh'saUtly thin. Care Ik to be tak(;n to prevent very strong gnjvvth, elwi danger of fire-blight is increased. BkLckberriea awl ra.rpberries Blat;kberries, raspberries, and dewberries bear on canes that gniw the jjreceding year, and, having borne once, these canes become; worthless. (Read page 45.) Pruning of these fruits con- sisti* (1) in removing superfluous shoots from the base of the plant, 80 that too many canes shall not grow (five or six to a plant usually being sufficient); (2) in hea<^ling-back the shoots wh(;n they reach the desired height, causing them to throw out laterals and to become stocky; (3) in heading-back these laterals (usually the next spring, before growth starts) ; (4) in cutting out the canes after tliey have borne (usually the following winter or spring, but should be performed, in general, soon after the fruit is offj. Of blackberries, the growing canes should be headed-in, — 2 to 4 inches of the tips cut off — ^when they are 23^ to 3 feet high. It will ha necessary to go over the plantation three or four timtjs for this purpose, as the different canes reach the desired height at different times. Laterals will now push out vigorously, but these are allowed to grow their full length. Early the follow- ing spring, these laterals are shortened. There is no rule respect- ing the proper length to leave these laterals. Sometimes they are injured by the winter, and must be cut-in short. And there is great difference in varieties in the way in which they bear their fruit; some kinds bear the fruit close to the cane, while others should be cut longer. Some varieties are variable in their habit of bearing fruit, and on such kinds some growers prefer to delay the pruning of laterals until the blossoms appear. From 12 to 20 inches is the length at which the laterals are generally left. It must be remembered that these laterals are to bear most of the 206 SPECIFIC ADVICE fruit; therefore it is important that they make a good growth, become well matured, and that the grower familiarize himself with the habits of different varieties. It is generally important that the heading-in of the main cane be accomphshed early, so that the laterals may make an early and hard growth, and that they may start rather low down on the cane and thereby pre- vent the cane from tipping over with its load of fruit. Black- berry bushes managed as here outlined will stand alone, without stakes or trellises. The bushes are sometimes kept from lopping by stretching a single wire along either side of the row, securing it to stakes which stand 2 or 3 feet high (Fig. 232) . Individual bushes in a home-garden may be supported by a rack, as suggested in Fig. 233. Another form of support for raspberries and blackberries is shown in the outline (Fig. 234); light wooden strips of inch- square stuff are held up by stakes of the same material and rigidly attached to each other by cross-wires; these cross-wires 232. Wire sup- ports for the sides of berry rows. 233. Berry support for separate plants 234. A beny support of wood, with cross- are the most important part of the whole, for they are con- stantly pulling the bushes up into close quarters — the one thing for which supports are desired. In some places, blackberries are trained on wires, after the manner of grapes as in Fig. 235. The two-wire trellis is generally preferred. The young canes are headed-in just above the upper BLACKBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES 207 235. Blackberry trellis. wire, and they are gathered in bunches in the hand and tied to the upper wire, where they will least interfere with the ripen- ing fruit. These canes may remain on the wires all winter, or they may be laid down for protection. Early the following spring, they are tied se- curely to both wires. This makes, therefore, one sum- mer tying for the young canes, and one spring tying for the bearing canes. Blackberries may also be ' tied to single stakes, , although the practice is scarcely advisable because the fruit is too much massed in the foliage. Many forms of supports may be employed, but those described here will suggest the problems involved. Black raspberries, or blackcaps, are usually headed-in when 1^ to 2 feet high. It is important that this heading-back be performed as soon as the canes reach the desired height, for the laterals then start low and the bush becomes stout and self- supporting. The following spring the laterals are cut back to 12 to 18 inches. Black raspberries are sometimes supported by wires (Fig. 232), but best results are usually secured when the plants are made to stand alone. Red raspberries are seldom headed-in during the growing season but otherwise they are treated like blackcaps. Fig. 236 shows a cane (of Cuthbert) well pruned at the left, but the canes at the right are pruned too high and are top-heavy. Well- pruned blackcaps and blackberries have essentially the form of Fig. 237, which represents a blackcap and of which Chand- ler and Knapp write: "This plant has been pinched during the 208 SPECIFIC ADVICE sunmuM- Mhon nboiit 2 foot hiijli. Tlio bninohos hnvo boon cut baok in wintor as thoy should bo umlor avoraj^o oomlitions. Growors in humid oUniatos may tind it wiso to loavo tho branohos much loni2;or." •2;U>. \\oll prunoil (,k'ft)aiul poorly pruued rtnl raspberry. 237. Well pruned blivok raspberry plant. The canes of dewberries are tied to stakes, disjiosoil on treUises (jvs on Fig. 235) , or tied to wire screen. A good method is to tie to stakes, alUnvhig three to six canes to each stake (Fig. 238). Currant!^ and (jooscbcrrics The oauos of currants and gooseberries boar several times, but tho tirst two or three crops are tho best. It is thereforc desirable, after tho plants have oon\o hito boarhig. to cut out one or more of tho oUlost canes each year, antl to onci>urago as many new ones. The bush is consttmtly ronowod. If very i^lil canes are allowed to remain, tho fruit becomes small, tho bushes grinv too tall, and tho currant borer is encouraged. In Fig. 239, the old branching cane .s" should bo removed. At its left, two vigorous canes — one two seasons o\d and tho other one season old — are ready to take its place. When bushes make very strong and tall growths, the canes may be headed-back. CURRANTS 209 •'■''^^^V'" 2.'i8. Stake- trained dewberries. Currants. — The followinp; axJvico \h by Beach, Bulletin No. 95, N Y. Kxperi men t Station: "In large plantationsithaHljcen found moHt satisfactory to pcs- mit currants to grow in bush-form rather than in the tree-form, as the old canes may th(!n be re- moved whc!n they Ixjcomtj unproductive, a^ they do af t<^;r a f(;w years, and th(;ir places may be taken by new canes that have been pennitted to grow for this purj)ose. Then too, if the trunk of a currant in tree- form is broken off or injured in any way, a new plant must be set in its place, but when several canes are permitted to grow, as is the case when the plants are grown in bush-form, the accidental breaking of a trunk does not cause the death of the whole plant, but its place is readily filled by permit- ting other canes lo grow from the root. The tree-form is well adapted to well-cultivated gardens, as the plants may be pruned into more symmetrical, attractive shape as trees than as bushes. To grow currants in tree-form it is simply necessary to remove rry- 'i^r/:>v, ^^^ ^^u*^''* ^rom the Wfi^ $^^'- i^ P^^^ ^-*^ ^^ cutting ^'^ '"^^^^^^^^i or layer that is put in the ground. This prevents the growth of shoots from below 239. The currant bush. the SUrface of the N 0m^y% ■/^ .r>' 210 SPECIFIC ADVICE soil, ana consequently no suckers are formed. The tree cur- rants may be kept in symmetrical shape by annually cutting- back the shoots of new wood, leaving but two or three buds to the shoot. This may be done at any convenient time while the leaves are off. "No definite rule can be given for pruning currants growTi in bush-form, for the kind and amount of pruning necessary is in each case determined by the condition and individual habits of growth of the bush to be pruned. In general, it may be said that during the first two or three years the bushes require but httle pruning except to head-back the new shoots so that fruit- spurs will develop all along the cane. Otherwise the fruit- bearing branches and fruit-spurs will be found mostly near the top of a long cane. When this is permitted, especially with some varieties, such as Fay, for example, the weight of the fruit is quite apt to bend the canes nearly or quite to the ground. Besides this heading-in to keep the bushes m shape, the pruning consists of removing the broken branches, or those that droop too closely to the ground, and removing the old wood after it has passed the age of greatest productiveness." For gooseberries, the following advice by Macoun ("Stand- ard Cyclopedia of Horticulture") represents good practice for American conditions: "As the gooseberry makes much more wood than it is desirable to leave, severe pruning is necessary. English varieties are usually trained to a single stem, but this is not necessary, although the freer circulation of air when trained in this way may help to prevent the spread of mildew. The usual custom in America is to grow the gooseberry in bush form. The bush should at first be brought into a good shape by leaving a few of the strongest shoots regularly distributed to make an open head. Five or six of these shoots are quite sufficient to leave at first. As the bush gets older, new shoots are allowed to grow to take the place of the older ones, as the pruning should be done with a view to having only vigorous bearing wood. Fruit GOOSEBERRIES 211 Is borne on year-old wood and from spurs on older wood. It usually is not desirable to have any wood more than three years old. The best time to prune i.s in the autumn or winter. The weakest young shoots should be cut off at the ground, ako all the stronger young shoots not required for fruiting or to take the place of the older branch(?s i/) be cut away. The side shoots from the older branches should l>e headefi-back or cut out altogether so as to maintain a fairly open head, making it as easy as possible to pick the fruit and yet leaving sufficient woofl to produce a gof^i crop and shade the f njit from the sun, as in a hot dry time gooseberries are liable to h)e injured by scalding. When branches are more than thrc^e years of age they should be removed to make way for younger wood. It Ls advisable to cut out all Vjranches which touch the ground as there will then be a Ixitter circulation of air, and the fruit will be kept off the ground. Goose- berries ^K\\\ often begin to Vjear the second year after planting, but there will not be a full crop until the fourth season. If the soil is kept in good condi- tion by an annual application of well- rotted barnyard manure in the autumn, harrowed in the following spring, and if the bushes are kept sprayed and well pruned, the plantation \vill not need to be renewed for many years." Tree forms. — For English conditions, Udale says that a well-formed and well-developed red currant should have "about nine main branches and be 4 feet or 4 feet 6 inches high. The branches will be so wide apart that the sun will shine upon the lowest leaves," and the bushes should bear along the whole length of the branches. "These branches will be of nearly equal height and strength, and will radiate from the main stem at 4 or 6 inches above the ground," making a tree-like form with a very 240. A red currant, pruned to tree-form. 212 SPECIFIC ADVICE short trunk. Fig. 240 is his illustration of a plant so pruned, the letters and bars showing where pruning is to be performed, on one of the canes, in winter. This tree is headed-back in July. A gooseberry pruned to tree-form and trained on a trellis is shown in Fig. 241, from Udale, who writes (for England) : 'The right method of procedure is: firstly, to remove any branch that is too near the ground; secondly, to cut away any branch or branches that are crossing or interfering with other and rightly placed branches; thirdly, to cut back to a 'spur' 1 inch long all shoots that are not required to furnish the tree with young bearing , , wood. To express my meaning more 241. Gooseberry trained on , , ,, i i i , i i , espalier or trellis, side-pruned clearly : the one-year-old shoots should to form spurs. ^^ j^f^ ^^ 5 ^^^^^ ^p^^^ ^jj ^^^^ ^j^^ tree, except at the center — which should always be kept open; all other young shoots should be cut back to within 1 inch from their base, to form spurs." (See Figs. 275-277, Chapter VII.) Hedges The beauty and value of hedges lie in the thickness of the growth, and in the uniformity from end to end. The plants should be set very close together, and the hedge should be sys- tematically and thoroughly trimmed every year from the first. It is best, in fact, to trim the hedge two or three times in the season, to prevent too great and straggly growth of any one plant or any one branch. The practice of cutting down the hedge severely in winter, and then not touching it again until the following winter, results in a heavy growth that makes the hedge look ragged and unkempt in summer, and that also increases the difficulty of bringing the hedge under subjection. The hedge should be trimmed in winter, and also two HEDGES 213 or three times in summer. The season is immaterial, so long as strong growths are kept down and the hedge is maintained in uniform shape and condition. The operator must first decide on the shape of hedge he desires, whether conical-topped, round- topped, or flat-topped, and then work to that pattern. The form should be blocked out very early in the life of the hedge — in fact, just as soon as the plants begin to grow thick enough to form a wall. This form can be maintained year by year; but the hedge mil necessarily rise a little in height every year, at lej^t until the plants have grown several years and the vigor has begun to be checked by the continuous trimming and the crowd- ing of the roots and perhaps, also, by the maturity of the plants. To make hedges impenetrable to pigs and other animals, the plants are often plashed when young. This consists in bending the main shoots over to an oblique or diagonal position, and wiring them down, one plant bending over the following one. Plants to be plashed are usually set at an angle when trans- planted to their permanent positions. Deciduous-leaved and thorny plants, as osage orange, are generally used in this coun- try for the making of pig-tight hedges. Shade-Trees. (See page 88.) When shade-trees are once well established, they usually need no attention in pruning except to remove broken or dying parts, to cut off limbs that hang too low, and to correct any tendency toward unshapely growth. When planted, the shade- tree, if well branched, should be pruned in essentially the same way as apples and pears. Very yoiuig trees well supplied with buds on the main axis may be cut to a whip, but the common practice of chopping large trees into the form of bean-poles is to be discouraged. It is on shade- and street-trees that most of the "tree sur- gery" is practised; and this subject is separately discussed in Chapter IV. 214 SFKCIFIV Al>\ ICb' ORNAMENTAL TUEKS AND SHRUBBERY Thivo objects aiv iiivolvod in tho pruuinji oi ovwmwcxW'A tiws ai\d slirvilv?: {^D To punivu'o a givon dosiivil form, {'2) to oauso the plants to develop strong and uniform foliage, i^;>) to encourage tlower-buds. The desired form is secuivd by shearing, the luxuriant and continuous foliage by cutting back rampant growths anii thereby encoiu'aghig a uniform development of the ditYerent parts of the plant, and the tlower-buds by giving atteutimi to the tlower-lxwring habit of the particular plant in question. The priu\er should know whether the flowers are borne on the ends of terminal or lateral shoots of the season, or on the ends ov sides of last year's shoots. The reader will tind a discussion of these contrasts in Chapter II, beguniing page -U>. The general principle to be followed in the pruning of orna- mental shrubs and trees is to allow aud even to aid the plant to ■0^5^' 242. Poor lit Uo tailored bushes. HHKAfiKff liUHflKH 215 Tmsmif'. ite natural \ ^invulff) ito cJiaraijterkti/; beauty. To t^iws tmfi, tiui plitfit w la;;pt in a \itt^i\iy and vw^r^iit n- rjjti//ri, ari/J r;nly dw^sw^jrj, inUfrferini^ me- tim/« with the aid ^>f tiie prunfjr. TTie m/;rit '>f the mMytctM, in thin ca>i*?, li/« in thieir regiilarity and in thi/; mpl/^/^j*^ with which they carry out a c/dLndnX (U^(/^ and c/mtn\fliU: to an artistic iiannony, lli*; nnh'yv(^M a/e rer^uir^;^! for form and foliage 216 SPECIFIC ADVICE rather than for bloom. The conifers and certain broad-leaved evergreens are usually employed for this purpose. Other than in this formal gardening, under the direction of a person of taste, the shearing of bushes is an abomination. Fig. 242 (from life, not from nature) shows a graceless and painful mutilation of bushes that had eveiy right to decent treatment. These poor shrubs are neither one thing nor the other, and their only expression is the reflection of the shocking taste of the man who wielded the shears. Rather than to have such deformed objects in a landscape, it were better to root them out and let the place grow up to briers and burdocks, in which case the plants would at least exhibit the beauty of their kind. With these ugly objects, compare the graceful lines of the bush showTi in Fig. 243, which by an intelligent and sympathetic grower has been allowed to mature into its natural expression. Pruning roses Roses represent many fundamental species, differing widely in habit, and therefore different pruning treatments are required. In the case of shrubby roses, the flowers are produced on shoots from the old wood; in most of the large-flowered garden roses, the bloom arises from new wood that may spring from the crown or from strong canes of the previous year. Several strong vigorous and healthy canes are required on each plant if the best results are to be secured. Dwarf-growing Hybrid Teas should have the pruning deferred until the buds begin to swell, for at that time it is easier to distinguish the dead and weak wood. Another reason for delay is the advantage of leaving the mulch undisturbed until the weather is more settled. Before pruning, one must decide what kind of crop is wanted. If the largest and finest flowers are sought, the plants must be thinned and pruned severely; but if a large quantity of bloom is preferred, as in growing roses for garden effects, more and longer shoots are ROSES 217 left. Pruning these and other roses consists of two opera- tions — thinning or the removal of dead, weak, or superfluous canes, and pruning or cutting back the remaining canes. The two operations should be performed in the order given. Unfor- tunately in some sections the cold winters do not leave much choice for the grower of Hybrid Teas, but it is well to know that the amount of pruning a variety will stand depends upon the character of the plant. In general, the weak-growing varieties can be pruned more heavily then the strong-growing varieties. The advice to prune hard, moderately hard, medium, or sparingly may be outlined as follows: Hard. — Thin out all but three to five canes or shoots, and prune these back so as to leave two to three eyes on each shoot. Moderately hard. — Thin out all but three to five canes and cut back to five to ten eyes. Medium. — Thin out to four to seven shoots and cut back one-half this length. Sparingly. — Thin out to four to seven shoots which should have the extreme tips cut off. When high quality is not sought, the canes may be left pruned to a greater length. The Hybrid Perpetual roses may be grown for bush effect, bearing many roses of medium size, or for large specimen blooms. In the former case, four to six canes may be left to each young crown or plant, and these may not be cut back shorter than 2 to 3 feet high (unless winter-injured) ; of course, all weak canes should be removed, cutting them out at the surface of the ground. When relatively few large flowers are desired, fewer canes may be retained at first and these should be cut back to 1 foot high or less, heading back to a strong bud on the outside of the cane so that the new growths will spread and give all parts the best exposure to sunlight. If the plants, in either case, are kept well fertilized, sprayed, and strong, the number of canes may increase from year to year, particularly if plenty of room is given. After blooming, the vigorous shoots are shortened, so that strong new canes may be secured for the next season. 218 SPECIFIC ADVICE The Pemetianas are best when thinned and only sparingly- pruned. Polyanthas or Baby Ramblers usually require only the removal of the clusters of hips or seed-pods. The Rugosas, Moss, Gallicas, and hardy yellow roses need only the old and dead wood cut out, and any long canes may be pruned back to make a symmetrical plant. The climbing roses need little atten- tion except to keep them within bounds; relatively few canes should be started in the first place, and they should be well spaced on the trellis. From time to time the old and weakened canes should be removed. If Wichuraianas and Ramblers are pruned, it should be done after flowering instead of in the spring. PRUNING-LIST OF HARDY NORTHERN TREES, SHRUBS, AND WOODY VINES, ORNAMENTAL IN FLOWER OR FRUIT By Ralph W. Curtis Most of our hardy trees and shrubs require no special pruning when grown for ornament; they are allowed to take their natural form and to assume their normal habit. This fact should be emphasized strongly at the outset. The idea is far too prevalent that every shrub must be pruned or trimmed like a garden rose or a California privet hedge. It is true that many deciduous trees and shrubs require the knife now and then, and also that a few of them are better if pruned considerably every year. In general, however, it is far better not to prune at all than to mutilate heavily once a year. A Httle care to remove unsightly fruit-clusters, broken, winter-killed or diseased wood, suckers, and other unnecessary or offending parts is all that is needed. If a plant is normal in health and natural in form it will be satisfactory in flower and fruit. Some plants are more satisfactory than others when left to themselves. It is much better for a planter to exercise judgment and taste in the first choice of his plants than annually thereafter to demon- strate his skill and precision in the art of trimming and shearing. In the following pages is given a long list of recommendable trees and shrubs for ornamental use, particularly in the northeastern states; and this hst is marked with special reference to pruning. In the group requiring occasional priming, the sole object should be to improve the general vigor and form of the plant. The pruning should be more a process of thinning-out than cutting-back. All dead, weak, and superfluous wood should be removed, also all cross branches that are injuring each other, and bad forks that develop low down in young trees. ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS AND TREES 219 The whole proceeding should be tempered by a feeling of restraint as well as by a sense of neatness. It should be performed promptly as needed, perhaps a Uttle each year, with the reahzation that it is much easier to prevent an injury or a mistake than to remedy it afterward. There are cases, however, in which regular pruning is justified. Many plants have bright-colored twigs that lose their winter attractiveness as they grow old. Such plants are the red-, yellow- and green-stemmed dogwoods (cornus), the Scotch broom {Cytisus scoparius), the globe-flower (Kerria japonica), the small native rose {Rosa , nitida) , the blackcap raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) , and the red- twigged willow {Salix alba var. britzensis). These plants may be cut to the ground every two or three years. In this case, of course, they will not flower or fruit the first year. A better method is to practise a constant renewal, a few of the old stems being gradually replaced by new ones. This renewal practice contributes to the welfare of the whole plant and maintains the top or head in good vigor and form because it is being gradually renewed all the time. With two possible exceptions, gradual renewal is the only system of pruning permissible with the well-known plants that have ornamental fruits. This is because large number and not individual size is more attractive in ornamental fruits. These exceptions are callicarpa and Sambucus canadensis. They are the only important plants having ornamental fruits that may be benefited by annual pruning, since they are simamer-flowering; they may be winter-pruned any time before growth starts. Callicarpa is tender in the northern states and usually needs cutting back heavily or entii-ely to the ground every spring. Sambucus canadensis, however, reaUy needs very httle pruning except gradual renewal, thinning out crowding or un- necessary wood, or moderate cutting back to improve neatness of form. As stated, a few plants are better when pruned considerably every year. This is because of some individuality of growth. These plants are all marked with a dagger (t) in the following fist, and each is accompanied by an explanatory note. Other plants in this list do not require pruning, except to improve general vigor or form as already explained, to secure new growth of bright-colored twigs or, lastly, to provide gradual renewal The following Ust of plants is classified into two groups according to the time of bloom: the first group is the early- or spring-flowering group, and the second group the late- or summer- and autumn-flowering group. The former blooms before growth starts in spring or very soon thereafter; the latter blooms after growth starts or even late in its growth. The first or early-flowering group is marked with an asterisk (*), and may be pruned (if necessary) immediately after the bloom is past. This 220 SPECIFIC ADVICE is called summer-pruning, although the time for performing it is May or June. Forsythia, lilac, and Spirsea Vanhouttei are examples of this group. The bloom on these plants comes from flower-buds already devel- oped on last year's wood. If this old wood is cut off before the flowers appear in spring, there will be no bloom until the plant has had another year for growth and the formation of another set of flower-buds. The Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) is an exception. This is not an early-flowering plant, and yet it comes into the above summer-pruning group. It blooms in summer (late June and July) and should not be pruned untU after the bloom is past, because the flowers appear on the old wood of last year and not on the new growth made in May and June. The second or late-flowering group is marked with two asterisks (**) and may be pruned (if necessary) at any time before growth starts in spring. This is called winter-pruning. Hibiscus syriacus and Hydrangea paniculata are examples of this group. These plants may be pruned much or little in early spring without danger of removing flower-buds, because they do not bloom on the old wood. They first make new twig-growth, on which the flowers appear later in the season. Yet, it is probably better not to prune either of these plants except to remove imsightly fruit-clusters or to keep the plant within boimds or in good healthy condition, unless, in the case of hydrangea, one desires a few very large trusses of bloom. Both of them may be pruned heavily and yet make vigorous foUage and very large flowers; but it might be better to plant smaller-growing shrubs which do not need to be restrained, and reserve the hibiscus or hydrangea for a more suitable location. To many persons, the coarse habit and huge snowball-like flower-clusters produced by Hydrangea paniculata var. gran- diflora when treated in this way are not as attractive as the normal plant in usual bloom, properly set off by surrounding masses of green foUage. There are 335 plants in the following Hst, but only 30 of these are really benefited by regular annual pruning. fbefore a name means the plant is improved by pruning. *before a name means the plant is early or spring-flowering, and (if necessary) should be summer-pruned, i.e., pruned immediately after blooming. **before a name means the plant is late, i.e., summer- or autumn-flowering, and (if necessary) should be winter-pruned, i.e., pruned any time before growth starts in spring. E before a name means plant is evergreen. S before a name means plant is semi-evergreen. E**AbeUa grandiflora (requires protection in Boston). *Acanthopanax pentaphyllus (Five-leaved Araha). Acer (Maple). * platanoides (Norway Maple). ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 221 *Acer rubrum (Red or Swamp Maple). * saccharum (Sugar, Hard, or Rock Maple). Maples may be pruned only in full leaf. The best time is early September. If cut in fall or spring, the sap will flow so freely that it will be impossible to paint the wounds. jEscuIus * camea var. Briotii (Red-flowered Horse-chestnut, or Buckeye). * Hippocastanimi (Horse-chestnut). ** parviflora {Pavia macrostachya) (Dwarf Buckeye). Althffia, Shrubby. See Hibiscus. E*Alyssimi gemonense. Amelanchier * canadensis (Shad-bush, or Juneberry). * laevis (Shad-bush, or Jimeberry). * oblongifoha {A. dbovalis). * sanguinea. Amorpha I** canescens (Lead-plant). t** fruticosa (False or Bastard Indigo). Loose-growing shrub. Cut back annually to improve form. *Ampelopsis heterophylla. E*Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi (Bearberry). Aronia (Pyrus). * arbutifoUa (Red Chokeberry). * melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry). Azalea. See Rhododendron. S**Baccharis halimifoUa (Groundsel Tree). Cut off the old fruit- clusters in winter or spring. The ornamental value of this plant Ues largely in the white pappus. *Benzoin sestivale (Spice-bush). Berberis * dictyophylla. E* Sargentiana. * Thunbergii (Japanese Barberry). E* verruculosa. * vulgaris (Common Barberry). Broom. See Cytisus. Buckeye. See ^Esculus. Buckthorn. See Rhamnus. t**Buddleia Davidii {B. variabilis) var. magnifica (Summer Lilac). Plant is tender North. Cut back heavily, even to the ground. 222 SPECIFIC ADVICE Callicarpa ** japonica. ** purpurea. Callicarpa is tender and usually needs cutting back heavily or entirely to the ground in early spring. *Calycanthus (Butneria) fertilis (Sweet Shrub, or Carolina All- spice). tE**CaUuna vulgaris (Scotch Heather). This succeeds best in the United States if kept continually renewed and in vigorous condition by heavy annual pruning. Campsis. A coarse rank-growing plant, often tender in the North. Cut back considerably in early spring. t** radicans (Trumpet-creeper). ** radicans var. speciosa. *Caragana arborescens (Pea Tree). * frutex. * pygmsea. Catalpa ** hybrida (Teas' Hybrid Catalpa). ** ovata (C. Kaempferi). ** speciosa (Western Catalpa). Ceanothus ** americanus (New Jersey Tea). ** hybridus. Prune to the ground. *Celastrus scandens (Climbing Bittersweet). **Cephalanthus occidentalis (Button-bush). *Cercis canadensis (Red-bud, or Judas Tree) Chsenomeles * japonica (Japan Quince). * Maulei. E or S *Cham£edaphne calyculata (Leather-leaf) Cherry. See Primus. Chionanthus * virginica (Fringe Tree, or White Fringe). *Cladrastis lutea (C tinctorid) (Yellow-wood). Clematis ** apiifolia. ** Henryi. t** Jackmanii. Not perfectly hardy North; needs some cutting back, t** Jackmanii var. alba. ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 223 *Clematis montana, in variety. S** paniculata (Japanese Clematis). ** tangutica. ** texensis (C Vioma var. coccinea). ** virginiana (Virgin's Bower). **Clethra alnifolia (Sweet Pepper-bush). t*Colutea arborescens (Bladder Senna). This plant breaks very easily and usually needs repairing early in spring. It begins flowering in June and continues into July. After flowering, prune moderately to renew old stems and to secure neater form, thus lessening the danger from breaking. Remove fruits as soon as they become dry and unsightly. Cornus (Dogwood) * alba (Red-stemmed Dogwood). * alba var. sibirica (Siberian Dogwood). * alternifoUa (Alternate-leaved Dogwood). * Amomum (C. sericea) (Silky or Purple-stemmed Dogwood). * rugosa (C. circinata) (Round-leaved Dogwood). * florida (Floweriug Dogwood). * florida var. rubra (Pink Dogwood). * mas (Cornehan Cherry). * paniculata (C candidissima) (Panicled or Gray-stemmed Dog- wood). * sanguinea var. viridissima (Green Dogwood). * stolonifera (Red Osier Dogwood). * stolonifera var. flaviramea (var. lutea) (Yellow Dogwood). *Cotinus Coggygria (Smoke-bush). Cotoneaster E* adpressa. S* Franchetii. * horizontalis. E* microphylla. * racemiflora. * Simonsii. * tomentosa. Crataegus (Thorn). * arkansana * coccinea. * Phsenopyrum (C. cordata) (Washington Thorn). * Crus-gaUi (Cockspur Thorn). * nitida. 224 SPECIFIC ADVICE *Crat8egus Oxyacantha (English Hawthorn). * Oxyacantha var. Paulii (Paul's Double Red Thorn). * punctata. * tomentosa. *Cydonia oblonga (Common Quince). See Quince, pp. 42, 204. Cytisus * hirsutus. S** scoparius (Scotch Broom). This is more or less tender and may need dead tips cut back after growth starts in spring, but it should not be pruned any more than this until after it is through blooming in July because its flowers appear on last year's wood. Daphne. E* Cneorum (Garland Flower). * Mezereum. * Mezereum var. alba. Deutzia. For deutzias in general, practice gradual renewal, thin out crowding stems and cut off old flowers. D. scabra is usually somewhat tender North, and may need to have dead and injured wood taken out in spring. * gracihs. * Lemoinei. t* scabra var. flore-pleno. t*Diervilla hybrida (Weigela, or Diervilla). Coarse-growing shrubs that are made neater by annual pruning. Cut back the wood that has just flowered, thus removing unsightly seed-pods; also practise renewal of old stems. *Dirca palustris (Leatherwood). Dogwood. See Cornus. Elaeagnus * angustifoUa (Oleaster, or Wild Olive). * multiflora. Elderberry. See Sambucus. *Enkianthus perulatus. E*Epigaea repens (Trailing Arbutus) . Erica. E* carnea (Hardy Spring Heath). E* carnea var. alba. The foliage of this spring-blooming heath is glossy green and the flower-buds are conspicuous all winter. E** Tetralix. The foliage of this summer-blooming heath is grayish and no flower-buds are visible in winter. ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 225 Evonymus * alata. * americana. * Bungeana (Spindle-tree). * europaea (European Spindle-tree). * obovata (Running Strawberry-bush). E* radicans. E* radicans var. vegeta. *Exochorda grandiflora (Pearl-bush). Forsythia (Golden-bell). * suspensa. , * suspensa var. Fortunei. * viridissima. *Fothergilla major. *Gaylussacia baccata (G. resinosa) (Black Huckleberry). t**Genista tinctoria (Woadwax, Dyer's Weed, or Greenweed). Prune to the ground. Grape. See Vitis, and p. 43 and Chapter VIII. *Halesia (Mohrodendron) Carolina. **Halimodendron halodendron (Salt Tree). Hamamelis * japonica var. arborea (Japanese Witch-hazel). * mollis. * vernalis. ** virginiana (Witch-hazel). Hawthorn. See Crataegus. Hazel. See Corylus. Heather, Scotch. See Calluna. Heather, Hardy Spring. See Erica. **Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon or Shrubby Althea). S*Hippophae rhamnoides. Sexes are separate and fruiting plants must be secured. See Rhamnus. Horse-chestnut. See .^sculus. Hydrangea. t** arborescens. Cut back rather heavily every year. t** arborescens var. grandiflora (var. steriUs) (Hills of Snow). Loose habit much improved by heavy pruning. Cut to the ground. * Bretschneideri. ** paniculata var. grandiflora (Common Hardy Hydrangea). ** paniculata var. prsecox. 226 SPECIFIC ADVICE *Hydrangea petiolaris (Climbing Hydrangea), t** quercifolia (Oak -leaved Hydrangea). Plant is tender and should be pruned to the ground. Excellent for low foliage mass. t**radiata. Treat same as H. arborescens. Hypericvun ** aureum (Golden St. John's-wort). ** Buckleii. E** calycinum (Aaron's Beard). ** prolificum (Shrubby St. John's-wort). E*Iberis sempervirens (Evergreen Candytuft). E*Tenoreana. Ilex. Sexes are separate. Fruiting plants must be secured. E* crenata (Japanese Holly). E* crenata var. microphylla. * decidua. E* glabra (Inkberry). E* opaca (American or Christmas Holly). * verticillata (Winterberry). t**Indigofera Kirilowii. Prune to the ground. Judas Tree. See Cercis. Juneberry. See Amelanchier. Kalmia. E* angustifoUa (Sheep Laurel). E* latifolia (Mountain Laurel). t*Kerria japonica (Globe-flower). The tips of the twigs are often winter-killed, and the injured parts should be removed in early spring. **Koelreuteria paniculata (Varnish Tree). Laburnum. * alpinum (Scotch Laburnimi). This is more hardy than the following. » * vulgare (Golden Chain). Laurel. See Kalmia. E*Leiophyllum buxifolium (Sand Myrtle). t**Lespedeza bicolor. Cut back moderately to improve neatness of form. E*Leucothoe Catesbsei. Ligustrum * Ibota. * Ibota var. RegeUanum. ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 227 St*Ligustrum ovaUfoUum (CaUfornia Privet). This plant is not hardy and often needs to be cut back heavily in spring, sometimes even to the ground. S* vulgare (Common, EngUsh, or European Privet). Lilac. See Syringa. Locust, Common or Black. See Robinia. Lonicera. * bella. * bella var. rosea. * caerulea. * canadensis. , S* fragrantissima. ** Heckrottii. S** Henryi. • . S** japonica var. HalUana (L. Halliana). * Maackii. * Morrowii. ** Periclymenum. * Ruprechtiana. * spinosa (L. Albertii). ** sempervirens. * Standishii. * tatarica (Tartarian Honeysuckle), * tatarica var. splendens. * thibetica. Lycium. S** chinense (Chinese Matrimony Vine). S** halimifoUum (L. vulgare) (Matrimony Vine). Magnoha. * Alexandrina. * denudata {M. conspicim, M. Yulan). S** glauca {M. virginiana) (Sweet or Swamp Bay, or Laurel Magnolia). * Lennei. * Soulangeana. * stellata (Starry Magnolia). Mahonia E* AquifoUum (Oregon Grape). E* japonica. E* repens. Maple. See Acer. 228 SPECIFIC ADVICE Mock Orange. See Philadelphus. Mountaiii-.\sh. See Sorbiis. S*MjTica caroUnensis (Baybern.', or Candlebem'). Sexes are sep- arate and truiting plants must be secured. This is known commercially as M. cerifera, and imtil recently two forms have both been included under that name. *Nemopanthus mucronata. *Ne^'iusia alabamensis. Oleaster. See Elieagnus. **Ox>-dendrmn arboreum (Sorrel Tree, or Tree Andromeda). *Pieonia suffruticosa (Tree Peony). Parthenocissus. * quinquefoUa (Five-leaved !%•>•, Virginia Creeper, or Woodbine). * tricuspidata var. Yeitchii (Boston or Japanese hry). Pa%"ia. See .Esculus. Peach. See Primus. Philadelphus. Prime same as Deutzia. * coronarius (SjTinga, or Mock Orange). * inodorus. * pubescens, Souvenir de BUlard. * grandiflorus (P. latifolius, or P. pubescens). * Lemoinei. *Photinia %-Lllosa. *Ph>-socarpus opulifoUus (Ninebark). Pieris. E* floribunda. E* japonica. * mariana (Stagger-bush). Plum. See Prunus. Potent Ula * fruticosa var. Yeitchii. S* trident at a. Privet. See Ligustrum. Prunus E Laurocerasus var. Schipkaensis. * maritima (Beach Pliun). * subhirtella var. pendula (Weeping Japanese Cherrj')- * Persica var. flore-pleno alba (Double WTiite Peach). * Persica var. flore-pleno rubra (Double Red Peach). * punula (Sand Oherrj'). * serrulata and Lannesiana (Japanese Cherry). OBSAMENTAL TREEH AND HHRUBH 229 Pruntw tofw^-nt/jBa. iri\(At& var. flryre-pktio (VUfVfuring Aimood). *PyniJ! fAppJ/;, Crah-Apple, P;. H^jf; Cydc/nia. Vj^iAnui. Ht:(t Orci». *RhdiimiiH cathartixia. Rhododendron * (AxAUiHj art>ore«cen«, E* arbtitifolium ''fiJ. W^'tisonM). * (AzaJfta; caLcDdubiC/ium (Flame Azalea,). E* carolinkntim (fi, [fli^rui/iium in part). A loir, oompact Rhodorkn/iron native to the high mfwitaim of North Carr>. Una, with broa^i leaves and early flowers in late May before the new Umvefi appear. E* catawbienjse. E* ('Azalea; Hinodigiri. E* hybrids. * (Azalea; Kaxanpferi (Japanese Azalea). E* maximum. * (Azalea; mucronulatum, E* rnyrtifolium. * ^Azalea; nurliflorum (Vmkst/ar Wmer, or WM Hooeymdkie). * (^Azalea; \'a>jeyi, ♦Rhodotypoft kerrioides (VMiite Kerria). Ribf*. Bee p. 208, C'ljirrantg and gootseherries. * alpinum (^Mountain Currant). aureum Cfi. otb/rnium) (Buffalo, FUnrering^ or Miwouri Cur- rant;. * pinetorum- Robinia * Yibipida. (Roue Acacia). * KelseyL * Peeudacacia (Common or Black Loea«t). 230 SPECIFIC ADVICE Rosa * Carolina (Swamp Rose) * cinnamomea (Cinnamon Rose). * Harisonii (Harison's Yellow Rose). * lucida (Glossy Rose). * multiflora. * multiflora var. cathayensis. * nitida. * rubiginosa (Sweetbrier) . * rugosa (Japanese Rose). * rugosa var. alba. * setigera (Prairie or Michigan Rose). * spinosissima (Scotch Rose). * spinosissima var. altaica (Altai Rose). S* Wichuraiana (Memorial Rose). Roses t** Garden. See p. 216. * Rambler. See p. 218. *Rubus. See p. 205, Blackberries and Raspberries. t* allegheniensis (Blackberry), t* occidentalis (Black Raspberry, or Blackcap). * odoratus (Flowering Raspberry, or Thimbleberry) . These plants should have the old canes cut out entirely S* spectabilis var. plena {R. fruticosus, or R. Linkianus). Salix (Willow) * alba, in variety. * Babylonica. * Caprea (Goat Willow). * cordata. * discolor (Pussy Willow). * humilis (Prairie Willow). * pentandra (Laurel-leaved Willow). * purpurea. * tristis (Dwarf Willow). Sambucus ** canadensis (Common Black Elderberry). * racemosa (S. pubens) (Red Elderberry). Shad-bush. See Amelanchier. Shepherdia * argentea Buffalo-berry). ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 231 Sophora ** japonica (Japanese Pagoda Tree). ** vicifolia. Sorbaria. Practice gradual renewal and prune to improve form. t** (Spiraea) Aitchisonii. This plant is usually more or less winter- injured in the North. t** arborea. t** sorbifolia. Sorbus * americana (American Mountain-ash). * Aucuparia (European Mountain-ash). Spiraea. All the late-blooming section may be pruned Uke deutzia, but the time should be winter except that unsightly fruits may be removed. Aitchisonii. See Sorbaria. ** alba (/S. salicifolia) (Meadow-Sweet, or Queen-of-the-Meadow) . ** Billardii (S. Lenneana). * bracteata. ** Bumalda, var. Anthony Waterer. * crenata. ** Douglasii. * gemmata. ** japonica {S. callosa). popuhfolia. * prunifoha var. flore-pleno (Bridal Wreath). t* Thunbergii. Winter-killed parts should be removed. ** tomentosa (Steeplebush, or Hardback). * trilobata. * Vanhouttei (Van Houtte's Spirea). Staphylea * Bumalda. * trifolia (American Bladder-nut). Stephanandra t* incisa {S. flexuosa). t* Tanakse. Both stephanandras are somewhat tender. The only prun- ing is to cut off dead wood after growth starts in spring. *Styrax japonica. **Stewartia Pseudo-Camellia. This species is more satisfactory in northern gardens than the native S. pentagona. Symphoricarpos ** racemosus (Snowberry). 232 SPECIFIC ADVICE **Sj'TOphoricarpos vulgaris (Coral-berrj')- *S>Tiiplocos crataegoides. Syringa. See Philadelphus. Syringa (Lilac). Cut off old flowers, remove suckers, and keep constant lookout for borers. * chinensis (tS. rothomagensis) (Rouen Lilac). Also *var. alba and *var. rubra. * Henrjd var. Lutece. ** japonica (Tree Lilac). * oblata. * pekinensis. * persica (Persian Lilac). Also *var. alba and *var. rubra. * villosa. * vulgaris (Common Lilac). Vaccinium * corymbosiun (High-bush Blueberry). * pennsylvaniciun (Early Low Blueberry). Viburnum * acerifoUum (Maple-leaved Viburnum, or Dockmackie). * alnifoliiun (F. lanianoides) (Hobble-bush). * Carlesii. * cassinoides (Withe-rod). * dentatum (Arrow-wood). * dilatatum. * Lantana (European Wayfaring Tree). * Lentago (Nanny-berry, or Sheep-berrjO • * Opulus (High-bush Cranberry, or Guelder Rose). * prunifoUum (Black Haw). E* rhjiiidophyllum. Flower-buds usually tender. * Sieboldii. * tomentosum. * Wrightii. t**Vitex incisa. Somewhat tender. Cut back heavily in early spring. t**Vitis (Grape). See Chapters VUI, LX, X. Willow. See SaUx. Wisteria * chinensis. * chinensis var. alba. Witch-hazel. See Hamamelia. Zenobia S** pulverulenta. CHAPTER VII SOME SPECIAL MODES OF TRAINING Many modes of training are so special and of such local and personal application that they may be considered in a class by themselves. They are essentially Old- World methods, bom of garden-culture and of patient hand-work. They are not adapted to commercial fruit-growing or plant-growing in this coimtry, nor to any countrj^ in which land is cheap and hand-labor dear, ex- cept as practices for the amateur. Yet, so common are these special methods of training fruit-trees and other plants in Europe that the Old-World hterature of pruning is largely descriptive of methods and modes of growing plants on walls and treUises and in geometrical figures. ^^^- "^ "^^"^^^' ^'^'""^^ *'""• It is not necessary to make any extended discussion of these matters in this book; but in the present chapter hberal quota- tions are made from European wTitings to give the American reader a general idea of the subject. Most of our growers have no idea of the careful detail often employed in these training operations by the skilful Old-World gardener, or of the excellent results that he secures. (233) -o4 SPECIAL MODES The kinds or denominations of training may bo classified as follows: I. Training of plants growing in the open ground. 1. Without permanent support. PA'ramids, Cdobe-form. Vase-form. etc. 2. Witli pernumont support. a. On ospalioii> — cordon, horizontal, oblique, fan-shape, horizontal arm, etc. b. On walls— cordon, horizontal, oblique, fan-shape, horizontal arm, etc. II. Tniining of plants in receptacles (as pots or tubsV Trained m various fashions, but chietly as self-sap- porting bushes of many shapes. A carefully trained American ti"ee is sho^^^^ m Fig. 244. but the special skill is usually Wst exliibited in subjects of smaller gro^^'th. To familiarize the reader with the detailed forms in which fniit plants may be traineti by one possessing the time and skill, Figs. 245 to 201 are inserted, being ivproduced. by permission of the author, from Lucas, "Die Lehre vom Baum- schnitt," Stuttgart, 1909. TRAINED TREES Before proceeding with oiu* subject of special fonns of train- ing, it will be necessary to consider some of the words used m the RICASONS FOU riiMNLwa 235 abovo syiu)])sis. In I'luropc (and proix'ily) the wortl ''standard," as ai)i)lied io a ])lant, moans growing to a single trunk and not lrain(>d to a wall, lri>llis, or olhcr luMinanont su])i)()i(. In this country, it is usihI in contraclistinction to the word *'dwarf." An t^spaiicr is a trellis, or a plant grown on a tfoUis. The word doc>s not ref(>r to the mode of training. A cordon is properly a. i)iant. grown to a single shoot, or to two shoots trained in o])])()sit(» directions. It is fi(Miuei\tly ein])loyed, iiowever, to desiignate plants traini'd to two or more straight shoots which are nearly or (luitc ])arallel either above on(> another or on the same i)lane. Although the mode of training is largely a ques- tion of ])crsonal pi-eference, it must nevertheless conform to the i)rinciplt>s of priming, if it is to be successful. One i>f the standard accounts of the general principles underlying the training of plants, is by Du Breuil.* lU>fore ])rociHHrmg to these ])rin- cii)les, we may enumerate Du Breuil's reaaons for 215 trjiininiT- ^ pyramid Uammg. ^ tree of tho 1. It enables us to imi)art to trees a fonn suit- coUinuiiir able to the place they are intendetl to oc^cupy. 2. Each of the principal - ■'•■ i^W^'^H^MM 'i ^ '^ C - ^^ i K^^ ^ 'C'^ ^-- ^^'"i^^^'l^t^^ ^^ 'l»t' ta-ee is fur- nished with fruit -branches •^^^^^^M^ throughout its full extent. gjij-^,^ 3. It ivnders the fruti- 24(). A two-armod or double cordon, a fieatiou nu)re equal; for in M.ol.srfuiiv'in^.hS"'' """^ °*^"'^ *'"^*"' """ '"^''iioving (^very year tho su}HM-abundant buds and branclu>s, w(> contiibute to the formation of new fruit-buds for the next year. ♦Alphonso Du Breuil, "Tho Scientific and Profitable Culture of Fruit- trees," EnglisJi edition. };^ SP«tV.iS? tho *tnuv>l ivvrts? vxf the tnv, aiui olo\-Hto tho ww^ik hnuu-ht^s, SxjptM\\s» tho vtJoK^isi buds mxvu tho strv«v^ jvurts jis ohtIj- .^ vxxssiblo. .vuvi i^raotis*." tlu* supprwssioii as lato as ^Hxssablo ujxm tho wx\vk jvu-ts, S^uppn^ss wry 0Arl>- tho ht^r- IxAiwvis ^^\tr\n«itit>s of tho strvMVjj ivurtx but prHoti?^^ tho svipprw*- sivMi iv? Into AS jHxssiblo u{vu tho \\-\\>ik i^ATts tAkiiv>l otY oul>.- tho nu>st vijjvvrvnvs shvvts, juul th«.>s«* thAt uuist in Ai^v oAst^ Iv romo\>\l i>»\ A^wuixt v>t" tht^ jKxsitiv\i\ thoy vHvupy. NjuI up tho strvMiji jvu-t wry oArly Aiui wry oK>s^^ to tht^ whW vxr trolUs. but dolAy doing so to tho woAk t>Art- :M7. Obliviuo-?r»in^\l vvrvivv Sup^xrvs!? A uumbor of tho Ioanvs upot\ tho strvxu^ sivio. Allow AS Iatvs.' a v\UAntity iVt tho fruit as vxvssiWo to ronvAin upo»\ th© stroixs !si«.l*N iuui sviptxix^ss;; aII vi^xnt tho NV\\4k sido. Sv>ftoi\ All tho sr^vix jvurts m\ tho wvAk sivio with a s^>lvitivw v,>f siilfAto of iivxix. \,"This sv\Uitioi\. in tho ptyH^Ttivvu ixf tvwnty-four sniius to a jun* v\f \vAtor. Apt>liovi Aftor siuvsot. is Al\sv^rK\i by tht^ U\>»\\\<, A«d ix>\wrfully stiiiuilAt^^ thoir AOtivMX in drAwiivji tho sap frwiu tho rvx^ts,'"^ l^i\^ forwATvi tho wYAk sido trv>«\ tho waII, azvvI kvx^p tho strong sido ck>s<^ to it. Haw a cvnvriixg u^x'tu tho stxvaxg jvATt, s<.> as to iio|>n\» it i>f tho U^t, Tht mp «i»«vlu|»$ tk* bnimchoi much mr\n*s2>j u ttoM ti MtMt'A tnti .^W I'liLMCiri.l'IS OF Tli.MMNd ZM The .s'lr/) liiin itlinii/s ii tcmlcncii to Jltnn liiiraril llif rxlrniiiln nf tin- \>riiiirhv», mill III iiiiikr llir Irniiniitl hinl iliiit ii'illi iniiir rifiiir lliiiii llir Inlrrnl. iiiiiti. The more, lliv Hitp in rvlnrdvd in Hh nrriilnlion, llir Imn wixul and Ihv more. fritil-hwlH will it drvcUyp. Apply It) I.Ik" brmiclicH wliitli ki'"w irom llic MiicccHHivf^ cxtfiiHiDriH of the wood, iiml iiIho |.o (Jioh(i wliicli Mpiiii^', I'loiii llicin, I lie upcnil ioiiH nilcii- latrd lo (liininiHli llii-ir vJKor. Apply to Mill larutT brurK^hcH n. (rcrlaiii iiuiiihcr of {lininlin'H mW uniflH. ('I'lit'Hc lire cioMH of fniil-HpiirH or rniil-ltiidH hcI. iido Mid l.winH m doriiinon hudH nn- hcI.. "TlicHd uniflH, wlicii I'niilitiK, will nl)H()rl> a (JOiiHidcrahlo pai'f of Mii< nii|iriiiJtimdaiil. HMp.") An^h all (lu^ bnuiclicH, ho tlial. n part of Micir cxlnil. \h\ din'fltMl toward llx* sun. In Ihv iiioiilli of l''ci)riiarv, niak(^ an aruiiilar iiiciMioii vvitli thd hand-Haw, uvnv llui Ihikc of th(i hUmii, ralli(M' \vhh lliaii '4 inch ill width, anhh viRor, and tlio l.rct' ftuniH fniil..") At tht' Hprinn of thi^ year, uiu^ovor Mii> fool, of lliti (.riMi in hiihIi a inaiinur aH to nxpoHn thti principal rt)()tH Minmnhtait nearly tluMrontirti exltint, and allow tliitni to ri'inain in thirt .stalti tlurinj^ the Hiininifr. UntHiver the foot of the tree at. Hpriii>;;, M.nd eut away jiarlH of tlit) rootH, anil then replaiMi tht^ earth. Transplant, the trees at the end of ;iiitiinm, hut with ^:^\^^'i\,t caro BO aa tt) |)reserve all the roots. ('I'liis is equiv.'ilent to root-pnmiii^;.) Every method irhirh n)iiiliiri:s lo diniiniKh thr viyor of Ihr. wood. (iiid lo make the mip Jlow to Ihr fr nit IrnilN lo nii(iiiiriil tlir size, of the friiil. draft upon stocks of a less vif^oroiis species than the cioiis. Apply to the trees a siiila.hle winter pninin)i;; that, is, tlo not leavi^ U[)on thorn more hranchtiH, or parts of branches, than is retiuiNite for the syin- ^IttCtflSU. 2^H. BcciiniiK tiie liorizoiitiil cordon fonn hy tnriiiii).'; or l.wiMliiiK tlie mI.ciii .i; til(^ ))('ri()(l of j^rowlii. 1\kS SPECIAL MODES metrical de\-elopment of the tive an.l the formation of fniit-boaring branches. Make friiit-ispursi to grow close ii^xm the branches by pruning them as short as possible. C\it the bn^nches verj- close when the flower-buds arc formed. Mutilate the smnmer shoots by n^jx\\teilly pinching off those shoots that are not rtxiuired for the development of the size of the trt^. When the fruit* have attained a fifth degrtv of their development, suppress a fiu-ther nimiber of them. Make an annular incision ujx)i\ the fruit-bearing branches at the time they expand their blossoms; the incision must not be wider than A inch. (.'•Experience cont^ually demonstrates that, foDowing such incision, tJie fruit becomes much larger and ripens better.") Graft some of the fruit-branches of vigorous trees with the Girardin side graft. (.See page 237.) Place imder the fruits, diu"ing their growth, a support to prevent their stretching or twisting their foot -stalks or pedicels. ("If left without sup- port, it will often happen that the fruit grows imequally, and a twisting movement of the stalk follows, which injiures the sap>-vessels. Besides, the <^.--^^-ai.ss«fSaaBS^-<-5>'?^it.vi*--A 249. Oblique-trained grape cordons. 250. Grape cordons or arms on a wall surface. weight of the fruit alone, hanging on its stem, stretches the sap-^"essels, and diminishes their diameter. \Mien the fruits are supported, the sap penetrates more freely, and their size is augmented accordingly.") Keep the fruits in their normal p)osition during the entire period of their development; that is, with the fruit-stem lowermost. (."'The sap acts with greater force when it flo\\-s upward; a vertical position of the stalk, therefore, causes the sap to ascend more easily and in greater quantity, and the fruit will become larger.") FklSCIPLKH or THAISISO 239 Pla/% ihti frvitti wtAfx the ihade tA tb« li^r«» Aarm^ Uk tesOMH vntjfA 'A tiKtr jgovth, Clf a youiig fruit be txpomA %t» the power of the Mm, it win be smalkr than one Aaded by the fesrcs, beeaoK ite dda will be har^ 'kiMBrl and not igire way to tfae t«iid«3iejr of the iKq> to tiSf/eeoA A.**) AfffAy to ttM; yotjDig fraitii a inlatioD of taXiOe of iron, <''We har« aH- r^^y f^^x that a «oliJtioa of «alfal« of iroo apfjUatA to the kdr«i itiMMiatw ritfirptmenol ahKoimfiaap, Tbe thoui^ oeeurred tojqiftytlbeiobi' rioD to tbe frutt«, and the cffeet in iotxeatm^thar mze wm exbaordi' nary. The nohttioa riioidd be id th^ proportion of twenty -Coor i^rauM to a pint of water. Apply a only wfaen the fruit is eooL Hfil)f:siX tfa^ fjfffratioa tbree tfasoai: wben tbe fruitc bare obtatned a fourth part of their dereiopmeDt; when they are a fittle larjeer; and again wfaen they are thrae; parts gromtL^f Graft by ^qipfoodi a «DaaIl sbooC iqiOD the pedande or ImitH^iar, to wbieh tbe frttit k attasson\s open very early in spriujj; and aiv in liani^er of Iviug eaught by fi\>sts. This is espeeially true of aprieots ami jvaehes. and for them a westerh' or even northerly exposure may be pivferable. In Kuivpe. gardens aiv often surivimded with brick walls several fivt high ; and in n\any eases, siieh walls aiv built aci\">ss an aiva for the particular purpi>se of pixniding supjx>rt for fruit. The walls of buildings, whether of brick, stone, or wood, may be used. All apricot, peach, pear, or other fruit-tive trained against v' >^ 252. Palmotto apple tiw ;V5 tnuiuxl 253. A jvUmotto in need of tliin- in the nurserj-, for growing on an nins. an o^x>ration that nla^• Ix) espalier. iwinWued with the August priming. a bam, shop, shed, or outhouse is not only a decoratioti but is an object of much mteivst and, if the location, variety, and training are right, it should yield fruit of extra quality. These trained trees cannot compete with orchard tiws in quantity of fruit, but they sliould surpass them hi the quality of the pnxiuct. FoUowmg is spetntie advice, from the English standpouit, on tlie arnmgement and construction of walls and fences.* bv CheaJ: *J. Che;U. "l*raetical Fruit-Culture," Loudon. 1892, 112. WALLS AND FKNCKS 241 "WAMiH. — 'I'Ik; iirniiif:;cin(tii(, uiid posiljoii of wiills will, of course, (lopond upon \\\i\ Hizo and Uk; natun; of ili(( HiuroundinnH, etc., but thoy Hhould alwayK l)c arrunn(Hl, if poKHibhi, in a Hquarc, willi tli(> priiic,ii)al wall fa<;inK south, or iiH nearly ho aH i)rac,l.i(!ahlo. Wlicre it. i,s po.ssihlc, pla(!(! Mi(! walls in sucli !i, posilion thai. Uk! ouisidii as well as Ww inside; borders may hv. us(h1 for fruil., thus making us(! of the whole of the wall space; and bear in mind t.hat, ui)on t.he north side many useful fruits m;i,y be fi;rown. Th(! position, wav. and re(}uire- iiKrnis an; so varicid that, it, is imi)ossiblo in the corn[)ass of this work to give more than a Koaeral idea as to arraiif;;*'- nient,s. "Th(! height of the walls should b(; from 8 feet to 15 f(!(>t, acoordinfj; to cireum- stances. In most eases the south wall may be Iowct, t,o athnit more sunshine into the; garden ; and in the case of large ganhms, one or more cross- .,^, . , .^ x r ■ II- 1 ^•''l- '^ ijiiliiietto-vorner tranwfoniied walls may also be mtroduced. fr^ni Mu; usual r)alrii(!tt(! shown in FI^h. As to tluiir (!onst,ru(!tion, they '^■^"■i, ^-W. FrcxiuenMy oik; cannot kIvc the , ,, , 1 -ii -iu i n(!OCHHiiry brciultli -(expansion to Hl.roiinlv should be built wit,hout any .icvdop.ul Hiinplc pali.ict,t,cs, sincahcy would I)iers. Archit,(>ct,s have; g(!n(!r- come; in ccjiiflict with lJ>* leader of these ready-formed pyramids tivxh] not be shortened in summer JUS direeted for younger trees; it may be suiTered to {^row till the hori- zontal leaders are shorten(>d in Au>!;ust, and then left (i or S inehes in length; but if thi^ trtH'S are to be kept to (i or 7 feet in heiglit under root-pruning, this leaiiing shoot may be shorteiuul to 2 iiuihes, or even cut (ilost; down to its bas(^ l'\)r tall pyramids of 10, 12, or 15 U'.cX, it may be left from 8 to 10 inehes in length till t.lu> required height bo attained; it may then be cut to within 2 inches of its base every scuison." The methods to be pursued in the tniinhig of trees on espaliers may be explained by a concrete example. I choose an extract from Hardy* res])(Hdin^ the training of a palniette on an esptilier. A simple pal- niette is a plant wit h a singU^ erect stem and a numlxu" of side branches, as in Figs. 252, 202; a vertical- branched palmette or cande- labrum is shown in F'ig. 264. "We endeavor to obtain thrc^e branches, — one to continue the growth of the trunk, i\w two oth(>rs to furnish two lowest lateral branches. To secure this result, wo. will choose; a bud [head-in the shoot] about 30 centi- meters [a (H'ntim(>ter is nTamidal form which is to be given must, however, always be kept in mind in determining the position of the branches to be saved. "The third and following years. — In the winter pruning of the third and following years, the shoots of the year before, on aU fruits, are cut back to three to four buds, and here it is that the pjTamidal form must be looked after. All trees clothe themselves with weak bearing-wood at the base of last year's stem, and the pruning of the stem-growth must be done accordingly. If it were cut too long, many of the buds would not grow, and bare places would result. Too heavy pruning would cause the formation of strong, woody shoots at the lower part of the tree. With our seed-fruit and stone-fruit pyramids in pots, the branches must not stand too thick or shade each other. At all times light and air must reach the stem in order to benefit the fruits. The removal of single large stems in later years will make this possible. It may also be mentioned here 277. Training of gooseberry. 266 SPECIAL MODES that the dry wood forming in the tree in later life should be removed. In the third, as in all follo\Nang years, the summer pinching-back is executed the same as in the first year, and in the stone-fruits, particularly in peaches, provide for the fruiting wood in the coming year. Thus we build out our pyramid in the pot, and by means of the regular use of the stub to tie to, the lengthening shoot is given a pleasing, erect form. The wood shoot will moderate with increasing fruitfulness, so that in later years it will not be necessary to cut it much, and pinching in the summer will be sufficient.'' Various forms of training pot-grown gooseberries, as grown by James Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, England, are shown in Figs. 275-277. (The Gardeners' Chronicle, July 31, 1897.) CHAPTER VIII AMERICAN GRAPE-TRAINING — GENERAL SKETCH Pruning and training the grape are perplexed questions, even to those who have spent a Hfetime in grape-growing. The perplexity arises from several sources, such as the early effort to transplant European methods, the fact that many systems present almost equally good results for particular purposes and varieties, and the failure to comprehend the fundamental principles of the operations. It is sufficient condemnation of European methods, when appHed in eastern America, to say that the American grapes are distinct species from the European grapes, and that, conse- quently, they are different in habit. This fact does not appear to have been apprehended clearly by the early American grape- growers, even after the native varieties had begun to gain prominence. American viticulture, aside from that on the Pacific slope, which is concerned with the European grape, is an industry of relatively recent development. It was little more than a century ago that the first American variety gained favor, and so late as 1823 that the first definite attempt was made, in Adlum's "Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in America," to record the merits of native grapes for purposes of cultivation. Even Adlum's book was largely given to a discussion of Euro- pean varieties and practices. In 1846 "Thomas' Fruit Culturist" mentioned only six "American hardy varieties," and all of these, excepting the Catawba, are practically not in cultivation at present. The Concord appeared in 1853. American grape- training, therefore, is of recent origin, and we are only fairly outgrowing the influence of the practices early imported from (267) 268 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH Europe. The first decided epoch in the evolution of American grape-training was the appearance of Fuller's "Grape Culturist," in 1864; for while the system which he depicted, and which yet often bears his name, was but a modification of European methods and had been outlined by earlier American writers, it was at that time placed clearly before the pubhc and became an accepted practice. An account of some of the early American advice on the pruning and training of grapes was gi.ven in the original "Pruning-Book," but it need not be repeated here. The modem systems of training the American vines were first fully described in my Httle book, "American Grape-Train- ing," 1893, and names were there given to some of the forms, these names now being current. The great diversity of opinion among the best grape-growers concerning the advantages of different systems of training is proof that many systems have merit, and that no one system is better than others for all purposes. The most important factor in determining the merits of any system of training is the nature of the vine — as its vigor, habit, and rate of growth, normal size, relative size and abundance of leaves, and season and character of fruit; the climate (particularly as to whether the vines are to be laid down in winter), the purpose for which the fruit is grown (whether for table grapes, for wine-making, for grape-juice) ; and other exterior considerations may also modify the character of the training. Varieties may thrive equally well under the same general system of training, but may require minor modifica- tions; so it comes that no hard and fast lines can be laid down, either for any system or any variety. One system differs from another in some one main principle or idea, but the modifica- tions of all may meet and blend. If two men practice the Kniffin system, therefore, this fact does not indicate that they prune and train their vines exacty alike. It is impossible to formulate rules for grape-training; it is, therefore, important that we understand thoroughly the philosophy of pruning and training, PRUNING VS. TRAINING 269 both in general and in the different systems now most popular. Pruning and training are terms often confounded when speaking of the grape, but they represent distinct operations. Pruning refers to such removal of branches as shall insure better and larger fruit on the re- maining parts. Training refei:s to the disposition of the different parts of the vine. It is true that different methods of training demand different styles of pruning, but the modification in pruning is only such as shall adapt it to the external shape and size of the vine, and does not affect the prin- ciple on which it rests. Pruning is a necessity, and, in essence, there is but one method ; training is largely a convenience, and there are as many modes as there are fancies among grape-growers. 278. Grape shoot. THE SPUR AND THE RENEWAL All intelligent pruning of the grape rests on the fact that the fruit is borne in a few clusters near the base of the growing shoots of the season, which shoots spring from wood of last yearns growth. We may now examine the illustrations (in the absence of the vines) to understand the principle just laid down. A growing 270 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH leafy branch of the grape-vine is called a shoot; a ripened shoot is called a cane; a division of the trunk two or more years old is called an arm. A shoot, as it appears in the northern states in June, is shown in Fig. 278. The whole shoot has grown within a month, from a bud. As it grew, flower-clusters appeared, and these are c 279. The bearing wood. — It is of the present season's growth. to bear the grapes. The shoot will continue to grow, perhaps to the length of 10 to 20 feet, but no more flower-clusters will appear. At picking-time, therefore, the grapes all hang near the lower end or base of the shoots or new canes, as in Fig. 279 and Fig. 53, page 44. In Fig. 279, the old cane was cut at A. Then a shoot started from a bud at B and grew beyond BB, and another shoot sprang from the uppermost bud and grew beyond C. THE BEARING SHOOTS 271 Each bud on the old cane, therefore, produces a new cane which may bear fruit as well as leaves. At the close of the season, this long ripened shoot or cane has produced a bud every foot, more or less, from which new fruit-bearing shoots are to spring next year. But if all these buds were allowed to remain, the vine would be overtaxed with fruit the coming year, and the crop would be a failure. The cane, therefore, is cut off until it bears only as many buds as experience has taught us the vine should carry. The cane may be cut back to five or ten buds, and perhaps some of these buds will be removed, or "rubbed off," next spring if the young growth seems to be too thick, or if the plant is weak. Each shoot will bear, on an average, two or more clusters, according to the variety. Some shoots will bear no clusters. From one to six of the canes, each bearing five to ten buds, are left on the plant each spring. The number of clusters a vine can carry well depends on the variety, the age and size of the vine, the style of the training, and the soil and treatment. Experience is the only guide. A strong vine of Concord, which is a prolific variety, trained in any of the ordi- nary systems and set 8 or 10 feet from any other vine, will usually carry thirty to sixty clusters. The clusters will weigh from one-fourth to one-half pound each. Twelve or fifteen pounds of marketable grapes is a fair or average crop for such a Concord vine, and twenty-five pounds is a very heavy crop. The pruning of the grape-vine, therefore, is essentially a thinning process. In the winter pruning, all the canes of the last season's growth are cut away except two to six, which are left to make the fruit and wood of the next year; and each of these remaining canes is headed-back to three to ten buds. The number and length of the canes left after the pruning depend on the style of training. A vine which may completely cover a trellis in autumn will be cut back so severely that a novice will fear the plant is ruined. But the operator bears in mind the fact that the grape, unlike the apple, pear, and peach, does 272 GRAPES— 6E.NERAL SKETCH not bear distinct fruit-buds in autumn, but buds that produce fruit-bearing shoots the following season. The embryonic clusters of flowers may be discovered, how- ever, in the dormant buds if thin sections are made and a small magnifier used. The buds are differentiated in autumn. Let us now suppose, therefore, that we have pruned our vine in the fall of 1914 to two canes, each bearing ten buds (Fig 280). We will call these canes A and B respectively. In 1915, Bio b9 e8 b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 C D Al a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 aIO 280. Diagram to illustrate pruning. therefore, twenty shoots grew from them, and each of these shoots or new canes branches, or produces laterals. We will des- ignate the new canes of 1915 as Al, A2, A3, Bl, B2, and so on. Each of the new canes bears at the base about two clusters of grapes, giving a total yield of about forty clusters. These clus- ters stand opposite the leaves, as seen in Fig. 278. In the axil of each leaf a bud is formed which will produce a cane, and perhaps fruit, in 1916. If each of these new canes, Al, A2, etc., produces ten buds — which is a moderate number — the vine would go into the winter of 1915-1916 with, two hundred buds for the next year's growth and crop; but these buds should be reduced to about twenty, as they were in the fall of 1914. That THE GRAPE SPUR 273 is, every year we go back again to the same number of buds, and the top of the vine grows no larger from year to year, although the trunk enlarges somewhat. Therefore, we must cut back again to two canes. We cut back each of these original canes, A and B, to one new cane. That is, we leave only Al and Bl, cutting off A2, A3, etc., and B2, B3, etc. This brings the vine back to very nearly its condition in the autumn of 1914; but the new canes, Al and Bl, which are now to become the main canes by being bent down horizontally, were borne at some distance — say 3 or 4 inches — ^from the base of the original canes, A and B, so that the permanent part of the vine is constantly lengthening itself. This annually lengthening part is called a s'pur. Spurs are rarely or never made in this exact position, however, although this diagrammatic sketch illustrates clearly the method of their formation. The common method of spurring is that connected with the horizontal-arm system of training, in which the arms A and B are allowed ^^^^ g to become permanent, and the upright canes, Al, A2, Bl, B2, B3, etc., are cut back to within two or three buds of these arms each year. The cane Al, for example, is cut back in the autumn of 1915 to two or three buds, and in 1916 two or three canes will grow from this stub. In the autumn of 1916 only one cane is left after the pruning, and this one is cut back to two or three buds; and so on. Thus the spur grows higher every year, although every effort is made to keep it short both by reducing the number of buds to one or two and by endeavoring to bring out a cane lower down on the spur every few years. Fig. 281 shows a short spur of two years' standing. The horizontal part is the permanent arm. The first upright part is the remains of the first-year cane, R 274 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH and the upper part is the second-year cane after it is cut back in autumn. In this example, the cane is cut back to one fruit- ing-bud, b, the small buds, a a, being rubbed out. There are serious objections to spurs in any position. They become hard and comparatively Ufeless after a time; it is often difficult to replace them by healthy fresh wood and the bearing part of the vine is constantly receding from the main trunk. The bearing wood should spring from near the central parts of the vine, or be kept ''near the head" as the grape-growers say. In order to do this, it is customary to allow two canes to grow out each year back of the canes Al and Bl (Fig. 280), or from the head of the vine; these canes may be designated C and D. These canes, C and D, are grown in 1915 — when they may bear fruit like other canes — for the sole purpose of forming the basis of the bearing top in 1916, while all the old top, A and B, with the secondary canes, Al, A2, Bl, B2, B3, etc., is cut entirely away. Here, then, are two distinct systems of forming the bearing top for the succeeding year: either from spurs, which are the remains of the previous top; or from renewals, which are taken each year from the old wood near the head of the vine, or even from the ground. Renewals from the ground are now little used, however, for they seldom give a sufficient crop unless they are headed-in the first fall and are allowed to bear the second year. It should be borne in mind that the spur and renewal methods refer entirely to pruning, not to training, for either one can be used in any system of training. Spur-pruning, however, is grow- ing in disfavor among commercial grape-growers, and renewal is more or less used in all systems of training. For this reason, the old horizontal-arm or Fuller system, with renewals from the ground, is now seldom seen outside amateur gardens. Renewal pruning is illustrated in Fig. 282. This engraving shows the head of a vine seven years old, and on which two canes are allowed to remain after each annual pruning. The THE RENEWAL 275 part extending from 6 to / and d is the base of the bearing cane representing, let us say, the year 1915. In the winter of 1915- 1916, this cane is cut off at d, and the new cane, e, is left to make the bearing-wood of 1916. Another cane sprang from /, but it was too weak to leave for fruiting; it was, therefore, cut away. The old stub, h, J, d, will be cut away a year hence, in the winter of 1916-1917. In the meantime, a renewal cane will have grown 282. Renewal pruning from the stub c, which is left for that purpose, and the old cane, bd, will be cut off just beyond it, between c and /. In this way, the bearing-wood is kept close to the head of the vine. The wound a shows where an old stub was cut away in the winter 1915-1916, while b shows where one was cut off the previous winter. A scar on the back of the head, which does not show in the illustration, marks the spot where a stub was cut away two years ago, in the \vinter of 1913-1914. This method of pruning can be kept up almost indefinitely, and if care is exercised in keeping the stubs short the head ^vi\\ not enlarge out of propor- tion to the growth of the stock or trunk. PRUNING YOUNG VINES The time required after planting to get the vine on the wires or trellis varies with the strength of the vine when set, the 276 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH variety, the soil and cultivation, and tlic system of training; but, as a rule, the training begins the second or third year, previous to which time the vine is pruned, not trained. Two-year-old vines are often used for planting, although in the strong va- rieties, as Concord and Niagara, well-groAvn yearlmg vines are preferred. The strong-growing kinds are commonly set 8 to 283. Concord vine one year old, before and after pruning. 10 feet apart in the row, and the rows 8 or 9 feet apart. Dela- wares and other small vines may be set closer, although 8 feet is preferable. When set, the vine is cut back to two or three buds, as displayed in Figs. 283-286, which show four vines of different forms actually pruned by an expert grape-grower for illustration in this edition of this book. The first year, the young canes are usually allowed to lie on the ground at will, as seen in Fig. 287. In the fall or winter, all THE NEWLY SET VINE 277 the canes but one are cut off, and this one is cut back to two or three buds. The vine, therefore, is no longer at the expu-ation of a year's growth than it was when planted; but in the meantime the plant has become thoroughly established, and the second year's growth should be strong enough to form the basis for the permanent trunk or arm. If, however, the second year's growth 284. Concord two years old, before and after pruning. is weak, it may be cut back as before, and the third season's growth used for the trunk. On the other hand, the growth of the first year is sometimes carried to the wires to form the permanent trunk and arms, but it is only with extra-strong vines in good soil that this practice is admissible. From this point, the treatment of the vine is discussed under Grape-training (Chapter IX). We may pause, however, to examine other methods of handling the vine in its first year or. two, particularly under 278 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH garden or amateur conditions. Figs. 288 and 289 are from "The Home Vineyard," published as Fanners' Bulletin No. 156 (United States Department of Agriculture, 1902), by the late W. H. Ragan. He writes that "the support for the young vine at first may be temporary, a mere stake or pole sufficiently strong to bear its weight and tall enough to traia it in an up- 285. One-year-old Niagara vine before and after pruning. right position for one or two seasons. During this time it should be trained as a single shoot, from which all lateral or side branches are pinched off as soon as they are formed. These lateral or side branches will start at a point above each leaf and will be very easily broken off if attended to early. "At the end of the first year's growth of the young vine, treated as above directed, it may be expected to resemble YOUNG VINE 279 that in the illustration (Fig. 288) . A well-cultivated vine of the Concord or some equally strong-growing variety should then be from 5 to 10 feet in length. "Its treatment the following or second year will depend somewhat upon the training intended. In any event it should be cut back in the fall or winter of the first year to within about 286. Two-year-old Niagara vine before and after pruning. 2 feet of the ground. The proper place is indicated by the cross line in Fig. 288. Only the two upper buds should be allowed to grow for the second season, and they should be treated as the single shoot of the previous year was; that is, by training them to single shoots. If the vine, now in its third year's growth from layer or cutting, is a strong one it may be allowed to bear a cluster of fruit on each of the two shoots of wood of this year's growth. In the fall or early winter each of these two shoots (now called canes) should be cut back to about 2 feet 280 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH in length. The vine will then have its stem and two branches or canes cut back to an even length, as they are intended for the permanent horizontal arms of the vine that is to be. The vine will now appear something as shown in Fig. 289. "^s^^-ar',^^ ■""s^^^l .S7 4 iic-wh plintcd Mne\ ard "The vine has now passed its second year in its permanent location and is ready for a more enduring support. This may be a stake, a building, or a trellis. The stake is now almost obsolete, having been superseded by the trellis, made cheaper and really better than the stake through the use of wire in its construction." WHEN TO PRUNE Grape-vines may be pruned at any time in winter or after the first hard freeze in autumn. It is the practice among most grape-growers in the North to prune as time permits from No- TIME TO PRUNE 281 vember to late in February, or even early in March. The sap flows very freely from cuts made in spring and early summer, causing the phenomenon known as "bleeding," or in Europe as "weeping," and to prevent this loss, pruning is stopped six weeks or more before the time at which the buds usually swell. It is yet a moot point whether this bleeding ever injures the vine, but it is a safe practice to prune early. The vine is cut off 1 to 2 inches beyond the last bud which it is desired to leave, in order to avoid injury to the bud from the drying-out of the end of the cane. The pruning is performed with small hand pruning-shears, a small sharp saw, and snagging shears. The canes are often 288. A method for a home plantation. — First year in its permanent position, the mark showing where the vine is to be cut back. 289. The second year of 288, the two shoots or arms (for the horizontal-spur system) having been started. To be cut back at the tips. allowed to remain tied to the wires until the pruning is com- pleted, although it is the practice with most growers who use the Kniflin system to cut the strings before pruning. The re- moval of the severed canes is known as "stripping." In large 282 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH vineyards, the pruner sometimes leaves the stripping to boys or other cheap labor. The stripping may be performed at any time after pruning, until spring. It must be completed before the growth starts on the remaming parts of the vine, however, to avoid injury to the young buds when tearing the vines off the trellis. SUMMER PRUNING There is much discussion as to the advisability of summer pruning. This summer pruning is of two kinds — (1) the removal or "breaking-out" of the superfluous shoots, and (2) heading-in or "stopping" the main canes to keep them within limits. The superfluous shoots are such as spring from small weak buds, or those that break from the old arms or trunk of the vine. Shoots that start from the very base of the old cane are usually weak, and should be removed. Buds in this position are shown at a a, in Fig. 281. The secondary or axillary branches, which often start from the base of the season's shoots, should be removed or broken out. These superfluous shoots are pulled off from time to time as they appear, or the buds may be rubbed off before the shoots begin to grow. The heading-in of the main growing canes, while desirable for the purpose of keeping the vine within bounds, is hkely to cause a growth of laterals that choke up the vine and that do not mature, and in those styles of training in which very Uttle wood is allowed to grow, the practice may prevent the develop- ment of a sufficient amount of leaf-surface properly to sustain the vine. Vines are often weakened by summer pruning. These dangers can be overcome by careful attention, however, espe- cially by heading-in very lightly, and by performing it as late in the season as possible when new lateral growth does not start readily. The necessity of much heading-in has been largely obviated in late years by the adoption of high and drooping systems of training, and by setting the vines far apart. The SUMMER PRUNING 283 strong varieties, as Concord, Brighton, and Niagara, should be set 8 or 10 feet apart in the row, especially if grown under the Kniffin system. Catawba, being a very upright grower, and especially well adapted to upright training, may be set 8 feet apart, and Delawares are often set as close as 6 or 8 feet. Where the growth is large because of long seasons, vines are some- times set more than 10 feet apart. The only summer heading-m now generally recommended is the clipping of the tips when they fall over and begin to touch the-ground. This clipping is often accompHshed with a sickle or sharp corn-cutter. THE TRELLIS The autumn or winter following the planting of the vine- yard, the trellis is begun if the upright systems are used (see Chapter IX); but this operation is usually de- m^ layed a year longer in the Kniffin systems, and stakes are commonly used, or at least recom- mended, for the second season. In the South the trellis is made the first year. The style of trellis will depend on the kind of trainmg, but the main 290. Bracing the end post. features are the same for all. Strong posts of durable timber, as cedar, locust, chestnut, or oak, are placed at such distance apart that two vines can be set between each two. If the vines are set 9 feet apart, the posts may be 18 or 20 feet apart, and a vine will then stand 4 or 5 feet from each post. (See page 289.) If the posts in the row are 18 feet apart and the rows 8 feet apart, about 330 posts will be required 284 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH to the acre. Except in very hard and stony lands, the posts are driven with a heavy maul, although many persons prefer to set the end posts in holes, thinking that they endure the strain better. In all loose soils, however, posts can be made as firm by driving as by setting with a spade. All posts should be as firm and stiff as possible, to hold up the heavy loads of vines and fruit. In setting posts on hillsides, it is a common practice to lean them shghtly uphiU, for there is always a tendency for the posts to tilt down the slope. For the Kniffin systems, especially for the strong-growing grapes, the posts must stand 6 or 63^ feet high when set; but a foot less will usually be sufficient for the upright and horizontal systems. The posts should stand higher at first than is necessary for the support of the wires, for they will need to be driven down 291. A poor way of bracing the post. as they become loose. The end posts of each row should be well braced, as shown in Fig. 290. A brace sometimes recommended is to anchor the post to a stone, as in Fig. 291, but this is impracticable. Fig. 290 illustrates the bracing of fence- and trellis-posts. The usual way of bracing is shown in the upper figure, but this method is faulty, the brace being too high up on the post and too steep. It should rest nearly against the center of strain on the post and in a less steep position, as TRELLISES 285 shown in the lower figure. A wire connecting the top of the second post with the bottom of the end post prevents the brace from pushing over the end post. Fig. 292 (after Ragan) shows two methods of securing the end post. The brace 1 is not ad- visable because it is in the way. Brace 2 is attached too high on the post. It is probably only a question of time when iron posts will come into genwal use; cement posts cannot be driven and , 1 • /-IT 292. The bracing of the end post. seem to be unpracticable. Second-hand steam-pipe could no doubt be used. Iron posts are not only durable, but they do not harbor insects and fungi. The wire ordinarily used is No. 12, except for the top wire in the Kniffin training, which is usually No. 10, as the greater part of the weight is then on the top wire. No. 9 is generally used in the Chautauqua grape-belt, costing 2% cents a pound. No. 14 is sometimes used for the middle and upper rows in the upright systems, but it is hardly strong enough. The following figures show the sizes and weights of these and similar iron and steel wires: Diameter No. in inches 9 148 10 135 11 120 12 105 13 092 14 080 15 072 16 063 Weight of 100 feet Feet in 2,000 Pounds pounds 5.80 34,483 4.83 41,408 3.82 52,356 2.92 68,493 2.24 89,286 1.69 118,343 1.37 145,985 1.05 190,476 The plain annealed iron wire costs about 3 cents a pound, and the galvanized — which is less used for vineyards — 33^ cents. Of No. 12 wire, about 160 pounds is required to the acre for a 286 GRAPES— GENERAL SKETCH single run on rows 8 foot apart , and about 500 pounds for three runs. Tho cost of No. 12 wiro to the acre, for three runs, tliereforo, is about 815 293. Wiro-strctchcr. The wire is secured to tho intonnediate posts by staples driven in hrnily, so that the wire will not pull through readily of its owii weight, but still loose enough to allow of the tightening of the wires from the end. In other words, the head of the staple should not quite touch the wu-e. Grape staples are of three lengths, about l}re; must be provide'd." The cost of pruning an aero of grapes is reported as follows: Blofiking out $1 00 Cutting curls 1 50 Stripping, rejmoving brush, tapping posts, stretching wire. . 1 50 Labor of tying 1 50 Cost of ties 25 $5 75 298 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING THE UPRIGHT SYSTEMS The upright systems are the oldest of the styles of American grape-training. They consist, essentially, in carrying out two horizontal canes, or sometimes arms, along a low wire, and training the shoots from them vertically. These shoots are tied to the upper wires as they grow. This type was first clearly and forcibly described in detail by A. S. Fuller, in his "Grape Culturist," in 1864, and it became known as the Fuller system, although it was practised many years previous to this time. Horizontal- Arm Spur system. There are two types, or styles, of this upright system. The older type and the one mostly described in the books, is known as the Horizontal-Arm Spur-training. In this method, the two 303. Horizontal-Arm Spur-training, showing one-half of the vine. horizontal branches are permanent, or, in other words, they are true arms. The canes are cut back each autumn to upright spurs on these arms, as explained on page 273 (Fig. 281). Two shoots are often allowed to grow from each of these spurs, as shown in Fig. 303. These spurs become overgrown and weak HORIZONTAL-ARM METHOD 299 after a few years, and they are renewed from new shoots which spring from near their base or from the arm itseK. Sometimes the whole arm is renewed from the head of the vine, or even from the ground. The number of these upright canes and their distance apart on these per- manent arms depend on ^the variety, the strength of the vine and soil, and the fancy of the grower. From 12 to 20 inches apart on the arm is the com- mon distance. If a vine is strong enough to carry a total of five canes and the vines are 8 feet apart, then the canes are distributed at intervals of about 20 inches. Very strong vines of vigorous varieties will carry eight canes on the two arms together, and in this case the canes stand about a foot apart. In autumn or winter, the cane is cut away and the strongest new cane which springs from its base is left for the bearing wood of the following year. This new cane is itself headed-in to the height of the trellis ; that is, if the upper- most and lowermost wires are 34 inches apart — as they are in the Brocton vineyards of western New York, where a modifica- tion of this system is largely used — this new cane is shortened-in to about 36 inches long. On this length of cane there will be about seven good buds in the common varieties. The diagram in Fig. 304 will aid to fix the form of the hori- zontal system in the mind; as also Figs. 305 and 306, drawn 304. Horizontal arm. (Diagram.) 302 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING 307. Permanent stem and horizontal arma, in a home-vineyard training with a many-wired trellis. with its permanent upright stem and its two horizontal arms, each with its three or four shoots or canes trained upward to the top wire of the trellis, each of which has borne one or two bunches of grapes. When autumn frosts suspend vegetation, the vine is ready for its an- nual pruning before entering upon its winter's rest and preparatory to bearing a full crop in its fourth year. It will then appear as illus- trated in Fig. 308. "Each alternate upright cane on the horizontal arms must be cut down to a short spur at a point near the arm, and the others cut off even with the top wire of the trellis. Its appearance will then be somewhat hke the accompanying illustration (Fig. 309). "The following spring a single shoot is allowed to grow from each of the spurs on the horizontal arms to be trained vertically to the wires above, and the eyes (from six to ten) on the canes that are left from the previous pruning will send out the fruit- bearing shoots for the current year. These fruit-bearing shoots are to be trained on the wires of the trellis, and may be allowed to bear one or two bunches of fruit each. If there are six eyes or buds on each upright cane, and there are three or four of these, the number of bunches of fruit to each vine may be estimated at from twenty-five to forty. The vine pruned as 308. The fruiting and renewal canes. HORIZONTAL ARM 303 thus directed, with its fruit, in the fall of the fourth year from planting will appear as shown in Fig. 310. "When the grapes have been harvested and the season (late fall or early winter) has again come for the annual pruning, the canes that have borne fruit are to be cut down to short spurs, a few inches from the horizontal arms, and the shoots that have grown from th^ spurs of the preceding year are to be retained for fruiting the succeeding sea- son. In this way new wood, that is absolutely necessary w.Jfti«^fc- to the production of fruit, is always provided for each succeeding year, and that, too, within the limited space allotted to each vine." A similar method of prun- ing and training is described by S. M. Tracy in Farmers' Bulletin No. 118 (United States Department of Agri- culture, 1900), writing of "Grape-Growing in the South." It is sufficiently explained in Fig. 311. vn^vr::: 309. Fruiting canes and renewal spurs after pruning. 310. The fruiting and renewal canes. Chautauqua system. A modification of this horizontal-arm system is shown in Fig. 312. It is used in the vineyards of Chautauqua County, New York. The arms in this case are very short, and canes are taken out at only two or three places. The picture shows a vine in which two and three canes are taken from the end of 302 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING with its permanent upright stem and its two horizontal arms, each with its three or four shoots or canes trained upward to the top wire of the trelhs, each of which has borne one or two bunches of grapes. When autumn frosts suspend vegetation, the vine is ready for its an- nual pruning before entering upon its winter's rest and preparatory to bearing a full crop in its fourth year. It will then appear as illus- trated m Fig. 308. "Each alternate upright cane on the horizontal arms must be cut down to a short spur at a point near the arm, and the others cut off even with the top wire of the trellis. Its appearance will then be somewhat like the accompanying illustration (Fig. 309). ''The following spring a single shoot is allowed to grow from each of the spurs on the horizontal arms to be trained vertically to the 307. Permanent stem and horizontal arms, in a home-vineyard training with a many-wired trellis. 308. The fruiting and renewal canes. wires above, and the eyes (from six to ten) on the canes that are left from the previous pruning will send out the fruit- bearing shoots for the current year. These fruit-bearing shoots are to be trained on the wires of the trellis, and may be allowed to bear one or two bunches of fruit each. If there are six eyes or buds on each upright cane, and there are three or four of these, the number of bunches of fruit to each vine may be estimated at from twenty-five to forty. The vine pruned as HORIZONTAL ARM 303 thus directed, with its fruit, in the fall of the fourth year from planting will appear as shown in Fig. 310. "When the grapes have been harvested and the season (late fall or early winter) has again come for the annual pruning, the canes that have borne fruit are to be cut down to short spurs, a few inches from the horizontal arms, and the shoots that have grown from th^ spurs of the preceding year are to be retained for fruiting the succeeding sea- son. In this way new wood, that is absolutely necessary w.i to the production of fruit, is always provided for each succeeding year, and that, too, within the limited space allotted to each vine." A simUar method of prun- ing and training is described by S. M. Tracy in Farmers' Bulletin No. 118 (United States Department of Agri- culture, 1900), writing of "Grape-Growing in the South." It is sufficiently explained in Fig. 311. 'fin^vrz^ Fruiting canes and renewal spurs after pruning. 310. The fruiting and renewal canes. Chautauqua system. A modification of this horizontal-arm system is shown in Fig. 312. It is used in the vineyards of Chautauqua County, New York. The arms in this case are very short, and canes are taken out at only two or three places. The picture shows a vine in which two and three canes are taken from the end of 304 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING each arm, making five canes for the bearing top of the vine. These canes are cut back to spurs in the fall, as explained on page 299. Sometimes one or two other canes are taken out from these arms nearer the main trunk. One is taken out lq Fig. 312. The advantages urged for this style of training are the stronger growth which is insured by so few canes, and the small amount of old or permanent wood left to each vine; the danger from strong winds is also reduced. 311. Vine ready for pruning, as dLvsriibtd by Tracy; i, the stem; g, arms; d, canes; s, shoots; b, spurs. The faint lines near the bases of the canes indicate the points where they should be pruned off in the winter, leaving spurs for the production of shoots the following season. The following account of this method of training and pruning is given by Gladwin (Circular No. 16, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva): "This system is but a modifi- cation of the Horizontal-Arm Spur-system. Permanent arms are used to support the canes, which are tied yearly to a two- or three-wire trelHs. These canes may be tied obliquely or per- CHAUTAUQUA SYSTEM 305 pendicularly. If two wires are used, they are usually 34 inches apart; if three, about 20 inches apart. The canes for tymg up the following year either develop du-ectly from the old wood of the arms, from spurs on the arms, or from the base buds of the past season's canes. This system has a strong hold upon the vineyardists of Chautauqua County, as the prmcipal grape, the Concord, adapts itself fairly well to training according to this system. The old arms should be renewed at frequent 312. Chautauqua or Brocton training. inten-als m order to use this system to the best advantage, as in time they become crooked, gnarled, and the extremities often a great distance from the head of the vine." The true horizontal-arm training has serious faults, especially in the persistence of the old spurs, and probably vnW eventually give place to other systems. Aside from the spur-pruning, the system is much like the following, which is a modification to allow of renewal, and to which the reader is referred for further 306 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING details. This modification may be called the High Renewal. It is a type rather than a definite method, for it allows of wide modification; it may therefore be discussed at some length, but many of the general remarks about behavior of vines as to age and otherwise will apply to vines conformed to other methods. The High Renewal. This is an upright training now extensively employed in the lake regions of New York and elsewhere. It starts the head or branches of the vine from 18 to 30 inches from the ground. The ^ ideal height for most varieties is probably about 2 feet to the first wire, although 30 inches is better than 18. If the vines are lower than 2 feet, they are liable to be injured "^"*"' " ' '" by the plow or culti- 313. The second season of upright training. ,i • vator, the earth is dashed against the clusters by heavy rains, and if the shoots become loose, they strike the ground and the grapes are soon soiled. A single trunk or arm is carried up to the required height, or if good branches happen to form lower down, two main canes are carried from this point up to the distance required to meet the lower wire, so that the trunk becomes Y-shaped, as seen in Figs. 313, 315, 319. In fact, vineyardists usually prefer to have this head or crotch a few inches below the lowest wire, to facilitate the spreading and placing of the canes. The trellis for the upright systems nearly always com- prises three wires, although only two are sometimes used for the smaller-growing varieties, and very rarely four are employed HIGH RENEWAL 307 for the strongest kinds, but this latter number is unnecessary. The lowest wire is stretched at 18, 24, or 30 inches from the ground, preferably at about 30 for most vines, and the two upper ones are placed at distances of 18 to 20 inches apart. The second season after planting should see the vine tied to the first wire. Fig. 313 is from a photograph taken in July (say 1914) of a Concord vine which was set in the preceding spring (1913). In autumn of the first year (1913) the vine was cut back to three or four buds, and in the following spring (1914) two of these buds were allowed to make canes. These two canes are now tied to the wire, which was stretched in spring following the planting (in 1914). In this case, the branches start near the surface of the ground. Sometimes only a single strong shoot grows, and to secure the two branches it is broken over where it passes the wire, and is usually tied to a stake to afford support. Fig. 314 shows this operation. A bud will develop at the bend or break, from which a cane may be trained in the opposite direction from the original por- tion, and the T-head is secured. The close of the second season after planting, therefore, will usually find the vine with two good canes extending in opposite directions, and tied to the wire. The pruning at this time will consist in cutting off the ends of these canes to firm and strong wood, which will leave them bearing five to eight buds. The third season, shoots will grow upright from these buds and will be tied to the second wire, which has now been supplied. Late in the third season 314. Making the T-head. 308 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING the vine should have much the appearance of that shown in Fig. 315. The third wire is usually added to the trellis at the close of the second season, at the same time that the second wire is put on; but sometimes this is delayed until the close of the third season. Some of the upright shoots may bear a few grapes this third season, but unless the vines are very strong, the flower- clusters should be removed; and a three-year-old vine should never be allowed to bear heavily. It must be remembered, however, that both these horizontal canes, with all their mass of herbage, are to be cut away in the 315. The third season of High Renewal. Concord. fall or winter of the third year. Some provision must have been made, therefore, for the top for the fourth year. It will be recalled that in discussing the renewal pruning (page 275, Fig. 282), it was found that two or more shoots are allowed to grow each year to form the basis of the top the following year. In Fig. 315, three or four such shoots can be seen springing from the Y-shaped part in the center of the vine. These shoots or canes are to be bent down to the lowest wire next spring, and the bearing shoots will arise from them. This process will be seen at a glance from Figs. 316-318. The first shows a full-grown old vine, trained on three wires. Fig. 317 shows the same vine when pruned. Two long canes, with six or eight buds each, are left to form the top of the following year. The two stubs from HIGH RENEWAL 309 316. Catawba vine on the High Renewal, before pruning. which the renewal canes are to grow for the second year's top, are seen in the center. In autumn of the next year, there- fore, these two outside canes will be cut away to the base of these renewal stubs; and the renewal canes, in the meantime, will have made a year's growth. These renewal stubs in this picture are really spurs, as will be seen; that is, they contain two ages of wood. It is the purpose, however, to remove these stubs or 317. Vine 316 after pruning. 310 METHODS OF GRAPE-f RAINING spurs every two or three years at most, and to bring new canes directly from the old wood or head. If possible, the renewal cane is brought from a new place on the old wood every year, in order to avoid a spur. Such was the case in the vine shown in Fig. 282, page 275. Fig. 318 318. Vine 317 tied to the lowest wire. shows the vine tied down to the lowest wire. Two ties are made on each cane. Fig. 319 shows a vine in which four canes have been left to form the top for the following year. The stubs for the renewals can be seen at the Y. It is customary to leave more than two canes, in strong-growing varieties like Concord, when occasion seems to require it. Sometimes four, and even six, are left. If four canes are left, two may be tied together in each direction on the bottom wire. If six, the two extra ones should be tied along the second wire, parallel with the lowest ones. These extra canes are sometimes tied obliquely across the trellis, but this practice should be discouraged, for the usual tendency of the vine is to make its greatest growth at the top and the lower buds may fail to bear. The length of the two canes varies with different vari- eties and the distance apart at which the vines are set. Very HIGH HKNEWAL 311 strong kinds, as Concord and Niagara, can carry ten or twelve buds on each cane, especially if the vines are set more than 8 feet apart. Fig. 320 shows half of a Concord vine in which about ten buds were left on each cane. These strong sorts often carry forty or fifty buds to the vine to advantage, but when this number is left the canes should be four, as explained in the last paragraph. In Delaware and other weak-growing varieties, twenty or twenty-five buds to the vine should be the maximum and only tw(i canes should be left; the number of buds is usually less. In short-jointed varieties, the canes are usually cut to the desired length — 4 to 6 feet — even if too great a number of buds is left, but the shoots which spring from these extra buds are broken out soon after they start. A Delaware vine which has made an unusually short or weak growth will require fewer buds to be left 319. Four-cane High Renewal. for next year's top than a neighboring vine of the same variety which has made a strong growth. The Catawba, which is a short but very stiff grower, is usually cut back to six or eight buds, as seen in Figs. 316-318. Fig. 321 is a good Catawba vine four years set. The grower soon learns to adjust the pruning to the character 312 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING of the vine, without effort. He has in mind a certain desired crop of grapes, perhaps about so many bunches, and he leaves enough buds to produce this amount, allowing, perhaps, 10 per cent of the buds for accidents and barren shoots. He knows, also, that the canes should always be cut back to well-ripened wood. 320. High Renewal complete. Concord. It should be said that mere size of cane does not indicate its value as a fruit-bearing branch. Hard smooth wood of medium size usually gives better results than the very large and softer canes which are sometimes produced on soils rich in nitrogenous manures. This large and overgrown wood is known as a "bull cane." A cane does not attain its full growth the first year, but will increase in diameter the second season. The tying, therefore, should be sufficiently loose or elastic to allow of growth, although it should be firm enough to hold the cane constantly in place. The cane should not be hung from the wire, but tied close to it, provision being made for the swelling of the wood to twice its thickness. The shoots are tied to the second wire soon after they pass it, or have attained firmness enough to allow of tying, and the same shoots are tied again to the top wire. Not all the shoots grow with equal rapidity, and the vineyard must be gone over more than twice if the shoots are kept properly tied. Per- haps four times over the vineyard will be all that is necessary for HIGH RENEWAL 313 careful summer tying. Many vineyardists tie only once or twice, but this neglect, with the High Renewal system, should be dis- couraged. This summer tying is mostly with green rye-straw or raffia. A piece of straw about 10 inches long is used, it usually being wrapped but once about the shoot. The knot is made with a twist and tuck. If raffia is used, a common string-knot is made. When the shoots reach the top of the trellis, they are usually allowed to take care of themselves. The Catawba shoots stand nesirly erect above the top wire, and ordinarily need no atten- tion. The long-growing varieties are likely to drag the shoots on the ground before the close of the season. If these tips inter- fere with the cultivation, they may be clipped off with a sickle or corn-cutter, although this practice should be delayed as long as possible to prevent the growth of laterals. It is probably better to avoid cutting entirely. Some growers wind or tie the longest shoots on the top wire (as seen in Fig. 326) . It is probably best, as a rule, to allow the shoots to hang over naturally, and to clip them only when they seriously interfere with the work of the hoe and cultivator. 321. High Renewal in fourth year. Catawba. 314 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING In the Chautauqua region, noted for its grapes, the canes are tied to the third wire, and the tendrils of the lower growth soon attach themselves to the second or middle wu-e; the middle wire therefore bears a good part of the load of foliage and fruit and the third or top wire does not sag so much ; this distribution of the growing vine on three wires prevents the fruit being smothered by the upper foliage, and not so many canes are broken from the top wire by winds and other causes. ' The treatment on slat trellises is essentially the same as on wire trellises, except that longer strings must be used in tying; but slats are not used except now and then for a very few vines in a garden. It is apparent that nearly or quite all the fruit in the High Renewal is borne between the first and second wires, at the bottom of the trellis. The lower wire is 24 to 30 inches high. The fruit-trays are set on the ground, and both hands are free. The fruit is also protected from the hot sun and from frost; and if the shopts are properly tied, the clusters are not shaken roughly by the wind. It is, of course, desirable that all the clusters should be fully exposed to light and air, and all super- fluous shoots should therefore be pulled off, as already explained (page 282). In rare cases it may also be necessary, for this pur- pose, to prune the canes which hang over from the top of the trellis. After a few years, the old top or head of the vine becomes more or less weak, and it should be renewed from the root. The thrifty vineyardist anticipates this circumstance, and now and then allows- a strong shoot which may spring from the ground to remain. This shoot is treated very much like a young vine, and the head is formed the second year (page 273) . If it should make a strong growth the first year, and develop stout laterals, it may be cut back only to the lowest wii'e the first fall; but in other cases, it should Be cut back to two or three buds, from one of which a strong and permanent shoot is taken the HIGH RENEWAL 315 second year. When this new top comes into bearing, the old trunk is cut off at the surface of the ground, or below, if possible. A top will retain its vigor for six or eight years under ordinary treatment, and sometimes much longer. These tops are renewed from time to time as occasion permits or demands, and any vineyard that has been bearing a number of years will nearly always have a few vines in process of renewal. The reader should not receive the impression, however, that the life or vitality of a vine is necessarily limited. Vines often continue to bear for 322. A Concord vine thirty years old. twenty years or more without renewal; but the head after a time comes to be large and rough and crooked, and often weakened by scars, and better results are likely to be secured if a new clean vine takes its place. Fig. 322 shows the great stump of a Concord vine thirty years old, and which is stiU iti thrifty bearing condition. The High Renewal is extensively used in the lake region of western New York for many varieties. It is particularly weU adapted to Delaware, Catawba, and other weak or short varie- ties. When systematically pursued, it gives fruit of the highest 316 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING excellence. This High-Renewal training, like all the low upright systems, allows the vines to be laid down easily in winter, which is an important consideration in many parts of Canada and in the colder northern states. It is often, but erroneously, called the horizontal-arm system. Keuka system. A form of training employed in the Keuka Lake district of New York and known locally as the Keuka system, is a modi- fication of the High Renewal (Figs. 323-325). It is described 323. Keuka system. A ten-year-old vine after cutting. as follows in Circular No. 16 of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station (Geneva) by Gladwin: "The first year after setting, the vines are allowed to grow at random on the ground. At the beginning of the second year they are pruned back to two buds. If the vine is a strong grower it is tied this season to the lower wire of the trellis, which is from 18 to 20 inches above the ground. The beginning of the third year finds the vines cut back to a stem or trunk 10 to 20 inches high, tied to the lower wire. The fourth year the vine consists of the short stem and two or three canes, each of five to eight buds, laid along the lower wire and tied. The shoots from these are carried perpendicularly to the second and third KEUKA SYSTEM 317 wires which are about 20 inches apart, as fast as growth will permit. The following year all the wood is cut away except two or three canes that have grown from the buds nearest the 324. Vine 323 after stripping. head of the trunk. These canes are of from five to eight buds. The number retained after each pruning depends upon the variety and vigor of the vine. If two canes are left they are tied to the right and left along the lower wire; if three, the 325. Vine 323 after tying. third is carried to the second wire and then tied along it. As there is a tendency for long spurs to result from the repeated renewals secured in this manner, frequently buds from the head of the stem are allowed to develop and fruiting wood secured 318 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING from them. Thus the fruituig wood arises from near the head of the trunk, and as this is usually short almost the entire vine is renewed annually. When the trunk approaches the end of its usefulness a shoot is allowed to grow from the ground and this eventually becomes the trunk, the old one being cut away. The advantages claimed for this method of training are the low head, the reduction of the old wood to a minimum, and the ease of getting a complete renewal." Fan-training. A system much used a few years ago, and still sometimes seen, is one that renews back nearly to the ground each year, and carries the fruiting canes up in a fan-shaped form This system 326. Fan-trained Concord. has the advantages of dispensing with much of the old wood, or trunk, and facilitating laying down the vine in winter in cold climates. On the other hand, it has the handicap of bearing the fruit too low — unless the lower clusters are removed — and making a vine of inconvenient shape for tying; it maintains too many and too long spurs. It is little used at present. FAN-TRAIXIXG 319 A fan-trained vine before pruning is shown in Fig. 326. The same vine pruned is shown m Fig. 327, although it is by no means a pattern plant. This vine has not been properly renewed, but bears long crooked spurs, from which the canes arise. The spurs should be kept very short, and they should be entirely 327. The vine 326 pruned. Femoved every two or three years, as explained in the foregoing discussion of the High-Renewal training. The shoots are allowed to take their natural course, being tied to any wire near which they chance to grow, finally lopping over the top wire. Sometimes the canes are bent down and tied horizontally to the wires, and this is probably the better prac- tice. Two canes may be tied in each direction on the lower wire, or the two inner canes may be tied down to the second wire. In either case, the vine is essentially like the High Renewal, except that the trunk is shorter. Another form of fan-training, which is a modification of the Kelly's Island system, is shown in Fig. 328, and is thus described 320 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING by D. S. Marvin, "Popular Gardening," iii, 140: "The engrav- ing represents a sample vine ten years old pruned. It will be observed that the right-hand cane is two-thirds of it old wood, to be all cut away at the next pruning. The old canes that bore a heavy crop of fruit have been pruned away, all but the stumps of the right-hand cane. Three or more buds at the end of the cane, as the vine may be strong or weak, are to be left to bear 328. Marvin's fan-training. fruit, the others to be rubbed off, except enough to form new canes near the ground, to renew next year's bearing canes. . . . The original Kelley's Island system was one long cane or arm, with spurs for next year's canes at the surface of the soil, but it was found objectionable because it is always difficult to get the fruit-spurs to grow uniform upon long canes, the first and the last canes growing too strong at the expense of the center canes." THE DROOPING SYSTEMS In 1845 William T. Cornell planted a vineyard in the Hudson River Valley. A neighbor, William Kniffin, was a stone-mason with a few acres of land to which he devoted his attention in the leisure seasons of his trade. Cornell induced Kniffin to plant a WILLIAM KNIFFIN 321 few grapes. He planted the Isabella, and, succeeding beyond his expectations, the plantation was increased to a respectable vine- yard, and Kniffin came to be regarded as a local authority on grape-culture. Those were the pioneer days in commercial grape-growing in North America, and there were no undisputed maxims of cultivation and training. If any system of close training and pruning was employed, it was probably the old Horizontal-Arm Spur system, or something like it. One day a large limb broke from an apple tree and fell on a grajiie-vine, tearing off some of the canes and crushing the vine into a singular shape. The vine was thought to be ruined, but it was left until the fruit could be gathered. But as the fruit matured, its large size and handsome appearance attracted attention. It was the best fruit in the vineyard. Mr. Kniffin was an observant man, and he inquired into the cause of the excellent fruit. He noticed that the vine had been pruned, and that the best canes stood out horizontally. From this sug- gestion he developed the Four-Cane system of training which now bears his name. In 1854, the system had attracted the attention of those of his neighbors who cultivated grapes, and thereafter it spread throughout the Hudson Valley, where it is today, with various modifications, the chief method of grape- training. Its merits have become known beyond its original valley, and it is now widely practised. William Kniffin died at his home in Clintondale, Ulster County, New York, June 13, 1876, at fifty-seven years of age. The true or Four-Cane Kniffin system. The true Kniffin system, very nearly as practised by its originator, is shown in Fig. 329. A single stem or trunk is carried directly to the top wire, and two canes are taken out from side spurs at each wire. Mr. Kniffin wanted short canes, and cut them back to about six buds on each wire. But most growers now prefer to leave the upper canes longer than the u THE KNIFFIN TYPE 323 lower ones, as seen in the illustration. The bearing shoots are allowed to hang at will, so that no summer tying is necessary; this is the distinguishing mark of the various Kniffin systems. The main trunk is tied to each wire, and the canes are tied to the wires in spring. This system possesses the great advantage, therefore, of requiring Httle labor in the busy days of the growing season; and the vines are easily tilled, and if the rows are 9 or IP feet apart, currants or other bush- fruits can be grown between. The system is especially adapted to the strong varieties of grapes, particularly to those which are most drooping. The pruning of the Kniffui vine consists in cutting off all the wood except a single cane from each spur, and maintaining spurs for providing the fruiting canes of the next year. Fig. 330 illustrates the process. This is the same vine shown with the full extent of wood in Fig. 329. The droop- ing shoots shown in that illustration bore the grapes, say, of 1915; and now, in the winter of 1915-1916, they are all to be cut away, with the horizontal old canes from which they grew, except only the four canes hanging nearest the main trunk. Fig. 331 shows a Four-Arm Kniffin pruned and tied. It is not obligatory that the canes left after the pruning should be those nearest the trunk, for it may happen that these may be weak; but, other things being equal, these canes are preferable because their retention keeps the old spurs short. 330. Vine 329 pruned. 324 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING The careful grower will take pains to remove the weak shoots that start from this point, that a strong cane may be secured. It is desirable that these side spurs be removed entirely every three or four years, a new cane being brought out again from the main body or trunk. There is little expectation, however, that there shall be such a complete renewal pruning as that practised in the High Renewal. It will be seen that the drooping canes in Fig. 330 are shorter than they were originally, as shown in Fig. 329. They have been cut back. The length at which these canes shall be left is a moot point. Much depends on the variety, the distance between the wires, the strength of the soil, and other factors. Nearly all growers now agree that the upper canes should be longer than the lower ones, although equal canes are still used in some places. In strong varieties, as Worden, each of the upper canes may bear ten buds and each of the lower ones five. This gives thirty buds to the vine. Some growers prefer to leave twelve buds above, and only four below. These four pruned canes are usually allowed to hang in winter, but are tied on the wires before the buds swell in spring. They are stretched out horizontally and secured to the wire by one or two ties on each cane. The shoots that spring from these horizontal canes stand upright or oblique at first, but they soon fall over with the weight of foliage and fruit. If they touch the ground, the ends may be clipped with a sickle, corn-cutter, or scythe, although this is not always done, and is not necessary unless the canes interfere with tillage. There is no summer pinching or pruning, although the superfluous shoots should be 331. Form of the usual Four-Cane KnifSn. THE KNIFFIN TYPE 325 broken out, as in other syste-ms. It is imperative, for best results in old vines, that the shoots do not grow out horizontally on the wii'es. They should be torn off the wires once or twice in the sununer, so that they will hang free. Only two wires are used in the true Kniffin trellis. The end posts are usually set in holes, rather than driven, to render them solid, and they should always be well braced. The intermediate posts are driven, and they usually stand between alternate vines, or 20 feet apart if the vines are 10 feet apart — which is a common distance for the most vigorous varieties. For the 332. A common but poor type of Kniffin. strong-growing varieties, the top wire is placed from 5^2 to 6 feet above the ground. Five feet 9 inches is a popular height. The posts will heave sufficiently to bring the height to 6 feet, although it is best to "tap" the posts every spring with a maul to drive them back and make them firm. The lower wire is usually placed at 3}/2 feet above the ground. Delawares, if trained Kniffin, should not stand above 5 feet 4 inches, or at most 5 feet 6 inches. Strong vines on good soil are often put on the trellis the second year, although it is a practice with some growers, to 326 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING stake them the second season, as already explained (page 277), and put them on the wires the third season. The year following the tying on the trelHs, the vine should bear a partial crop. The vine is usually carried directly to the top wire the first season of training, although it is the practice of some growers, especially outside the Hudson Valley, to stop the trunk at the lower wire the first year of permanent training, and to carry it to the top wire the following year. Yields from good Kniffin vines will average fully as high as from other species of training, and perhaps even higher. Modifications of the Four-Cane Kniffin. Various modifications of this original Four-Cane Kniffin are in use. The Kniffin idea is often carelessly apphed to a rack trelUs. In such cases, several canes are allowed to grow where only two should have been left. Fig. 332 is a common but poor style of Kniffin. It differs from the type in the training of the young wood. These shoots, instead of being allowed to hang at will, are carried out horizontally and either tied to the wire or twisted around it. The advantage urged for this modification is the little injury by wind, but, as a matter of practice, it affords less protection than does the true drooping Kniffin, for in the latter the shoots from the upper cane soon cling to the lower wire, and the shoots from both tiers of canes protect each other below the lower ware. There are three serious disadvantages to this holding up of 333. The Y-trunk Kniffin. 328 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING the shoots — it makes unnecessary labor, the canes are likely to make wood or "bull canes" (see page 312) at the expense of fruit, and the fruit is bunched together on the vines. The true and successful Kniffin does not allow the growing shoots to run out on the wires in this way. Another common modi- fication of the Four-Cane Kniffin is that shown in Fig, 333, in which a crotch or Y is made in the trunk. This crotch is used in the idea that the necessary sap supply is thereby more readily deflected into the lower arms than by the system of side-spurring on a straight or continuous trunk. This is probably a fallacy, and may have arisen from the attempt to grow as heavy canes 339. Third year of strongest vine, or fourth year of ordinary vine. 340. The pruning of 339. on the lower wires as on the upper one. It is a later adaptation of the Kniffin principle. This Y-trunk Kniffin is explained in its various stages in Figs. 334—340, the cross-marks indicating where cuts are to be made. If it is desired to leave an equal number of buds on both wires, what may be called the Double Kniffin will probably be found most satisfactory. Two distinct trunks are brought from the root, each supplying a single wire only (Figs. 341, 342). The trunks are often tied together to hold them in place. This is sometimes called the Improved Kniffin; but it is undoubtedly surpassed by both the single-stem and the umbrella forms. MODIFIED KNIFFINS 329 The Two-Cane Kniffin, or Umbrella system. Inasmuch as the greater part of the fruit in the Four-Cane Kniffin is borne on the upper wire, the question arises whether it would not be better to dispense with the lower tier of canes and cut the upper ones longer. This modification is now em- ployed to a considerable extent, and has come to be the prevail- ing system in parts of the Hudson Valley. Fig. 343 explains the forai. This shows a pruned vine. The trunk is tied to the lower wire to steady it, and two canes, each bearing nine to fifteen bud^ are left on the upper wire. These canes are tied to the upper wire, and they are then bent down, hoop-like, to the lower wire, where the ends are tied. In some cases, the lower wire is dispensed with, but this is not advisable; this wire holds the vine in place against the winds, and pre- vents the too violent whipping of the hang- ing shoots. In the growing season, re- newal canes are taken from the spurs in the same way as in the or- dinary Kniffin. Some growers retain short back arms to provide strong renewal wood, especially when the growth of the vine is not very vigorous. This species of training reduces the amount of leaf-surface to a minimum, and every precaution must be taken to insure a healthy leaf-growth. It will probably not allow of the successful 341. Double Kniffin. 342. Double Kniffin after pruning. 330 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING girdling of the vine for the purpose of hastening the maturity and augmenting the size of the fruit (page 181). Yet heavy crops can be obtained from it, if Hberal fertihzing and good cultiva- tion are employed, and the fruit is nearly always first-class. Another type of Umbrella training has five main canes instead of two. Except in very strong vines, this top is too heavy, and it is 343. Two-Cane or Umbrella Kniffin. probably never SO good as the other (Fig. 343), if the highest results are desired; but for the grower who does not practise high cultivation it is probably a safer system than the other. The Low or One-Wire Kniffin. A modification of this Umbrella system is sometimes used in which the trellis is only 3 or 4 feet high and comprises but a single wire. A cane of ten or a dozen buds is tied out in each direction, and the shoots are allowed to hang in essentially the same way as in the true or High Kniffin system. The advantages urged for this system are the protection of the grapes from wind, the large size of the fruit due to the small extent of bearing wood, the ease of laying down the vines in winter, the readiness with which the top can be renewed from the root as occasion demands, and the cheapness of the trellis. The Six-Cane Kniffin. Some old vineyards in New York are trained on a six-cane or three-wire system. The general pruning and management of these vines do not differ from that of the common Kniffin. Very strong varieties, that can carry an abundance of wood, may be profitable on this style of training, but it cannot be recom- mended. A Concord vineyard over thirty years old, comprising ARBOR KNIFFINS 331 295 vines, trained in this fashion, was still thrifty and pro- ductive when this book was first written. Twice it had pro- duced crops of six tons. Eight-Cane Kniffin. Eight and even ten canes are sometimes left on a single trunk, and are trained out horizontally or somewhat obhquely, as shown in the accompanymg diagram (Fig. 344). Unless these canes are cut back to four or five buds each, the vine carries too much wood and fruit. This system allows of close planting, but the trellis is too expensive. The trunk is soon overgrown with spurs, and it is likely to become prematurely weak. This style is rarely used. Caywood, Overhead,- or Arbor Kniffin. A curious modification of the Kniffin is employed somewhat on the Hudson. The vines are carried up on a kind of overhead arbor, as shown in Figs. 345, 346. The trellis is 6 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 on either side is attached to the end of a 3-foot cross-bar, as represented in Fig. 345. The rows are 9 feet apart, and the vines and posts 12 - feet apart in the row. Contiguous rows are braced by a connect- ing-pole, as in Fig. 346. The trunk of the vine ends in a T- shaped head. From 344. Eight-Cane KnifEn. (Diagram.) 332 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING this T-head, five canes are carried out from spurs. It was formerly the practice to carry out six canes, one in each direc- tion on 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, ^M<^ if possible. The canes 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. 346. 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 Every post must be large and firmly set, 345. Overhead Kniffin. from sun and frost however, adding 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 exceed- ing 4 or 5 feet, and the vines cover a flat - topped plat- form 2 or 3 feet wide. By midsum- mer the droop- ing shoots have reached the ground, making a 346. An Overhead Kniffin, with currants underneath. KNIFFIN MODIFICATIONS 333 continuous drapery of foliage, as seen in Fig. 347. is probably not widely practised. This system The Cross-Wire system. Another high Kniffin training is the Cross-Wire, represented in Fig. 348. Small posts are set 8 feet apart each way, and a single wire runs from the top of post to post — Q}/^ 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 ^'^:?f^^ 347. Crittenden training in the original vineyard. St. Joseph, Mich from spurs on the head of the trunk, one for each of the radi- ating wires. These canes are cut to 33/^ or 4 feet in length, and the bearing shoots droop as they grow. Fig. 348 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. This system appears to have secondary merit, and will always remain local in application. It possesses the advantage of economy in construction of the trelhs, 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 8 to 10 feet beyond, outside the vineyard. 334 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING Renewal Kniffin. It is easy to adapt the Kniffin principle of free hanging shoots to a true renewal method of pruning. There are a few modi- fications in use in which the wood is annually renewed to near the ground. The trellises comprise either two or three wires, 348. Cross-Wire training. and are made in the same way as for the upright systems, as in the High Renewal. At the annual pruning only one cane is left. This comprises twelve or fifteen buds, and is tied up diagonally across the trellis, the point or end of the cane usually being bent downward somewhat, to check the strong growth from the uppermost parts. The shoots hang from this cane, and they may be pinched back when they reach the ground. In the meantime, a strong shoot is taken out from the opposite side of the head — which usually stands a foot or less from the ground — to make the bearing wood of the next year; and this new cane will be tied in an opposite direction on the trellis from the present bearing cane, and the next renewal shoot will be taken from the other side of the head, or the side from which the present bearing wood arose, so that the bearing top of the vine is alternated in either direction on the trellis. OTHER DROOPING STYLES 335 This system, and similar ones, allows of laying down the vines easily in winter, and insures excellent fruit because the extent of bearing wood is small; but the crop is not large enough to satisfy the demands of most grape-growers. The Munson system; Wakeman. Another system of training, upon the Kniffin principle, has been perfected by the late T. V. Munson, of Denison, Texas, who made conscientious and able studies of the American , ^ grape problem. At first, two posts were set in the same hole, their tops diverging. A wire was stretched along the top of these posts, and a thii'd one hung be- tween them on cross-wires. The 1^1 349. Two-Post Munson train- ing. End view. 350. Two-Post Munson training. Side view. trunk of the vine, or its head, was secured to this middle lower wire and the shoots lop over the side wires (Figs. 349, 350). The growth, therefore, makes a V-shaped or trough-like mass of herbage. At present, single posts with cross-bars are used, as in Fig. 336 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING 351. The lowest wire (bottom of the trough) is at 1, running through the posts; the side or marginal wires, above it, are shown at 2 and 3. The bearing canes, two or four in number, which are left after the annual pruning, are tied along the middle wire. The main trunk forks just under the middle wire, as seen at the left in Fig. 352. A head is formed at this place not unlike that of the High Renewal, for this sys- tem also employs re- newal pruning. The trellis stands 6 feet high. The shoots stand up- right at first, but soon fall down and are sup- ported by the side wires. Fig. 352 presents a side view, when only two canes have been developed, and also when the full four canes are tied to the bottom middle wire. These pictures represent the vine after the pruning. "A similar method of training, but more suitable to the wind-beaten shores of Long Island, has been introduced and successfully tried for several years by Mr. Elbert Wakeman, a distinguished amateur grape-grower of Oyster Bay, Long Island. The trellis is 33^ to 4 feet high only; the bearing canes are fastened to the two side wires when long enough, making a V-shaped trough of branches and foliage, like the former [Munson]; there is space enough between the wires for the bunches to hang down, free from any interference and just the proper height to be easily bagged and sprayed. It is strong, not very expensive, and will pay for the little extra care." — Bushberg Catalogue, fourth edition, 1895, where the method is illustrated. 351. Perfected Munson training. The lowest wire is four feet above the ground. MODIFIED KNIFFIN STYLES 337 Modified Munson. In the South, a Modified Munson has been introduced, and is described as follows by Starnes (Bulletin No. 28, Georgia Experiment Station): 'This system, which might better be termed the 'Alternate-Renewal' Munson, presents two advan- tages which the True Munson does not possess, and to my mind is preferable. It permits the bearing wood to be alternated from one side of the vine to the other, and is cheaper by one wire. "No middle wire is used, and a slat is tacked across the V in place of the slack wire. A fork is formed below the wire in Y- shape. From this fork a cane is trained to the right on one wire, and to the left on the other wire. A shoot on each cane, taken from a point near the wire, is trained in the opposite direction from, but on the same wire with, the cane, with which to renew the next season, when the bearing wood will be pruned to a spur, which in its turn will form a renewal shoot, and so on, alternately, the bearing canes extending always in opposite 352. Perfected Munson training. At the left, a vine after second season'i growth, pruned and tied; at the right, a bearing vine in the third season'i growth, with the four canes pruned and tied. 338 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING directions and on different wires, and alternating each year. The position of the vine the next season will simply be shifted or reversed. ''Sometimes, instead of 6 feet, the trellis is made only 4 feet high. This height appears to have done just as well as the other at the Georgia Station. Here, the V supports have been made of 1. by 3 slats. When the sharpened ends are dipped in coal-tar, or even white lead, driven in the ground so that they will cross each other just above the surface and tacked with two tenpenny nails, a firm, durable and sightly support is the result." This Modified Munson system appears never to have been used extensively. Sometimes it is further modified by allowing all four canes to bear, renewing each year from the best shoots or canes nearest the second fork in the vine, MISCELLANEOUS SYSTEMS Having now described the upright and the drooping methods of grape-training, we may consider some of the outlying or unclassified forms. They are little employed in commercial practice. Horizontal training. There are very few types of horizontal-shoot training now in use. One of the best may be described. Two wires are run from post to post, as in the ordinary trellis, one about 23^ feet above the ground and the other 53^^ feet high. The posts are set at the ordinary distance of 16 or 18 feet apart. The vines are 6 or 8 feet apart, if Delawares or other weak growers. A strong stake is driven just behind each vine, standing as high as the top of the trellis. The permanent trunk or head of the vine stands about a foot high. The vine is renewed back to the top of this trunk every year. One cane is left at each pruning. HORIZONTAL TRAINING 339 which, when tied to the stake, is as high as the trelHs. From this perpendicular cane, the bearing shoots are carried out horizontally. About six of these shoots are allowed to grow on either side of the cane. As the shoots grow, they are tied to perpendicular slats fastened on the wires. These slats do not touch the ground. Two slats are provided on either side, making four to a vine. They stand a foot or 15 inches apart. The clusters hang free from the horizontal shoots. If the shoots grow too long, they are pinched when they have passed the sec- ond slat. While these shoots are covering the trellis, another shoot is taken out from the head or trunk of the vine, and, without being allowed to fruit, is tied up along the central stake. This shoot is to form the top next year, for all the present vine is to be cut away entirely at the winter's pruning. So the vine starts every spring with but a single cane. Excellent results are secured from the slender-growing va- rieties by this method of training, but it is too expensive in trellis and in the labor of tying to make it generally practicable. Delaware, however, thrives remarkably well when trained in this fashion. Post-training. There are various methods of training to posts, all of which possess two advantages — the saving of the expense of trellis and allowing of tillage both ways. But they also have grave disadvantages, especially in the thickness of the head of foliage, which harbors rot and mildew and prevents successful spraying, and hinders the fruit from coloring and ripening. These faults are so serious that post-training is now little used for the American grapes. The saving in cost of trellis is not great, for more posts are required to the acre than in the trellis systems, and they do not endure long when standing alone with the whole weight of the vines thrown upon them. The methods of pruning for the stakcrtraining are of several 340 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING kinds, but nearly all of them agree in pruning to side spurs on a permanent upright arm. There may be one or two sets of these spurs. We might suppose the Kniffin vine shown in Fig. 330 to be tied to a post instead of stretched on a trellis; in that event, the four canes would hang at will, or they might be wrapped about the post, the shoots hanging out unsupported in all directions. The post systems are essentially Kniffin in principle, for the shoots hang free. In low styles of post-training, the permanent head of the vine may be only 3 or 5 feet high. This head will have a ring of spurs on it, and at the annual pruning three to five canes are left with six to ten buds each. The main trunk is usually tied permanently to the post. The canes left after pruning are variously disposed. Sometimes they are bent upwards and tied to the post above the head of the vine, but they are oftenest either wound loosely about the post or allowed to hang loose. Two trunks are frequently used to each post, both coming from the ground from a common root. These are woimd about the post in opposite directions, one outside the other, and if the outside one is secured at the top by a small nail driven through it, or by a cord, no other tying will be necessary. Sometimes two or three posts are set at dis- tances of 1 foot or more apart, and the vines are wrapped about them, but this only augments the size and depth of the mass of foliage. Now and then one sees a careful post-training, in which but little wood is left and vigorous breaking out of shoots practised, which gives excellent results; but on the whole, post-training cannot be recommended. The European post and stake systems, or modifications of them, are yet occasionally recommended for American vines; but under general conditions, especially in commercial grape-growing, they rarely succeed for any length of time. In California, with the European vine, post- training is successfully employed, as described in Chapter X. GRAPE-VINE BOWERS 341 Arbors. Arbors and bowers are usually formed with little reference to pruning and training. The first object is to secure shade and seclusion, and these are conditions that may seriously interfere with the production of fine grapes. As a rule, too much wood must be allowed to grow, and the soil about arbors is rarely tilled. Still, fair results in fruit can be secured if the operator makes a diligent use of the pruning-shears. It is usually best to carry one main or permanent trunk up to the top or center of the arbor. Along this trunk at intervals of 2 feet or less, spurs may be left to which the wood is renewed each year. If the vines stand 6 feet apart about the arbor — which is a satisfactory distance — one cane 3 feet long may be left on each spur when the pruning is performed. The shoots springing from these canes will soon cover the intermediate spaces. At the close of the season, this entire cane, with its laterals, is cut away at the spur, and another 3-foot cane — which grew during the season — is left in its place. This pruning is essentially that of the Kniffin vine in Fig. 330. Imagine this vine, with as many joints or tiers as neces- sary, laid upon the arbor. The canes are tied out lengthwise to the slats instead of being tied on wires. This same system — running up a long trunk and cutting in to side spurs — ^will apply equally well to tall walls and fences which it is desired to cover. Undoubtedly a better plan, so far as yield and quahty of fruit is concerned, is to renew back nearly to the root, bringing up a strong new cane, or perhaps two or three every year, and cutting the old ones off; but as the vines are desired for shade, one does not care to wait until midsummer for the vines to reach and cover the top of the arbor. The Canopy trellis. "A single line of posts is set as for an ordinary trellis. Pieces of scantling about 23^ feet in length are spiked horizon- 342 ■METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING 353. A canopy trellis. tally across the top at right angles to the line of the trellis. On the upper side of these cross or horizontal pieces three wires are strung, one at each end and the third in the middle. The illustration (Fig. 353) will make this clear. The vine is trained to the center wire in a single stem' at which level its top or arms are formed. The shoots or bearing wood of the vine droop or hang over the other wires. In some parts of the country, especially in large portions of the South, this form of trellis is very popular with vineyardists. They claim it protects and shades the fruit from the injurious effects of the hot sun." — W. H. Ragan, Farmers' Bulletin, No. 156. In the Farmers' Bulletin just quoted, Ragan writes as follows on the training of vines to buildings: "Many farm build- ings, and even the dwelling itself in some instances, may be utilized in supporting a vine or vines, and, in not a few cases, would be made more beautiful thereby (Fig. 354). If the vines are to be trained on the walls of buildings, they should be planted in a well-prepared border or bed, a few inches from the foundation, and the eaves should have gut- ters to carry the excess of water away from their roots. The vines should be securely attached to the wall to prevent them 354. Vines about a building. NEGLECTED VINES 343 from giving way under the weight of fruit. A strip of woven wire may be attached to the wall and the vines tied or fastened to it. In this way the building will not be damaged by fasten- ing the vines directly to the wall. With buildings of httle value, the vines may be made fast by tacking strips of old leather or even cloth over the branches and against the walls at convenient distances apart. A wall, because of its warmth and dryness, is an excellent place to grow fine grapes, and if the vine so planted is properly trained and cared for it will become an object of beauty and a joy to the fanner's household." (See also Fig. 250.) Remodeling old vines. Old and neglected tops can rarely be remodeled to advan- tage. 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 may be left long enough the first autumn to make the permanent trunk ; but if it is rather weak and soft, it should be cut back in autumn or winter to two or three buds, from one of which the permanent trunk is to be grown the second season. Thereafter, the instructions 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 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 way often make good plants, but if the vines are weak and the soil is poor, the trouble will scarcely pay. Old vines can be remodeled or renewed easily by means of grafting. Cut off the trunk 5 or 6 inches below the surface of the ground, leaving an inch or 2 of straight wood above the roots. 344 METHODS OF GRAPE-TRAINING 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. It is well to place a bit of waxed cloth or other material over the wound. Fill the earth tightly about it. Great care must be taken in any pruning the 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 Fig. 355, no pruning or rubbing out was employed, but the vine would have been in better shape for training if only one or two shoots had been allowed to grow. 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 extent 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. The next season a strong shoot from the base of each cane may be allowed to grow, which will form the wood of the following season, while all the present cane is cut away at the end of the year, so that the bearing-wood is renewed each year, as in the regular systems of training. Much skill and experience are often required properly to rejuvenate an old vine. 355. A good yearling graft CHAPTER X THE PRUNING OF THE VINIFERA GRAPE The grapes that we have considered in the two preceding chapters are derived from the American native species, largely indirectly from Vitis Labrusca. The grapes of glasshouses and also those grown extensively in California for raisins, wine, and table use are the Old-World wine-grape, Vitis vinifera. The training of the vinifera grape differs much from that of the Ameri- can kinds, because it forms a more self-supporting trunk and does not run so extensively to wood that requires a trellis support. GLASSHOUSE PRACTICE There are many systems of training vines in graperies. In fact, nearly every gardener has a mode or a method of his own, which he insists is better than all others; and this is proof that several systems are good. In general, the vine is trained to one trunk, which extends from the ground to the top of the house. From the sides of this trunk, spurs are taken out; and these spurs are cut back each year to one or two buds. Fig. 356 shows a part of a trunk after pruning, with the very short spurs. Some growers prefer to have longer spurs, as in Fig. 357. It is generally desired to have an alternation of fruit-bearing on these spurs. This is accomplished by pinching the flower clusters from some of the shoots, or by cutting to a strong or fruit-bear- ing bud on one spur and to a weak or barren bud at the very base of the other. The weak bud gives only a shoot; but the next year it is cut to a strong bud and the neighboring spur is cut to a weak one. (345) 346 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING The vine in Fig. 357 has spurs in pairs. The one on the left has already been cut six times. The pruning of this vine is explained in Fig. 358. The former prunings are marked by the letters. A more detailed view of an old spur is given in Fig. 359. It is usually best to prune the vines as soon as the fruit is off, thereby allowing the plants to be protected in winter, and destroying the lodging places of insects and fungi. V 1^^ V 356 Old irm with short spurs. VINE-PRUNING IN CALIFORNIA By Fbedehic T. Bioletti (Pages 346-400) The systems of vine-pruning practised in California differ in many respects from those suitable in the states east of the Rockies. The differences depend principally on climatic causes, but partly on the nature of the varie- ties themselves. The eastern grapes are developments from the native species of the country, whereas, with a few imimportant exceptions, all the vines cultivated in California are varieties of the European or wine-grape, Vitis vinifera. This species wUl tolerate more radical interference with the natural form of the plant than any other. Most species must be allowed to develop more or less as wide-spreading sarmentose climbers clinging to supports as in nature, or the bearing will be unsatisfactory. The vinif- eras, on the contrary, may be reduced to the form of a low rigid self-supporting shrub and still often yield maximum crops. This makes it CALIFORNIA CONDITIONS 347 possible to adopt much simpler and more economical methods of pruning. The long warm excessively dry summer of California pro- motes fruitfulness, so that the long fruit-canes used in the East are usually unnecessary. This same climatic pecuharity 357. Long-spiir pruning under glasa. probably also prevents the occurrence of downy mildew, black- rot, and similar serious fungous diseases which could hardly be controlled on vines with the dense mass of foliage close to the ground which results from the normal styles of pruning. The simpUcity of pruning, however, and the fact that most vines bear fairly well with almost any kind of pruning, have led to a carelessness which often seriously diminishes both the 348 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING quantity and quality of the crop. Some of the best varieties require ahnost or quite as much care as eastern varieties, and there is no variety that will not give profitable returns for intel- ligent and careful pruning. No account, however detailed, of any system can replace the intelligence of the cultivator. For this reason the general principles of plant physiology which underlie all proper pruning and training are discussed in connec- tion with the several systems. This should aid the grower in choosing that system most suited to the conditions of his vineyard, and in modifying it to suit special conditions and seasons. All the operations of pruning, tying, staking,, and others, to which a culti- vated vine owes its form, are conven- iently considered together. The main objects of pruning, in the wider sense, are (1) to give the vine a suitable form and to conserve this form; and (2) so to regulate the bear- ing that the maximum quality and quantity of crop may be secured for a long series of years at the minimum expense. The crop possibilities of a vineyard, both as regards quantity and quality, depend on many factors, of which the chief are the character of soil and climate, the amount of available water, and the nature of the variety. What part of these possibilities is realized depends on the operations of the vineyardist, on how he handles the soil and the vine. One of the most important of these operations is pruning. By improper pruning one may neutralize the most favorable conditions, and destroy the effect 358. The spurs pruned. THE VINIFERA PLANT 349 of the most careful cultivation. The skilful pruner, on the other hand, gives his vines the opportunity to utilize to the full all the natural and cultural advantages. A young vine under average conditions in California should bear a paying crop at three years; that is, in the autumn of the third leaf or third summer in the field. At four years, it should be practically in full bearing. Under exceptionally favorable conditions, bearing may be nearly a year earlier than this. In 359. An old spur in glass-house treatment. the cooler regions and with certain varieties, a year longer may be necessary. These results can be secured only when the pruning in the first years is properly performed. PARTS OF A VINIFERA VINE The cultivated vine has a permanent framework, consisting of root, trunk, and arms, producing an annual growth of shoots, leaves, and fruit above ground and of rootlets below. As in the native American species, the fruit is borne on shoots of the season that spring from wood of the preceding season, as shown in Fig. 360. The trunk is usually vertical, but may be in part horizontal. It varies in length from 1 to 2 feet in low vines and from 3 to 6 feet in high vines. Its functions are the conducting and stor- age of food materials and the support of leaves and fruit. The arms are the smaller divisions of the framework attached to the trunk. They vary in length from a few inches to a maximum of about 18 inches. They may rise radially from the top of the trunk {vase-form) or along its whole length {vertical 350 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING j^/^ cordon). Their functions are the production of young wood and the proper distribution of leaves and fruit. The young wood produced each year by the arms is utilized to form the spurs and canes that bear the leaves and fruit. Its total length varies from a few dozen feet to several hundred. In all cases, from 90 to 98 per cent of all the growth is removed at each pruning. To discuss pruning intelligently, it is necessary to agree on the definition of the technical terms. The definitions and terms employed here are in nearly all cases those of the major part of Californian grape-growers. An attempt has been made to have them correspond as nearly as possible to the terms used in other countries and in. the pruning of other plants. The main difficulty in this respect has been with the terms spur, sucker, watersprout, and lateral. In these cases the usage of Californian grape-growers has been followed. TEEMS REFERRING TO THE FORM AND STRUCTURE OF A CULTIVATED VINE IN CALIFORNIA I. Subterranean Parts Root-tips. — The extreme ends of the rootlets. Rootlets. — The finest roots, the growth of one season. Root-branches. — All the divisions and sub- divisions of the main roots older than one season. Main roots. — The leading root branches aris- ing from the underground stem or tap-root. Tap-root. — A single plunging main root or prolongation of the imderground stem. Root-crown. — The base of the underground stem or region from which originate the main roots. 360. The bearing shoot of a vinifera vine. — Stage of growth of shoot for first pinching. THE PARTS OF A VINE 351 Underground stem. — The part of the trunk below ground from the bot- tom of which start the main roots or tap-root. II. Aerial Parts A. Skeleton or framework after pruning Trunk or stem. — The unbranched body of the vine. Head or crown. — The top of the trunk, or region from which arise the arms or branohes. Branches. — The mam divisions (when long) of the trunk. Arms. — The main divisions (when short) of the trunk or branches; more than one season old. Spurs. — Short pieces of the bases of canes; one to four internodes with their eyes. (One-year-old wood only. If left the following year, they become arms.) Fruit-spurs. — Spurs left for the production of fruit; one to four inter- nodes. Wood-spurs, (a) Renewal spurs. — Spurs left to supply fruit-spurs, or fruit-canes for the following year; one to two internodes. Wood-spurs, (b) Replacing spurs. — Spurs left to supply growth for the replacing of defective arms; one intemode. Fruit-canes. — Canes from two-year-old wood left for fruit, 1^ to 6 feet long. B. Annual growth 1. Before the formation of leaves. Eyes. — The compound buds on the canes. Fruit-buds. — Buds from which a shoot, bearing flowers, will be pro- duced. Wood-buds. — Buds from which sterile shoots will be produced. Base bud. — The lowest well-formed eye at the base of a cane or spur. Latent buds. — Buds which have remained dormant for one growing season or more; dormant buds. Adventitious buds. — Buds arising from leafless parts of the wood. Main buds. — The large central buds of the eyes. Secondary buds. — The small lateral buds of the eyes. 2. During the formation of leaves. Shoots. — The succulent growth arising from a bud. Fruit-shoots. — Shoots bearing flowers. Wood-shoots. — Sterile shoots; shoots not bearing flowers. 352 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING Watersprouts. — Shoots arising from the dormant or adventitious buds. Stickers. — Shoots originating below the surface of the ground. (Water- sprouts are called suckers by some — a practice that is confusing.) Laterals. — Secondary shoots arising from buds in the axils of the leaves of the main shoots. 3. After the fall of the leaves, before pruning. Old wood. — Parts of the vine older than one year. Canes. — Young wood or growth of the current season, consisting of a series of nodes, each furnished with an eye and separated by the smooth portions called intsrnodes. Fruit-wood. — Canes having fruit-buds — usually growing out of two- year-old wood. Sterile wood. — Canes growing out of wood older than two years — usually having no fruit-buds. The illustrations will explain these terms. Fig. 361 represents a vine of no particular order of pruning, showing the principal aerial parts of an unpruned vine after the fall of the leaves. The trunk or stem, t, is the vertical, unbranched portion at the top of which, from the crown or head, arise the short arms, a, a, or branches, b. From the arms, arises the fruit- 361. Diagram to illustrate terminology. wood, /, which is utilized to form the fruit-canes, and the sterile wood or water-sprouts, ws. All this wood is the result of the season's growth, and consists of canes, c. Any cane originating below the ground is called a sucker, s. The canes may produce side shoots called laterals, I, which in turn may produce shoots called secondary laterals, si. An arm of a vine as it appears in winter after the leaves have fallen is shown in Fig. 362. The canes (W^) are the matured shoots of the previous spring. W^, W^, W* represent two-, three- and four-year-old wood respect- THE PARTS OF A VINE 353 ively . Near the base of each cane is a basal bud or eye (B°) . In countinj; the number of eyes on a spur, the basal eye is not included. A cane cut at K^, for instance, leaves a spur of one eye, at K^ a spur of two eyes, and so on. When more than four eyes are left, the piece is generally called a fruiting cane (Fig. 361,/). The canes (C, C^) coming from two- C year-old wood (W^) possess fruit-buds; that is, they are capable of producing fruit- bearing shoots. Water- sprouts (WS) and suckers (S) do not ordinarily produce fruit-bearing shoots. Below the basal bud, each cane has one or more dormant buds, which do not grow unless the number of eyes left by prun- ing or frost is insufficient to reUeve the excess of sap-pres- sure. These buds produce sterile shoots. Each eye on a cane has at its base two dormant buds. One of these sometimes grows out the year it is formed, making a lateral (/, Figs. 361, 362). These laterals may send out secondary laterals {si, Fig. 361). It is on the laterals and secondary laterals that the so-called second and third crops are borne. The parts of the vinifera vine. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES The correct pruning of the vine is based on certain facts regarding plant-growth and nutrition, which the pruner should understand. Some of these facts apply to all plants; others are peculiar to the vine. They afford good guides to practice in the training of the grape. 1. The vine prepares its food by means of the green coloring matter (chlorophyl) of its leaves. All the sugar, starch, and other substances which make up the body of the vine and of its crop are elaborated in the leaves by means of the chlorophyl under the influence of sunlight. The carbonic acid of the air and the water from the soil furnish the main bulk, while the w 354 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING mineral salts from the soil furnish a smaller but equally neces- sary part. A certain area of green leaf-surface functioning for a certain time is necessary to produce sufficient nourishment for the vital needs of the vine and for the production of the crop. Those leaves most exposed to the direct rays of the sun are most active in absorbing and producing food. The youngest leaves take nourishment from the older parts of the plant; somewhat older leaves use up more nutrient material than they absorb from the air. A young shoot may thus be looked on, in a sense, as parasitic on the remainder of the vine. After a cer- tain stage, the leaves produce more food material than they utilize, and the excess goes to support other parts. The true feeders of the vine and of its crop, therefore, are the mature dark green leaves. This principle shows that any method which forces an un- necessary growth of young shoots or removes mature leaves, while still active, Hmits the possibilities of production and, if carried too far, may result in starvation of the vine. 2. Within certain limits, the tendency to fruitfulness of a vine or a part of a vine is inversely proportionate to its vegeta- tive vigor. Withm these limits, methods that increase the vege- tative vigor diminish bearing, and, vice versa, methods that diminish vigor, increase bearing. Failure to reckon with this fact and to maintain a proper mean between the two extremes lead, on the one hand, to comparative sterility and, on the other, to over-bearing and premature exhaustion of the vine. The correct treatment of a vine is that which uivigorates it as much as is possible without diminishing the crop. 3. Other conditions being equal, an excess of foliage is ac- companied by a small amount of fruit; an excess of fruit by diminished foliage. This and No. 4 are corollaries of Principle No. 2. 4. Bending, twisting, or otherwise injuring the tissues of the vine or of its parts tend to diminish its vegetative vigor and, THE PRINCIPLES 355 therefore, unless excessive, to increase its fruitfulness. This principle is utilized in ringing and root-pruning. 5. The vine tends to force out terminal buds and to expend most of its energy on the shoots farthest from the trunk. To keep the vine within practicable limits, this tendency must be controlled by the removal of terminal buds or by measures that check the flow of sap and force the growth of buds nearer the stock. Certain defective styles of pruning fail to recognize this ten- dency and are, therefore, impracticable and cannot be con- tinued indefinitely. One of the commonest of these is the tying of fruit-canes vertically to a stake. 6. The nearer a shoot or cane approaches the vertical, the more vigorous it will be. This principle is applied in the Guyot and similar systems of pruning. The shoots from renewal spurs are tied up verti- cally to a stake and are thus made vigorous. On the other hand, the fruit-canes are tied horizontally to wires, thus mod- erating the vigor and increasing fruitfulness. 7. The size of vines or of parts of vines is inversely as their number, if other conditions remain the same. Thus, for example, the fewer vines to the acre, the larger each will grow; the fewer shoots allowed to grow on a vine or the arm of a vine, the larger each individual shoot. This prin- ciple extends to the fruit. If we want large bunches, we must limit their number; if we want large berries, there must not be too many on a bunch. The skilful pruner directs as much as possible of the energy and growth of the plant into the permanent framework of the vine and into its fruit. The unskilful pruner allows the vine to grow canes, arms, or branches where they are not wanted and which must be cut off later. This is not only a loss to the vine, which is deprived of all the removed material which ought to have gone into its permanent framework, but the large wounds 356 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING are a source of weakness and shorten the hfe of the vme. The skilful pruner makes use of the vigor of the vine by making it bear all the fruit it is capable of bringing to perfection. He properly distributes the fruit-buds, leaving on each cane, arai, or vine just the number needed, without running the risk on the one hand of weakening the vine with an over-supply of poor fruit, or, on the other hand, of forcing it to excessive vigor and steriUty. To avoid waste in the development of a young vine, the pruner must have a clear idea of the form he wishes to give it. He must then, by appropriate and timely removal of buds and shoots, force the growth into those parts that are to form the permanent framework of his ideal vine. No cane, arm, or divi- sion should be allowed to grow more than one season which is not destined to be part of the final skeleton of the mature plant. In this way the vine will not only attain the desired form but will quickly reach bearing stature and be free from the large wounds which are one of the main causes of premature aging. THE APPLICATIONS The principal pruning of the vine is performed while the plant is dormant, between the fall of the leaves at the beginning of winter and the starting of the buds at the begimiing of spring. In large vineyards, the pruning may have to be spread over most of this period; in smaller vineyards it is usually possible to prune in the month judged to be most favorable. Season of pruning in California. In deciding on the best time for pruning, one must con- sider the convenience of other cultural operations, and the effect of the period on the health and bearing of the vine. For convenience, the earlier the pruning is performed the better. Pruning in November and December gives abundant WHEN TO PRUNE 357 time to gather and to remove the prunings, to apply fertihzers, to plow, urigate, and sucker, and to tie up the fruit-canes before the starting of the buds. The effects of the time of pruning on the vigor and fruitful- ness of the vine bear a close relation to the location and amount of reserve food material in the various parts of the plant. Just before the natural fall of the leaves the canes contain the maximum amount of food material, such as starch, sugar, cellulose, and other carbohydrates. For two or three weeks immediately following the fall of the leaves, much of these sub- stances passes rapidly downward to accumulate as reserves in the roots. Later these reserves ascend again slowly, to supply the above-ground parts of the vine, which, though dormant, still require nutrition. In spring, in the period just before and just after the starting of the buds, this upward migration of reserves is more rapid, and continues until the young leaves are sufficiently developed to supply the vine with its carbohydrate supphes. If we prune a vine, therefore, immediately after the fall of the leaves, the cuttings contain the largest amount of reserves and are in the best condition for grafting or planting. Three or four weeks later, the roots contain the largest amount of re- serves, and if the pruning is performed then they will be in the best condition to promote a vigorous growth in the spring. When the buds start in the spring, the root has lost some of its reserves, used up by the canes during the winter. Pruning at this time, therefore, results in a less vigorous growth of shoots, but also, usually, in a better "setting" of the crop. The time of pruning, therefore, influences the vigor and fruit- fulness of the vine. When vigor is the main desideratum, as with young vines before bearing, or with old vines weakened by disease or over-bearing, early pruning (December) is advisable. When the vines lack in fruitfulness, owing to excessive vigor, late pruning (March or April) is preferable. Vines that are 358 V IN IF ERA GRAPE-TRAINING neither excessively vigorous nor weak may be pruned at any convenient time between the fall of the leaves in autumn and the swelling of the buds in spring. In localities much subject to killing spring frosts, another consideration takes precedence of all others. The later the prun- ing, the later the starting of the buds and the better chance have the shoots of escaping injury. By delaying the pruning until the terminal buds of the canes have begun to grow, the starting of the spur and fruit-cane buds can be delayed nearly two weeks. With certain varieties, which, like the Muscat, require more than ordinarily warm dry weather for proper polli- nation and setting of the fruit, late pruning is advisable in most localities. Late pruning delays the period of blossoming, al- though somewhat less than the starting of the buds. This delay increases the probability of securing warm dry weather for blossoming. Amount of pruning. An average vine before pruning may have 25 canes with an average of 15 buds on each, or 375 buds in all. If the vine is not pruned, not all these buds will start or produce shoots. Probably not more than 50 to 100 will do so. If we prune the canes back so that we leave only 50 to 100 buds, the same num- ber of shoots will be produced. The only effect will be that buds nearer the bases of the canes will start instead of buds near the ends. (See Principle No. 5, page 355.) The quality and quantity of the crop and the vigor of the vine and its shoots will be influenced Uttle, if at all. If we prune the vine more severely and leave only haK this number of buds, a smaller number of shoots will be produced. As this smaller number has the same store of reserve material in trunk and root to draw on and the same root-system to supply water and soil nutrients, each shoot will grow larger and more vigorously. (See Principle No. 7, page 355.) This smaller HOW MUCH TO PRUNE 359 number of large shoots will produce as much foliage as the larger number of small shoots on the unpruned vine and the vigor of the vine is therefore not diminished. There will also be a smaller number of bunches, but each of these will be larger and have larger berries so that the total weight of crop will be as large as on an unpruned vine. In fact, the weight of crop will probably be larger, as it is easier for the vine to supply the water and sugar that constitute the main bulk of large berries than the stems, seeds, and skin which form a larger part of small berries. Wm may increase the severity of the pruning, that is, diminish the number of buds left, still further without materially influ- encing either the vigor of the vine, the amount of foliage, or the weight of crop. Beyond a certain point, however, the crop is diminished. There are two causes for this. One is that there is a certain maximum size for the bunches and berries of any imrticular vine. When we have reached this maximum, any further decrease of fruit-bunches results in a diminished crop. The other is that the excessive vigor given the shoots is un- favorable to fruiting (see Principle No. 2, page 354), often causing coulure or dropping of the blossoms without "setting." The pruner should endeavor, therefore, to leave just enough fi-uit-buds to furnish the number of bunches that the vine can carry to perfection. Beyond this point the crop is diminished and the vigor of the new growth correspondingly increased. If we prune the vine so severely that no crop is produced, the vigor of the vine attains its maximum. Even though we prune off all the growth of the season, the vine may not be weakened, as it produces shoots from dormant and adventitious buds with so much facil- ity that the foliage produced is as great as when we leave spurs with well-formed buds. Heavy winter pruning, therefore, invigorates the vine by diminishing the crop. Light winter pruning increases the crop. If this increase is represented by a larger number of bunches 360 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING than the vine can properly nourish, the crop will be inferior in quality and the vine weakened by over-bearing. On a mature vine of normal vigor, the pruner should leave the same number of spurs and fruit-buds as was left the year before. If the vine appears to be abnormally vigorous, more fruit-buds should be left in order to utilize this vigor in the production of crop. On the other hand, if the vine appears weak, it should be pruned more severely than the previous year, that is, fewer fruit- buds should be left. Any attempt to make a weak vine bear a normal crop can result only in further weakening of the vine and in the production of inferior grapes. By pruning such a vine for a small crop, the grapes will be of good quality and the vine invigorated so that it can produce normal crops in subse- quent years. These statements apply not only to individual vines, but to individual arms or canes of a vine. The number of fruit-canes, -spurs or -buds should be in proportion to the strength of the arm. A fruit-cane or fruit-spur should be the longer the more vigorous it is. The vigor of a vine is determined not only by the growth it has made, but by the reserves contained in its canes and body. Its condition in this respect can be determined by an inspection of the canes. These should be firm and heavy. Soft pithy canes indicate weakness and should never be left for fruit- bearing. If all or most of the canes on a vine are of this char- acter, the vine should be pruned very short, in extreme cases sufficiently short to prevent any attempt to bear. On the other hand, long, firm canes should be made to produce fruit by being left longer whether as fruit-spurs or fruit-canes. The iodine test is useful in determining the condition of the canes or vines in respect to reserves of starch. For this test, a solution of iodine in 75 per cent alcohol is used — 100 parts by weight of alcohol to one part by weight of iodine. A clean slanting cut is made through the cane and a few drops of the solution placed on the cut. In three to five minutes a well- HOW MUCH TO PRUNE 361 nourished cane, containing abundance of starch, turns black all over the cut. An imperfectly nourished cane will turn black' only on the medullary rays, which will show like the spokes of a wheel. If only a few black specks are produced by the iodine, reserves are lacking. In the first case, the canes are good for use as cuttings or grafts and indicate that the vine is capable of producing a good crop. The pruning should be correspondingly generous. In the last case, the cuttings are useless and the vine should be pruned very short. A few tests of this kind in a vine- yard ^will give a very fair idea of the amount of reserves in the vines and be a valuable aid in determining the amount of pruning. Young and old vines. During the first part of the life of the vine, the main, if not the only, object of the pruner is to develop a framework of proper form. The methods of doing this and the time required will depend on the form aimed at, and on the more or less favorable conditions for rapid growth. The crop in this forma- tive period should be a secondary object. In fact, nothing is lost if it is left out of consideration altogether, except in so far as it affects the attainment of the desired form. Vines so pruned as to reach most rapidly and perfectly a desirable shape will not only bear more when they attain adult size, but will prac- tically always bear more fruit during the formative period than if the fruit alone were in view. In pruning an adult vine, two objects must be kept in view: (1) the production of the crop of the current year, and (2) the maintenance of the proper form of the vine. These objects are perhaps of equal importance. On the attainment of the first depends the current crop, on that of the second all future crops. With vines that have been given a proper shape while young, both of these objects can be fully attained. With misshapen vines, compromises must frequently be made. 362 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING HOW THE VINE IS PRUNED When a vine has reached the stage of full bearing, pruning consists of leaving certain parts of the new wood for fruiting, other parts for renewal or the production of wood for the next year, and finally other parts for the replacing or shortening of arms. All new wood not needed for these purposes and all arms to be replaced are removed. Whatever the system of pruning, in all Califomian systems, each arm of each vine is treated by the same method, modified 363. The unit of short or spur-pruning. only by the vigor of the individual cane, arm, or vine. There are two general methods used: spur-pruning and cane-pruning. The treatment of a single arm by either of these methods may be called the "unit of pruning." Spur-pruning, The unit of pruning in spur-pruning is illustrated in Fig. 363, representing a long arm about seven years old. At the end of the arm is shown the two-eye spur (S2) of the previous year bearing two canes, (C and CI). Near the base of the arm is THE SPURS 363 shown a single water-sprout (WS) growing out of old wood. Such an arm would normally bear other canes, but as they would all be removed entirely at pruning they are omitted to simplify the figure. (Fig. 363 and others from Calif. Bulletins 241, 246.) In pruning such an arm, one of the canes growing out of the spur of the previous year (*S2) is cut back to form a new spur and the other removed entirely. In deciding on which cane to use for the new spur, we must choose one that is suitable for fruiting — that is, well ripened, of moderate thickness, and with well^ormed buds. Of those that fulfil this condition, we must choose that which is in the best position to preserve the form of the vine. This, in most cases, will be the lowest (C m Fig. 363), because it least increases the length of the arm. If the lowest, however, is weak, broken, or otherwise unsuitable, we are obliged to take one higher up. When a cane arising from the base bud of the spur of the previous year is chosen for the new spur, the length of the arm is increased imperceptibly. A spur from the first bud (C, Fig. 363) will lengthen it usually httle over an inch, one from the second bud (C) 3 or 4 inches. In any case, the arm finally becomes too long, like the one in the figure. It must then be shortened or replaced. This can be done by using a conveniently placed water-sprout for a replacing spur as at R, and cutting back the arm in the place indicated by the line g. This cutting back of an arm should be deferred until the following year, as the replacing spur will produce Httle or no fmit. In the meanwhile the fruit-spur from cane C will bear a crop and the replacing spur R "^dU produce fruit-wood for the fol- lowing year. The cane chosen (C, Fig. 363) is cut at a, b, or d, leaving a fruit-spur of one, two, or three fruit-buds and the cane CI removed entirely by a cut at /. The more vigorous the variety and the particular cane, the more buds should be left. The watersprout is cut back at a, leaving a replacing spur of one 364 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING eye. Of course, a replacing spur is left only in case the arm is too long and will require shortening the next year. The unit in short pruning consists, then, of a single fruit- spur of one, two, or three fruit-buds. Cane-pruning. The unit of pruning in long and half-long systems is shown in Fig. 364 and consists of a fruit-cane, F2, which has produced the crop of the previous season and a renewal spur, Si, which has produced fruit-wood for the present season. In pruning, the fruit-cane F2 (Fig. 364) is removed entirely at g. The upper cane, C, of the renewal spur, SI, is used for a 364. The unit of the long or half-long form of pruning, new fruit-cane and shortened to about / for half -long and to about /I for long pruning. The lower cane, CI, is cut back at a to form a renewal spur, S, which will produce the new wood for the next winter pruning. This is the normal method of procedure, but various modifi- cations are often necessary. If the cane C (in Fig. 364) is un- PRUNING IN SUMMER 365 suitable on account of lack of vigor, other canes such as CI, or even B, D, near the base of the old fruit-cane, may be used for a new fruit-cane. The essential point is that the cane used for this purpose shall originate from two-year-old wood. In the same way, any suitably placed cane may be used for a renewal spur, watersprouts from three-year, four-year, or older wood being available {RP). The essential point in this case is that the renewal spur shall be below the fruit-cane, that is, nearer the trunk. R^lacing-spurs for shortening the arms are occasionally needed as in spur-pruning, but usually the same spur can be used both for renewal and replacing. The watersprout RP may be used for this purpose, cutting it at h or 6, according to its vigor, SUMMEK OR HERBACEOUS PRUNING Summer pruning, of which there are many forms, consists in the removal of buds, shoots, or leaves while they are green or herbaceous, and is performed, therefore, while the vine is growing or active. The effects of summer pruning are in some respects very different from those of winter pruning, and in some quite the opposite. If we remove a part of a cane in the winter, we do not weaken the vine; in fact, we may strengthen it indirectly by diminishing the bearing. If we remove a growing cane in the summer, on the contrary, we weaken the vine because we remove leaves which are its principal feeding organs and to which it owes its vigor. (See Principle No. 1, page 353.) This weakening effect is greatest in the middle of summer when the vine is most active and most in need of the food sup- plied by the leaves. The removal of all the leaves by defoUating insects at this time may kill the vine. It is not so great early in the spring, when we can remove a certain number of small shoots without serious injury. In fact, vines struck by spring 366 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING frosts are often more vigorous the following year because the weakness due to removal of leaves is more than counterbalanced by the strengthening due to lack of crop. It is least harmful late in the autumn after the canes have matured and the leaves begin to turn yellow. The removal of growing shoots or parts of shoots has also an effect similar to that of winter pruning — the concentration of the growth of the vine on the parts that remain. This con- centrating effect and the weakening effect occur in inverse ratio and vary according to the time and method of operation. In early spring, at the starting of the shoots, the weakening effect is very slight and the concentrating effect almost as marked as that of winter pruning. In early sunmier, with the vines in full growth, the weakening effect may be sufficient to neutralize completely the concentrating effect, i. e., the removal of some of the shoots may so weaken the vine that there will be no in- crease of growth in those that are left. Still later, the weakening effect may exceed the concentrating effect, i. e., the shoots which remain will make less growth than if none had been removed. Summer pruning has various uses, of which the principal are: 1. To direct the growth into useful parts of the vine: disbudding; thinning of shoots and topping of young vines; suckering; watersprouting. 2. To protect rapidly growing shoots from injury by wind or culti- vators: pinching and topping. 3. To moderate the vigor of the vine and so increase its bearing: pinching, topping. 4. To increase the size of fruit (at expense of sweetness) : topping. 5. To increase the shade on the fruit: topping or pinching to promote upright position of shoots and growth of laterals. 6. To decrease the shade on the fruit: defoUating. Three other operations performed in summer may be considered as forms of summer pruning: 7. Thinning of the fruit. 8. Ringing. 9. Removal of cion and surface roots. SUMMER PRUNING 367 Disbudding. The removal of buds is practised on young vines the second and third years. It consists in removing the buds from the lower part of the stem in order to concentrate the growth in the shoots above and to avoid the production of canes low down where they would have to be cut off later. The buds are removed in the form of shoots, after they have growoi an inch or two. Many of them are dormant or adventitious and the attempt to remove them earher (as real buds) would make it necessary to go over the viney^d too often. The sooner they are removed, however, the better, before they have used up much of the reserves of the vine and when the concentrating effect of their removal is at its maximum. On younger vines which have not yet formed a stem, it consists in removing all the buds but one in order to concentrate all the growth into a single shoot from which the following year the stem will be formed. Thinning of shoots. The purpose of this operation is the same as that of disbud- ding. It is performed after the shoots have grown several inches or more. It is inferior to early disbudding as it is more weaken- ing to the vine and the concentrating effect is correspondingly less. It is simpler than disbudding, as it necessitates going over the vineyard only once. It is most useful the third year on vmes which have been cut back to two buds at the end of the second season's growth. Topping the young vines. When by disbudding or thinning of shoots the second year all the growth has been concentrated into a single shoot, this shoot will grow with great vigor. When it has grown about 12 inches above the top of the stake, that is, above the height at which it is intended to develop the head, it should be topped or stopped. This topping has the effect of forcing the growth of 368 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING laterals. These laterals can be used at the following winter pruning as fruit-spurs and as the beginning of permanent arms. If this topping is not performed, there may be very few buds on the cane, when mature, at the height at which it is desired to make a head. It will be difficult, therefore, to find buds in the proper place for the development of the arms and to produce the crop of grapes which the vine should yield the third year. In the third summer, the number of shoots will be small for the vigor of the young vine. They will grow rapidly and be very Hable to be broken off by the wind while tender and succulent. If topped before they are long enough to afford sufficient lever- age to the force of the wind, they will have time to lignify their tissues and become tough enough to withstand the wind-pres- sure. Topping at this time helps to keep the shoots upright and makes it easier to give the arms the proper direction at the fol- lowing winter pruning. Suckering. The removal of all shoots which originate at or below the surface of the ground is known as suckering. Neglect of sucker- ing results in diminished vigor of the whole above-ground part of the vine. The suckers bear little or no fruit and, growing vigorously, they appropriate the sap which should nourish the whole vine. Finally, the top may die, the whole growth go into the suckers, and all the benefits of a properly shaped vine will be lost. Such a vine can be renovated only by cutting off the old stump and building up a new vine from a vigorous sucker. With grafted vines the consequences are even more serious The suckers, coming from the stock, take the sap even more easily from the top which is connected to the root by the union where the passage of water and food materials is impeded. A grafted vine that has been seriously weakened by the prolonged growth of suckers is useless and cannot be renovated. Suckering should be performed with the greatest care and SUMMER PRUNING 369 thoroughness the first four or five years. This will save a great deal of expensive and troublesome work later. Very few suckers are produced by vines that have been properly cared for in this respect in the first three years, and such vines will usually cease to produce any suckers after five or six years. Vines on which the suckering has been imperfectly attended to the first three years, on the contrary, will always produce an abundant crop of underground shoots every year. Suckering, hke disbudding, should be undertaken as early in thff season as possible, for the reasons already given. Another and even more important reason is that suckers removed late, and especially those allowed to grow the whole summer, pro- mote the formation of dormant buds and of tissue which readily forms adventitious buds below ground. It is necessary to sucker young vines two or three times in the spring. This is performed every time the vines are visited for hoeing or tying up. When the suckers are soft and succulent they are easily pulled off without cutting. They must be re- moved completely from the base. When they become a little tough, it is necessary to dig down to their point of origin for this purpose. It is worse than useless to remove a sucker par- tially. The part that remains forms an underground spur or arm which will be a source of perennial trouble. Water sprouting. The removal of sterile shoots is called watersprouting. When it is practised to prevent growth in places where growth is not wanted, or to concentrate growth in parts where it is wanted, it is advisable. The removal of all sterile shoots in all cases on the theory that they are useless, however, is mistaken practice. The growth of a large number of watersprouts is usually an indication that the full vigor of the vine is not being used for the production of crop. The cure for this is longer, or a different style of, winter pruning. The production of sterile shoots on X 370 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING what ought to be fruit-wood often indicates some cultural error, such as excess of water, nitrogen, or humus, too late growth of the vine in autumn, or excessive vigor. Watersprouts may be removed with good results in certain cases. If the vines are weak, the growth may be concentrated by this means in the bearing shoots, which will thus be able to nourish their crop better. In this case the watersprouts must be removed early, before they have grown more than a few inches; otherwise, the vine will be still further weakened, and the trouble increased the following year. If the vines are exces- sively vigorous, diminishing the foliage by the late removal of watersprouts may correct the defect. It is more reasonable, however, to utilize this vigor for crop-production by a change in the winter pruning. Watersprouts are sometimes trouble- some by growing through the bunches, making it impossible to gather the crop without injury. This is particularly harmful with shipping-grapes. When much of this trouble exists, it indicates that the vine has an unsuitable shape. This can be modified in the winter pruning by spreading the vine sufficiently to allow all the bunches to hang free. Sterile shoots are by no means completely useless. The foliage they produce nourishes the vine and makes it more capable of bearing fruit. They are needed for use as renewal- and replacing-spurs, for which purpose they are better than fruitful shoots, being more vigorous. Pinching. The removal of the growing tip of a shoot with thumb and finger is usually called pinching. Its weakening effect is very slight, as no expanded leaves and a very small amount of material are sacrificed. The immediate effect of pinching is to arrest the elongation of the shoot. If performed when the shoot is 15 to 18 inches long, the shoot has time to become tough enough to resist the wind. SUMMER PRUNING 371 Shoots pinched as early as this usually produce a new growing- tip, which later can not be distinguished from the original. Later pinching usually causes the growth of several strong laterals. The best stage of gi'owth for the first pinching is shown in Fig. 360 (page 350). Pinching fruit-shoots, just before blossoming, tends to make the fruit "set" better. It is, therefore, a remedy for coulure, or shedding of fruit. Pinching the first shoots on a fruit-cane tends to promote the starting of other buds, and therefore the production of more bunches. By pinching, we can accomplish most of the objects of topping with a minimum weakening effect on the vine. Toppi7ig. The operation of topping consists in removing one, two, or more feet of the end of a growing shoot, usually in June and July or later. In some regions, topping is practised regularly twice or even three times in the season. In general, it is more used in the cooler districts than in the hotter. If practised early, topping has much the same effect as pinch- ing. It tends to keep the canes upright and to cause the develop- ment of laterals. It involves the removal of leaves and is there- fore weakening, which may be an advantage with extra-vigor- ous vines. In very windy districts, it is necessary to prevent the shoots being broken off entirely by the wind. The later the topping is performed, the more leaves are removed and the more weakening is the practice to the vine. Constant severe topping may have a serious effect on the vigor of even the strongest ^dnes. In general, topping tends to increase the size of the grapes and to decrease their quality. For table-grapes on vigorous vines it is sometimes an advantage, if not carried too far. At least three or four leaves should be left above the fruit in early topping, and seven or eight in late. For wine- or raisin- 372 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING grapes, it is seldom advisable, as it decreases the sugar and flavor of the grapes. With long-pruned vines, especially when trellised, it is often possible to obtain the benefits of the practice without its defects by topping only the shoots on the fruit- canes and allowing the shoots on the replacing spurs to grow normally. Both pinching and topping are practised frequently with the object of protecting the fruit from sunburn by increasing the shade on the grapes. For this purpose, pinching is much su- perior to topping. When a shoot is allowed to grow without interference, it takes at first a more or less upright direction. As it increases in length, the weight of the shoot tends to bend it over to a more or less horizontal or downward direction. With certain rapidly elongating varieties, the shoots bend over and take a reclining position, resting for a considerable part of their length on the ground. With nearly all varieties, they will finally bend out- ward and downward sufficiently to open up the center of the vine to the sun. In many cases, this opening up of the center is an advantage, promoting the coloring of the grapes and the control of oidium. In some cases it encourages sunburn of the grapes. Sunburn, however, is not due alone to the direct rays of the sun. This is proved by the fact that some bunches completely exposed do not sunburn while other bunches much shaded may be injured. The trouble occurs in vineyards where the shade temperature seldom goes above 100° F. and may not occur in others where it often rises to 1 10° F. The commonest form of sunburn is due to an excess of evap- oration over sap-supply. If more water is lost through the skin of the grapes than is supplied through the stem, it will dry up. An excess or a deficiency of water in the soil may curtail the sap-supply and sunburn result. Defective or diseased roots, wounds, or fungus in stem or arms, may have the same effect. SUMMER PRUNING 373 Increasing the shade, therefore, is merely a paUiative, and any method which weakens the vine will increase the trouble. If we pmch the growing shoots once or twice before they are 3 feet long, we increase the shade in two ways: (1) They grow more upright as they are relieved from the weight of the growing top until they are sufficiently lignified to retain their upright position; (2) they produce laterals which increase the number of leaves near their bases and over the head of the vine. Topping, being performed later, is less effective in these respects, and, moreover, involving the removal of feeding- leaves, may weaken the vine so much as to increase the trouble. Defoliating. The development of the color of the grapes is influenced more by the light than by the heat of the sun. The coloring of Tokay grapes can sometimes be facilitated in the cooler districts by means which expose the bunches to more sunHght. One of these means is the removal of leaves. This of course will tend to weaken the vine. If the vines are excessively vigorous, this may not be a disadvantage. If only the leaves in the center of the vine, which have already begun to turn yellow, are removed, the weakening effect may be very slight. Better isolation, however, can usually be obtained more profitably by changing the form of the vine or by thinning the bunches. Removal of the interior leaves may be useful in some cases, with very late varieties, to protect the fruit from molding after rains. It allows sun and air to reach the grapes freely and to evaporate the moisture from their surfaces quickly. Allowing the sheep to eat the leaves inunediately or soon after gathering the crop, sometimes known as "sheeping," is undoubtedly a bad practice. It removes the leaves before they have fulfilled their important duty of providing the reserve food to be stored up in cane, trunk, and roots for the growth of the following spring. 374 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING Thinning the fruit. Many otherwise suitable grapes do not ship well on account of the excessive compactness of the bunch. A compact bunch is difficult to pack without injury and cannot be freed from unperfect berries without spoiling good berries. This excessive compactness can be prevented by thinning before the berries are one-thu'd grown. Thinning, moreover, increases the size of the berries, hastens ripening, promotes coloring, and lessens some forms of simburn. The practice is regularly followed with success by many growers of Tokay, Black Morocco, Luglienga, and other grapes in which the bunches are usually too compact. While apparently costly, the expense is often more than counterbalanced by the saving in trimming the ripe grapes. The increase of quahty thus becomes a net gain. The bunches are thinned at any time after the berries have set and before they have reached one-third their mature diameter. No bunches are removed, but only a certain proportion of the berries in each bunch. The number of berries to be removed will depend on how compact the unthinned bunches usually become. In general, it varies from one-thnd to one-half of the total number. The thinning is effected by cutting out several of the side branchlets of the bunch. The branchlets should be removed principally from the part of the bunch which has most tendency to compactness, usually the upper part. The work can be performed very rapidly, as no great care is necessary in preserving the shape of the bunch. However irregular or one- sided the bunch looks immediately after thinning, it will round out and become regular before ripening. A long narrow-bladed knife or a pair of grape-trimming scissors can be used conveniently for this work. When the berries are from one-fourth to one-third gro\vn, they may be thinned by the fingers alone very rapidly. SUMMER PRUNING 375 Ringing. The removal of a ring of bark from a growing shoot or from a cane of the previous year constitutes the operation of ringing. The ring removed varies in width from 3^- to 3^-inch. If it is too narrow, the wound heals too quickly and the full effect of the operation is not attained; if too vnde, the shoot may die before the ripening of the fruit. The ring is removed from a part of the shoot or cane just below the fruit. This prevents the passage of the food material to the lower parts of the vine andxauses its accumulation in the parts above the incision and consequently in the fruit. The result on the vines is weakening, as in all kinds of sum- mer pruning. It can be employed therefore only on vigorous vines, and usually only on those parts to be removed at the fol- lowing winter pruning. Shoots may be ringed as soon as they begin to become woody at the base, that is, a Httle before blossoming and until the time when they begin to turn yellow or mature. The canes or spurs of the previous winter pruning may be ringed from three weeks before blossoming to a month before the ripening of the fruit. Early ringing tends to cause the blossoms to set better and to combat coulure. It causes the fruit to ripen two or three weeks earher and often increases the size of both berries and bunches. Its weakening effects are greatest in hot climates and it is not used in California. In AustraHa it is employed regularly with the Black Corinth, the vine which produces the small seedless gi'apes from which the currants of commerce are made. This vine is of such extraordinary vigor that ringing may be practised every year without injury. It is even possible to ring the main trunk of the vine with good results. The ringing may be performed wdth an ordinary budding- knife, but can be accomplished quickly and well only with one of the special iastruments made for the purpose. 376 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING Removal of surface roots. The final position of the feeding-roots depends on the soil conditions and cannot be influenced by pruning. The position of the main roots, however, can be modified to some extent in certain cases. Young vines in some soils tend to start roots at or very close to the surface of the ground. This is especially frequent where summer irrigation is practised. If these roots are allowed to grow, they will form main roots and are hable to injury in tillage. In the first and second years, therefore, it is advisable to cut off any roots that form within 3 or 4 inches of the surface. This can be accomplished at the same time that the vines are hoed and suckered. When grafted vines are planted, the union is placed above ground but is covered by "hilling-up." This may cause roots to start from the cion. These roots must be carefully cut off before they become large or the vine will fail to nourish its resistant roots. WOUNDS AND THEIR TREATMENT The possible length of life of a vinifera vine, so far as we know, is unlimited. The actual profitable life varies from a few years to fifty or more. Vines are sometimes killed by disease or un- usually unfavorable conditions, such as severe frosts, and pro- longed drought. Most vines fail and become unprofitable from the effects of an accumulation of small injuries. Among the chief of these are prunmg-wounds. Wounds are not only harm- ful in themselves by destroying wood, bark, and other conducting tissue, but they allow the entrance of boring insects and wood- destroying fungi whose effects are even more destructive. All pruning wounds, therefore, should be made as small as possible, especially in the main body and other permanent parts of the vine. The necessity of making large wounds can be avoided to a great extent by foresight. TREATING THE WOUNDS 377 Useless shoots and canes should be removed while they are small and young. Necessary renewals of arms or branches should be made before the part to be suppressed becomes too large. When large wounds are unavoidable, they should be made as smooth as possible and protected by an antiseptic swabbing with 2 per cent copper-sulfate solution and covered with a good white- lead paint. The vine heals its wounds from the inside by the production of gummy matters or thyloses which fill up the cells and tissue and so prevent loss of sap. It does not cover the wounds with healing tissue from the outside with the facility of many fruit- trees. Wounds much over an inch in diameter seldom heal over completely. By careful and skilKul use of the pruning tools, the harm of necessary wounds can be reduced to a minimum. All cuts should be made clean and smooth. This requires that the shears should be of good quaHty and kept sharp. The cuts should be made in such a way that there is no cracking or splitting of the wood. This is accompUshed by holding the shears in the proper way and at the proper angle and by avoid- ing any undue bending of the portion of the vine to be removed. Canes for spurs should be cut obhquely, and not at a right angle to the grain. In cutting off a cane or spur entirely, the blade of the shears should be placed against the vine, and should cut upward as shown in Fig. 365. This will insure a clean close cut without splitting. Any cut on the body of the vine should be made in such a way as to leave as small a wound as possible and at the same time to leave no projecting stub. Stubs of dead wood prevent healing over and interfere considerably with future pruning. In spur-pruning, it is considered best to cut through the bud 365. Proper way of applying the shears. 378 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING above the last one that it is desired to have grow, as at C in Fig. 366. This leaves the woody diaphragm intact and pro- tects the spur from injury. If the spur is cut at CI, a long piece of intemode is left, exposing the pith. As this pith dries and skrinks, it allows water to enter and forms an excellent place for molds to grow which may destroy the bud below. It requires some skill and practice to cut exactly in the right place and, if by mistake the cut is made just below the diaphragm, the breeding-place for molds has its maximum size. For this reason, most primers make the cut at C2 about 3/^-inch above the last bud. If the shears are sharp and the cut made at an angle of about 45 degrees behind the bud, no injury results. In removing a piece of old wood at the base of a spur or fruit-cane, it is best to leave a little projecting stub. (See Fig. 366.) Too close cutting in this case is liable to injure the spur or cane. The projecting stub can be re- moved when the spur has grown larger the fol- lowing year without danger of injury. PRUNINGS AND TOOLS After the pruning is completed, the "brush" and biids, ancf?iow ^r cuttings must be removed. This is much to make the cuts facilitated if the pruners are careful in placing spur. the wood they remove. The usual method is to place the wood from two adjoining rows in the space between them, either in a long line or in piles between four vines. These rows or piles can then be carried by hand or with a hay-fork and concentrated in large piles in the avenues or on the borders of the vineyard, where they are burned as soon as they are sufficiently dry. The heat from these fires is so great DISPOSING OF THE PRUNINGS 379 367. A brush burner. that it sometimes injures neighboring vines, especially if the burning is deferred until the starting of the buds. A better method is to use a brush-burner, one form of which is shown in Fig. 367. This consists of an iron truck with a per- forated bottom. A fire is started in the truck which is then drawn slowly down a free row by a quiet horse trained to the work. Two men collect the brush in the adjoining rows and throw it into the moving truck, where it burns without danger of injuring the vines, and at a lower tempera- ture than in the large piles. The ashes are distributed equally over the vineyard. The method is difficult to adapt to trellised vineyards or to vines with fruit- canes. Gathering the brush with a hay-rake is sometimes practised, but is not satisfactory and is likely to injure the vines. In some countries, the vine-pinmings are used for fuel, for manure, and even for cattle-feed after cuttmg and crushing. The labor cost in Cahfornia seems at present to prevent economical utilization in any of these ways. Pruning tools. The best tool is a pair of shears of the Swiss form (see small pair Fig. 368). If vines are properly pruned every year, it will seldom be necessaiy to make cuts too large qqq ^ t f for these shears except when arms have to be grape-pmning tools. , , ■, , » c -J 1 Two-hand shears, one- replaced or last year s iruit-canes removed, hand shears, curved saw. 380 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING For this heavier work, a curved saw should be carried by the pruner. A folding saw with adjustable blade and specially- filed long narrow teeth is the best. For vines which make a very heavy growth or which have been unskilfully pruned, a pair of two-handed pruning-shears similar to those used for tree-pruning may be used. If these are of good form, kept sharp, and carefully used so as to avoid splitting the arms or cutting too deeply into the old wood, good work may be accomplished with them. SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF VINIFERA. PRUNING Very many systems of pi-uning are appHed to vinifera vines. These systems differ in the form given to the body of the vine and in the management of the annual growth. Some of the differences depend on variations in the nature of the vines, on the cultural and growing conditions of the district, and on the objects of the grower. Others are unessential. Before beginning work, the pruner should form a mental picture of an ideal vine of the form desired. Vines are subject to so many accidents of weather, cultivation, and disease that, even with the greatest care and skill, it may be impossible to secure a single ideal vine in the vineyard. The pattern vine, however, must exist in the pruner's mind or all his vines will be unnecessarily defective. With this ideal or pattern before him, he is able to take such measures as will direct the energies of the vine, as much as possible, in the right direction and counteract all contrary influences and thus make each vine approach as nearly as possible the perfect model. This mental picture is particularly necessary in the treat- ment of young vines. Only when it is strongly impressed on the imagination, is it possible to use such means and measures as will most rapidly and economically bring the vine to profitable maturity. METHODS IN CALIFORNIA 381 CaUfornian systems. The systems of vinifera-pnining in use in California may be divided into two classes, according to the arrangement of the arms on the trmik of the vine: (1) In the commonest systems, there is a definite head to the trunk, from which all the arms arise symmetrically at nearly the same level. The vines of these systems may be called "headed vines." (2) In the other systems, the trunk is elongated 4 to 8 feet and the arms are distributed regularly along the whole or the greater part of its lertgth. The vines of these systems, owing to the rope-like form of the trunks, are called cordons. The headed vines are divided according to the length of the vertical trunk into (1) high, 2 to 4 feet, (2) medium, 1 to 1}/^ feet, and (3) low, to 6 inches. The cordons may be vertical or horizontal, according to the direction of the trunk, which is from 4 to 8 feet long. The horizontal cordons may be single (unilateral), or composed of two branches extending in oppo- site directions (bilateral). Double and even multiple vertical cordons occur, but they are very inadvisable and have no advantages. The arrangements of the arms of a headed vine may be sym- metrical in all directions at an angle of about 45 degrees. Such a vine is said to be vase-formed, although the hollow center which this term implies is not essential. This is the form devel- oped in most Califomian vineyards whether of wine-, raisin-, or shipping-grapes. It is suitable for the square system of plant- ing and cross-cultivation. When vines are planted in the avenue system, particularly when trellised and where cross-cultivation is impossible, the arms are given a fan-shaped arrangement in a vertical plane. This arrangement is essential for the econom- ical working of trellised vines. On the vertical or upright cordon, the arms are arranged at as regular intervals as possible on all sides of the trunk, from the top to within 12 to 15 inches of the bottom. On the horizontal 382 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING cordon the arms are arranged similarly, but as nearly as pos- sible on the upper side of the trunk only. Each of these systems may be again divided into two sub- systems, according to the management of the annual growth or canes: (1). In one, spurs of one, two, or three eyes are left for fruit-production. This system is called short or spur-pruning. (2). In the other, long canes are left for fruit-production. This is called long or cane-pruning. In rare cases an intermediate form is adopted in which long spurs or short canes of five or six eyes are left. In cane-pruning, each fruit-cane is accompanied by one or two short renewal spurs. These must also accompany half-long pruning. Systems of pruning in which only long canes are left without renewal spurs are not in use in Califor- nia. In all systems, replacing spurs are left wherever and whenever needed. Other modifications are introduced by the manner of dis- posal of the fruit-canes. These may be tied up vertically to a stake driven at the foot of each vine or bowed in a circle and tied to this same stake, or they may be tied laterally to wires stretching along the rows in a horizontal, ascending, or descending direction. The different systems differ therefore in: (1) The shape, length, and direction of the trunk; (2) the arrangement of the arms; (3) the use of fruit-spurs or fruit-canes with renewal spurs; (4) the disposal of the fruit-canes. The principal possibilities are shown in the following table: A. Head-pnming: Vase-form. 1. High trunk ) i (a) Fruit-spurs, or 2. Medium trunk > with •< (b) Half-long canes and renewal spurs, or 3. Low trunk ) ( (c) Fruit-canes and renewal spurs; canes vertical or bowed. B. Head-'pruning: Fan-shaped; Trellised. 1. High trunk: Fruit-canes and renewal spurs; canes descending. 2. Medium trunk: Fruit-canes and renewal spurs; canes horizontal. 3. Low trunk: Fruit-canes and renewal spurs; canes ascending. CALIFORNIA SYSTEMS 383 C. Cordon-pruning. 1. Vertical: Spur; half-long; cane. 2. Horizontal-unilateral: Spur; haK-long; cane. 3. Horizontal-bilateral: Spur; half-long; cane. All possible combinations indicated by this table represent twenty-four variations. Some of these combinations, however, are not used and some are rare. Eight of the most common are shown in Figs. 369-373. Forms with low trunks are also com- mon, but inadvisable. (See Fig. 374.) 369. Forms of heads of vinifera vines. A, spur-pruning, high trunk. B, spur- pruning, medium trunk. C, half-long pruning, medium trunk. A headed vase-formed vine, with a medium trunk and short fruit-spurs, is shown in Fig. 369B. This is the most common system in all parts of California and is suited for all small-grow- ing vines which bear on the lower buds, for most wine-grapes and for Muscats. The unit of pruning in this case is a fruit-spur of one, two, or three intemodes, according to the vigor of the variety and of the individual cane. The vine shown in Fig. 3G9A differs from 369B only in the higher trunk with longer arms. It is commonly used for Tokay and other large-growing varieties, especially when growing in rich soil and when planted far apart. 384 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING The vine in Fig. 369C has the same form of body as A and B, except that the arms are somewhat less numerous. The unit of pruning is a short fruit-cane of four to five internodes, accom- panied by a renewal spur of one mtemode. It is suited for vigorous table-grapes, which do not bear well on short spurs. It is employed especially for the Cornichon and Malaga, in rich soil. This is a difficult system to keep in good shape owing to the tendency for all the vigor to go to growth at the end of the fruit-canes. It is difficult to secure vigorous canes on the renewal spurs. Occasional short pruning is usually necessary to keep the vines in proper shape. The example in Fig. 370A is similar to 369C in form, but the number of arms is still further reduced to two, three, or at most four. The unit of pruning is a fruit-cane of 23^2 to 33^ feet with its renewal spur. Owmg to the length of the fruit -canes they require support and are tied to a high stake. This method is used in a large number of vineyards with Sultanina, Sultana, and certain wine-grapes, especially Semillon, Riesling, and Cabernet. It is not to be recommended in any case, as it has several very serious defects. The difficulty of securing new wood from the renewal spurs is even greater than in the system shown in Fig. 369C. The length and vertical position of the 370. Forms of head pruning. A, vertical fruit-canes and renewal spurs. B, bowed canes and renewal spurs. CALIFORNIA METHODS 385 fruit-canes cause the main growth and vigor of the vine to be expended on the highest shoots. (See Principles 5 and 6, page 355.) The renewal spurs are thus so shaded that, even though their buds start, the shoots make but a weak growth. The result is that at the following pruning all the good new wood is at the top of the fruit-canes of the previous year, where it cannot be utilized. The pruner has to choose then between reverting to spur-pruning and getting no crop, or using the weak growth from the renewal spurs for fruit-canes, in which case he may get blossoms but little or no fruit of any value. Other defects 371. Fan-shaped head pruning, with canes tied to trellis. of this method are that the fruiting shoots are excessively vigorous and therefore often tend to drop their blossoms with- out setting, and the fruit is massed together so that it ripens imevenly and is difficult to gather. It also requires a tall and expensive stake. An improvement on the last system is shown in Fig. 370B. It differs only in the method of treating the fruit-canes. These are bent over in the form of a circle and tied by their middle part to a stake which may be smaller and lower than that needed for the vertical canes. This bowing of the canes has several useful effects. The change of direction moderates the ten- 386 VINIFERA GRAPE'TRAINING dency of the vigor of the vine to expend itself only on the ter- minal shoots. More shoots, therefore, are formed on the fruit- canes and as their vigor is somewhat decreased they tend to be more fruitful. The slight mechanical injury caused by the bending operates in the same direction. (See Principle 4, page 354.) The excess of vigor thus being diverted from the fruit-canes causes the renewal spurs to form vigorous shoots, which soon grow above the fruit-shoots and obtain the light and air they need for their proper development. This method is used successfully in the coast counties for certain wine-grapes such as Riesling, Cabernet, and Semillon. It is unsuited to large vigorous varieties or for vines on rich soil planted wide apart. In these cases two fruit-canes are usually insuffi- cient, and, if more are used, the grapes and leaves are so massed together that they are subject to oidium and do not ripen evenly or well. The bowing and tying of the canes requires considerable skill and care on the part of the work- men. The body, arms, and annual pruning of the system shown in Fig. 371 are simi- lar to those of Fig. 370, with the excep- tion that the arms are given a fan-shaped arrangement in one plane. It differs in the disposal of the fruit-canes, which are supported by a trellis stretching along the row from vine to vine. This method is largely used for the Sultanina (Thompson Seedless), and is the best system for vigorous vines which require long pruning, wherever it is pos- sible to dispense with cross-cultivation. It is also suitable for any long-pruned varieties when growing in very fertile soil. 372. Single vertical cordon vinifera, with fruit-spurs. VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL FORMS 387 A four-year-old Emperor vine, illustrating the vertical cordon system, is shown in Fig. 372. It consists of an upright trunk 4:}4 f^et high with short arms and fruit-spurs scattered evenly and symmetrically from the top to "wdthin 15 inches of the bottom. This system is used in many Emperor vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley. Its advantages are that it allows the large development of the vine and the large number of .^^^e^-^M^r^ ^^ 373. Unilateral horizontal cordon, with fruit-spurs. spurs which the vigor of the Emperor demands, without, on the one hand, crowding the fi-uit by the proximity of the spurs, or, on the other hand, spreading the vine so much that cultiva- tion is interfered with. It also permits cross-cultivation. One of its defects is that the fruit is subjected to various degrees of temperature and shading in different parts of the vine and the ripening and coloring are often imeven. A more vital defect is that it cannot be maintained permanently. The arms and spurs at the top of the trunk tend to absorb the energies of the vine and the lower arms and spurs become weaker each year until finally no gro"v\i:h at all is secured below. After several years, most of the vines therefore lose theii' character of cordons and become simply headed vines -^dth abnormally long trunks. The cordon can be reestablished, in this case, by aUo^dng a \'igorous sucker to develop one year, from which to form a new tiTink the next. The following year the old trunk is removed entirely. An objection to this method is that it makes very large wounds in the most vital part of the vine — the base of the trunk. A four-year-old Colombar vine, illustrating the unilateral horizontal cordon system is shown in Fig. 373. It consists of 388 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING a trunk about 7 feet long, supported horizontally by a wire 2 feet from the ground. Arms and spurs are arranged along the whole horizontal part of the trunk. This system accomplishes the same objects as the vertical cordon except the possibility of cross-cultivation. It allows a large development of the vine and numerous fruit-spurs without crowding. It is superior to the vertical cordon in the distribution of the fruit, which is all exposed to approximately the same conditions owing to the uniform distance of the fruit-spurs from the ground. All parts of the trunk producing an annual growth of wood and fruit are equally exposed to light and the tendency of the growth to occur principally at the part of the trunk farthest removed 374. Short-pruning in a raisin vineyard. THE CALIFORNIA SYSTEMS 389 from the root is counteracted by the horizontal position. There is not the same difficulty therefore in maintaining this form of vine permanently that there is with the vertical cordon. This system should not be used for small weak vines, whether the weakness is a characteristic of the variety or due to the nature of the soil. It is suited only to very vigorous varieties, such as Emperor, Ahneria, and the Persian grapes when growing in rich moist soil. The type of short pruning most commonly adopted in Mus- cat raisin vineyards is shown in Fig. 374. Its main defect is the shortness of the trunk. Periods of development. » The first year in the life of a vine is devoted to developing a vigorous root-system; the next two or three years to building up a shapely trunk and head; and a like period to forming the full complement of arms. At the end of five to nine years the framework of the vine is complete and should undergo no particular change of shape except a gradual thickening of trunk and arms. There are, therefore, several periods in the life of the vine with varying objects, and the methods of pruning must vary accordingly. These periods do not correspond exactly to periods of time, so it may be misleading to speak of pruning a two-year- old or a three-year-old vine. There is a diversity of usage in denoting the age of a vine. In some sections, a one-year-old vine means a vine that is in its first year. In others, it means a vine that has completed its first year and is in its second. The former method is adopted here as the most convenient. One vine under certain conditions will reach the same stage of development in two years that another will reach only in three or four years under other conditions. The range of time of these periods is about as follows: 390 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING First period — Formation of a strong root-system 1 to 2 years Second period — Formation of stem or trunk 1 year Third period — Formation of head 2 to 3 years Fourth period — Complete development of the arms 2 to 3 years Total time of formation of framework 6 to 9 years Under exceptionally favorable conditions the first and sec- ond periods may be included in the first year and a completely formed vine may be developed in five years. Choice of a system. In choosing a system, we must consider carefully the char- acteristics of the particular variety we are growing. A variety which bears only on the upper buds must be pruned "long," that is, must be given fruit-canes. It should be noted that many varieties, such as Petite Sirah, which wiU bear with short prun- ing when grafted on resistant roots, require fmit-canes when growing on their own roots. In general, grafted vines require shorter pruning than ungrafted. If pruned the same, the grafted vines may overbear and quickly exhaust themselves. This seems to be the principal reason for the frequent failure of Muscat vines grafted on resistant stock. The cultural con- ditions also affect the vine in this respect. Vines made vigorous by rich soil, abundant moisture, and thorough tillage require longer pruning than weaker vines of the same variety. The normal size of the bunch is also of importance. This size will vary from one-quarter of a pound to two or three pounds. It is difficult to secure a full crop from a variety whose bunches are very small without the use of fruit-canes. Spurs will not furnish enough fruit-buds without crowding them in- conveniently. On the other hand, some shipping-grapes may bear larger crops when pinned long, but the bunches and berries may be too small for the best quality. The possibilities of development vary much with different varieties. A Mission or Flame Tokay may be made to cover a CHOICE OF SYSTEM 391 quarter of an acre and develop a trunk 4 or 5 feet in circum- ference. A Zinfandel vine under the same conditions would not reach a tenth of this size in the same time. Vines in a rich valley soil will grow much larger than on a poor hillside. The size and shape of the trunk must be modified accordingly and adapted to the available room or number of vines to the acre. The shape of the vine must be such as to protect it as much as possible from various unfavorable conditions. A variety susceptible to oidium, like the Carignane, must be pruned so that the fruit and foKage are not unduly massed together. Free exposure to light and air are a great protection in this respect. The same is true for varieties like the Muscat, which have a tendency to coulure if the blossoms are too moist or shaded. In frosty locations, a high trunk will be a protection, as the air is always colder close to the ground. The quahties required in the crop also influence the choice of a pruning system. With wine-grapes, even, perfect ripening and full flavor are desirable. These are obtained best by hav- ing the grapes at a uniform height from the ground and as near to it as possible. The same quahties are desirable in raisin- grapes, with the addition of large size of the berries. With shipping-grapes, large size and perfect condition of the berries and bunches are the most essential characteristics. The vine, therefore, should be so formed that each bunch hangs clear, free from injurious contact with canes or soil, and equally exposed to hght and air. The maximum retmns in crop depend on the early bearing of young vines, the regularity of bearing of mature vines, and the longevity of the vineyard. These are insured by careful attention to all the details of pruning, and 'are possible only when the vines are given a suitable form. The running expenses of a vineyard depend in a great measure on the style of pruning. Vines of suitable form are tilled, pruned, and the crop gathered easily and cheaply. 392 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING This depends also both on the form of vine and on care in details. It is impossible, therefore, to state for any particular variety or any particular location the best style of pruning to be adopted. All that can be done is to give the general characteristics of the variety and to indicate how these may be modified by grafting, soil, or climatic or other conditions. The most important characteristic of the variety in making a choice of a pruning system is whether it normally or usually requires long, half-long, or short pruning. With this idea, the principal grapes grown in California, together with all those grown at the Experiment Station on which data exist, have been divided into five groups in the following list: 1. Varieties which require long pruning under all conditions: Clairette Blanche, Cabernet, Corinth (white and black), Persians, Seedless Sultana, Sultanina (white and rose). 2. Varieties which usually require long pruning: Bastardo, Boal de Madeira, Chardonay, Chauche (gris and noir), Colombar, Crabbe's Black Burgundy, Durif, Gamais, Kleinberger, Luglienga, Marsanne, Marzemino, Merlot, Meunier, Muscadelle de Bordelais, Nebbiolo, Pagadebito, Pever- ella, Pinots, Rieshng, Robin Noir, Rulander, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Serine, Petite Sirah, Slancamenca, Steinschiller, Tinta Cao, Tinta Madeira, Trousseau, Verdelho, Petit Verdot, WalchriesUng. 3. Varieties which usually require short pruning: Aleatico, Aligote, As- piran, Bakator, Bouschets, Blaue Elbe, Beba, Bonarda, Barbarossa, Cata- rattu, Chabono, Chasselas, Freisa, Frontignan, Furmint, Grand Noir, Grosseblaue, Green Hungarian, Malmsey, Mantuo, Monica, Mission, Mos- catello Fino, Mourisco Branco, Mourisco Preto, Negro Amaro, Palomino, Pedro Zumbon, Perruno, PizzuteUo di Roma, Black Prince, West's White Prolific, Quagliano, Rodites, Rozaki, Tinto AmareUa, Vernaccia Bianca, Vernaccia Sarda, Lagrain, Valdepenas. 4. Varieties which require short pruning under all conditions: Aramon, Burger, Black Morocco, Mourastel, Muscat of Alexandria, Napoleon, Picpoule Blanc and Noir, Flame Tokay, Ugni Blanc, Verdal, Zinfandel, Carignane, Mataro. 5. Varieties of table-grapes which usually require half -long or cordon pruning: Almeria (Ohanez), BelUno, Bermestia Bianca and Violacea, Cipro REQUIREMENTS OF VARIETIES 393 Nero, Dattier de Beirut, Cornichon, Emperor, Black Ferrara, Malaga, Olivette de Cadenet, Pis-de-Chevre Blanc, Schiradzouli, Zabalkanski. These lists must not be taken as indicating absolutely for all cases how these varieties are to be pruned. They simply indicate their natural tendencies. Certain methods and con- ditions tend to make vines more fruitful. Where these occur, shorter pruning than is indicated may be advisable. On the other hand, other methods and conditions tend to make the vines vigorous at the expense of fruitfulness. When these occur, longer pruning may be advisable. The more usual factors which tend toward fruitfulness are : Grafting on resistant stock, especially on certain varieties such as those of Riparia and Berlandieri; Old age of the vines; Mechanical or other injuries to any part of the vine; Large development of the trunk, as in the cordon systems. The more usual factors which tend toward vigor at the expense of fruitfulness are : Rich soil, especially large amounts of humus and nitrogen; Youth of the vines; Abundant irrigation or rainfall (within limits). In deciding what system of pruning to adopt, all these fac- tors, together with the nature of the vine and the uses to which the fruit is to be put, must be considered. It is best when the vineyard is started to err on the side of short pruning. While this may diminish slightly the first one or two crops, the vines will gain in vigor and the loss will be made up in subsequent crops. If the style of pruning results in excessive vigor of the vines, it should be changed in the direction of longer pruning with the object of utilizing this vigor in the production of crop. This change should be gradual, or the risk is run of injuring the vitality of the vines by one or two excessively heavy crops. Finally, each year the condition of the individual vine 394 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING should determine the kind of pruning to be adopted. If the vine appears weak, from whatever cause, it should be pruned shorter or given less spurs or fruit-canes than the year before. On the contrary, if it appears unnecessarily vigorous, more or longer spurs or fruit-canes should be left. Every vine should be judged by itself. It is not possible to give more than general directions for the pruning of the whole vineyard. It cannot be well pruned unless the men who do the actual pruning are capable of using sufficient judgment properly to modify their methods for each individual vine. SUPPORTS With most systems of pruning, after the vine has reached a certain stage of development and its framework is complete, it will support itself after the manner of a small tree. When the trunk is elongated, as in the cordon systems, the trunk requires a permanent support. Young vines in all systems require support for at least three or four years, and usually longer. A skiKul pruner can build up a low vine without a support, but the results are imperfect at best and the method requires so much skiU and care that there is no economic gain. In long or cane-pruning, there must always be support for the fruit-canes. The supports needed then are of two kinds: (1) Temporary supports to keep young vines in place until their trunks become large and strong enough to support themselves; and (2) permanent supports for long trunks or for the annual fruit-canes. Staking. As temporary supports, some form of stake is always used. Nearly all vine stakes in California are made of redwood, which is remarkably adapted to the purpose. It is light, easy to work, and very resistant to decay unless made from sapwood. Split STAKES AND TRELLISES 395 stakes are the best, as sawn stakes may be cut diagonally across the grain and many may break in driving. Pine, spruce, poplar, willow, or any available wood may be used for temporary stakes if redwood is not available. Most of these woods will last two years and can be made to last four or five if treated with copper sulfate. Saplings and small branches may sometimes be used conveniently. These should be peeled and pointed as soon as cut and then stood for twenty-four hours in a tub containing a few inches of a 5 per cent solution of cop- per sulfate (bluestone). At the end of this time, the copper sul- fate will have penetrated the whole stake and is usually seen at the upper end. If the saplings are allowed to dry, even for a few days, it wiU require a very much longer time to impreg- nate them with the antiseptic. Other materials may sometimes be conveniently used for temporary stakes. The commonest of these is the Spanish reed or bamboo, Arundo Donax, used in many places as a wind- break. These are somewhat slender for the purpose and re- quire much readjusting, but will serve when better material is not available. The length of the stake depends principally on the height at which it is desired to head the vine and on the character of the soil. It should be of such length, that, after being driven into the ground, sufficient will be below the surface to keep it firm and prevent its being loosened by the force of the wind acting on the vine which is tied to it, and sufficient above the surface to extend for 2 inches above the height at which it is intended to head the vines. Its thickness should be in propor- tion to its height. When redwood is used, a stake 30 inches long and 134 inches square will be sufficient in firm ground for small-growing vines like the Zinfandel. This will allow 15 inches to be driven into the ground and leave 15 inches above, which is sufficient for vines to be headed at 12 inches. If the ground is loose or sandy, 39G VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING a slightly longer stake is advisable. For strong-growing varieties, such as Carignane or Tokay, especially when growing in rich soil, a stake 2 inches square and 36 to 48 inches long is necessary. This will permit the heading of the vine at 18 to 30 inches. When a stake is used as a permanent support for fruit-canes, it is usually made 6 feet long and 2 or 23^ inches in diameter. A somewhat shorter stake, 4 to 5 feet, will suffice if the canes are bowed. A similar stake is needed for a vertical cordon. Trellising. A trellis consists of one, two, or rarely three wires stretched horizontally along the rows. The wires are held at the ends by heavy stakes or fence-posts braced firmly. These wires are sup- ported at intervals along the row by stakes of appropriate height. A tall stake at each vine is convenient for this purpose as it serves also for tying up the yearly replacing shoots. This stake, however, is expensive and not indispensable. It is usually sufficient to place stakes at intervals of two and even three vines. Such stakes should be placed between the vines, and need be long enough only to reach to the top wire. Some growers dispense with these intermediate stakes alto- gether. A temporary stake is used with each vine until it has developed a self-supporting trunk. The bottom wire is then allowed to rest on the head of each vine. If the vines are even and well formed, this is a convenient arrangement as it facili- tates the tightening of loose wii'es and the repair of those which break. The height of the first or only wire is usually about 30 inches, that of the second 45 inches, and that of the third 57 inches, when three are used. In many cases one wire is sufficient to support the fruit-canes. In windy locations, the second wire is useful to support the growing shoots. With veiy vigorous vines, the second wire may be used also for fruit-canes. A third wire may be used in this case to support the fruit-shoots, but is TRELLIS 397 seldom or never really needed, and adds much to the cost of both installation and maintenance. The wire most used is No. 12 galvanized fencing- wire. No. 10 and No. 11 are a Httle better, as No. 12 will sometimes break. Some growers use No. 13 or even No. 14, but such small wires are inadvisable. For the horizontal cordon system the same method of trellis- ing is used, but the lower wire is mostly placed at 18 to 24 inches from the ground. For attaching the vines, canes, and shoots to stakes and trel- lises, ^ome form of rope or string is commonly employed. The balls of twine used on self-binders are convenient and preferred by some growers. This twine, however, is not quite strong enough for the main body of the vine, especially in windy loca- tions, unless doubled, although it is excellent for tying fruit- canes to stake or trellis. Old ropes, such as discarded ship cables, can sometimes be obtained cheaply, and, if cut into suitable lengths, the single strands are easily separated and form very good tying material. It is false economy to use material for tying of insufficient strength or durability. It results in much troublesome extra w^ork in retymg or in defective vines. In the hands of very careful workmen, nothing is better than wire for tying up young vines at the winter pruning. It holds the vine permanently and securely. Used carelessly, however, it may cut the bark and, unless discretion is used in the placing of the tie and care in its removal when necessary, the vines may be girdled and killed. The wire from hay-bales is suitable for this purpose although it is a little unnecessarily heavy. No. 16 galvanized fencing-wire is about the right weight. Other materials used are raffia for the fruit-canes and osier willows for the body of the vine. Raffia is unreliable in strength and inferior for this purpose to binding-twine. Nothing is better than osier willow to attach the trunk of a young vine to 398 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING the stake, but it is rarely obtainable and requires special skill to use. THE PRUNING OF THE YOUNG VINE In California, grape-vines for permanent planting in the field are in the form of cuttings, one-year-old rooted vines, and 375. Rooted vine with single cane, showing where to prune. 376. Rooted vine with two canes, marked for pruning. 377. Rooted vine with canes starting at differ- ent nodes. bench grafts. The rooted vines will need attention on the part of the pruner. A good rooted vine of average size is shown in Fig. 375. It carries a single cane and several good roots. The marks sug- gest the pruning. The cane is shortened to one or two buds, and the roots to 2 to 4 inches. If the rooted vine has more than one cane, all but one of them are cut away completely, and this remaining cane is reduced to one or two buds. Fig. 376 suggests the pruning of such a vine. THE YOUNG VINE 399 When canes occur at different nodes or joints, as in Fig. 377, and all are of equal vigor, it is usually best to leave the lowest one. This prevents the growing of a long and awkward stock, and gets rid of what is likely to be a more or less decayed or imperfect upper joint. A rooted vine pruned ready for planting is shown in Fig. 378. Pruned ready for planting. 379. Nursery vine with roots at differ- ent depths. 380. Result of planting too deep. The base will die and decay, as it has no health roots. 378. The same treatment may be given a bench graft, except that care must be taken to remove all roots above the union and all shoots below the union. An unsatisfactory cutting-grown vine is drawn in Fig. 379, with indications where it should be pruned. The cutting was too long. It was grown in warm, well-drained soil, so that roots have formed at three levels from different nodes. Even in this soil, however, the conditions were not favorable for root growth at the bottom, so the last two nodes have formed no roots. If the cutting had been of five nodes instead of eight, it 400 VINIFERA GRAPE-TRAINING would have made a much better vuie. The roots would have been less numerous, but more vigorous. Such a vine can be pruned in one of three ways, according to the character of the ground in which it is to be planted. In any case, the bottom two joints, without good roots, are cut off. If the soil where the vine is to be planted is deep and dry, the roots at the next three joints may be left and shortened to about 1 inch, as indicated in the figure. The roots are so numerous that none of them have grown large, and nothing would be gained by leaving them longer. For ordinary soils it would be better to remove the lower three joints and for wet soils the lower five. An unnecessarily long cutting-made or rooted vine is seen in Fig. 380, some time after planting. It represents the lower part of the underground portion of a vine two or three years old. The cutting or rooted vine was at least three joints too long, and the lowest part not only furnishes no roots of any value but is liable to decay, which may spread into the rest of the vine. The root system of a properly grown, well-planted and well- pruned rooted vine is shown in Fig. 381, as it grows in California. 381. One year's root growth of a vine properly pruned and planted. INDEX Abelia, 220. Acanthopanax, 220. Acer, 220. Adlum, mentioned, 267. Advice, specific, 145. ^scirius, 221. Almond, buds, 55. flowering, 229. Alternate bearing, 22, 131. Althaea, 221. Althea, flower-habit, 47. shrubby, 225. Alyssum, 221. Amelanchier, 221. Amorpha, 221. Ampelopsis, 221. Antiseptic methods, 88. Apple, dwarf-trained, 259. pruning the, 196. spur, 21. trees, renewing, 158. twig, 15, 18, 19, 21, 24, 50, 55. Apricot, buds, 36, 55. pruning the, 202. Aralia, 220. Arbor Kniffin, 331. Arbors, grape, 341. Arbutus, 224. Arches, wire, 243. Arctostaphylos, 221. Arm, defined, 270, 351. Arrow-wood, 232. Arundo Donax for vine supports, 395. Aseptic methods, 88. Asphaltum for wounds, 76, 94, 105. Avenarius carbolineum, 77. Azalea, 229. Baccharis, 221. Balmer, quoted, 195. Bandages for wounds, 76. Barberry, 221. Bark-bound, 57 Batchelor and Goodspeed, quoted, 139. Bayberry, 228. Beach, quoted, 209. Bearberry, 221. Bellair, G. A., quoted, 252. Bending, 126. Bending the vine, 354. Benzoin, 221. Berberis, 221. Bioletti, F. T., article by, 346. Bittersweet, 222. Blackberry, method of bearing, 45, 55. pruning the, 205. Bladder-nut, 231. Bladder senna, 223. Bleeding of vines, 281. Blueberry, 232. Bois, D., quoted, 246. Bolting, 87, 95. Bordeaux mixture for wounds, 75, 76, 93. Brambles, 43. Branches, 15. how to cut, 66. Brehault, referred to, 253. Bridal Wreath, 231. Bridge-grafting, 81. Broom, 224. Buckeye, 221. Buckthorn, 221, 229. Buddleia, 221. Buffalo berry, 230. Bull cane, 312, 328. Butneria, 222. Button-bush, 222. Cables for support, 96. California, vine-pruning in, 346. vine systems, 381. Callicarpa, 222. Calluna, 222. Callus-ring, 61. 401 402 INDEX Calycanthus, 222. Cambium, 61. Campsis, 222. Candelabrum, 248, 258. Candleberry, 228. Candytuft, evergreen, 226. Cane, defined, 270, 352. Cane-pruning of the vine, 364. Cankers, 84. Canopy trellis, 341. Caragana, 222. Card, F. W., quoted, 76. Catalpa, 222. Cavities, disinfectants for, 92. treating deep, 99. Cay wood system, 331. Ceanothus, 222. Celastrus, 222. Cement filling, 102. Cephalanthus, 222. Cercis, 222. Chsenomeles, 222. Chaining trees, 95. Chamsedaphne, 222. Chandler, quoted, 154, 186, 200. Chandler and Knapp, quoted, 72, 201. Chautauqua methods, 289, 292, 296, 314. system of grape- training, 303. Cheal, J., quoted, 240. Checking growth, 122. Cherry, natural selection in, 10. ornamental, 228. pruning the, 203. spur, 33, 55. wild black, 8, 9. Chionanthus, 222. Chisels, 192. Chittenden, mentioned, 153. Cladrastis, 222. Clematis, 222. flower-habit, 47. Clethra, 223. Climate and pruning, 140, 148. Coal-tar for wounds, 75, 76, 93, 94, 141. Coates, Leonard, quoted, 72. Column or spindle, 247. Colutea, 223. Come-alongs, 287. Conifers, pruning, 112, 115. Copper sulfate, 92, 93. Coral berry, 232. Corbett, L. C, quoted, 68. Cordon-pruning of vine, 383. Cordons, 236, 247, 252. Cornell, William T., mentioned, 320. Corn-husks for tying, 291. Comus, 223. Corrosive sublimate, 93. Co-terminal fruit-bearing, 41. Cotinus, 223. Cotoneaster, 223. Crab-apple, ornamental, 229. twig, 20, 22. Crataegus, 223. Crotch, bracing, 87. Creosol, 75. Creosote, 93, 101, 141. Crittenden system, 332. Cross- wire system, 333. Currant, bearing habit, 40, 55. ornamental, 229. pruning the, 208. Curtis, R. W., article by, 218. Cutting-back, 112, 119, 120, 122, 134, 185. Cydonia, 224. Cytisus, 224. Daphne, 224. Decay, causes of, 58, 99. Defoliating vines, 373. Dehorning, 185. Dendroscope, 194. Des Cars, quoted, 71, 76, 194. Deutzia, 224. Development of flower-bud, 51. Devitalizing process, 6. Dewberry, method of bearing, 45, 55. pruning the, 205. Dextrine in spur, 134. Diervilla, 224. Dirca, 224. Disbudding the vine, 367. Disinfectants for wounds (see Dress- ings), 92. Dockmackie, 232. Dogwood, 223. Downing, A. and J., quoted, 115. Dressings for wounds, 66, 75, 92, 101. Drinkard, Jr., A. W., quoted, 52. INDEX 403 Drooping systems, 294, 320. Du Breuil, quoted, 235, 236, 256. Dwarfing, 163, 177. Dwarf trees, pruning, 176. Dyer's weed, 225 Eight-cane Kniffin, 331. Elaeagnus, 224. Elderberry, 230. Electric wires, injuries from, 79. Enkianthus, 224. Epigsea, 224. Erica, 224. Espalier, 235, 242, 248, 249, 251. Evonymus, 225. Exochorda, 225. Experience, argument from, 14. Eye-bolts, 97. Eyes of vine, 351. Fan-training of grapes, 318. Filbert, flower-habit, 50, 55. Fletcher, W. F., quoted, 83. Formalin, 93. Forsythia, 225. Fothergilla, 225. Four-cane Kniffin, 321. Fringe tree, 222. Frozen trees, 113. Fruit-bud and leaf-bud, 19. Fruit-bud, chapter, 15. Fruit-buds, how to distinguish, 47. Fruit-spur of apple, 21. of apricot, 36. of cherry, 33. of peach, 36. of pear, 28. of plum, 33. of vine, 351. Fuller, mentioned, 268, 298. Fuller system, 274, 298. Fungi of decay, 58, 99. Gardeners' Chronicle, quoted, 258, 266. Gas-tar, 94. Gaucher, quoted, 183. Gaylussacia, 225. Genista, 225. Girdled trees, 80. Girdling as a practice, 122, 123, 126, 181. Girdling by bands, 95. Gladwin, quoted, 304, 316. Glasshouse grape training, 345. Globe-flower, 226. Goff, quoted, 53. Golden-bell, 225. Golden-chain, 226. Gooseberry, bearing habit, 40, 55. pruning the, 208. training, 263, 264. Grafted trees, 173. Grafting grapes, 344. Grafts, natural, 87. Grapes, ringing, 184. shoots, 43. training, American, 267. vinifera, 345. vine, young, 275, 398. vines, frozen, 114. Grease for wounds, 75. Groundsel tree, 221. Guy wire, 96. Habit of plant, 114, 116. Hale, J. H., 172. Halesia, 225. Halimodendron, 225. Hamamelis, 225. Hardy, J. A., quoted, 251. Hartwig, referred to, 253. Hawthorn, 224. Hazel, flower-habit, 51, 55. Heading-back, 112, 119, 122, 134, 146, 185. Heads, high or low, 147. Healing of wounds, 56, 61, 75, 141. Heath, 224. Heather, 222. Heavy pruning, 109. Hedges, 212. Henderson, Peter, mentioned, 126. Hibiscus, 225. flower-bearing, 47. Hickory, 43, 50, 55. High heads, 147. High renewal, 306. Hippophae, 225. Histories of apple twigs, 24. Hobble-bush, 232. Holly, 226. Honeysuckle, 227. 404 INDEX Hooks, pruning, 194. Horizontal-arm spur system, 298. Horizontal grape-training, 338. Horse-chestnut, 221. Howard, W. L., quoted, 136, 139. Howe, quoted, 77, 185. How to cut branches, 66. Huckleberry, 225. Hydrangea, 225. Hypericum, 226. Iberis, 226. Ilex, 226. Indigofera, 226. Inkberry, 226. Iodine test, 360. Iron rods, 87, 96. Japan quince, 222. Jarvis, quoted, 186. Jehle, quoted, 84. Judas tree, 222. Juneberry, 40. pruning, 221. Kalmia, 226. Kelley's Island system, 319. Kerria, 226. Keuka system, 316. Kieffer pear tree, 116, 119. Kniffin system, 321, 326, 329, 330, 331, 334. Kniffin, William, 320. Knives, 189. Knot-holes, 58. Knots, 58. Kcelreuteria, 226. Koopmann, Karl, quoted, 125, 127. Label-wires, 79. Laburnum, 226. Lagbolts, 98. Laurel, Mountain, 226. Laurocerasus, 228. Lead-plant, 221. Lead, white, for wounds (see Paint), 77. Leaf -bud and fruit^bud, 19. Leather-leaf, 222. Leatherwood, 224. Leiophyllum, 226. Lespedeza, 226. Leucothoe, 226. Ligustrum, 226. Lilac, flower-bearing, 46. pruning, 232. twig, 3. Lime-sulfur, 93. Lindley, quoted, 183. Locality and pruning, 140, 148. Locust, 229. Lonicera, 227. Loquat, bearing-habit, 55. Low heads, 147. Low Kniffin, 330. Lucas, quoted, 49, 234. Lycium, 227. Macoun, quoted, 210. Magnolia, 227. Mahonia, 227. Maple, Norway, 41. pruning, 220. Marv-in, D. S., quoted, 320. Mask, pruning, 194. Matrimony vine, 227. Meadow-sweet, 231. Medlar, 55. Meehan's Monthly, quoted, 112. Mending of trees, 79. Mock orange, 228. Modified Munson, 337. Mohrodendron, 225. Mountain-ash, 231. laurel, 226. Mulberry, bearing-habit, 55. Munson system, 335. Myrica, 228. Myrtle, Sand, 226 Natural grafts, 87. selection, 7. Nature-study, 15. Nectarine, 253. Nemopanthus, 228. Neviusia, 228. New Jersey tea, 22. Newly set trees, 150. Ninebark, 228. Norway maple, 41. Notching. 122, 126. 127. INDEX 405 Oak, flower-habit, 50. Obstruction above bud, 121. Ocher for wounds, 77. Oil for wounds, 94. Oleaster, 224. Olive, bearing-habit, 55. wild, 224. One-wire Kniffin, 330. Orange, bearing-habit, 55. Oregon grape, 227. Ornamental plants, pruning, 214. Osier, 223. Osier for tying, 291. Over-bearing, 125. Overhead Kniffin, 331. Oxydendrum, 228. Paddock and Whipple, quoted, 23. Pseonia, 228. Pogoda tree, 231. Paint for wounds, 75, 76, 141. Palmette-verrier, 241, 242. Palmettes, 241, 243, 252, 258. Parthenocissus, 228. Patterns for trees, 245. Pavia, 221. Peach, buds, 36, 55. cutting back, 187. ornamental, 228. pruning the, 199. training of, 253. trimming young, 152, 155, 161. Pear, pruning the, 198. spur, 28. trimming young, 152, 161. Pears, dwarf, 177. Pea tree, 222. Penicillium, 93. Pentosans in spur, 134. Peony, pruning, 228. Persimmon, bearing-habit, 55. Philadelphus, 228. Philosophy of pruning, 3. Photinia, 228. Physiology, argument from, 11. Physocarpus, 228. Pickering, quoted, 110, 139, 153. Pieris, 228. Pinching, 134, 140. Pinching vines, 370. Plum, pruning the, 202. Plum, spur. 33, 55. trees, 146. trimming young, 152. Pollarding, 91, 189. Poplar, flower-habit, 50. Portland cement, 102. Post-training, 339. Potentilla, 228. Pots, trees and bushes in, 260. Powell, G. Harold, quoted, 203. Preservatives, 93. Principles of pruning, 107. Privet, 227. Pruning-list, 218. Prunings of plants, 195, 378. Prunus, 228. Pyramids, 235, 246, 249. Pyrus, 229. Queen-of-the-Meadow, 231. Quince, Japan, 222. pruning the, 204. shoot, 42, 55. Raffia for tying, 291. Ragan, W. H., quoted, 278, 300, 342. Raspberry, method of bearing, 45, 55. pruning the, 205. Rationale of pruning, 3. Reasons for pruning, 108. Red-bud, 222. Reinforcing the cement, 104. Rejuvenation by pruning. 111, 124, 185. Remodeling old vines, 343. Renewal, grape, 269. Kniffin, 334. Renewing plants. 111, 124, 185. Repairing trees, 79. Rhamnus, 229. Rhododendron, 229. Rhodot>-pos, 229. Ribes, 229. Ringing, 181. Ringing-knife, 184. Ringing vinifera vines, 375. Rivers, Thomas, quoted, 249. Roadside trees, 89. Robinia, 229. Rods for support, 87, 96. Root-crown of vine, 350. 406 INDEX Rootlets of vine, 350. Root-pruning, 111, 163. vinifera vines, 376. Root-tips, 350. Rosa, species of, 230. Roses, flower-bearing, 46. pruning, 216. Rubus, 230. Rural New-Yorker, quoted, 83. St. John's- Wort, 226. Salix, 230. Salt tree, 225. Sambucus, 230. Sand Myrtle, 226. Sargent, Professor, quoted, 71. Saws, 189. Scaffold limbs, 149, 159. Scotch heather, 222. Season for grape-pruning, 280, 296, 356. Season of pruning, 73, 136. Shad-bush, 221. Shade-trees. 88, 213. Shearing, 146. Shears, 189. Shellac for wounds, 77, 94. Shepherdia, 230. Shoot, defined, 270, 351. Shredding, 126. Shrubbery, pruning, 214. Six-cane Kniffin, 330. Smoke-bush, 223. Snowberry, 231. Sophora, 231. Sorauer, quoted, 137. Sorbaria, 231. Sorbus, 231. Sour sap, 139. Specific advice, 145. Spencer, John W., quoted, 289, 292, 296. Spice-bush, 221. Spindle form, 247. Spindle-tree, 225. Spiraea, 231. Spirea, flower-bearing, 46. Splitting of crotches, 87. Spraying, 108. Spring-flowering plants, 46. Spuds, 194. Spur of apple, 21. apricot, 36. cherry, 33. of grape, defined, 269, 273, 351. of peach, 36. of pear, 28. of plum, 33. Spur-pruning of the vine, 362. Stagger-bush, 228. Staking vinifera vines, 394. Standard, 235. Staphylea, 231. Starch content of spur, 134. test for, 360. Starnes, quoted, 337. Stephanandra, 231. Stewartia, 231. Stone, George E., article by, 88. Strawberry-bush, 225. Strawberry pruner, 195. Straw for tying, 291. Street^trees, 88, 213. Stringfellow, H. M., 166. Stripping of vineyards, 281. Stubs, 67. Styrax, 231. Subsequent treatment, 166. Suckering vines, 368. Summer-flowering plants, 46. Summer pruning, 136, 140, 258 of grapes, 282, 365. Sun-scald, 148. Supports for vinifera vines, 394. Surgery, tree, 88. Symphoricarpos, 231. SjTiiplocos, 232. Syringa, 232. Tailored bushes, 214. Tallow for wounds, 75. Tap-hole, 64. Tap-root, 116. of vine, 350. Tea, New Jersey, 222. Test for starch, 360. Thimbleberry, 230. Thinning, 131. fruit on the vine, 374. shoots of vine, 367. Thomas, mentioned, 267. Thomson, David, quoted, 253. INDEX 407 Thom. 223. Thyloses, 377. Time for grape-pruning, 280, 296, 356. Time of pruning, 73, 136. Tomato-pruning, 110. Tools, 92, 189. Tools for vine-pruning, 379. Topping, 90. Topping young vines, 367, 371 Top, shaping the, 159. Top- worked trees, 173. Tracy, S. M., quoted, 303. Trained trees, 234. Training, modes of, 233. Tree surgery, 88. Trellis, for grapes, 283, 396. Trumpet-creeper, 222. Trunk, length of, 148. Twisting, 126. the \'ine, 354. Two-cane KnifBn, 329. T5ing grapes, 291, 313. Udale,James,quoted, 198, 203,211,212. Umbrella training, 329. Upright systems, 294, 298. Vaccinium, 232. Varnish tree, 226. Vase-form, 256. Veitch and Sons, 266. Viburnum, 232. Vine-pruning in California, 346. Vines, remodeling old, 343. young, 275, 398. Vinifera grape-training, 345. Vinifera systems, 380. Virginia creeper, 228. Vitex, 232. Vitis Labrusca, 345. vinifera, 345, 346. Wakeman, Elbert, 336. Wakeman system, 335. Wall-trees, 239, 240. Walnut, flower-habit, 50. 55 Warneken, H. B., quoted, 261. Watersprouting \dnes, 369. Watersprouts, 109, 117, 174. of vine, 352. Waxes for wounds, 75. Wayfaring tree, 232. Weeping of vines, 281. Weigela, 224. When to cut branches, 73, 136. When to prune grapes, 280, 296, 356. White lead for wounds (see Paint), 77. White zinc for wounds, 77. Whitford, Leroy, quoted, 83. Willow, 230. flower-habit, 50. for tying, 291. Winter-injured trees, 113. Wire arches, 243. Wire for trellis, 285. for tying, 291. for support, 96. Wisteria, 232. Witch-hazel, 225. Withe-rod, 232. Woadwax, 225. Wobum Experimental Fruit Farm. 110, 139, 153. Woodbine, 228. Wool-twine for tying, 291. Wounds, 56, 61, 75, 92, 141. vinifera vines, 376. Yellow ocher for wounds, 77. Yellow-wood, 222. Yeomans, quoted, 178. Young trees, trimming, 150. \ines, 275, 398. Zenobia, 232. 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