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PRUNING WES.
Amateurs at worn.
" There arc very few homes in the suburbs]
rf Adelaide which dp not* possess a grapbl
vine or two, and usually more. In some
cases, 'perhaps- tie majority, recognising
their want of skill, the owners, or lessees
engage a professional :gardeiier to do the
pruning for t hem.' - Others again, however,
notwithstanding a lack of.knowledge, often
lamentable, perform the operation them
■■selves, and, as a result, are more or less
disappointed with the resultant production
'-of fruit.
To such poisons, -and, for that matter to
tfee other class as well, because there is. no
reason why in time tbdy should not fit
themselves to undertake the work, I would
strongly recommend the following notes on
the pruning of vines. The author is the
Government Horticultural Expert . (Mr.
Geoige Quinn), -who knows thoroughly
. what he is discussing:— -
' The structure of the wood of the grape
vine, particularly of the ripe annual shoots,
technically known_ as "canes," with which
the pruner is chiefly concerned, differs
from that of any other kind of fruiting
plant. In these .shoots we meet for the
iinst time a clearly defined division of the
cone into nodes and intercedes'in. the in
ternal more titan in the external structure.
If Fig. 1 he examined it will be seen the
snternodc consists of a large central pith
enclosed in an encircling layer of woody
tissue, which in turn is enveloped in a thin,
closely adhering covering of bark, composed
«f continuous and closely-backed parallel
fibres. The nodes, on the other hand, holds
no central pith, its place being occupied by
a wedge-sfraped septum, composed of a mass
of partially Dignified tissue, Jess fibrnotw in
character than tiie external layers which
surround it. Upon the external woody tis
tue, where the upper edge of trim wedge
joins it, the bi*d is attached. The bark
casing at the point of emergence of the bud
is differentiated into a number of scales,
whiai fold together and completely envelop
the embryo shoot, which, wrapped in the
niiass of protecting ha irlikc' fibre, is con
tained .therein.
The Bud.
;. The value of this non-:piiliy septum, or
diaphragm, as a protection lor the more
.readily decomposed, pith lias Jong been re
cognised in vinegro wing countries, and the
sedtion at the base of a cutting it made
through it; if any portion of a cane other
limn that which lias been attached to an
older shoot as used. In -wet countries ihc
(pruiiers often cut through these woody
. divisions when .severing canes, but this
. ipreeaulion does 091 appear. to be neces
sary under Australian conditions/ in so far
a-s avoiding -decay is concerned. Physiolo
gists claim 'to prove 'that the bud is—for
hiit'ritive "purposes'—.primarily connected
with the inlernode above it, and that
when the bud starts in the springtime it
withdraws the stored uritribent wiiiicn has
nested in the imternode immediately above
it. Ileriee, it is claimed that "a mea
sure of gain .may be secured to the vine
li.V cutting through the node. Whether
the vine be ■ benefited sufficiently to com
pensate the owner for the extra labour in
clined in severing these dead terminals at
the next winter's pruning is open to ques
tion, hut the possibility of injury to the
grape vine during tillage operations is cer
tainly increased by the long projecting i/i
■ tern odes, more especially if left upon bush
vines.
On the other hand, whatever busii vines
.have rods left upon them or the canes of
•trellised vines are systematically tied,
these terminal internodes present u distinct
advantage in permitting secure tying with
out constriction of the cane taking place,
and consequent stunting of those growths
arising from buds which may be located be
yond tlie position of the ties. Competent
authorities are agreed, however, that when
the section is made through the intcr
aiode it should slope away from !be bud,
liut at the same time it should not be made
as close dcicni to 'the bud as is recommen
ded in pruning fruit trees, owing to there
being a greater danger of the slioot arising
f: om tlic topmost bud 011 the grape vine
cane blowing off under strong wind pres
sure.
The Parts of the Vine.
In fig. 2, a diagrammatic view of a grape
vine ifi given. It is raeaufc to convey in
graphic terms the nomenclature which is
applied to the various parts of a fully
grown grape vine, whether it tie trained as
a bush or in trellised form. Arising from
the coil, we have the trunk or main stem.
From this, in turn, arises the main arm
or arms, and from these again are deve
loped the secondary arms. The stem and
the main arm alone are claimed to be the
permanent parts, as the secondary; arm,
whether on bush or trellised vines, invari
ably extends through the annual incre-'
inents gained from each winter's pruning
until its renewal becomes a necessity. From
the secondary .arm arises those annual
shoots or canes which aire most valuable
on account of bearing buds which produce
the crop in the coming summer; . hence,
they may be called the fruiting wood.
A further examination of our diagram
reveals the _ presence of other - annual
growths which do not fake their rise from
the ends of the secondary arms, but they
come direct out of the stem or ruain arm,
or may be i hey arise from older portions
of the secondary arms. These growths are
technically known as water shoots. This
is owing to their great vigour of growth
and because they emerge from wood nore
than one season older than themselves.
These water shoots _ do not, an a rule,
carry buds from which fruit can be ex
pected, in the folfovring summer, conse
quently they are not relied upon aa fruit
bearers. They possess, however, two
points of value—firstly, if a gap exists in
the framework, an arm to till it may be de
veloped from the water shoo't; or in the
cose of secondary arms or spurs becoming
exaggerated in length, a properly placed
water shoot affords an opportunity of re
newing the-said arm or spur. If the water
riioot is not noeded for cither cf the above
t
DIAGRAM OF THE . PARTS OF A GRAPE VINE. Help
DIAGRAM OF THE . PARTS OF A GRAPE VINE.
purposes it is completely suppressed. The
second value attributable to the water
shoot is instructional, because its presence
—and more partieulaiily if in numbers
indicates incorrect judgment on the part
of the pruner. In the later case it shows
most clearly the vigour of the vine has
been underestimated in "the number of
buds left upon it at the winter pruning. _
Another type of annual shoot, seen' i.u
our diagram, arises from the soil. This
comes from a subterranean bud upon the
buried portion,of the stem. It is called in
viticultural paitance a sucker, though more
correctly speaking it is an offset. This
shoot has no value, excepting the top of
the parent vine be. irreparably damaged,
necessitating a complete removal of the
stem, when the so-called sucker may, be
trained into the position formerly occupied
by its parent. This, of course, is only
adopted, when the decapitated vine was
originally grown froim a cutting. We are
now in a position to sum up the parts of
the vine. The main stem, the main arms
(permanent parts); secondary arm, fruit
shoots, water shoots, suckers (temporary
parts).
The mainnstcm supports the framework,
lifting it the desired height above the soil
The main arm supports the secondary arms,
■which caTry the annual fruiting Shoots.
The watershoot and sucker have values as
replacing shoots in certain circumstanuces
only. . .
Treatment of the Fruiting Wood.
• An examination of our diagram shows
that those shoots which have arisen from
what has hec-n retained of the growth of
the previous season are pruned, hut they
have not been all treated alike. Some
have been cut so that only two buds are
visible upon them, while others have been
bent over in the shape of an arcli, or tied
straight out horizontally. These are the
portions of the canes. retained after prun
ing takes place, and they are technically
known as spurs aud rods respectively. We
may therefore define a spur as a portion of
the last season's wood carrying from
one to three buds. In noting the buds
only those -between . which distinct inter
nodes may be seen are counted. Conse
quently, suon as may be placed in the angle
where the young shoot joins the previous
eeason's~wobd are not taken into considera
tion. A rod has 'been described as a por
tion of the previous summer's cane, posses
sing from' 10 to 16 buds; hut it would be
more clearly described as a portion of such
a shoot carrying a greater number of buds
than a spur, as in practice the rods chosen
often do not possess 10 buds.
Longitudinal Section of Vine Cane, showing position for pruning on 1 and 2. Help
Longitudinal Section of Vine Cane,
showing position for pruning on
1 and 2.
It" would be simpler, if it were possible,
to prune all grape vine eanes into spurs,
but as the object of growing the vine is
the production of grapes, the habit of bear
ing peculiar to each variety must be kept
in mind. Observations made over many
years go to show tbat under normal condi
tions of growth some vines produce the
buds upon tlie lower ends of their annual
canes, from which alone shoots arise bear
ing bunches of flowers. On the other hand
seme kinds—usually 'those capable of dis
playing great Vigour of vegetation-—produce
their flower-bearing ■ branches, from buds
situated well out along the cane. Others
again, produce bunches more or less all
along the ripened canes. These observa
tions have led vinegrowers to classify their
varieties into spur-pruned' and rod-pruned
types. It should be observed, however,
that a vine which is rod pruned entirely
is never found. Owing to the necessity for
constantly renewing the fruiting wood and
keeping the development of the framework
of the plants "within proper bounds spur
pruning, either wholly or in part, must be
resorted to.
In practice, a very vigorous vine of the
spur-pruned section should not only be per
mitted to retain a greater number of spurn,
but eaeh spur may also cany the full num
ber of buds, whereas a weak vine of the
same -variety should have its spurs in re
duced numbers, and each spur may be
reduced to one or two buds. " If the pruner
misjudges the capabilities of the vine, be
it rod or spur pruned/he should; by leaving
a greater number of spurs and buds, reap.a
harvest of numerous, but inferior, fruit,
and obtain oniy weakly shoots to supply
the next season's fruiting Wood. On the
other hand, too severe suppression results
in forcing dormant or adventitious buds to
grow out into water-shoots, or poeeibly
ouckere. The happy medium secures fine
quality fruit along with strong. . -well
ripened canes for next year's operations.
Pr;.ne Hard for Quaiity.
Generally speaking, for table grapes or
raisins, it is desirable to prune baud to keep
up the quality of the fruit, although water
shoots occur with moderate frequency. In
the case of grapes- for winemaking leading
authorities' affirm that in good strong soils
where the vines are vigorous,-rod-pruning
is applicable to most of the varieties usu
ally.classed among-those spur pruned. On
the other hand, when subjected to artificial,
modes of restricting the sap, such as "cinc
turing" or "ringing," now so widely ap
plied to the Zante currant, spur-pruning
alone affords the best results.
The following is a classification of the
methods of'pruning applied to some of the
leading varieties:—
Spur Pruned.—Aramon, Black Ham
burgh, Black Alicante, Black Malaga,
Black Frontignac. Black Mammoth, Betas
Blanco, Buckland Sweetwater, Carignane,
ChasselaB,' Doradillo, Dolcetto, Duke' of
Bucdeugh, Early Green, Gros Oolmain,
Grand Turk, -Grenadte, Gamay, Gouais,
Jjady Downes' Seedling. Lady's Finger, Ma
taro, Muscat Gordo. Blanco, Muscat Alex
andria, Muscat Hambuurgh, Madresfield
Court Black Muscat, Pedro Ximenes, Pride
of Australia,-Palomino Blanco,'Red Prince,
Royal Ascot, Royal Muscadine, Red Mala
ga, Sweetwater, Santa Paula, Trebbiano,
Trcntliam Black, Temperance, Uliiade,
Verdelho, Worbley Hall. :
Bod Pruned.—Crystal, Carbente, Centen
nial, Daria of Ohanez, Malbeck, Pinot,
Quick's Seedling (Cornelian), Raisin des
Dames, Riesling, Sultana, Shiraz, Sau
vignon, Waltham Cross, Sercial.
Rod or Spur Pruned. — Black Prince,
Black Frontignac, Black Malaga, Corinth
Currant, Mrs; Pinces' Black Muscat, Red'
Malaga. Bed Frontignac, Trentham Black j
Zante Currant.
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