_The Two-Cane Kniffin, or Umbrella System._--Inasmuch as the greater part of the fruit in the Four-Cane Kniffin is born upon the upper wire, the question arises if it would not be better to dispense with the lower canes and cut the upper ones longer. This is now done to a considerable extent, especially in the Hudson valley. Fig. 25 explains the operation. This shows a pruned vine. The trunk is tied to the lower wire to steady it, and two canes, each bearing from nine to fifteen buds, are left upon 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 instances, the lower wire is dispensed with, but this is not advisable. This wire holds the vine in place against the winds and prevents the too violent whipping of the hanging shoots. During the growing season, renewal canes are taken from the spurs in exactly the same manner as in the ordinary Kniffin. 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. This system of training will probably not allow of the successful girdling of the vine for the purpose of hastening the maturity and augmenting the size of the fruit. Yet heavy crops can be obtained from it, if liberal fertilizing and good cultivation are employed, and the fruit is nearly always first-class. A Concord vine trained in this manner produced in 1892 eighty clusters of first quality grapes, weighing forty pounds. [Illustration: 25. UMBRELLA TRAINING.] Another type of Umbrella training is shown in fig. 26, before pruning. Here five main canes were allowed to grow, instead of two. Except in very strong vines, this top is too heavy, and it is probably never so good as the other (fig. 25), if the highest results are desired; but for the grower who does not care to insure high cultivation it is probably a safer system than the other. [Illustration: 26. A POOR UMBRELLA SYSTEM.] _The Low, or One-Wire Kniffin._--A modification of this Umbrella system is sometimes used, in which the trellis is only three or four 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 manner 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 amount of bearing wood, the ease of laying down the vines, the readiness with which the top can be renewed from the root as occasion demands, and the cheapness of the trellis.