Grapes -- Varieties -- United States; Viticulture -- United States
The type of growth in Vinifera is different from that of native
grapes. The young shoots which spring from the one-year canes, instead
of trailing to the ground or running out along the trellis wires, grow
erect. Advantage must be taken of this in the pruning system adopted
in the East. The canes and the renewal spurs as described above are
tied along the lower wire; then the young shoots which come from these
grow upward to the second wire. When the shoots are four to six
inches above this wire, they are pinched off just above the wire and
any which have not already fastened themselves are tied to prevent the
wind breaking them off. At the same time, if any of the axial buds on
the shoots have begun to form secondary shoots, they are rubbed off,
beginning with the node next above the upper cluster and going down to
the old cane. This gives the cluster more room and better light. Soon
after the first heading-back, the upper buds of the young shoot start
lateral growth. The secondary branches usually grow upright and when
they are several inches high they are topped with a sickle. This
heading-back results in stockier and more mature canes for the
following year, and if properly done adds to the fruitfulness of the
vine and the fruit matures better.
_General considerations._
The grower of European grapes grafted on American vines may be
prepared to be surprised at the growth the vines make. At the end of
the first season, the grafts attain the magnitude of full-sized vines;
the second season they begin to fruit more or less abundantly, and the
third year they produce approximately the same number of bunches as a
Concord or Niagara vine; and, as the bunches of most varieties are
larger than those of the American grapes, the yield, therefore, is
greater. The European varieties, also, may be set more closely than
the American sorts, since they are seldom such rampant growers.
It is too early to reason from this short experiment that we are to
grow varieties of European grapes commonly in the East, but the
behavior of the vines under discussion seems to indicate that we may
do so. At the New York Station, the European varieties are as vigorous
and thrifty as American vines and quite as easily managed. Why may we
not grow these grapes if we protect them from phylloxera, fungi and
cold? In Europe, there are varieties of grapes for nearly every soil
and condition in the southern half of the continent. In eastern
Europe and western Asia, the vines must be protected just as they must
be protected here. It seems almost certain that from the many sorts
selected to meet the various conditions of Europe, we shall be able to
find kinds to meet the diverse soils and climates of this continent.
And here we have one of the chief reasons for wishing to grow these
grapes that American grape-growing may not be so localized as at
present. Probably we shall find that European grapes can be grown
under a greater diversity of conditions than native varieties.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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