Читать книгу Manual of American Grape-Growing - U. P. Hedrick - Страница 100

Work begins in the spring of the second year with the setting of trellis posts on which one wire is put up. The vine is not yet ready to train but the slender lath of the first season is not sufficient support, and the one wire on the future trellis saves the expense of staking. Tying requires some care and is usually done with string or bast. As the summer proceeds, suckers from the roots are removed and some growers thin the shoots on the young vine; some think it necessary also to top the growth if it becomes too luxuriant and so keep the cane within bounds. Suckers must be cut or broken off at the points where they originate, otherwise several new ones may start from the base of the old. If the vines are topped, it must be kept in mind that summer pruning is weakening, and the tips of shoots should, therefore, be taken when small, the object being to direct the growth into those parts of the vine which are to become permanent.

Pruning, the second winter the vine is out, depends on the vigor of the plant. If a strong, healthy, well-matured cane over-tops the lower wire of the trellis, it should be cut back so that the cane may be tied to the wire; otherwise the vine should again be cut almost to the ground, leaving but three or four buds. If the cane be left, in addition to sturdiness and maturity, it should be straight, for it is to become the trunk of the mature vine. The training of the young vine is now at an end, for the next season the vine must be started toward its permanent form, instructions for which are given in the chapter on pruning.

The summer care of the vineyard does not differ materially in the second year from that of the first. Intensive cultivation continues, the vines are treated for pests and the annual cover-crop follows cultivation. Many varieties, if vigorous, will set some fruit in this second summer, but the crop should not be allowed to mature, the sooner removed the better, as fruiting at this stage of growth seriously weakens the young vines.