TRAINING OUTDOOR GRAPES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22444, 13 June 1936, Page 10 (Supplement)

TRAINING OUTDOOR GRAPES

JJY far the most satisfactory metliou of training the outdoor grape is that known as the double cordon, in which one mam rod B, is carried out on each side 'of the main stem A These are the

only permanent parts of the vine, as the /annual wood arising from the spurt> each season, Bhown by the dotted lines at C, is pruned back to two buds at the base, at the winter pruning From these buds that are left, the succeeding shoot* will arise to carry the crop of fruit the following summer. In too many cases the * men are allowed to become a mass of tangled canes, which do not bv any means produce Protecting Peas Where the birds are troublesome in attacking the young shoots of peas appearing through *he soil, black cotton stretched along the rows will scare the birds A useful gadget is shown in the sketch which any handy man can make from one .inch timber.

A number of these are placed along the rows, and cotton stretched from one to the other, taking a turn round the nails inserted on the upper edges of the triangle Given a coat of paint these will last for several seasons, if stored away when finished with for the time being.

the quality of fruit which might be expected* of them When the vine has arrived at this condition, the better plan will be to select two of tho strongest and best-placed canes as leaders for the main arms, and cut out the others

in order to bring the vine into some uniform system of training. The sooner this is done after tho leaf has fallen the less danger there will be of "bleeding M when growth commences in the spring. A vine trained in a uniform manner is much easier to care for than a tangled mass of growth It only remains to be understood that the fruit is borne on the current season's growth, and the stem and main arms are all that should remain after tho vine is winter pruned.