THE VINE THE SECOND SUMMER.

We find the young vine at the commencement of this season pruned to
three buds of the last season's growth. From these we may expect from
two to three strong shoots or canes. Our first work will be to
cultivate the whole ground, say from four to six inches deep, ploughing
between the rows, and hoeing around the vines with a two-pronged German
hoe, or _karst_. Figure 7 shows one of these implements, of the best
form for that purpose. The ground should be completely inverted, but
never do it in wet weather, as this will make the ground hard and
cloggy.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

Of the young shoots, if there are three, leave only the two strongest,
tying the best of them neatly to the trellis with bass, or pawpaw bark,
or rye straw. If a Catawba or Delaware, you may let them grow
unchecked, tying them along the uppermost wire, when they have grown
above it. The Concord, Herbemont, Norton's Virginia, and other
strong-growing varieties, I treat in the following manner: When the
young shoot has reached the second wire I pinch off its leader. This
has the tendency to force the laterals into stronger growth, each
forming a medium-sized cane. On these we intend to grow our fruit the
coming season, as the buds on these laterals will generally produce
more and finer fruit than the buds on the strong canes. Figure 8 will
show the manner of training the second summer, with one cane layered,
for the purpose of raising plants. This is done as described before;
only, as the vine will make a much stronger growth this season than the
first, the layering maybe done in June, as soon as the young shoots are
strong enough. Figure 9 shows the vine pruned and tied, at the end of
the second season. Figure 10 illustrates the manner of training and
tying the Catawba or Delaware.

[Illustration: FIG. 8. FIG. 9.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

The above is a combination of the single cane and bow system, and the
horizontal arm training, which I first tried on the Concord from sheer
necessity; when the results pleased me so much that I have adopted it
with all strong-growing varieties. The circumstances which led me to
the trial of this method were as follows: In the summer of 1862, when
my Concord vines were making their second season's growth, we had, in
the beginning of June, the most destructive hail storm I have ever seen
here. Every leaf was cut from the vines, and the young succulent shoots
were all cut off