Part 18

At the age of six years, or when the vine is in full bearing, no more spurs should be added, as the vine has then attained a mature age, and the yield will increase independently of an increased number of spurs. How many spurs should be left it is not possible to say. The experience with most growers is generally that too few spurs are left, and that from ten to fifteen spurs are not too many on large and healthy vines. The tendency of the growers is now to leave more spurs than formerly, and to always restrict the spurs to two eyes each. This experience has been acquired simultaneously in Fresno, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Many growers affirm the fact that the difficulty is to get spurs enough, and my own experience is that, after the vine has once attained its age of full bearing, all the strongest branches are required to furnish spurs, and that only the weak and sickly shoots should be cut away entirely. The strong flow of sap in the spring requires many outlets, so as not to unnecessarily push the cell walls and cause disorders, and in case the soil is not strong enough to sustain and perfect so many grapes, it is better to manure it heavily and make it rich enough for all purposes. I believe an average of from eight to ten spurs are required by strong and bearing vines. Only strong canes should be left at any time. Weak and immature canes should be cut off close to the trunk or to the head.

This method of pruning differs materially from that this season adopted by A. B. Butler. He leaves now only from five to eight spurs on the vines, generally the lesser number. He maintains that his object is to produce large and superior grapes, and not to have his vines overbear. The outcome of such close pruning has not yet been demonstrated, but it may be possible that this is the proper way. Mr. Butler has certainly one point in his favor, and that is that it has not yet been demonstrated that very close pruning causes the disease known as black-knot, as quite frequently the unpruned vines show this disease much more than those which are pruned close. Another point in favor of this pruning is that it has been practiced in Malaga for years without any ill effects. But, before such very close pruning can be generally recommended, our experience in this direction should be more extensive, and several years more will be necessary to come to any satisfactory conclusion in this respect. We know, however, that too many (say from twenty to twenty-five) spurs will exhaust the low-headed Muscatel vines, and in order to bring such vines back to proper bearing it has been found necessary to reduce the number of spurs at once to one-third and then gradually increase their number as the vines grow stronger. Every grower should study his own vines and adapt the number of spurs to the quality of the crop. If the crop is inferior, reduce the number; if again the crop is superior, we may try to gradually give a few more spurs in order to reach the greatest yield of first-class grapes. In pruning the spurs, the cut should be made a little above the eye or bud, and not so close to it that it will be injured and dry out.

Suckers from the roots should be removed to a limited extent, that is, now and then a sucker may be left in order to give material for forming a new head, if this should be found necessary. But as a rule the many suckers which rise from the roots should be removed in early spring with a sharp-pointed stick, and even those which rise from below the regular head should be broken off while young, or be pruned off in winter time.

Another system of pruning called the Chaintre system has been introduced, or at least spoken of during the last few years. As, however, it is not generally used, or even to my knowledge used at all, for raisin grapes, I need only here allude to it. It consists of pruning the vine to one single long stem, which is carried along the ground and, at a distance of six or eight feet from the root, fastened to a stake. This branch is pruned to shorter branches and spurs, each of the latter to one or two eyes each to furnish wood and fruit. The advantages of the Chaintre pruning are claimed to be principally two,--a greater yield of grapes and a larger outlet for the abundant sap in the spring. It is supposed that, if the vine is pruned too short, the sudden flow of sap in the spring has a great tendency to poison some of the cells and vessels of the wood, and cause the disease known as black-knot. The Chaintre system endeavors, by furnishing the vine with more cells and vessels, and thus a larger outlet for the sap, to overcome this difficulty. The Chaintre system has, however, some great inconveniences. It interferes considerably with the tillage of the soil. It increases the cost of the vineyard through the extra stakes necessary to support the vines,--inconveniences so great that I doubt whether the system will ever be seriously adopted anywhere on this coast, even if it should prove of any advantage.

The time for the pruning depends upon the season. The only safe rule is that vineyards may be pruned as soon as the vines are dormant. If pruned too soon, a new growth will start, which will be killed by the first frost. In many seasons the pruning may be done in November and December; in large vineyards it must be begun early, so as to finish before the plowing commences. Early pruning will cause the vines to start early in the spring, while late pruning will considerably delay the starting of the buds. When the spring frosts are to be feared, the pruning may be deferred for some months, or until the end of January, as it delays the budding out of the vine in the spring, sometimes as much as fourteen days. But, on the other hand, the first warm spring weather is so favorable to the development of the grapevines and the setting of the fruit, that every advantage should be taken of the same. The very best crops are generally had on early pruned vines.

_Bleeding of the Vines._--The bleeding of the vines after pruning in the spring is by many considered injurious. So far as I know, no direct experiments to prove this have been made in this country, but European experiments with wine grapevines point to no ill effects from the bleeding of the vines. The bleeding retards the budding out, and this fact has led some growers to the practice of pruning twice. In the first pruning an extra eye is left on every spur, and these eyes are again clipped off shortly before the eyes begin to swell in the spring. The bleeding of the vines thus causes the eyes to be retarded until the frost is over. I believe such practice is both unnecessary and too costly, and is not required in any of our raisin districts, and where such practice must be employed the raisin grape cannot be perfectly at home. Of late years spring frosts have become very rare in our principal raisin districts, and the practice of double pruning is no longer thought of.

_Summer Pruning, or Pruning Green Wood._--Summer pruning is a much disputed vineyard operation, which, however, at least in some localities, is of great importance. This summer, or rather spring, pruning consists of cutting back the young growing shoots from one-third to one-half just after the berries have set well. The proper time of the year is in May, but the exact time must necessarily be different in different localities and seasons. In Fresno the cutting back should not be done later than May, and never except when the vines show a vigorous growth. The principal object the summer pruner has in view is to force the secondary branches of the vine as much towards the center of the vine as possible, so as to form there a perfect canopy of shade to serve as a protection to the young and tender berries. If let alone, the branches of the vine will throw out these secondary shoots near the top of the branches, thus leaving the head of the vine unprotected from the sun. The shortening in of the branches necessarily throws the new shoots to the center of the vine. A not less important object to be sought by the summer pruning is the strengthening of the young branch. In May, when the vines are covered by the young and vigorous shoots, they are yet exceedingly brittle, and only a slight pushing is required to break the branch off just at its junction with the old wood. A heavy wind at this time sometimes does an immense damage, and the vineyard will look as though every vine had been dragged over. Half of the branches may be broken and hang partially attached to one side of the vine. A single wind may ruin two-thirds of the crop. This can only be prevented by the summer pruning of the vines. By a heavy shortening in of the branches, the latter expose so much less surface for the wind to act on, that no branches are broken, and we have failed to see the heaviest wind cause any noticeable damage in vineyards which had their vines properly shortened in. The summer pruning in no way injures the vines. The sap is checked in its flow only for a few days, and within a week the new side shoots make their appearance. But the vineyardist must be careful not to summer prune after the hot summer weather has set in, as the hot weather will burn or scald the young grapes and ruin them entirely. For the San Joaquin valley raisin districts, I cannot advise summer pruning after the first days of June; in Southern California, somewhat later. Grapevines on sandy, dry and poor soil should not be summer pruned, or only very lightly so. They have not strength to start a new growth and will remain stunted all through the season.

Many growers of Riverside, El Cajon and Fresno consider summer pruning beneficial, if not necessary, and practice it every year regularly. It is necessary to summer prune heavily or not at all. Cut back one-half of the growth, or cut back leaving one or two leaves above the bunch of grapes on every cane. If the young canes are only topped, the secondary branches will come out near the ends of the canes and bear them down, in time exposing the bunches to the sun as well as causing the second crop to grow too far from the main trunk, the summer pruning thus acting the opposite of which it was intended. In Greece the wine grapevines are summer pruned, but the currants are never so treated.

_Root-pruning._--The pruning of the roots of grapevines, in order to cause them to bear, is entirely unnecessary, and is never done by experienced growers. Some growers have practiced the cutting of the surface roots of the vines so as to cause the tap roots or the main roots to go farther down, and they claim that by this method greater crops are harvested. I am satisfied this is only a theory not supported by facts. Surface roots are as necessary to plants as deep-soil roots, and serve the plants in their way, bringing atmospheric air to the circulation in the roots. If too many surface roots are formed, it is a sure indication of too much water in the top soil, as too frequent irrigation with a small stream of water will cause such roots to form. The proper remedy is to irrigate less frequently, but more at a time. The above does not refer to the pruning of the roots of grafted vines. In cases where Muscats have been grafted on resistant stocks, it is of importance that the graft should not make roots of its own, as these would soon overpower the stock and in their turn succumb to the enemies which it was the intention to avoid. When rooted vines are planted in the vineyard, their roots should be well pruned, and all dead and decaying, as well as dried-up, parts should be removed. If they are allowed to remain on the vines, they will draw moisture from the sound parts at a time when all the moisture is needed for the formation of new roots.

_Suckering._--The object of this process is to relieve the raisin-vine of superfluous wood before the latter has had time to draw on the strength of the vine and deprive it of the elements necessary to support the fruit-bearing branches. The proper time for suckering is early in the spring, when the young wood is yet tender and easily broken. With a hard and flat piece of wood, the lower suckers are dug out from below the ground, while the upper suckers may be broken by hand. A sucker must be understood to be any branch which does not produce fruit at a time when the vine is old enough to bear. In strong and moist soil and on strong vines even the lowest shoots produce grapes, and can therefore hardly be called suckers. But as a rule even they should be removed, unless we have a special object in view, such as renewing the trunk of the vine, lowering its head, or in otherwise encouraging the lower branches.

While few vineyardists take sufficient care and time to sucker their vines, there can be no doubt that the operation is of the greatest importance, in order that as large and good a crop as possible may be secured. It is not only best to remove all the non-fruit-bearing branches which spring out from the root and the trunk, but also a little later on, after the shoots have reached a foot or more, to cut any branch from the head of the vine which does not produce fruit. In many instances, however, it is necessary to renew the head of the vine, and for that purpose lower suckers may be allowed to grow. For a year or two these are pruned regularly and made to bear, and the old sickly head is then removed.

VARIOUS VINEYARD TOOLS.

_General Notes._--It is not my intention to here describe the various tools used in the vineyard so minutely that they can be made after the description, but simply to enumerate and call attention to them in order that as little repetition as necessary may be made. Every local blacksmith or mechanic invents, improves or patents vineyard tools of every description, and almost every year sees new tools introduced and older ones discarded. Still a few of these tools have become standard, and modifications of them are not always improvements.

_The Sheep’s-foot._--This is a very useful tool in planting grape cuttings. It consists of a round rod of three-eighths-inch iron and about three and one-half feet long, furnished with a cross handle at the upper end. The lower end is very slightly flattened out and split to a depth of one and one-half inches, the cleft thus formed being a little wider at the point of the bar, while the interior angle of the cleft should be rounded in order that the cutting may not be cut. The sheep’s-foot is used in very soft ground only, where it can be pushed down readily. In planting, the lower joint of the cutting is grasped by the cleft in the rod, and both are pushed down together to the required depth. A twist is then given the handle, so as to get the rod loose from the cutting. The rod is then pulled up, and a tamp with the foot sets the ground solid round the cutting. Care should be taken that the cutting is not pulled up with the rod, as it will prove fatal to the cutting.

_The Planting Bar._--This bar is used also in loose ground free from rocks. It consists of a flat bar of iron two and one-half inches wide, from three-eighths to one-half inch thick and three and one-half feet long, and is furnished at the upper end with a handle. In using this bar, it is first pushed in the ground, and a hole is made for the cutting. The cutting is then pushed down into the hole, the bar inserted alongside of it and pressed forward, in order to fill the hole and set the soil solid around the cutting.

_The Dibble._--This tool is simply a hard piece of oakwood, with a curved handle and pointed. It is a most useful instrument when the vines are being pruned. By means of it the soil is scraped off from around the trunk of the vine, to enable the pruner to cut off the suckers as close to the trunk as possible. Every pruner should be furnished with a dibble.

_Planting Chains._--These are best made of twisted wire, such as is used for clothes lines. Lines made of cotton or hemp are apt to stretch when dry, and shrink when wet. Copper wires are inserted to mark the distances at which the vines should be planted.

_Spades._--Spades are often used for planting. Long-handled spades are more useful than those with short handles.

_Hoes._--Besides the common, heavy hoes, very useful hoes can be made of old shovels which are too worn to be of account as such. New handles are set on the shovel blades at a right or sharp angle, thus transforming them into veritable hoes. With these tools much more work can be accomplished than with the common, manufactured hoe, which never cuts well. The large, flat-faced Italian hoe imported to this country from Italy is a most admirable instrument when planting cuttings in nursery rows. In fact it is then indispensable.

_Plows._--Of plows, heavy double plows for two horses are used for plowing in the center between the rows, and smaller plows for plowing closer to the vines. As these can be had everywhere, and as every grower has his own preferences, no description of them is required.

_Cultivators._--These are indispensable in the vineyard, and various models are in use. The common, diamond-shovel cultivator for both one and two horses is indispensable in every vineyard. The larger one of these may be greatly improved by affixing to the posterior shovels a cutter-bar, which should stand horizontal and on a level with the center of the posterior shovels.

_Randel Disc Cultivators._--These are useful in ground that has baked before the lately planted cuttings have begun to bud. They seldom cut or injure any of the cuttings, and the whole field may be gone over regardless of rows or cuttings.

_The Ash Trough._--The ash trough consists of a long trough on wheels, all made of galvanized iron, and furnished with numerous perforated holes. It is drawn by two or more horses through the vineyard, and the cuttings are burned in it as it goes along, and the ashes are scattered over the soil. As yet this trough is only used in a few of the largest vineyards, but when perfected will be useful everywhere, as by its aid the ashes may be saved for the vines instead of being wasted as is now so often the case.

_Sulphuring Cans or Bellows._--These are of various shapes and patterns. The cans have been superseded by the simple little burlap bag, which does the same or better work. The bellows are similar to common bellows, but are furnished with a distributing nozzle and with an air opening through which the sulphur can be poured.

_The Cutter-sled._--This is simply a sled four feet long by two and a half feet wide or more, under which has been fixed a horizontal bar of iron in the shape of a shallow U. It is used in the vineyard after the plowing and cultivation is finished, and when it is of importance to kill the few remaining weeds. The driver stands on the sled, which is pulled by one or two horses. It cuts all the weeds below the soil, and is a most effective and useful tool.

_Vineyard Trucks._--These useful trucks are California inventions, and of the greatest importance to the grower. They are now made of various sizes, but should never be over four feet wide, while three feet is even better, and their length should not exceed six feet. They are made to turn readily anywhere by having the front wheels or wheel movable, independently of the balance of the truck. By the aid of these trucks the grower can use horse labor in distributing his boxes and trays in the vineyard, even where the vines are planted so close that ordinary wagons cannot pass. The vineyard truck is now used in all Fresno vineyards, and is considered almost indispensable. The first truck ever made for this purpose was designed and invented by J. T. Goodman of Fresno.

_Shears._--These should be of the very best make of soft steel, and furnished with double springs. So far no good pruning shears are manufactured in this country, the best make coming from Switzerland, and retailed here at $3.00 per pair. It pays any grower to buy the best shears, as inferior ones not only last but a short time, but also do poor and slow work, and in the long run cost more than the best and most expensive make. With a good pair a pruner can in a day cut fifty per cent more than with a poor pair, and from ten to twenty-five per cent more than with an ordinary pair. It therefore can be readily seen how the extra price can be saved in the first day or two. Such fine shears should be handled and cared for very much like a razor. They should never be ground on a revolving stone, but only honed with oil on a fine hone. When the season is over they should be oiled, looked over and laid away. Large shears with wooden handles are not needed for Muscat vines. The best size shear is the medium size, which can be used with one hand.

DRYING AND CURING.

CALIFORNIA SUN-DRIED RAISINS.

_Note._--In describing the processes of drying, curing, packing, assorting, etc., I have followed only methods which should be used by every conscientious raisin grower and packer. These methods are now actually in use, not by every packer and grower, but by the best of them, by those who strive to produce a very superior article, which will compare favorably with and compete successfully with the best products of Malaga or other foreign raisin districts. Too much poor curing and packing is done in every raisin district, to the great detriment of the district, its growers and its packers. The cause of so much poor work is undoubtedly due to the method of selling the raisins in bulk for a previously fixed sum, whether the crop is good, bad or indifferent. For many years no inducements were held out to the grower to produce a very superior article, and as a consequence the packer got very little first-class raisins to pack. When raisins are paid for according to their quality alone, there will be plenty of first-class raisins, and both packers and growers will be the gainers. The former will get more first-class fruit to pack, the latter will find it to their advantage to produce it. During the last season (1889 to 1890), a change was inaugurated, and a grading of prices according to the quality of the raisins has been insisted on. When this system is fully carried out, and when the grower knows at the beginning of the season that he can get a higher price for his superior raisins, California will produce as many high-grade raisins as Malaga or any other raisin district. Already now our average raisins are better than the average Malagas, and all that our growers ask for are inducements to produce the best. With a view to promote the attainment of these expectations, the following has been written. Raisins may be produced by cheaper methods than those which I advocate, but only great care, judgment and study will accomplish the best results. In the raisin industry it pays to produce the best, and to attain this very little extra care is required.