rella-shaped top as shown in Fig. 19. The renewals are made as in
the Four-cane Kniffin. This method reduces the amount of leaf surface
to the minimum, so that care must be taken to insure healthy leaf
growth. The amount of fruiting-wood put up is also reduced to the
minimum, so that the yield is low unless good cultivation is provided,
in which case, with some varieties and on some soils, the yield is up
to the average and the crop is first-class as regards size of bunch
and berry, compactness of bunch and maturity.

[Illustration: FIG. 19. Umbrella method of training.]

_The Two-trunk Kniffin._

The Two-trunk Kniffin, illustrated in Fig. 20, is another modification
with the aim of securing greater fruitfulness. This method also
provides an equal number of buds on both wires. Two trunks are brought
from the root, one to the upper, the other to the lower wire. The
fruiting canes are taken off and are disposed of as in the Four-cane
Kniffin. The trunks are usually tied together to hold them in place.
This method is in restricted use in the Hudson River Valley where it
is known under the name given here and as "Double Kniffin" and
"Improved Kniffin." In experiments in training grapes at Fredonia, New
York, under the direction of the New York Experiment Station, this
method proves to be one of the poorest in growing Concords. The
grapes fall short in size of bunch and berry and do not mature as well
as under the other drooping methods of training.

[Illustration: FIG. 20. Two-trunk Kniffin training.]

_The Y-trunk Kniffin._

Still another modification of the Kniffin method is one in which a
crotch or Y is made in the trunk midway between the ground and the
lower wire. The theory on which this method is founded is that sap for
the lower canes is better supplied than in a straight or continuous
trunk and that the lower canes thus become as productive as those on
the upper wire. The theory is probably wrong but is accepted by many
notwithstanding. The methods of pruning, renewing fruiting-wood and
tying are the same as in the Single-stem Kniffin, except, of course,
that each stem supports two canes and two spurs. This method was in
somewhat common use some years ago in parts of western New York but is
now disappearing.

_The Munson method._

An ingenious modification of the Kniffin principle was devised by
Elbert Wakeman, Oyster Bay, Long Island, and afterwards improved and
brought into prominence by the late T. V.