tter to leave less developed buds than a
shoot which, when it grows, will make an awkward crook with the
underground stem.

After this disbudding, the two shoots left will grow rapidly, as they
receive all the energies of the root system. When the longest have
grown from ten to fifteen inches, they should be tied to the stake.
Unless this is done, they are liable to be broken off by any heavy
wind, owing to their soft, succulent texture. Only the best placed and
most vigorous of the two shoots should be tied up. If this shoot is
growing upright and near the stake, this can be done without any
danger of injuring it. In this case the second shoot should be
removed. If the shoot has to be bent over in tying it to the stake it
may be injured. In such a case the second shoot should be allowed to
grow until it is known whether the first has been injured. In case of
injury the second shoot can be tied up the next time the vines are
visited and the injured shoot removed.

At the tying up of the reserved shoots, all new shoots which have
developed since the first disbudding should be removed. The shoots
should be tied up loosely, as they are soft and easily injured, and
they should be brought around carefully to the windward side of the
stake.

The shoots will require tying once more when they have grown another
foot or eighteen inches. There will then be two ties, one at two or
three inches from the top of the stake and the other at about the
middle. If the vines have a tall stake and are to be headed very high,
another tying higher up may be needed later.

With vines making only a moderate growth, no other pruning will be
needed until the winter. Exceptionally vigorous vines, however, may
make a cane eight, ten or more feet long. Such a cane is heavy and is
very likely to break the ropes by which it is attached to the stake.
In this case it may break off at the bottom, or at least will form an
awkward crook near the ground when it matures. In either case it is
difficult to form a good trunk the following year. Even when the ties
do not break, the cane will not be well suited for the commencement of
a trunk, as the joints will be so long that it will be impossible to
leave enough well-placed buds at the winter pruning.

Both these difficulties are avoided by timely topping. When such
vigorously growing canes have grown twelve or eighteen inches above
the top of the stake they are cut back about level with the stake.
This