r. The
framework of the vine consists of a trunk of medium height, with a
vase-formed head consisting of three or four arms. The defects of this
system have been pointed out on page 155.

It is used with fair success with seedless Sultanas and with some wine
grapes such as Colombar, Semillon, Cabernet, and Riesling, in the
hands of skillful pruners. The results with Sultanina are very
unsatisfactory.

By this method, on most of the vines, the fruit canes start from high
up near the middle of the stake, and are therefore too short for the
best results. The canes which start from low down are in most cases
suckers, and therefore of little value for fruit bearing.

Figure 24 B shows a vine with bowed canes. The method of pruning is
exactly the same as in the method just described. The bowing of the
canes, however, overcomes some of the defects of that method. It is
used regularly in many wine grape vineyards of the cooler regions. It
is unsuited for very vigorous vines in rich soil.

_Vertical cordons._

In head pruning, the treatment of young vines up to the second or
third winter pruning is identical for all systems. In cordon pruning
the treatment for the first and second is also the same. That is, the
vine is cut back to two buds near the level of the ground until a cane
sufficiently long to serve for the formation of the trunk is obtained.

In the vertical cordon the trunk is three to four feet long instead of
one to two, as in head pruning. This makes it necessary to have a
longer and more vigorous cane to start with. It may require a year
longer to obtain this. That is to say, at the end of the second
season's growth many vines will not have a single cane sufficiently
developed to give the necessary three and one-half feet of
well-ripened wood and properly developed buds. At the second winter
pruning, therefore, it will often be necessary to cut the vine back to
two buds, as at the first winter pruning.

[Illustration: FIG. 34. Vertical cordon, young vine pruned.]

Finally, a cane of the required length will be obtained. The vine is
then formed as already described for the second winter pruning of
headed vines, except that the cane is left longer. When such a vine is
pruned, spurs are left at intervals along the trunk, as shown in Fig.
34. Each of these spurs is a fruit spur and is also the commencement
of an arm. The future treatment of these arms is the same as that of
the arms in head pruning.

_Horiz