_Arbors._--Arbors and bowers are usually formed with little reference to pruning and training. The first object is to secure shade and seclusion, and these are conditions which may seriously interfere with the production of fine grapes. As a rule, too much wood must be allowed to grow, and the soil about arbors is rarely ever cultivated. Still, fair results in fruit can be obtained if the operator makes a diligent use of the pruning shears. It is usually best to carry one main or permanent trunk up to the top or center of the arbor. Along this trunk at intervals of two feet or less, spurs may be left to which the wood is renewed each year. If the vines stand six feet apart about the arbor--which is a satisfactory distance--one cane three feet long may be left on each spur when the pruning is done. The shoots which spring from these canes will soon cover up the intermediate spaces. At the close of the season, this entire cane with its laterals is cut away at the spur, and another three-foot cane--which grew during the season--is left in its place. This pruning is essentially that of the Kniffin vine in fig. 22. Imagine this vine, with as many joints or tiers as necessary, laid upon the arbor. The canes are tied out horizontally to the slats instead of being tied on wires. This same system--running up a long trunk and cutting in to side spurs--will apply equally well to tall walls and fences which it is desired to cover. Undoubtedly a better plan, so far as yield and quality of fruit is concerned, is to renew back nearly to the root, bringing up a strong new cane, or perhaps two or three every year, and cutting the old ones off; but as the vines are desired for shade one does not care to wait until midsummer for the vines to reach and cover the top of the arbor.
_Remodeling Old Vines._--Old and neglected tops can rarely be remodeled to advantage. If the vine is still vigorous, it will probably pay to grow an entirely new top by taking out a cane from the root. If the old top is cut back severely for a year or two, this new cane will make a vigorous growth, and it can be treated essentially like a new or young vine. If it is very strong and ripens up well, it can be left long enough the first fall to make the permanent trunk; but if it is rather weak and soft, it should be cut back in the fall or winter to two or three buds, from one of which the permanent trunk is to be grown the second season. Thereafter, the instructions which are given in the preceding pages for the various systems, will apply to the new vine. The old trunk should be cut away as soon as the new one is permanently tied to the wires, that is, at the close of either the first or second season of the new trunk. Care must be exercised to rub off all sprouts which spring from the old root or stump. If this stump can be cut back into the ground and covered with earth, better results may be expected. Old vines treated in this manner often make good plants, but if the vines are weak and the soil is poor, the trouble will scarcely pay for itself.