There is no system of training which is best for all purposes and all varieties. The strong-growing varieties more readily adapt themselves to the high drooping systems than the weaker varieties, although the Delaware is often trained on a comparatively low Kniffin with good effect. The high or drooping systems are of comparatively recent date, and their particular advantages are the saving of labor in summer tying, cheapness of the trellis, and the facility with which the ground can be cultivated without endangering the branches of the vine. The upright training distributes the bearing wood more evenly upon the vine and is thought, therefore, to insure more uniform fruit, it keeps the top near the root, which is sometimes thought to be an advantage, and it is better suited to the stature of the small-growing varieties. There is, perhaps, a greater temptation to neglect the vines in the drooping systems than in the others, because the shoots need no tying and do not, therefore, demand frequent attention; while in the upright systems the shoots soon become broken or displaced if not watched. For very large areas, or circumstances in which the best of care cannot be given the vineyard, the Kniffin or drooping systems are perhaps always to be recommended. Yet the Kniffin profits as much from diligence and skill as the other systems; but it will give better results than the others under partial neglect. The strong varieties, especially those making long and drooping canes, are well adapted to the Kniffin styles; but the smaller sorts, and those stronger sorts which, like Catawba, make an upright and stocky growth, are usually trained upon the upright systems. But the merits of both systems are so various and even so little understood, that it is impossible to recommend either one unqualifiedly. The advantages in either case are often little more than matters of personal opinion. It should be said, however, that the Kniffin or drooping systems are gaining in favor rapidly, and are evidently destined to overthrow much of the older upright training. This fact does not indicate, however, that the upright system is to be entirety superseded, but rather that it must be confined to those varieties and conditions for which it is best adapted. The two systems will undoubtedly supplement each other. The horizontal systems are occasionally used for choice varieties, but they are little known.