GRAPES. 53 



Mr. Harris: Where we have to heel it in, we cut it off square. 

 I do not believe in the use of shears for cutting the wood, be- 

 cause it crushes it. In pruning I use shears, because the vine 

 is cut off above the bud, but in making cuttings you should use 

 a knife. 



Mr. Brackett: Do you heel in in the cellar or out doors? 



Mr. Harris: Dig out a pit deep enough so it will take them 

 in, put them in bud end up, so the top of the cuttings will be 

 about six inches below the level of the ground. I take fine soil 

 and put over the cuttings, and as the weather grows colder 

 put on more soil to prevent freezing, and in the spring when 

 we take them out the roots are sometimes started. Even the 

 Delaware can be grown in that way with perfect success. 



Mr. Sampson: I would like to have Prof. Green tell us how 

 to propagate grapes. 



Mr. Dartt: Don't you like my way? 



Prof. Green: No, I don"t. (Laughter.) 



Mr. A. H. Brackett: I had a method suggested by Mr. 

 Stubbs, — cut right through the eye. 



Prof. Green: It is generally supposed that the cuttings will 

 succeed better if cut at the eye. 



Prof. N. E. Hansen: Some years ago, I was with a man in 

 Iowa who planted out four millions of cuttings the year I was 

 there. The way he does, he makes cuttings of about three 

 eyes, about eight inches long for most kinds, and four eyes, if 

 he can get them, eight to twelve inches long. Another point is 

 not to use wire for tying, as it hurts the wood wherever it is 

 touched by the wire. Tie with willow in bundles of 100, get the 

 butts even and bury the cuttings about four inches, sifting fine 

 earth over. Make your pit of such depth that when you put your 

 earth over the cuttings they will be about four inches below 

 the surface, then put manure over that. In the spring you have 

 to watch it very close; if you leave it too long, the roots will 

 be started before you know it, and when you take them out 

 they will have started and the shoots will break off, and you 

 will lose that much strength. You can take the manure off 

 and make this four inches of earth mellow. As a general thing 

 you will find that the cuttings have calloused sufficiently when 

 ready to plant out. The proper time to plant is when the cal- 

 lous has formed at the root of the cuttings; you do not want to 

 wait until the little fibres have started; if you do, you will lose 

 most of them. Then you want to get the soil as fine as possi- 

 ble. The soil in Cass county is very mellow, ^but on other 



