54 ANNUAL REPORT. 
to a stake to prevent accidents. As soon as the wood begins to harden at the 
lower joints, mellow earth must be drawn up to them and they will immediate- 
ly throw out a circle of roots near the junction with the layer, which roots great- 
ly facilitate the growth and relieve the mother plant. When the layers are 
well rooted they are separated trom the main plant and can be divided and 
taken up any time after the leaves drop, when every bud that has pushed will 
be found to have become a strong well rooted plant, and the roots being in a cir- 
cle are in a convenient shape for replanting. Another advantage is that they 
may be moved with the soil attached and re-set without receiving any serious 
check. I seldom practice this method as it is a robbery of the parent vine and 
will materially affect its vigor and fruitfulness. 
Cuttings for commercial purposes are usually grown from slips made of ripen- 
ed wood of the last season's growth, which has been removed at the annual 
pruning. They are usually prepared by cutting the sound wood into lengths of 
12 to 18 inches, cutting an inch above the top eye, and close below the base,. 
tying them into convenient bundles. They are preserved over winter by pack- 
ing in sand or sawdust, and placing in a cool cellar, or buried in a dry sheltered 
place out of door. 
For the nursery grounds select a dry sandy loam, not too rich, that can ke 
easily worked and prepared by plowing and harrowing or spading and raking 
open trenches 8 or 10 inches deep, and two or three feet apart, and set the cut- 
tings along, six to eight inches apart. giving them such a slant that the top bud 
will not come above the surtace level, and press the soil firmly about them. 
They will require clean culture during the season; and in case a severe drouth 
prevails, had better be mulched; fresh mown grass is the best material to use.. 
Cuttings are frequently made of green wood during the summer months, and 
some nurserymen are accused of growing their plants in hot beds, and a great 
many that are disposed of are certainly very poor trash. 
Where the plants are to be raised for one’s own use, or where the vineyard is to 
be started with cuttings it will pay to be more particular in selecting and making 
them, and growing the plants. Unless the wood is scarce, 1] never use any- 
thing but bearing wood for them, and usually take but one cutting from each 
branch of the prunings, and whenever any of the old wood has been removed, 
reserve a little of it as a heel; in fact I prefer a cutting with a heel, to the 
ordinary one year old plants. 
I make my cuttings about eight inches long, two to four buds to eh, as they 
are long or short jointed, cut the bottom square below a bud, not particular 
about the top, and tie them into bundles of forty or fifty, but all one way, and 
preserve over winter by placing them in a pit, top end down, and covering about 
six inches of fine soil over the buts, and as cold weather advances place over the 
whole enough litter to keep out frost. 1 remove the litter on the approach of 
spring, only replacing it on cold nights and during storms. The advantage of 
this practice is that the tops being down where it is cool the buds do not start 
and the warmth secured from the sun will cause the other end to become cal- 
loused over and frequently to emit roots, and when they are planted out it is 
easy to discern which will live. A variety never deteriorates by this practice, 
but rather improves. Single eye cuttings also make very fine plants when prop- 
erly grown, but this system is hardly practical for the ordinary farmer, and we 
will not stop to describe it. 
In conclusion, what varieties shall we grow? The well known varieties best: 
