V I T 



V I T 



A method is made use of by Mr. Speedily 

 and others of propagating the vine from one 

 eve, and a few inches of toe preceding year's 

 i, which thev prefer to those raised by cut- 

 ti lilt- in the common way, on these accounts : 

 " they have more abundant roots, grow shorter 

 jointed, are more prolific, and will, if permit- 

 ted, come into bcariog the second year." 



It is advised that choice .should be made of 

 cuttings after a warm dry season, when the 

 wood ripens well; each cutting having two 

 inches of the old wood, with one eve of the 

 new. When the vines are pruned there is great 

 choice ; they should therefore be then selected 

 of a middling size, the wood round and per- 

 fectly ripened. 



After this, pots are to be filled with rich light 

 mould, that has been well meliorated and pre- 

 pared s ime time before; The cuttings being 

 then prepared for planting, by the bottom 

 part being cut perfectly smooth; if any of the 

 old dead snags remain, thev should be cut off 

 close to the quick wood, and the top cut sloping 

 towards the back of the hot-house or frame, 

 when placed in them. Mr. Forsyth recom- 

 mends " planting only one cutting in each pot, 

 which as to size should be a deep forty-eight ; 

 by that means he thinks the plants will grow 

 much stronger and quicker than when many are 

 crowded together, and the sun and air will have 

 a freer admission to ripen the wood; for, when 

 inanv are planted in one pot, thev shade one 

 another, and in a considerable degree prevent 

 the sun and air from passing freelv among them. 

 When the plants begin to get strong, and the 

 pots full of roots, it will he necessary to shift 

 them from the forty-eights to thirty-twos.' 1 

 "This mode is," he says. •'•' best adapted for pri- 

 vate gardens; but for nurserymen, 6ce., who 

 raise plants tor sale, and cannot conveniently 

 spare so much room, it may be necessary to 

 plant three or more cuttings in each pot." 



And in these cases the same rules for water- 

 ing, transplanting, shifting, kc., are to be at- 

 tended to as was directed for the seedling plants. 



Mr. Forsyth observes, that it is '■' a method 

 verv frequently practised by nurserymen and 



fardeners, when they wish to have their plants 

 t for sale the same year, to plant them in pots, 

 and place them in the hot-house among the tan, 

 on the flues, or round the curbs ottlu pit. And 

 he has seen it employed with great success. In 

 this way they may, her-avs, "be raised either by 

 planting them singly in small pots, or several in 

 a pot, according to its size, planting them out 

 separatelv when they have taken root, ha\ • 

 hot-bed ready to plunge the pots in as soon as 

 they ate transplanted. In this manner they be- 



come much forwarded in their growth, and are 

 before tin autumn in a state fit for tall ." 



In raising vines in the layer manner, the 

 method usually made use of is by stools, m the 

 open quarters of the garden, in the same man- 

 ner as nursery-men propagate forest-trees and 

 shrubs : but the hist way, according t 

 is to take layer ;e on walls or palings, 



training the shoots at full length duiing the sum- 

 mer; when ibout the month of February tome 



of the finest id stto.-.^i >t shoots should be cho- 

 sen, laving them across the foot-path into 

 (twenty-fours or sixteens] filled with fresh 

 mould, aud plunging them in the ground about 

 two inches below the surface; at the same time 

 making an incision or two in the old wood, or 

 giving it a twist just below a joint ; and tfa 

 they will generally take without notching or 

 twisting, it is nevertheless advised, as the -ure^t 

 way, to have that done. The layers should then 

 be cut, leaving two or three strong eyes upon 

 each. And when the shoots begin to run, they 

 should lie tied to long Stakes, to prevent their 

 being broken by, the wmd j all the runners and 

 side-shoots being picked off, leaving only two 

 or three fine strong shoots on each plant, which 

 should be trained at full length during the sum- 

 mer season. 



As soon as the shoots are laid down, it will be 

 necessary to mulch them with good rotten dung, 

 or rotten leaves, which will keep the niomd 

 moist ; and in very dry summers, a good water- 

 ing should be given once or twice a week : this 

 will wash in the dung or leaves about the roots, 

 and induce the layers to shoot with more vigour. 

 Mr. Forsyth savs, " that in this method of lay- 

 inn, two or three rows of layers may be had 

 from one wall : taking care to lay the branches 

 alternately, and to keep the pots plunged about 

 two inches below the level of the ground." 



Thesame writeradvisesm choosing vines from 

 the nurserv, to select " those which have the 

 strongest and longest shoots." 



He observes that where the above directions 

 are properlv attended to, the plants will be well 

 rooted in the pots before autumn, and lit tor 

 planting in vineries, hot-houses, or other situa- 

 tions. "And when they are to be planted out, 

 thev should, bethinks, be carefully cut oil" from 

 the mother vine and carried in the puts to where 

 they are intended to be planted ; taking care to 

 preserve the balls as mueh as possible w lieu they 

 are turned out of them. 



It is added that "if the season Ik warm and 



fiiK, the grapes of the early kind- ripen very 



well on these layers before they i up; 



and, if properly managed, they will bear some 

 fruit the lir:t year after planting. One oi 



