304 PROPAGATION" OF PLANTS. 



they arc the best. A cutting of six or eight inches in length, when 

 properly planted, will produce as good or better plant than one twice 

 that length. Furthermore, no modem scientific horticulturists would 

 plant cuttings in a vineyard where the vines are to remain and bear 

 fruit, any more than he would plant Apple seed in an orchard instead of 

 trees ; and yet European vineyards are to this day planted with cuttings 

 instead of rooted plants, just as they were two or three thousand years 

 ago, and about the same class of implements are used in their cultiva- 

 tion. The cuttings should be made in autumn, and before the vines 

 have been subjected to a very low temperature. When the vines are 

 pruned, the canes may be cut into lengths of six to eight inches, leaving 

 not less than two buds on each, as shown in figure 100. If the wood is 

 short jointed, a cutting of this length will have three, and perhaps four 

 buds upon it ; if so they are all the better, as roots usually start from 

 each bud although not always the first season. The lower end of the 

 cutting should be cut off smooth and close up to the base of tne bud, as 

 shown, and the top an inch above the bud. When the cuttings are pre- 

 pared, they may be buried in sand or moss in a cellar, or in a dry place 

 in the open ground and below the reach of frost. In spring the cuttings 



. 101. SINGLE-BUD CUTTING. Fig. 102. 



are taken out and planted in the same manner as other ripe wood cut- 

 tings, the upper bud being left just level with, or a half inch below the 

 surface of the ground. 



In the fall the rooted cuttings are taken up and heeled-in, and pro- 

 tected in winter if necessary. In warm climates, and where the ground 

 does not freeze to any considerable depth in winter, the cuttings may be 

 planted out in the vineyard in the fall, the long roots shortened, and the 

 young cane cut back to within two buds of the old wood. In some 

 localities, mulching the cutting bed will be beneficial in keeping it moist, 

 but in others it might do more harm than good ; but the cultivator of 

 such plants must use nis own judgment in such matters, as he is sup- 

 posed to know something of the climate of the region wherein he is 

 living. Nearly all of our cultivated varieties of the grape may be readily 

 propagated by cuttings in the open ground, but an occasional one, like 

 the Delaware and Norton's Virginia, require a little more care than 

 others ; the cuttings must be kept in a moist and rather warm place 

 during winter in order to have the root-forming process sc-mewhat 

 advanced by the time they are needed for planting. What are called 

 single-bud cuttings are made of the same kind of wood as the long cut- 

 tings, but with only one bud on each, as shoAvn in figure 101, which 

 represents the cutting of the usual size and length. Some propa- 



