CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 139 



of the cuttings appear inert, and afford no indica- 

 tion of pushing into leaf, all the buds or buttons 

 should be rubbed off, except the first above the 

 ground, around which bud loose earth should be 

 gathered, so as to leave the button on an even 

 line with surface of the soil, or as a seaman 

 would explain it, "between wind and water." 

 By this means many of the cuttings will be saved, 

 which without such precaution would inevitably 

 perish . 



There are many vine dressers, who against a 

 wall* plant double the usual number of cuttings 

 on a given space, in the hope of gaining a little 

 more ground ; but such cultivators do not under- 

 stand their true interests, as the plants so situa- 

 ted rarely prosper, and give in general, a short 

 meagre production. 



There is no good reason why more cuttings 

 should be planted against a wall, than in the open 

 ground, and where it is intended to trail the 

 branches against the wall, either on espaliers, or 

 in the ordinary mode of standard plants, the vine 

 should on no account be nearer to it than eight 

 inches in order to afford free scope on each side 

 for the roots of the plant to push forth and ex- 

 pand, as well as to allow space to soften the 

 ground around it. Those plants for which we 

 design such protection, should be of a kind that 

 ripen their fruit at a later period of the season 

 than the fruit of the field cultivation, because if 



* In Switzerland, it is the custom, in positions where the vine- 

 yard is exposed, to erect a wall along the northern line of the 

 vine grounds, planting espalier vines against the southern 

 front. TRANS. 



