242 FLORIDA FRUITS GRAPES. 



the lower part, and the shoots gathered up in bunches of 

 six or eight ; a hole is made near their junction with the 

 stump ; a handful or two of rich compost or thoroughly 

 rotted stable manure, incorporated in the soil to be filled 

 in, then the vines are bent down into the hole, the earth 

 firmly packed in on them, the ends left out turned slightly 

 upward, and the work is done. During the summer the 

 weeds must be kept down, and the ground kept slightly 

 moist, not wet. By November the layers are ready to be 

 lifted and set out, either in their nursery or in their per- 

 manent places; they will be found fully supplied with 

 strong, thrifty roots. One good, large stump thus de- 

 voted to propagation, will in one season furnish from fifty 

 to a hundred layers. These layers may be set out at any 

 time while dormant, and this, of course, is during the win- 

 ter and early spring months. 



They should not be set closer than twenty-five feet to 

 each other in any direction, and if the land is very rich 

 not closer than thirty feet. This may seem very far apart 

 while the vines are young, but wait awhile and see, and if 

 the holes where they are planted are well manured before 

 setting out you will " see" all the sooner. 



Cut back the vines as they are planted, so that no more 

 than three or four eyes or buds are left, and drive down a 

 stout stake alongside of each, so that it stands fully six 

 feet out of the ground. 



Watch the young vines carefully and pinch off all of 

 the lateral shoots, a few at a time, so as not to check the 

 growth of the main stem, which is the object of your care. 

 This must be tied to the stake as it grows until, at the end 

 of its first season, it should have reached the top, a single, 

 stout, clean stem. 



Before spring comes again a canopy should be prepared ; 

 four perpendicular posts, six feet high (out of the ground) 



