PEOPAGATION. 251 



two becomes almost perfect. If the beginner 

 will bear these things in mind, he will the 

 better understand the process of propagation, 

 and it will become invested with a new inter 

 est, The reader will infer, correctly, that we 

 esteem a grape vine made from a single eye or 

 bud the best that can be produced by any arti 

 ficial means. 



Vines from eyes are propagated under glass. 

 In order that the reader s mind may not be 

 diverted from the main subject as we go along, 

 we will here notice an objection made to this 

 mode of propagation, and which, to many, 

 seems to have considerable force. It is object 

 ed that propagating plants under glass is an arti 

 ficial process, and makes plants weak and tender. 

 The sufficient answer to this is, that all modes 

 of propagating plants from cuttings are strictly 

 artificial, and that is clearly the best which 

 places the cutting under the most favorable con 

 ditions for its full development into a perfect 

 plant. This is so self-evident that it should need 

 no argument. Now, it is found, as the result of 

 repeated and careful experiment, that shelter, 

 shade, moisture, etc., are indispensable to the pro 

 duction of the best plants from eyes or cuttings ; 

 and it is further found that these, and all other 



