5o8 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PA^. 



four feet long on each of our original ten vines, for Layering. 

 This ia the most certain method in use, although the nuniLer 

 of pkntJ obtained is not so large. We would say here that un- 

 lc58 the vine makes a very vigorous growth, it is better to delay 

 layering until the third season, cutting hoih canes back to two 

 buds instead of one, as recommended above. When, however, it 

 is decided to layer the vine, uncover it, if coyered, as soon as the 

 fn)sts are passed, and^when the buds j^et well started dig a 

 trench from the vine six inches wide, from four to six inches 

 deep, and long enough to receive the cane, wliich should be 

 bent down to the bottom of the trench, and fastened there by 

 hooked pegs or fiat stones. The vine should lie flat in the 

 bottom of the t,rench. {Fig. 124.) Let it remain until the 

 shoots have grov/n three or four inches, then rub off those not 

 wanted. Four shoots for a four feet vine is a good rule to 

 follow in this selection. Drive down a stake by the side of each 

 and draw an inch of soil into the trench. In ten days or a fort- 

 night a little more dirt can be drawn in, and so on, until the 

 whole trench is filled. Never fill the trench when the vine is 

 layered in the spring, v.& it will be likely to cause rot. Each 

 of the shoots should be trained to a stake, and no one cane al- 

 lowed to take too much of the sap. If one shoot gets the start 

 of the others it must be pinched off. Hoe the ground frequently 

 through the summer, or else mulch it to keep down the weeds, 

 and absorb the moisture. The other cane that was cut down to 

 two buds .should be allowed to produce two or three shoots only, 

 and all laterals, tendrils, and fruit clusters taken off', unless you 

 wish to perfect a few bunches to test their quality, when only 

 two shoots should be allowed to grow, and a single bunch of 

 fruit allowed to m;iturc on each one. It is not best to make 

 layers and take fruit from the same plant. 

 Layers can be taken from the parent vine in the fall or the 



