THE VINE. ] 465 



vine-growing countries, consists in selecting canes of 

 new wood, from 30 c.m. to i metre in length or 

 more, having a bit of old wood at the base, so that 

 at this end the cutting is shaped like a hammer, hence 

 its old name of malleolus (It. = magliolo). A cutting 

 taken at its point of insertion with the old wood, and 

 therefore having a thickened base with several nodes 

 closely set together, is just as good and perhaps better, 

 and therefore is never discarded by the planter. In 

 any case the cutting should have well ripened wood for 

 a considerable part of its length, so that the uppermost 

 bud which is lelt above the ground and is destined to 

 produce the stem of the new vine may be situated on 

 healthy, ripened wood. The time for making these 

 cuttings ^Maltese = zargun, pron. = zarjoon) coincides 

 with the pruning season, that is from the time that the 

 the soil is well soaked with rain in November until 

 February, and they are generally selected and put aside 

 by the primers during that operation, and then tied up 

 in bundles of 100 canes, and sold to the planters at a 

 price varying from is. to is. 8d. per bundle. The 

 bundles are buried half way clown in a trench, whence 

 they are taken up one by one as required for planting. 

 This precaution is necessary in order to keep the cuttings 

 in good condition, otherwise if allowed to remain exposed 

 for a few days they may become too dry, and many of 

 them will then fail to strike. Planting is done at any 

 time from November to February, provided that the 

 soil and subsoil have been moistened by the autumnal 

 rains. Cuttings planted along the walls of fields or in 

 gardens, are laid down along a narrow trench, about 

 25 cm. deep, keeping one or two buds above the 

 ground. In a vineyard the cuttings are planted in 

 trenches about i| metres long, 50 c.m. wide, and 50 c.m. 

 deep, laying down one cutting at each end of the trench. 

 A small basketful -of manure is spread evenly in the 

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