PARMERS' REGISTER— PROPAGATION— PRUNING. 



695 



a|)art that the roots muy draw nourishment i'roiii 

 the adjacent earth without injuring the neighlTOr- 

 ing plants, and that the air and light may reach 

 them and circulate without obstacle. At Paris 

 the slips are planted in the fields, up to the last 

 eye but one, at the distance of sixty centimetres 

 (two feet;) in the south, of France they are plant- 

 ed at ninety centimetres (three feet;) the whole 

 plantation is covered with straw that the sun may 

 not dry the land, it is watered, and the watering 

 continued as recpjired. ii' it can be done, these 

 slips en crasseiies should be tid;eQ Irom poorer 

 lands than those in which it is intended to plant 

 then), because then the impulse of vegetation 

 will make them take root quicker and better. The 

 ground must have been broken up beforehand, 

 if it was not in good tilth, and also enriched with 

 mould if it was not sufticicntly fertile. At Paris, 

 /()r\vard vines are always preferable, that the 

 grapes may ripen: for if many of the varieties 

 which are cultivated do not reach maturity at Pa- 

 ris, it is because the climate is not suOiciently 

 ^\arm. 



The ground is worked a second lime and weed- 

 ed when it becomes grassy. The slips which can- 

 not support themselves are propped up. 



b. Simple slips. A more economical way, says 

 Thoiiin,* is to plant simple slips, well filled with 

 sap, nine months old, and of the preceding year's 

 growth: but the produce is slower and less sure, 

 iiir this reason the slips en crosscttes should be al- 

 Avays])referred. 



3d. Propa^aiion by layers. This method is 

 employed to invigorate old vines, to replace those 

 that are dead, and to procure well roo*ed plants. 

 In March at Paris, and in the south of France in 

 October and November, says Thoiiin, they com- 

 mence by laying bare the roots of the stocks from 

 three to five decimetres (nine to fifteen inches) 

 deep, and twice as much in diameter. The most 

 vigorous branches are chosen, sufficiently distant 

 from one another to be laid down without confu- 

 sion, the twigs are stripped ofl'from the part wliich 

 is to be laid down; afterwards the intended branches 

 are placed in the opening, they are fastened down 

 with a u'ooden fork that they may not get out of 

 place, and their ends are set up nearly j^erpendicu- 

 larly on the exterior edge of the hole; the la3-ers 

 are cut ofl' at one or two eyes above the level of 

 the earth. The hole is not completely filled up, 

 that the roots may draw up their juices irom a 

 greater depth in the earth, and that the atmos- 

 pheric moisture may remain and refresh the loj'ers. 

 A prop is set up behind each layer to train it up 

 as it grows- Grass and weeds, as they appear, 

 are remov-ed with the binette, which breaking up 

 the land, renders it at the same time more permea- 

 ble to atmospherical agents. 



In the autunni of the year of this operation, or 

 in the spring following, the layers are separated 

 irom the stocks, or lell untouched; they have taken 

 root sufficiently to support themselves, but it is 

 better not to separate them. This means of j)ro- 

 pagation is much used in Burgundy, Lorraine, 

 &c. 



If it is wished to have grapes on the table in 

 November, layers are made of the branches of 

 vines of the year, which are in pot.?, by passing 



♦Coin's de culture dos vcjretaux. 



them through tlie holes of (he pots which are fill- 

 ed up with earth. The leaves must be taK-en oflT 

 the part to be buried, and lour or five eyes must 

 be above the earth; the layer is taken ofi' when 

 well rooted. These pots may be put upon the ta- 

 ble the Ibllovving year when the grapes are ripe. 



4lh. Propagation by grafts. The vine is graft- 

 ed in two ways, in a cleit upon the stock, and in a 

 cleft under the crown of the root. 



a. (TTofting ill a ch'fl upon the stock. This is 

 performed in A()ril on the slock, pretty near to 

 the ground. The stock is s];lit jjerpendicuiarly 

 in the middle to the length of six centimetres (two 

 inches,) and the graft, lourteen centimetres (five 

 inches) long, cut into the form of a wedge is in- 

 troduced and sunk well into the cleft, making the 

 bark of each coincide perfectly, according to M. 

 Poiteau."* The late M. Thoiiint says, that this 

 coincidence is not of absolute necessity, because 

 the sap rises by vessels dispersed in the woody 

 substance. A mould of clay is put around the 

 graft, when the ligatures fijrm knots, they are 

 loosened, and the juncture being well secured, the 

 clay is re-applied. Props are set, the shoots which 

 come out below the graft are cut ofi', and the 

 ground receives a second v/orking with the 6i«c/;e. 



6. Grafting in a cleft under the croivn of the root. 

 This grafting is made by laying the root bare to 

 fifteen centrimetres (six inches) below the first 

 small roots, a perpendicular cleft is made and the 

 gralt placed in it, this last is surrounded with a 

 band of rushes and grafting Avax. Thoiiin says 

 that not five in a hundred of' these grafts will liiil, 

 and that the stocks furnish many grapes even in 

 the second year, by pruning to five eyes. This is 

 a method of turning to profit good stocks which 

 bear bad fruit. 



Tlioiiin justly complained that enough use 

 was not made of this way of grafting in culti- 

 vation on a large scale, it is, nevertheless, an 

 excellent mode to renew vines v/hile improving 

 the nature of grapes. 



Pruning vines en espalier [trained against walls] 

 at Paris. Vines are pruned in February, if there 

 is no frost, and not earlier. It is no longer consid- 

 ered good practice to prune vines or trees in the 

 months of December and Januarj-; the least fi-ost 

 having affected the whole opening, would attack 

 the wound made by pruning, would first destroy 

 the extremity of the branch, and thus affecting the 

 adjacent bud, would injure it. Skilful cultivators^ 

 recommend that there should be no pruning till, 

 all danger from frost being over, and the sap ready 

 to move, the succeeding vegetation may either re- 

 pair the nudity produced by the chisel, or cover the 

 incision made by the pruning knife. Columclla§ 

 knew this, and advised that vines should be pruned 

 in the spring in cold climates, because they pro- 

 duced more grapes, and that they should be 

 pruned in autumn in warm countries. 



The stocks planted arc cut down, the first year, 

 to two eyes; the second year they cut off all the 

 shoots liom the bottom, only the strongest and 

 straightest is reserved of which the main stock is 

 formed — this is cut down to three decimetres (nine 



* Le bon jardinier. 



t Cours de culture et de naturalisation des vege- 

 taux. 



X Thoiiin, Noisette, Oscar, Leclerc. 



§ Economie rurale liv. IV. chap. X. ct chap. XXIII. 



