THE GRAPE 335 



fall upside down, and then in the spring set in the proper position. Why 

 this is so I do not attempt to explain, but the fact is that refractory cuttings 

 will root when so treated that would not root if set at once in the proper posi- 

 tion. It is frequently desirable to change the variety of grape in a vineyard 

 and then the grafting method should be used. Having strong, old stocks we 

 cut them down to the crown of the roots, and late in the fall, here, insert cleft 

 grafts and then mound the earth over the whole deep enough to exclude the 

 usual amount of frost. In the North the grafting should be deferred till 

 March, but should be done before there is any swelling of the buds, and the 

 earlier it is done the better. Mr. A. S. Fuller grafted grapes in the fall in 

 the North, by covering the graft with an inverted flower pot and burying 

 the whole in the soil, just leaving the bottom of the pot uncovered, and then 

 covered the whole with straw to protect from freezing, and put on top the 

 straw eight inches of soil. If the grafting is done in the spring the scions 

 should be cut in the fall and buried as the cuttings are, so as to keep them 

 dormant, for the grafting can be done with success after the vines start if the 

 scions are dormant. Strong growing sorts, like the Champion and the Con- 

 cord, are fine stocks for grafting, and we have seen canes of the Delaware 

 from a graft on the Champion which, by fall, were 20 feet long, and in good 

 condition to begin fruiting the following season. The scion is cut in the ordi- 

 nary wedge shape, with a bud on the outside just above the point to which it is 

 inserted in the stock. There are other methods used in the grafting of the 

 grape, but the ordinary cleft-graft on the crown of the root, is more uniformly 

 successful and is as good as any. We do not use any wax in grafting grapes, 

 but always bury the graft well in the ground at the point of union. A modi- 

 fication in the grafting of grapes was invented by Mr. Allen Warren, of this 

 State, who is a large grower of the Scuppernong. While the Scuppernong is 

 easily grown from layers it is rather refractory from long cuttings. Mr. 

 Warren goes into the woods and gets roots of the Wild Bullace grapes belong- 

 ing to the same family as the Scuppernong. These he cuts into three-inch 

 pieces and makes a split across the root about midway. He then makes his 

 scion wedge-shape, as for ordinary cleft grafting, sticks it through this slit 

 and then sets the graft as an ordinary cutting. In the fall following it will 

 be seen that rootlets have started from the root and also from the projecting 

 end of the graft, a much stronger vine is the result and there is a perfect 

 union with the scion where it crosses the root. The same practice can be fol- 

 lowed with the Labrusca varieties by taking roots of the same species. Grapes 

 are seldom as fine in a rich garden as in the vineyard. This is because of the 

 excess of nitrogen in the soil, and they should have only phosphoric acid and 

 potash to balance this. It is the result simply of an unbalanced food ration. 



