AGE OF THE PORTABLE VINES. 283 



when they will immediately grow. Much the best 

 way is to trim off these fibres entirely ; and if they 

 are diseased, the roots should be cut to the sound 

 part. After it has been transplanted another year 

 in the nursery it is in better condition for general 

 planting. 



A great mistake is made by the purchase of large 

 and old vines. The root is, like the top, a great 

 ranger, and it can hardly be imagined what an 

 exceeding small proportion of its roots can be 

 obtained by the most careful attention in trans- 

 planting. Besides, it is a useless expenditure, for 

 such will seldom acquire a healthy habit, and will 

 certainly never succeed as well as young vines. 

 Those who buy are often disappointed, upon re- 

 ceiving their vines, to find that the. top has been 

 nearly all cut off, and only a foot or two remains. 

 Unlike a tree, if it possesses three or four sound 

 eyes, the rest is useless. Even a single eye is all 

 that is absolutely requisite. 



Currant and goosehernj bushes should be of the 

 old fashioned form, or bush-shape, and not tree- 

 formed. When there is but one stem, a single 

 attack of the borer may destroy the whole top, 

 while if there are several, such an occurrence would 

 only give the remaining parts more strength. 



Plants of the strawherry should be runners ; those 

 of the blackberry and raspberry suckers of the pre- 

 vious summer. 



