20 AHEBICAN GBAPE GROWING 



wood for the cions, and have buds enongh to take up 

 the full flow of sap ; while small stocks, if used at all, 

 should be grafted with small cions of only two or three 

 buds. When the stocks are strong, I take two cions 

 and insert one on each side of the stock, of full length, 

 say from 14 to 16 inches, and with 6 to 8 buds each. 

 This has many advantages. The principal one is that 

 they will elaborate and work up the entire flow of sap. 

 Another is, that if the cions have well-developed fruit 

 buds they will produce quite a number of clusters from 

 the upper buds, and thus show the character of the fruit 

 the first year. I have already picked a thousand pounds 

 of grapes from an acre thus grafted, the first summer, 

 and a full crop of five or six tons per acre the following 

 season. Another advantage is that it establishes the 

 crown of the graft at the right distance from the ground, 

 as the three upper buds will produce the canes for the 

 next season's bearing. If both cions grow, cut off the 

 weakest above the junction the next spring, leaving only 

 the strongest. I generally find that the whole surface 

 of the stock is covered by the new growth and that the 

 junction between stock and cion is perfect. Another 

 advantage is, especially in California, where we plow 

 and cultivate close to the vines, and where some of the 

 workmen are careless, they are more apt to run over and 

 disturb small grafts than the large ones, which are pro- 

 tected by hills of earth above the surface ; nor are the 

 young shoots disturbed and broken so easily by careless 

 hands, or high winds. 



I have been so explicit about this method, because I 

 have found it more successful and easier to perform than 

 any other. 1 take it for granted that the aim of every 

 practical grower is to reach the best results in the short- 

 est possible time. There are, of course, many other 

 methods, but better adapted to younger vines. Fore- 

 most among these is the whip, or so-called English cleft 



