THE NURSERY LIST. igj 



often sold at this age, but buyers usually prefer two-year-old 

 plants. 



Single bud or "eye" cuttings are largely used for the 

 newer and rarer varieties. These are cut from the canes in 

 the fall, the same as long cuttings, and are stored in boxes of 

 sand or moss. A month before the weather become settled, 

 these boxes may be taken into a house or greenhouse, or put 

 in a mild hot-bed, to induce the formation of the callus. 

 They may then be planted out-doors, and a fair proportion of 

 most varieties may be expected to grow. The best and com- 

 monest way of handling eyes, however, is to start them 

 under glass. They are planted horizontally or nearly so and 

 about an inch deep in sand or sandy earth in a cool green- 

 house in late winter in February in the northern states 

 and in about six weeks the plants will be large enough to pot 

 off or to transplant into cold frames or a cool house. If 

 only a few plants are to be grown they may be started in 

 pots. When the weather is thoroughly settled, they are 

 transferred to nursery rows, and by fall they will make fine 

 plants. There are various ways recommended for the cut- 

 ting of these eyes as cutting the ends obliquely up or 

 down, shaving off the bark below the bud, and so on--but 

 the advantages of these fashions are imaginary. A good 

 eye-cutting is shown in Fig. 50. The foreign grapes are 

 propagated by eyes in the north. 



Soft cuttings are sometimes used to multiply new kinds. 

 These may be taken in summer from the growing canes, but 

 the plants are usually forced during winter for the purpose 

 of giving extra wood. Cuttings are taken off as fast as buds 

 form during the winter, and they are forced in close frames 

 with a good bottom heat. The cuttings may comprise two 

 buds, with the leaf at the upper one allowed to remain, 

 or they may bear but a single eye, in which case the leaf, or 

 the most of it, is left on. This rapid multiplication from 

 small, soft wood usually gives poor plants ; but strong plants 

 may be obtained by allowing the wood to become well 

 hardened before it is used. Soft cuttings will root in two or 

 three weeks under good treatment. 



In order to secure extra strong plants from single buds, 

 the eyes may be saddle-grafted or whip-grafted upon a root 

 two or three inches long. The root grafts are then treated 

 in the same way as eye cuttings, only that they are usually 

 grown in pots from the start. 



The vine may be grafted with ease by any method. Cleft- 

 grafting is commonly employed upon old plants. The cions 

 are inserted on the crown of the plant, three or four inches 



