348 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



Our choice of kinds is therefore very limited, and any one may 

 easily obtain and test for himself, at small expense, all the va- 

 rieties that at present pretend to claim attention. Most of our 

 varieties are of wild natural origin, some of which, nevertheless, 

 compare favorably with many of the cultivated European kinds. 

 Starting in the culture of this fruit with such originals, we may 

 fairly expect that intelligent and persevering cultivation, to 

 the force of which no plant yields itself more readily, will rap- 

 idly supply new and superior varieties suited to our varied cli- 

 mate, and surpassing rivalry. 



The grape will do well in almost any soil. It grows wild 

 alike upon our dryest lands and in our swamps, from the Pe- 

 nobscot to the Rio Grande. For its most successful cultivation, 

 however, a deep, dry, limestone soil or sandy loam is desirable. 



Wild vines or worthless ones may be successfully cleft graft- 

 ed, after the vines have leaved out, with grafts kept for the 

 purpose from the winter pruning ; these should be buried or 

 cellared until wanted for use. Cut off the stock and insert 

 the graft a few inches under ground ; if possible, wrap it in the 

 ordinary manner, earth it well up, and set a stake to it. 



The young plants may be raised by cuttings, as directed 

 pages 196, 197, or by layers. If the shoots of the previous 

 year are layered early in the spring, they may -be set out the 

 next year, but if shoots of the current season be layered in June 

 or July, they should be severed from the parent vine and cut 

 back in fall or the next spring, but ought not to be removed 

 for setting out until the following year, their roots being too 

 tender. 



Two-year-old plants raised from cuttings, or layers raised as 

 above directed, just taken from the parent vine, and cut back 

 to one or two buds, may be set out in the ordinary mode of 

 tree-planting see page 245 in large holes with loosened bot- 

 tom, dug at least eighteen inches deep, and filled up with good 

 rich mould to twelve or fifteen inches, according to the size of 

 the root. Let rich earth or perfectly rotted compost be mixed 

 with the soil, or used exclusively in filling up. Tread the earth 

 lightly upon and around the roots, and suffer only one or at most 

 two buds to start. In removing old vines, cut them clean down 



