36 GRAPE CULTURE AND 



-/Estivalis class only the Rulander and the Cunningham root 

 well, the Herbemont and Lenoir will turn out about 50 per 

 cent, and the Nortons Virginia and Cynthiana hardly any. 



The cuttings can be made any time after the leaves have 

 dropped until the buds begin to swell, it is best, however, to 

 make them in the first part of winter, when they can be 

 heeled in bundles, to keep until planted. Neither the very 

 large and pithy, nor the very small wood near the ends should 

 be selected, but rather the medium sized, short-jointed wood,. 

 which will not only be more sure to root, but also make a 

 firmer and better plant. Nor is it advisable to make the cut- 

 tings 1 8 inches or even two feet long, as has been the prac- 

 tice in this State, very likely derived from the old European 

 vintners, who follow that practice for no other reason than 

 because their father and grandfather did so before them. 

 Forty years of nursery practice, commencing with 18 inch 

 cuttings, and ending with 9 to 10 inches, has taught me that 

 the longer the cutting, the more feeble and small will be the 

 roots they make ; small puny fibres, distributed over the 

 whole length, instead of the strong, well developed root sys- 

 tem at the base of the shorter cutting. If the lower end of 

 the cutting or plant is buried in the cold hard soil, below the 

 influence of sun and air, so necessary to all plant life, how 

 can we expect it to make strong, healthy roots ? Here in 

 California it may be well not to go into extremes, but a cut- 

 ting of 12 inches, from the lower bud to the upper, is long 

 enough, and will make a better vine than 18 inches. That 

 the wood should be well ripened and sound, is, of course, the 

 first consideration. 



The vines may be pruned in fair weather, and the clippings 

 taken in to be worked up during rainy days, but it should 

 never be allowed to get dry, as that destroys its vitality. Cut 

 close below the lower bud, making the cut somewhat slanting, a* 

 the accompanying illustration will show, leaving about an inch 



