WINE-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 



of wood above the upper bud 

 or eye. If a small piece of 

 the old wood, or the whorl of 

 buds, where it starts from the 

 old wood, can be left so much 

 the better, such cuttings are 

 almost sure to grow. They 

 are then tied in bundles of 

 250 each, the lower ends 

 made even. I use leather 

 straps and buckles to draw 



FIG 2. 



A, ordinary cutting ; B, cutting with 

 old wood (mallet cutting) ; C, cutting 

 them together and then tie with longitudinal sections of old wood. 



firmly with annealed wire No. 16. This is a much better tie 

 than twine or bale rope, as it will not rot, and is much cheap- 

 er besides. The bundles are then "heeled in" or buried in 

 the ground, in trenches made for that purpose ; inverted, that 

 is placed on their tops, and the butts well covered with 3 to 

 6 inches of soil. Inverting them has the object to place the 

 lower end of the cutting, which is to form the callus or roots, 

 closer to warmth and air than the top buds. It will thus cal- 

 lus first, while the top buds remain dormant, and is ready to 

 throw out rootlets as soon as planted, while with the tops 

 above, they" often start to grow before there is anything to 

 support them, and then wilt down afterwards. 



In the spring I wait until the ground is warm enough, gen- 

 erally until April in Northern California. Select a piece of 

 good, deep soil for the Nursery, which should be made mellow 

 and friable by repeated deep plowing, if not naturally so. 

 Then throw out slanting trenches with the plow, deepening 

 them with the spade if necessary, three or four feet apart. 

 Put in the cutting as close as convenient, say two inches 

 apart in the row, slanting them enough so that the lower end 

 is 9 inches below the surface, while the upper bud is about 



