354 GRAPES. 



bunches have always the best appearance, and it rarely hap- 

 pens that they are not the best. 



To obtain these, the bushes must be kept .very thin of 

 wood, clearing away all young shoots from the middle, as 

 they are produced, and thinning out the spurs, leaving those 

 only which are young, and at a few inches distance from 

 each other. The large white crystal Currant, thus managed, 

 will sometimes produce bunches containing from twenty- 

 five to thirty berries each. 



When a plant has been completed in this way, it may be 

 kept in full bearing for several years, from its spurs alone, 

 the best of which, it must be remembered, furnish the finest 

 fruit. 



CHAPTER VI. 

 CULTIVATION OF GRAPES. 



Propagation. 



BY LAYERS. 



Vines are propagated by laying them down in pots ; by 

 cuttings ; and by buds, or single eyes. The first method is 

 the most expeditious, and the one most generally adopted 

 in the nurseries : and where the shoots can be planted out 

 against a south wall, in order to the better ripening of the 

 wood, especially of those sorts which are tender, it is pre- 

 ferable to the others, because it furnishes fine strong plants 

 at the end of the first year. There are several ways of lay- 

 ing down the vine : the one I have practised, and which has 

 always produced as good plants as I could desire, is to com- 

 mence the operation as soon as the leaves have fallen off 

 the vines. For the strong growing sorts, pots of Cast six- 

 teen may be used ;* and for the weaker growers those of 

 twenty-four. Having prepared some good mould, cover 

 the hole at the bottom with a large piece of potsherd, and fill 



* P6ta about 6 inches wide, by 6 inches deep, inside measure. Ed. 



