106 



The Grajie Cultur'ut. 



to cuttings from young vines or suck- 

 ers iS; viz : They will cause the fruit 

 to ripen irregular, mature later_, and 

 by continued propagation from such 

 vines, Avill finally not mature at all. 

 Besides my own assertion of the 

 above facts, I will refer to an ar- 

 ticle on projDagating vines in the 

 February number, 1869, Grape Cul- 



TURIST. 



It says : Wood from young vines 

 are not good for propagation. The 

 writer stated the reason ; I would not 

 say that cuttings from young vines 

 (wood well matured) will not grow as 

 readily as cuttings from old vines. 

 The point in view is, whether there 

 can be as good and reliable plants 

 obtained from young vines and suck- 

 ers as from bearing vines ? Have 

 our propagators any object in view 

 advertising their plants for sale, when 

 they say our plants or grape wood 

 are from bearing vines ? 



"We expect to propagate a good 

 many vines this spring of different 

 varieties. I will here give you my 

 plan, how I expect to prepare the 

 ground for Nortons and other hard 

 wood cuttings. The soil is a deep, 

 loose, sandy loam. Hay off my beds 

 4 feet wide, remove the soil 6 to 8 

 inches deep, put a good coat of stable 

 manure and cotton seed down, put the 

 soil back again, fertilize with bone- 

 dust. I have the soil deep enough on 

 the top of the manure so that the 

 cuttings do not reach the manure; 

 stable manure and cotton seed being 

 beneath the plants, Avill create a stim- 

 ulant fx'om below. If the seasons are 

 too dry, I have a branch convenient, 

 which I can run between the beds. I 

 will mulch with sawdust or spent tan; 



I have both convenient. Do you 

 think this method a good one? 

 Yours truly, 



L. A. BURKHART. 



[We think you are mistaken entirely 

 in supposing that vines propagated 

 from laterals ripen their fruit irregu- 

 larly, or are unproductive. It is a 

 well established fact, that many vari- 

 eties, for instance the Concord, Gcethe, 

 Herbemont and many others, produce 

 most abundantly, and their best fruit, 

 on laterals spurred in, finer fruit than 

 they will ever produce on the main 

 canes, and we know of not a single 

 principle in vegetable physiology upon 

 which you could base your theory, 

 other than the mere assertion. Ee- 

 member that we say, the wood must 

 be well developed and ripened ; if it 

 is all this, we care not from what part 

 of the vine it comes, only we do not 

 want the large rank canes which you 

 seem to prefer, for two reasons, they 

 seldom make roots, and when they 

 do, their pith is so large and the 

 wound made in cutting them so great, 

 that it will seldom heal over com- 

 pletely, and they will not make as 

 sound and healthy plants as those 

 grown from smaller, firmer wood. 

 Propagators, when they advertise 

 "Wood from bearing vines," have a 

 twofold object. First, to assure their 

 customers that the varieties are true 

 to name, and secondly, it is an old 

 erroneous prejudice, that strong wood 

 will grow better, of which they take 

 advantage, to insure more ready sales. 



Your plan of planting cuttings in 

 hot beds may be good enough, if you 

 take care not to get the manure too 

 near their base, and mulch well. But 

 it is a vQvj laborious process, and the 



