272 



AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



ripens sweet and extraordinarily rich in spirit matter. That 

 is, when they have room and are cultivated. All grapes 

 starve when crowded ; 6 x 6 is close enough for the more 

 feeble sorts, 8 x 8 is a standard distance for wine grapes, 

 and some are grown 20 or more feet apart, and yield heavier 

 crops than if three were grown in that space. They are 

 grand rooters, and find their own way downwards where 

 there is the material of life, and the natural drainage is 

 good enough ; so that deep preparation of soil is not so 

 necessary for this fruit. Cuttings of matured wood are 

 used for plants ; they are put in where they are to grow, 

 the soil being opened by plough, spade, bar, or fork. 



Grafting Grape Vines. A. good deal of this kind of 

 work, in order to secure blight proof roots, and also for 



renewing old stocks, and 

 displacing sorts that are not 

 so good for wine making, is 

 going on. The scion, for 

 insertion, is cut wedge shape, 

 as is the stock when a blight 

 proof cutting is used for 

 rooting purposes. When old 

 vines are worked over, the 

 stock is cut off about three 

 inches under the ground, as 

 splice Graft. Grafting old vines. 8 hown, and then opened by 



the grafting tool, or a knife or chisel answer the purpose. 



The scions two generally in 



each stock are inserted in the 



cut, and tied in position. The 



soil is then heaped firmly round 



the graft. With these condi- 



B f ., ,, Grafting Tool for Vines. 



tions failures seldom occur. 



Spring Treatment of Vines. The sketch below illus- 

 trates a first step in the way of regulating growth, as the 



