PEOPAGATION BY LAYEKING. ' 67 



be spread about them, to preserve an even temperature 

 and humidity, or they might be put in a cold frame, where 

 they could receive any required attention. Where acres of 

 cuttings are grown, these things are not practicable. 



De^ptli to plant. — As a general thing, cuttings should be 

 inserted so deep, that only two buds will be above the 

 surface of the ground, and in the vine only 07ie. If cut- 

 tings are long, they need not be set perpendicular, but 

 sloping, so as to be within reach of heat and air. A 

 cutting of a single eye of the vine with a piece of wood 

 attached, must be entirely covered, say half an inch 

 deep; see figures 56 to 60, ground line, ^, B. But such 

 cuttings are seldom planted, except in pots, in houses, or 

 in hotbeds. 



Preserving CiUtings. — ^If cuttings are not j^lanted in the 

 autumn, they should at least be prepared quite early in 

 the winter, and be buried in the earth out of doors, in a 

 pit. A mound of earth should be drawn up over the pit 

 to throw oflf water. At the very first favorable moment in 

 the spring they should be j^lanted. Trenches are opened 

 as deep as necessary with a spade, and the cuttings set in 

 it at the proper distance, from three inches to a foot, ac- 

 cording to circumstances. When the cuttings are in the 

 trench, the earth is partly filled in, and trod firmly down 

 w^ith the foot, then the balance is filled in and levelled 

 up. 



Cuttings require particular attention, in the way of weed- 

 ing and hoeing ; if weeds grow up thickly, and appropri- 

 ate the moisture of the ground, or if the surface be allowed 

 to crack, as it may after rains, if not quite sandy, they will 

 either make a feeble growth, or fail entirely. The ground 

 wants repeated stirring, to keep it friable and perfectly 

 free from weeds. 



