42 BRIGHT ON GRAPE CULTURE. 



We will only say that in planting cuttings, we prefer 

 slips of only two joints or eyes, instead of cuttings four 

 or five joints long. We set the short cutting with only 

 one bud below the surface of the ground, which makes 

 a plant with a short root, whereas a cutting four or five 

 joints long, plunged a foot or more deep into the soil, 

 forms its '^ foot roots/^ as they are styled, too far below 

 the best part of the soil, and never will form so good a 

 vine as if cut shorter, and rooted entirely within four 

 inches of the surface. Our reasons for shallow planting 

 will be given in full in another part of this work. 



MULCHING VINEYARDS. 



Under the system of shallow planting recommended 

 in this work, it is indispensable that the soil of vineyards 

 and grape borders should be constantly mulched, espe- 

 cially in summer; and indeed under any system of plant- 

 ing in any part of the United States where the Catawba 

 will ripen, it will be found highly useful to shade the 

 ground in some way from the direct- rays of the sun, in 

 July and August. Any kind of litter will, of course, 

 answer this purpose ; charcoal, or tan composted with 

 lime, would be very good ; but the best mulch, beyond 

 all question, would be the leaves of trees. 



To mulch an acre of vineyard with any of these sub- 

 stances efi'ectually, would cost almost as much as to 

 manure it with the best of fertilizers; and hence we can 



