MY VINEYARD. 75 



3. Cuttings. — This is perhaps the most generally avail- 

 able of all the methods, and may be practiced by every 

 one with the utmost ease. It is the method by Avhich I 

 produced all the plants used in setting my vineyards, ex- 

 cept a portion of those on the first acre. Only well rip- 

 ened wood, which may be known by its firmness of tex- 

 ture and the bright lively color of its bark, should be 

 used. The cuttings should be prepared in the fill. The 

 wood may be cut into lengths of three buds each ; the 

 wood being cut away close up to the lower bud and left 

 about an inch above the upper one. It is better to have 

 the wood, where it is cut off, slant away from the buds, 

 rather than towards them, and great care should always 

 be taken to avoid injuring the buds. The cuttings may 

 be kept, during the winter, in the cellar, laid on the bot- 

 tom and covered with sand, or buried out-doors under a 

 slight covering of soil, and jjrotected with straw from freez- 

 ing. The requisites for their safe keeping are, a temper- 

 ature as cool as possible without freezing, and moisture 

 without an excess of wet. 



The cutting bed should be made in the fall, j)reparatory 

 to early use in the spring. If at all inclined to be wet, it 

 should be underdrained. The soil should be worked to 

 the depth of sixteen inches, and thoroughly enriched with 

 perfectly rotted and finely pulverized manure. Leaf- 

 mould from the woods, and a small quantity of ashes, can 

 be advantageously added. The whole bed should be 



