BUDDING ON THE VINE. 43 



and they might become detached under the influence of the 

 first winter frosts. It is better to gather each cutting 

 separately, as the buds would get injured if the whole cane 

 was pruned and taken into a shed to be divided into cut- 

 tings. 



Stratification of budded cuttings. As the budded cuttings 

 are gathered, the eyes of the stock are removed, excising 

 them with a grafting knife as close as possible. Those 

 where the budding has missed are placed apart, and may be 

 used for bench-grafting. The others are placed in cases and 

 arranged in layers of two and three cuttings, superposed, 

 separated by layers of fresh moss or moist sawdust ; these 

 should be about 1 inch in thickness, so that 1,500 to 2,000 

 cuttings may be stratified in a case 3 feet in length by 24 

 inches in height. When the cases are filled, a lid may be 

 placed on the top, or the last layer of moss or sawdust is 

 made of double thickness. 



The cases are then placed in a closed, fresh, and dry room, 

 so that they may not be affected by frost. 



The budded cuttings may remain in this state till planta- 

 tion (February and April).* When the time for plant- 

 ing arrives, these cases are taken to the place (nursery 

 or open ground) where the planting is to be performed. 

 The cuttings are taken out one by one, and their upper 

 section freshened with a grafting knife (never with a 

 secateur), by cutting f to \ inch below the extremity, and 

 coating with tar or grafting wax. The object of this coat- 

 ing is to seal the medullary channels in which the air and 

 humidity would penetrate, and determine, what is known in 

 horticulture as necrosis or desiccation of the cortical tissues, 

 reaching the scion and sometimes below. 



Since we have used this method, the vitality of the wood 

 has always been preserved up the extremity of the cutting, 

 and the greater part of the section was, after one year's 

 vegetation, covered with healing tissue. 



Planting Budded Cuttings. The planting of budded 

 cuttings is very similar to that of cuttings grafted on the 

 bench, with only this difference, that as the knitting is 

 already completed, no ear tiling up is required. Each scion 

 must, after planting, be level with the surface of the soil, and 

 it is advisable to cover it with the sawdust which was used 

 for stratification. The other cultural courses are the same as for 



* About August to October in Victoria. 



